I tried a slightly different angle. I have no idea if it'll work, if anyone will read it, but it was worth a try.
Greetings,
I am writing to beseech your support for the City of Heroes community's efforts to not lose their world. And I do not use that word lightly, for it is a world, albeit a virtual one, that I am referring to.
I am a Professor in the School of Broadcast and Cinematic Arts at Central Michigan University in the USA. My field of specialty is virtual identity, culture, and community. The City of Heroes community is truly unique when compared to all other virtual communities based around Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games. I have studied them extensively (WoW, LotRO, SWTOR, Champions, AoC, EQ, DCUO, EQ2), and none of the other game-based communities show the cohesiveness, the compassion, the genuine interest and caring, and the sense of honor, that the CoH community does. This is evident when one looks at everything the community has done in an effort to find a way for City of Heroes to continue.
Each semester, I bring students into CoH for a week-long exercise in virtual identity and community, and every semester there are those who stay and become paying players. I intend to continue this practice as long as I am able, for I wouldn't feel as positive about sending them into any other setting. In all of the other games previously mentioned, dozens of new players coming in at once would be ignored or ridiculed. In City of Heroes, they are greeted warmly, they are offered assistance, they have their questions answered, and they are given a very positive view of becoming part of an online community. As someone who has spent decades seeking to dispel the stereotype of gamers as callow, insensitive, and socially awkward, this exposure to a functional, prosperous online community is extremely important!
I also, of course, have personal reasons to wish to see City of Heroes continue on in some form. I have been a paying subscriber since August of 2004, adding a second paid account in 2008. City of Heroes is my home, a place where I can connect with friends no matter where in the world my travels take me. I have made life-long friends from my participation in the community, and enjoyed thousands of hours of gameplay. Both the game itself and the community have been such an integral part of my life for so long, I simply cannot imagine my life without knowing I can duck into Paragon for some much-needed stress relief with friends I never would have met were it not for City of Heroes!
If there is anything you can do to aid in the efforts to, somehow, continue City of Heroes, there are hundreds of thousands of individuals around the world who would be so very grateful, myself included.
Thank you for your time, your patience, and your understanding.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey S. Smith, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Internship Coordinator
School of Broadcast & Cinematic Arts