Find the people you used to play with

Empire-building in space where the real game was the alliance — coordinating fleet saves and ninja attacks across time zones with people you only ever knew by their in-game name. Universes merge and accounts go inactive. Post the player name and universe to find a former alliancemate.

Age of Empires II (AoE2) lobbies on the MSN Gaming Zone and beyond were where clans formed and rivalries simmered over countless team games. Post the nickname and the zone or clan you played to find an old teammate.

Aion's legions and Abyss sieges built close-knit groups around a character name and server. Share them to find a legionmate from your flying-PvP days.

One of the first sci-fi MMOs, Anarchy Online tied players together through organizations and the world of Rubi-Ka. Share the character name and org to reconnect with someone from the early days of online sci-fi.

Whether it was a PC clan running promod or a console crew that never left the party chat, CoD4 and MW2 lobbies were where a lot of teenage friendships lived. Post the gamertag, PSN ID or clan tag and the platform you played on to find an old squadmate.

City of Heroes supergroups were tight crews of capes who teamed up nightly — then NCSoft shut it down in 2012 and scattered everyone (fan servers revived it years later). Post the hero name, server and supergroup to find someone from your old roster.

For a lot of people Club Penguin was their very first online friend group — meeting up on a server, hanging out in igloos and adding each other on a buddy list. Share the penguin name and server to find someone from your first time online.

You knew the regulars on your favourite de_dust2 server by their tags long before you ever knew their real names. Clans formed, scrims happened, and then the server went dark. Post the nickname, clan tag and server you played to find the teammate who always planted for you.

One of the most-played shooters on earth — massive in Asia and Brazil — CrossFire built clans and regulars on its channels. Post the nickname, clan and server you played to find an old squadmate.

DAoC's realm-vs-realm warfare built fierce loyalty inside guilds that defended their realm for years. Names and realms are what people remember. Post the character name, realm and server to find an old RvR companion.

Baal runs, trade channel haggling and that one rich trader who handed you a Stone of Jordan for nothing — Diablo II (Diablo 2) friendships ran on Battle.net handles that vanished with the realm. Post the account or character name and the ladder you played to find them again.

Dofus turned tactical, turn-based fights and guild life into long friendships across its servers, especially in France and Brazil. Share the character name, guild and server to find an old teammate.

A beat-'em-up MMO with one of the largest player bases in the world, DFO built friendships in guilds and grinding channels under a character name. Share the character name, server and guild to find an old party member.

EverQuest groups depended on each other to survive a single dungeon, and the guilds that formed there were tight-knit and long-lived. Share the character name, class and server to find an old guildmate from the dawn of the modern MMO.

FFXI demanded real teamwork — your linkshell was a standing group you depended on for every endgame fight, and the bonds ran deep. Share the character name, server and linkshell to reconnect with an old static.

Flyff (Fly For Fun) paired flying, leveling parties and guilds into friendships kept on a character name and server. Share them to reconnect with someone from your old guild.

Gaia was forums, avatars and all-night threads where real friendships formed under stylised usernames. People drifted as the forums quieted. Post the username and the guild or forum you lived in to reconnect.

A side-scrolling action MMO huge in Brazil and Southeast Asia, Grand Chase built guilds and rivalries before the original servers closed in 2015 (a Classic revival came later). Post the character name and server to find someone from the original run.

Greek-mythology city-building where alliances waged wars that ran for months — and the friendships outlasted most of the worlds they were played on. Share the player name, alliance and world to reconnect with someone from your old pact.

Guild Wars put the guild right in the title — GvG teams and alliances that practised builds for weeks. Post the character name and guild tag to find a teammate from your old roster.

Turn-based artillery with a chat room culture all its own — Gunbound guilds and regulars knew each other by avatar and nickname. Post the in-game name and server to find an old opponent who became a friend.

Habbo was where a generation first made online friends — trading furni, running rooms and chatting for hours after school. Habbo names were everything and most are long forgotten. Share the habbo name and the hotel (country) you used and find the person from your old room.

Halo 2 basically invented the late-night Xbox Live party — a fixed crew of gamertags you ran customs and ranked playlists with every night. Gamertags get deleted and consoles get traded in. Share the gamertag and your old party to reconnect with the people on the other end of that headset.

A pioneering DotA-style MOBA, HoN had a fierce ranked community and clans before the servers shut down in 2022. The matchmaker's gone; your old teammates aren't. Share the player name to reconnect with a former duo or clanmate.

Island city-building and trade where alliances negotiated, betrayed and defended together. Names are what survive once a server is gone. Post the player name and server to find a former ally or rival.

Nation wars and Colony Zone grinding made Knight Online intense and social in equal measure. Post the character name, nation and server to reconnect with a former clanmate.

Some duo partners carried you out of Bronze and into a real friendship, one ranked queue at a time — then a region transfer or a fresh account broke the thread. Share the summoner name, region and the seasons you climbed together to find your old duo.

