can we even revive the game?

[FakeSugar]

Not sure if this counts for much, but I'm on the younger side and just a week ago discovered FeralHeart through Unleashed trailers. The map making is what hooked me, so much so that before I learned anything else I was scrounging for tutorials on height maps and masks. Modern games (or the games I play) don't really have this process, everything is very intuitive and in the game itself. It is an interesting change of pace! The avatar customization seems interesting too but I have yet to delve into it.

[RpgLover!01]

I agree with Pebbles that Feral Heart going to discord isn't a good idea. A good number of people have good memories of Feral Heart. I think a revive is a good idea. I still try to roleplay with 1 or 2 of my friends still when they have time to.

[Morqque]

This game still has a chokehold on me. Y'all are my childhood

[Gargantor]

Ooof... It has been a hot minute since I have played this game. Just found a trailer and I was reminded of this game. This game had such an impact on my childhood and I spent so much time on it that even long, long, looong years after I last visited I still remember my login from heart. Thank you for the amazing years!

Anyway, back then I left due to the lack of updates. It was always the same. The game was always the same. We begged for more models/species, maybe more customization. For months, years even. But we never got anything.
Well, this is what happens when you dont listen to the community, I guess.

I am honestly unsure if this particular game can be revived or not. It would be extremely difficult. Probably would take a huge update with like 5 more species, updated customization, updated better animations, more official maps for roleplaying, etc.
But even then you got to reach your old community and lure in new ones. This means advertising the heck out of your new update, even get content creators in on it to spread the news.
Though, with the emergence of that other team now... With all the models they got... Yeah. It might not be enough anymore. Someone else was faster.
Unless you do something bigger...

I guess you can always try to get back the oldies, who would return out of nostalgia. I for one might try the other existing versions but the official FH is where my fond memories are at.

[Oddonelynx]

....We begged for more models/species, maybe more customization. For months, years even. But we never got anything.

Limitation breeds creativity, they say. Remember, over the years, people have created pinnipeds, cetaceans, dragons. mustelids, ursine, fish, reptiles, horses, and pigs just to name a few just with these 2 models! 
Well, we did get at least more customization in the 1.17 update, yes?

[Gargantor]

I remember that. But more models mean even more possibilities and creativity. But models weren't the only thing we requested.
All I know is that the above things were the reason the people around me left. And then I left too.

Oh, and the maps. Some of my friends left due to the changes to the maps and they were not the only ones. There were discussions of displeasure about it playerbase-wide. The older maps were familiar and we knew where to find rp groups. It would have been nice if the new maps were addons through portals instead of entire replacements. Our already fragmented groups just didn't have the patience to learn an entirely new set of maps, while lamenting the loss of everything familiar, bathed in fond memories. The replacement kind of marked the end of an era. It showed too. The playerbase began shrinking from that point on. The game was kind of held together by veteran roleplayers, who knew the maps, the best places, had the most skill and creativity, the best ideas, which then lured in and kept new players around, flocking around oldies. Once they left... the game went downhill.

[acid_bear_boy]

I'd play it again if it was somehow revived, but none of my friends are ever on anymore. And the few people that are usually active in the servers are either afk or whispering to each other. I don't personally know what it would take for the game to be revived, I feel like the newest generation of kids are just not into games like this anymore. FH is a time capsule in a way, and I don't mean this in a bad way.

This game will always have a special place in my heart, I remember playing it pretty much all day everyday. Those were the days. I think I was like 15 or something, and I'm almost 28 now. Time sure flies.

[WolfQueen]

i dont think so. mostly because the internet and gaming has changed so much over these last two decades. roblox took the place of online 3d animal chatrooms as a whole

i check back for a nostalgia trip every once in a while though

[Oddonelynx]

i dont think so. mostly because the internet and gaming has changed so much over these last two decades. roblox took the place of online 3d animal chatrooms as a whole

A shame really. You know, ROBLOX released around the same time IT did, yet only one game stood the test of time.
...Then again, modern ROBLOX is full of issues.

[Ame88]

Well, this is what happens when you dont listen to the community, I guess.

The entire issue with that is the staff did listen. Painstakingly staff would pester Raz into doing anything, but he is the soul reason nothing truly happened beyond some small (or big depending on how you look at it) things here and there. Yes, we did get some updates, like fresh new maps with more content within them...but the presentation of such maps was extremely poor and way too fast. I too still miss the old maps, and I believe there was a better way to go about the whole map issue. Despite this, I do agree with some reasons behind their removal, such as server strain, the maps themselves having little to no meshes, and little to no continuity between them in regards to a realistic world (as real as you can get with talking animals, anyway). Not to point blame, but the truth of the matter is the entire reason nothing was done was Raz. In all fairness, Raz had his reasons behind not allowing much of anything to happen update-wise, and I believe he was completely valid in not wanting to move things too far forward.

We have to remember that at the time, despite Kovu offering the game's source over back in 2013 (me thinks), the offer was not taken, therefore Kovu remained the owner of FeralHeart, and in all technicality if we were to make changes to the game without his permission, legal action could be taken if he so wished. I don't blame him for wanting to avoid it and it's issues, but also because it's just not right. Even to this day he remains the owner of this game as he hasn't given it to anyone.

Now, before you say anything, yes I am well aware that FU/FBO claims to have gotten the permission from Kovu himself to continue on with their project. If I remember correctly, they even claim to still be in contact with the guy past the initial interaction that xSpirit claimed he had. Personally, I'm convinced this supposed "Real Kovu" is just xSpirit or a friend of his who's hiding behind an email, especially since the "evidence" they had was obtained and provided by xSpirit himself, who's proven to be an absolutely terrible person on multiple accounts. Now, I have a number of reasons on top of this as to why I do not believe that's the real Kovu, and I'm still not convinced after a handful of years that it's actually him. The only way I would be convinced is if this guy who claims to be Kovu proves to Raz he's actually him, since Raz is the only one still around who's directly worked with him (to my knowledge). I'm very much a believer that after FeralHeart and his short-lived Facebook game Feral Tales, Kovu just did not care and moved on with his life and projects. To be quite frank, I'm happy for him if that's the case. Now before I move on from this, I want to make it clear that I have no ill will towards FU/FBO or any branch of game from that pool of people. They love this game just as much as we do, and if they want to make a spiritual successor, they have that right. I just don't agree with how the project originally came into fruition. It came from a place of frustration, anger and hate. Greed can be listed too if you want to loop what xSpirit did in the end when he "moved on" from the project.

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I agree that this game is still on a decline, if there is even anymore sinking it can do. But, in all truth, as long as there is even just one person who will try to keep this game alive, there's a chance that it can come back.