Then you would think that it ought to be possible to make it too expensive NOT to unload CoH IP.
Yep! And, seeing as how I've found myself with a lot of free-time lately... Persuading them to do so is gonna be a large chunk of MY own -
"realignment of personal focus" for the near future!
Unless, Of course they manage to look deep down inside and "find a heart" sometime soon - maybe they should play some Zelda? (IDK, just a thought...)
Maybe - they'll even find some *human decency* and manage to see fit to undertake a noble, altruistic act displaying their appreciation of customers & a lack of corporate greed. Maybe not, maybe it would be motivated by a desire to help save the reputation of their company brand & what's left of its good name, and lets not forget the good names of its employees!
That would let myself (and most everyone else here - I assume) go back to partaking in our most precious hobby/pastime playing CoH - we in "The West" have an old and (apparently) strange connection to American/Western-style, comic-book Heroes, Villains & the more modern graphic-novel Vigilantes & Rogues...
That people from "The East" -
just don't get - I mean, we know they love Anime & Manga (like their Weekly/Monthly 'Shonen Jump' magazines, I guess that somewhere(?) between us is a fine line where we differ - on some *subtle* cultural level?
And by "altruistic act", I mean like 'giving us back our Community' = in some reasonable fashion, (Not - "give it to us for free NOW") unless of course all you're gonna do with it is put it into the basement & kill it... Trying to save face(?) or hide some embarrassment(??) Maybe its vaguely related to this "Kibun" and/or "Nunchi", that I've recently read about - but don't quite understand... Yet!
Well, I'm gonna have to work on it I guess, and what better chance am I ever going to get than this? (It could get a bit ugly - but I have virtually nothing to lose here):
According to their 1st (plainly thoughtless) response to us, followed by their 2nd (obviously insincere & almost cruel) response to us... Both of which - showed a near complete lack of compassion OR caring for the feelings and emotional well-being of people in our Community of Heroes (many of which aren't well-equipped to handle or "deal-with" that degree of callousness from a business that we've supported *quite loyally* = for the better part of a decade...
For some it may have only been a few years, But for many it was 6, 7, or 8 years, and for some of the original beta testers & devs/creators it really has been a Decade!
A decade of their lives that was Not "Just a Career" & (Not "Just a Game") - Over time it grew to be an extended family of thousands... Of co-workers, and fans, dedicated players, and in turn it was often a '2nd generation' of these families. When RL friends & family learned to enjoy it together, and we grew to have a sense of fellowship, with the spirit of the proverbial - "it takes a village to raise a child" = where you could trust that the people there (in game) we're Almost ALL were looking out for each other & and even their children. And, where - at times - people would argue like family or 'fight' like siblings...
For some without families - for those that are separated from their family by distance, tragedy, health, etc. = It had become a place where they had found a new "tribe"... And you decided to tear that away from us - because of reasons you won't even be straightforward with us about, Or - as some have suggested you feel you can't?
I cannot begin to fathom a Smart Business reason to end this game when it was (by all available accounts/records/reports) doing just fine with money coming in to support it and then some, (perhaps not at a ROE great enough to satisfy some stockholders?) If so then you should sell it - (to a group that wants to keep it alive) - for a fair amount.
If it's not that profitable - then selling it to us won't be a huge loss to your overall business, But it would mean a WORLD to the people that love it = while it seems to us now - that y'all just don't love it at all! And, you could regain the respect of the people that are growing to loathe your attitude toward us that can only be described as callous in nature... or worse.