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Chances are that unless you're a Borderlands mega fan, you'd probably never heard about Borderlands Online until very recently. The long-forgotten MMO was slated for a China-only release when it was announced in 2014, before being killed off for good in 2015 alongside 2K China. However, one modder and dataminer has been leading the charge in a huge effort to get the game playable again, and they say the project has "consumed me."
Modder EpicNNG – known as Epic – brought Borderlands Online back into the spotlight around a month ago with footage of the game running for the first time since its shutdown. Stuck on its character creator screen, admittedly, but that's further than anyone else has gotten in a decade.
Since then, however, they took to the community with a request for help from anyone who believes they might be able to get the MMO – which remains unplayable right now thanks to an infinite loading screen, broken scripts, and more – working again so it can be back in players' hands. And there's good news – speaking to GamesRadar+, Epic says although "responses started slow," they've "picked up steam fast. I have had people from different parts of the world."
Up until speaking to us, Epic estimates that they've "put around 20-30 hours" into the project, adding: "It really consumed me. I couldn't sleep without thinking about it. I have no idea how long it will take to finish, though." As for how many people are needed to see it through, it's impossible to say – while "it only takes one dev to get us past the finish line," ultimately, "we need as many people as possible helping us!"
After all, it's a huge undertaking – Epic calls it "by far my biggest challenge ever." As for what it all involves, the modder explains: "Without getting too in-depth, we are looking at either rebuilding the project in Unity via fixing scripts and materials, or we are trying to bypass [...] broken code by outright removing dependencies. We are also looking into setting up our own servers for it if it seems plausible."
Up until now, the "greatest challenge" has been the fact that the game's code is currently obfuscated. "We are almost entirely working in the dark, with function/method names that are a jumble of letters and numbers," Epic describes. "If we work in Unity, we are then working with thousands of errors. It is mentally depleting to say the least."
With all that in mind, you can understand why "my heart was beating out of my chest" when Epic "made even slight progress at first." While the modder mentions looking into the possibility of setting up servers for the MMO, they note that they'll be pleased even if things don't end up getting that far.
"I am happy even if we just make it into the tutorial," Epic tells us. "I don't even care if all we can do is walk around. Up until a month or two ago, this game felt impossible to even touch. Any progress is a win now."
In addition to all the technical difficulties, there is also a concern that the project could be shut down before it's even finished. In their call for help, Epic mentioned wanting to get it done before the release of Borderlands 4, worrying that they could "receive a cease and desist" because of it being perceived that "we're taking away from the marketing of Borderlands 4."
This isn't a totally firm deadline, as Epic tells us, "I will continue working on this project until I am asked not to by Gearbox, 2K, or Take-Two." Should that day come, "I will be fully cooperative. I do not wish to cause any form of harm to their businesses."
Epic adds: "Aside from the risk of shutdowns, the biggest risk is disappointing people. Sometimes I really need to calm myself down because it makes me so anxious."
Despite taking on such a massive, complicated project, Epic is aspiring to reach even greater heights in the name of game preservation in the future. "I have another project in mind," the modder tells us. "It's a Borderlands web game named 'Mount Jackmore' which was discontinued in 2012.
"We currently believe this is harder to obtain than this game [Borderlands Online], and I will need to travel internationally to meet the people who have even the slightest chance of getting me access to it," they continue. "I will be making that journey this year."
For now, hopeful onlookers will just have to watch this space to see how the projects unfold. Epic has already made a lot more of us aware of Borderlands Online's mere existence than before, which is a win in itself. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that the MMO might finally become playable again after all this time.
