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firstedition — How I Feel
Published: 2012-09-02 04:48:56 +0000 UTC; Views: 9494; Favourites: 133; Downloads: 392
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It was announced the other day that NCSoft was closing down City of Heroes - not because it wasn't performing - because the company wanted to move 'in a different direction'.I drew this picture to try to convey my feelings.
The game... IS old... the graphics engine sucks... it crashes... the characters are really low poly... they don't even have individual digits on their hands... the SG bases crash my computer... but... even with all that, the game did something that no other MMO lets you.
It put /you/ in the driver seat of the creativity. Want an Arcane Warlock? No problem? Futuristic Ship Enginner? You bet. Hard-boiled Detective? Got room for that too. You could build your own bases, create your own missions. Your experiences were only limited by your creativity, and that's not even talking about the /community/.
RPers - people who like to /envision/ themselves in the roles of their characters - are rarely seen, or even welcomed in other MMOs... but in City of Heroes... they were embraced. Welcomed. Defended.
I'm ranting. It's a great shame NCSoft has done this.
In future, I've decided to 'go in a different direction' as well, NCSoft. Far, far away from any of your games. Sure... maybe GW2 is a good game... but if you're just going to pull the plug on it down the road... then I'm not giving you a cent for it now.
Sorry if I was down.
City of Heroes will be missed.
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Comments: 85
it is sure nice to note that gw2 is weak, and the other two games are ones that few care about..
Long live Paragon City from someone who would still be there.
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I still miss City of Heroes...
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Not sure how I didn't see this sooner. It's pretty spot on. Made me really sad because I was just getting back into the game as well. Did the same thing you did too, walked away from NCSoft. Which is a bit of a shame since Wildstar looked pretty good. But it's not a Lineage clone, like most of their games, so it's just not worth the risk.
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I actually tried Wildstar, sad to say. Gave NCSoft money. Sucked.
Wildstar wasn't bad, but... it felt... like a ride. I dunno. Didn't get into it. Could be fun? Didn't get into it. But you can BET NCSoft will pull the plug on that, even if it's MAKING money.
We all still wish we were back in Paragon City.
Thanks for the comment.
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Hopefully not, but not making any bets. Though I do find some humor in referring to CoH as "old," while Lineage 2 is up there. I remember those being released on the same day. Even though I did get both, they lost my L2 characters somewhere between beta servers going down for the live launch and their support gave me the run around and didn't do shit to help. Sub canceled on that not even three days after getting it. Bunch a friends went and played L2, I flew the skies in Paragon. Really awesome part was Cryptic ran their own support on CoH at the time so any issues I had there were not only answered fast, but they were also able to help. Good times.
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Just found this and it sums up my feelings perfectly. I played COH since beta, had altitis to the worst degree and loved every waking minute I played the game. Since they stopped the game I cannot even bring myself to try an MMO because I find myself comparing everything to COH and it just can't add up for all the reasons you listed, plus the community. COH had the most amazing community I've ever seen in gaming and nothing I've played has ever come close to that same feeling.
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COH was an amazing game, and no game since has come anywhere close to it. The sheer amount of creative control it gave you, the player, was and is unmatched.
I'm glad to hear from someone who enjoyed the game as much as I did. I really, REALLY miss being able to RP back on Virtue. Would sign up in a second if the game miraculously reopened...
Thanks for your comment! You're one of the Heroes from the City of Heroes!
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Over a year and a half later and we STILL feel like this.
A really disturbing thought is the fact that NCSoft essentially said, through that action, that if a game underperforms in any way from what they expect, the execution will commence...
Of course, we should have seen behavior like this from their previous shutdowns, like Exteel and Tabula Rasa.
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Never played the game, have no real desire to since I'm not that into games per se, but I can empathise with your frustration. But I have to that picture you did just tears at the heart strings. Well done on capturing such emotion.
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This made me choke up a bit. I think using dogs hit way too hard in the feels. CoH was the first MMO I ever touched, so the loss of it is remembered all over again seeing this deviation.
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Almost a year later, I still miss City of Heroes every single day. No other online game I've tried has even given me a fraction of the fun I had playing it.
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It really was a unique gaming experience. No other single game combined the level of customization, powers and multiplayer as well as City of Heroes.
Still sad it's gone.
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Totally agree with the sentiments. CoH was its own setting encompassing everything you could find for a great comic. Then they let you in to play as one of those people.
No other game does so much for you.
I agree it shall be missed.
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And the pain comes flooding back...
Bleedin NCSoft. If it doesn't take off in Asia, they consider it a failure.
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Was on for a little over a year prior to termination. Hadn't had more fun on a game before, and likely since.
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I hear you loud and clear. And I humbly offer this: the creepy parents that make kids give up a beloved pet because of their selfishness are the same nasty old bastards that complain that Junior never visits them in the Nursing home. They are the sort that do have a clue, but are too narcissistic to say "I'm Sorry."
Sorry NCSOFT, I may even play GW2 for a while, simply because I am following other NCSOFT castaways to it, and I would rather mow my lawn than touch Mist of Pandering to Asian stereotypes. But frankly, do not expect the sort of loyalty I gave to you, both in community and in dollars, that let you shovel money to arenanet. GW2 may be a good game, but I will NEVER allow myself to care about anything that comes out of your shops.
OH, and I dare say that the whole MMO world may be blowing itself up if it maintains it's level of arrogance. I am a star wars fan, and I can say that between EA and BW crashing SWTOR, Blizzard's panda's, and NCSOFT, I might go back to the days of muds. Yes, the graphics stink, but at least I know what I am getting.
