Look, I know that some people are critical of my attitude towards NCsoft, but the simple truth is that during their negotiations with Paragon Studios, I bent over backwards trying to be as nice as I could towards NCsoft. I don't have a copy of the exact message I posted, but I was the guy who posted--and took quite a bit of grief for--the message on the official forums that "NCsoft is not our enemy." I conveyed many times that we the community simply wanted to ensure the continuity of the game, and warned NCsoft that there would be negative public relations consequences if they kicked us to the curb. I privately volunteered to do my best to help sell more copies of other NCsoft games, and does anyone remember even Mercedes Lackey volunteering to pitch NCsoft for free if they'd just work with us to keep the game running?
After which they promptly kicked us to the curb.
So yeah, I'm not exactly in the most conciliatory of moods towards NCsoft over this. And while I morally support the efforts of anyone who approaches NCsoft who thinks that they have a new and unique way of getting City of Heroes back up and running, the simple matter of the fact is that the "new efforts" have been ongoing for
a year and a half now. While I know that they have the best of intentions, and I still hope that they're able to pull some kind of miracle out of their hat, how long are you willing to be strung along by NCsoft? Has anyone considered the possibility that NCsoft is telling people what they want to hear specifically to avoid the PR backlash that was getting out of hand? "If we just make nice, they'll be a lot more likely to sell! It won't hurt, right?"
Except that in my opinion, it
does hurt. For one thing, I've seen people beaten up on the forums here and on Facebook for expressing the fundamental opinion that NCsoft sucks for what they did. For another, if there's no backlash and NCsoft gets away with it scot free, what kind of message does that send to them, and even to the industry as a whole? That you can shut down games and kick communities that have been loyal and dedicated to you for almost a decade without any negative consequence? If you want to send that message and are still under the mistaken belief that we have everything gain and nothing to lose by being nice, then by gummy, I won't stop you, everyone has a right to their opinion. But I'm not on board that train. And while I'm not actively encouraging people to be rude or obnoxious, I'm certainly not going to advice people against sending a stern message saying that this is unacceptable company behavior, and we will not financially support companies that engage in these practices.
Ultimately, if NCsoft parts with the IP for City of Heroes or in any way decides to relaunch the game, it's not going to be because the community made nice with them. We've done nice, and it didn't work. It's not even going to be because of the financial compensation for the game. They've been offered millions of dollars for it and turned it down. When it happens, it will be because either 1) they don't have a choice because they're being forced to by a higher authority or due to a dire need for money, or 2) we have a new boss in town with a different vision on how communities should be treated.
And yes, as Codewalker said, I am not with the team that's been communicating with NCsoft since September 2013 on trying to relaunch the game. All of that is my personal opinion. You are more than welcome to disagree, even post here that I'm crazy, and I won't hold it against you unless you're being egregiously confrontational. Like I said, I'm not trying to kill hope here because things
will change and as I've said before, they can say no a thousand times but all it takes is one yes. I'm actually pretty optimistic, but it's a long haul game. After a year and a half of dealing with them on a business level, five months since any word at all, I'm assuming that any kind of negotiations have at best indefinitely stalled (at worst been deliberately strung out) until I hear otherwise. But hey... prove me wrong!