First I think you need to correctly interpret the difference between desire and entitlement. There are people like myself who desire to have their character data restored if at all possible. Some like myself are willing to pay a fee if that actually helps offset the cost IF it were even available. Thats not entitlement..
There is also the issue that the servers COULD be shut down again.. that issue will need to be addressed. How long will maintenance mode last should it be acquired.. two years ?? four years ??
Is what you crave what I, or anyone else might crave.. not necessarily.. we all played City of Heroes.. but many for various different reasons and what you see as integral and important may not have the same meaning to another..
The clamor of what we may or many not get is certainly warranted because is the community and all its varying opinions, wants, needs and desires that make up the game... not simply the assets. Its the community that raised money for CoT for MWM to get the development tools they needed.. so the community has a right to express its opinion.. prayerfully in a respectful manner..
I don't think pinballdave is trying to argue that people don't have a right to express their opinion - if you want to voice a 'wishlist' of some kind, then go for it. *shrugs* I think he was merely expressing his OWN opinion that people getting their knickers in a twist about wanting this or wanting that will in no way have ANY effect on what the deal will or will not finally come to with NCSoft, should they even decide to humor the APR & Legacy teams with their efforts. I think at this point, the team knows what would obviously be the ideal for the COH community- which, of course, would be all of us retaining our character and account information and starting back up right where we left off.
...But unfortunately, the chances of that becoming the reality of our situation is becoming less and less. It's looking like that will NOT be happening, unless some major changes are made through the deals and negotiations (which still could happen, of course). So if you want to voice your complaints and stick to your montra of "Well it won't be the same, this is unfair, I still hate NCSoft..." yadda yadda, then go for it. You have ever right to do that (and I'm not saying you're doing that specifically, HEATSTROKE). But the rest of us will remain patient and optimistic, continue to fight and be grateful, and see how the cards unfold knowing that the people behind these efforts are doing their best to get our game back.
Step 1: get the game back.