Also, I feel what you said about roleplay, but we are not the sort to be shoveling little bits of cash into micro transactions like good little livestock, no, we would rather have a good game.
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Wonderfull image. Really conveys the point being made.
I tried COH. Much like any other MMO it really wasnt for me. I loved the character designer though - proberbly the best out there. Customisation was almost limitless.
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a shame that its actual game play was severly crippled though.
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Yeah, as I said on the forums, this pic really hit me in the heart, and expressed things SOOO well.
(@FemFury global name in the game, Shagster on the forums)
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I'll miss this game so much.
I've gotten rather attached to my robot girl :\ And I finally made a costume for her I'm satisfied with!
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It never crashed for me! O.O But, I totally agree with the sentiment!
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OUT WITH THE NEW
IN WITH THE OLD
IM 7+ YEARS, 80+ ALTS AND IM NOT GIVING UP THE FIGHT
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A perfect capture indeed 
I'm doing what I can (or what I'm told) to prevent CoH from closing down... not giving up just yet! *waves fist at NCsoft*
I'm a hero! And will fight till the end! (whatever the end will be)
Petitions to sign: www.change.org/petitions/ncsoft-keep-ncsoft-from-shutting-down-city-of-heroes and www.change.org/petitions/ncsoft-keep-ncsoft-from-shutting-down-city-of-heroes
Joining the TaskForce force for follow-up missions: [link]
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I saw this on the forums, too. Your image is really cuts to the heart. Well done.
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Wish I mattered too. Petitioning and praying for the positive power of community. While capturing replayable CoH demos ( [link] ) just in case.
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I have a friend going through this depression right now. I hate it for him...I've felt the pain in a different way, message board groups dying and those characters falling into oblivious. But this....this is crap! ><
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This is far from over. CoH is too good to let go. The fight is just getting started. But if it does I will NEVER play an NC Soft game again.
CoH is about the people - the friends I've made over the years.
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This is how i feel too. NCSoft is pulling such a bad move.
If the game can't be saved it will suck to see the CoH community tossed across the 4 winds.
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yeah your picture says a lot. here's my thoughts. [link]
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Yup, I saw this the other night, and yeah. The feels, man. The feels.
I've been slowly chugging through my main account's toons, but then realized that I didn't have enough Vet power on my other 3 accounts to open them and get proper shots of my alts there. :/ I hope that they open everything to all accounts, before the close.
The best community ever, anywhere.
/e holdtorch
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How I feel as well. This is the only MMO for me. Been here since near the beginning, and my first character is still my favorite, even in her original costume.
My characters will live on in stories and artwork, but I'll miss the game terribly.
AND I WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE OTHER INCARNATE POWERS WERE GONNA BE!!! WHAT WAS THE COMING STORM?!?
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your drawing totally sums up how I feel, too! It was unfair how they just up and closed down Paragon Studios, too. Sure I'm gonna miss my game and my groupmates, but a hefty part of my anger and indignation at the whole situation is how they treated the talented artists and designers and all the people at Paragon Studios...it was completely unfair!
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It isn't quite the end yet.
Sign the petitions. There are at least two out there, one requesting that CoH not be closed, and the other requesting NCSoft release the source code. Neither sounds like something NCSoft will do, but it's worth it to just get a signature on them.
Go to the COHTitan forums. TonyV has a Plan. He's providing "calls to arms," suggestions and community organizing. The current goal is to mail, via certified mail, letters to NCSoft Global's headquarters, to impress on them -- politely, firmly, unequivocably -- why CoH is worth existing. They are also gearing up, getting legal advice, and seeing what needs to happen to get the IP and maybe even the engine into a community-run group.
And, really... isn't it about time that the games we play are run by the communities and not by publishers who only see dollar signs?
I've played L2 and Aion -- I was on the localization betas for them both. They're very very pretty games. But they follow the same route: Grind, kill, loot, repeat. The goal is some nebulous 'Better' that's over the horizon. Until you got to that point it was grind. CoH wasn't like that. From the moment you selected your powersets, you were engaged with your character. And it was flavorful. Even with the 'holy trinity,' of tank/healer/damage, each powerset combination played differently. An AR/Dev blaster played differently than a Beam/Psi blaster. Earth tanks played different from Ice tanks. Emp defenders played different from Rad defenders. Every combination was different and suited your taste of the moment. And then there were the alts....
It's not over yet. CoH is still worth it.
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This picture sums up my feeling very well. NCSoft will never see another penny from me.
I guess we could hope that Cryptic/PWE hires up the Paragon devs and makes Champions the game it could be, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
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City of Heroes is a unique, and wonderful game. It will be missed and I will not be going to one of NCSoft's other games. Mainly because there are games that do what those games do better. They say Guild Wars 2, I say World of Warcraft. Sure it's cartoony but know what? It's enjoyable and Blizzard does care about their players a little and isn't going to be yanking the plug on their stuff ANYTIME soon.
They say what about realism? I say Lord of the Rings. Graphics look realistic enough and again they care about their community, the game lore and the game itself to not shut down for no freaking reason at random. Thing about City of Heroes is that the developers often associated, talked and actually worked with the community. City of Heroes, I should correct myself, IS NOT A GAME. It's a community. A community that will be missed and any company with a functioning Brain 1 should try to snag the people of Paragon Studios.
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Thank you for expressing all the sentiments that make our City great! I think it's stupid they're shutting down City. It's more than /just/ a game. It's a community where we contribute collectively with our imaginations.
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You and me both. No other game featured such engaging gameplay by such a variety of possible characters.
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