A lot of communities only exist on Discord. And no, you can't just find alternatives if they're locally based or similar.
Apparently there are quite a few art majors who turn their "useless" art degree into a living by making hentai, especially furry stuff.
OP already mentioned the .hack games, but someone else may be interested.
Most of these don't fit "offline MMO" super closely, but are games I've played that share various aspects that I enjoyed in MMOs:
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Minecraft with mods
Hytale
Various Bethesda games with mods
Sword Art Online games
V Rising
Big screen. Watching something on my phone in bed is not comfortable in the slightest. If I want comfort, I'll go sit on my reclining sofa and cuddle with my pup.
I typically don't do early access games either, but added to the watch list.
Check out the Youtube channel Let's Game It Out. Josh is very creative in finding ways to torment the NPCs of various simulator and tycoon games.
I like to buy the regular hummus and add my own spice powders to it. Just stir them in and give it some time for the spices to hydrate. You may need to add a teaspoon of water if the mixture dries out from too many spices added.
I don't care, I'll be dead. Whatever is cheapest and simplest.
I quit the game more than once during the slog that is the post-ARR questline. I got to the point where I was just skipping all dialogue, then started paying attention again when I noticed new characters being introduced. Getting to Heavensward was great, both storywise and just to be in new areas.
I heard later that they pruned that section of the questline down, and it really needed it.
This is probably my most involved project so far. I liked the Nether Emperor ever since it was first announced, but the color scheme did not say "nether" to me, so I changed that. I learned a lot, especially in regards to shading. I applied some orange fluorescent paint as a wash to the inner frame to give it a molten look.
Land a career in a STEM field and don't have any kids. That's what worked for me, at least.
Nothing too fancy with this one, just panel lining, G-Rework decals, and matte topcoat.
This is a special edition of MG Freedom 2.0 with Cross Contrast and clear colors. It also came with unique water slide decals and a clear Action Base 1 instead of the crappy stand that other MG Seed kits get. I panel lined with silver enamel paint and sprayed matte topcoat to give the clear parts a frosty look.
Now that I'm done with model shows for a while, I've shifted gears and decided to work on some girlpla for a while. This one is mostly a straight build, with a bit of panel lining, some decals, and matte topcoat. Overall, it's a good build, and great value for what comes in the box, including 2 full models and lots of accessories, not to mention pre-painted and detailed pieces.
I played with lighting a bit to see if I could get it to glow more.
Inspired by the P-Bandai iron-blooded coating kits, I decided I could make my own and do it better. I used the ZeroPlan Wolf Claw kit as well.
Some of these groups have dozens or hundreds of people on them, no way I'll get even a fraction of them to. I don't have the time or desire to start a new community from scratch.
As much as I hate it, people join Discord because that's where all the communities are and they stay because all their other communities are there.