Castle sieges and clan politics made Lineage II (Lineage 2) feel less like a game and more like a second life with a chain of command. Those bonds lived on a character name and a server. Share them to find the clanmate who stood beside you on the walls.

Grinding to level up, guild chats that never stopped and the friends you met in Henesys — MapleStory friendships lived on an in-game name in a specific world. Share the character name and world (and region) to reopen the conversation.

Kingdom wars and guild grinding gave Metin2 a fierce sense of belonging, all attached to a character name on a particular server. Post them to find someone from your old guild.

A shared survival world or a long-running SMP can bind a friend group tighter than almost anything — until the server shuts down and the only thing left is a username. Post the Minecraft username and the server or realm you built on to track down your old co-op partner.

Endless grinding and guild wars made Mu Online intensely social, all hung on a character name and a specific server (official or private). Post them to find an old guildmate.

For a whole generation, Neopets and the Neoboards were a first online home — guilds, trades and friendships that lived on a username. Accounts got frozen or abandoned. Share the username and the guild or board you hung out on to find someone from early Neopia.

Perfect World's factions and territory wars created standing armies of friends, all tied to a character name on a server. Post them to reconnect with a former factionmate.

One of the first console MMOs, PSO connected strangers in Pioneer 2 lobbies for hunts that turned into real friendships — even across a language barrier, with word-select chat. Share the character name and the ship or era you played to find a fellow hunter.

Quake III Arena (Quake 3) ran on clan servers and ladders where the regulars knew each other by handle and rail accuracy. Post the nickname and the server or clan you played to find an old frag rival.

Leveling parties that lasted all night and War of Emperium guilds that felt like a sports team — Ragnarok Online built deep friendships around character names on a specific server. Share the character name, guild and server (official or private) to find your old party.

Whole friendships were built in the Grand Exchange, on clan wars trips and through hours of skilling in Falador. Usernames changed, accounts got abandoned, and the person behind the display name slipped away. Share the username and the world or clan you grinded in and reopen the chat.

Second Life friendships were built across sims, clubs and creator communities — sometimes closer than offline ones — all tied to an avatar name. Share the avatar (resident) name and the community you frequented to find someone from your old circle.

Trade and thief convoys on the Silk Road needed coordination and trust, which is how the friendships formed. Share the character name and server to find a fellow trader or hunter.

SWG let players build cantinas, player cities and guilds that felt like real communities — until the servers were shut down for good in December 2011. The game is gone, so the only way back to those friends is the people themselves. Post the character name, server and guild to find a former neighbour.

Brood War friendships formed in Battle.net channels and ladder rivalries that defined an era of competitive PC gaming. Share the account or handle and the channel or clan you played to find an old opponent or ally.

Before matchmaking, TF2 ran on community servers with regulars, admins and inside jokes that made each one feel like a pub. Share the nickname and the server you mained to find a regular from back then.

TERA's action combat and guild scene ran for a decade until the Western servers shut down in 2022. The game's gone, so reconnecting means finding the players. Share the character name, server and guild to find an old guildmate.

One of the oldest MMOs still standing, Tibia tied players together through guilds, shared hunts and the world you called home. Names and worlds are exactly what people remember. Post the character name and world to find the friend you team-hunted with.

Disney's Toontown was a first MMO for countless kids — cog battles, ToonTasks and a buddy list of friends you never got surnames for. Disney closed the servers in 2013, so there's no logging back in to find them. Post the toon name and the era you played to reconnect.

Travian alliances coordinated for months across time zones — Skype calls at 3am to dodge an incoming attack built real bonds between people who only ever knew each other by their in-game name. Post the player name, alliance tag and server round to find a former ally.

Months of village-building and 3am defence calls bound Tribal Wars tribes together tighter than most workplaces. Worlds eventually close and players move on, leaving only a nickname. Post the player name, tribe tag and world to find an old tribemate.

The original sandbox MMO: housing, player towns and guilds that wrote their own history on a given shard. Post the character name and shard to reconnect with someone from the early days of online worlds.

DotA, Tower Defense and a thousand custom maps turned Warcraft III (Warcraft 3) Battle.net into a meeting place. Friendships formed in recurring lobbies under a username and a clan tag. Share them to find a custom-game regular.

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning lived for its realm-vs-realm war and the guilds that fought it — until the licence lapsed and the servers closed in 2013. The game is gone; the people aren’t. Post the character name and guild to find a former warband-mate.

Wizard101 turned dueling and questing through the Spiral into long friendships kept on a friends list and a wizard name. Codes expired, accounts lapsed. Share the wizard name and the worlds you played to find an old questing partner.

A free team shooter that built a devoted clan and community-server scene that outlived its release by years. Share the nickname and the server or clan you mained to find a teammate from the ET days.

For years your guild was a second family — raid nights, Vent calls, that one healer who always saved the wipe. Then a realm transfer, a name change or a quiet unsubscription scattered everyone. Post the character name, realm and guild you remember and let someone who raided beside you recognise it.