I've been running a server for 11 years now. It was always in online mode as well, I didn't want to hurt some indie studio and most importantly, it made banning

I've been running a server for 11 years now. It was always in online mode as well, I didn't want to hurt some indie studio and most importantly, it made banning griefers manageable. I've already looked into how I can run the server in "mixed mode" so in addition to still allowing registered players in just as before, I can create a separate login process for arbitrary players that use a modified launcher that doesn't talk to MS servers. Probably gonna involve some trial and error, but then I can just hand out accounts manually to friends who don't want to migrate either. Maybe running an offline Server with custom account management is the best way going forward for people with kids. ;)