Starburst Magazine - Boycotts NCsoft

[Jordan Royce]

Hi Everyone,

Just to let you all know that Starburst Magazine (World's longest running sci-fi, horror, magazine) has just announced a boycott of NCsoft and all their products until the date that this is dealt with in a manner that is respectful towards all of the players of City Of Heroes.

The Editor of the mag had been a player for years, and felt a vested interest in this fight. We have tweeted the details to our 280,000 followers and will continue to inform them of unfolding events. We are also including an article on this whole debacle in our next issue (384) - which has just gone off to print.

Everyone at Starburst is incredibly impressed with the Save COH campaign. It is remarkable how well you have managed to rally the troops. We are behind you 100%

If there is anything else we can do to help, please let us know.

Starburst Magazine

http://www.starburstmagazine.com/editorial/3869-boycott-ncsoft
asdfasdf

[Minotaur]

Nice article, btw it's Blade and soul not black and soul.

[Mr. Wentworth]

So very excellent! Thank you for using your voice to share the story of City of Heroes with your audience. This is yet another example of how NCsoft completely underestimated their own audience. We have known for years that MMO players are from all walks of life. We are at the very least consumers with control of our purchasing decisions and right now we are at our best! We are a strong, unified voice. Thank you again, Jordan! Highest regards!

[Moonfyire101]

yay! we have a magazine that's behind us. Thats awesome! can we get some of our efforts in it maybe? some con pics from all of us passing out flyers and links to things we've done (charities, events we held etc) maybe? VV most likely has some really cool pics and the new york con has some i've seen (they had statesmen!) and the one i went to too.

This is great that we have more support for the boycott becuase boycotts only work if you can make them hurt. Bravo, I couldn't be happier as one of the boycotters.

That website makes me happy ^^

[Flashtoo]

This is what needs to happen right now. NC isn't going to budge, more likely than not, but when the City of Heroes lights go out, we'll have nothing left to lose - either they sell the IP, or the whole Western market hears about how they can't be trusted, until there's no foothold left for them here. Sure, maybe the company will survive... but they will trouble us no longer.

[DrakeGrimm]

You see, that's the funny thing about being a hero. You wind up with allies and friends in the craziest of places.

[therain93]

There's a few editorial inaccuracies in there....

"massively multi player online video game"

The 2nd paragraph states that it is the "second longest running MMO"

The same sentence also states that we started after WoW, when in fact it opened before hand.

And, as mentioned Black and Soul should be Blade and Soul.

[The White Rager]

Well...this is delightfully definitive and delightfully beneficial to us! Thanks to all of you at Starburst for this new contribution to our efforts. This is the sort of real weight we need to be able to bring to bear. We have a lot of material that could use an outlet, so let us know if and when we might contribute

I realize, of course, that you, as a professional magazine, have standards you must maintain - when I say contribute, I mean we turn over our work for you to use as works best for you, whether that means some editing or cut and pasting various bits for use in other articles. Obviously you cannot simply publish our eclectic efforts, but they represent quite a collection of various insights and angles, and some of it might well be fit to publish as is. Or you could just browse through these forums for goodies - but that's a lot more time consuming than inviting us to pm you links in a thread.

[Rae]

Thanks so much,  Starburst (always knew there was a reason I liked you more than SFX, and it wasn't just because you have Ian writing for you )

[Jordan Royce]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for pointing out a few things that needed editing.

In answer to some of your questions. We are more than happy to feature your efforts. In particular if it does go dark on the 30th November then we would love to do a follow up feature in the print edition on all of your efforts. Most importantly should an alternative version (of whatever form) be launched we will do everything we can to get the word out.

Feel free to email info@starburstmagazine.com if there is anything we can do to help.

Starburst Magazine

[Colette]

Heck yeah! :: Applauds! ::

Especially love this -- "...until the date that this is dealt with in a manner that is respectful towards all of the players of City Of Heroes." That just sums it up beautifully. We have not just had our game shut down, we have been dissed!

Welcome to the barricades, Starburst and company.

[Artillerie]

Just wondering, but what happened to all of the comments that were posted? Did you remove them because they were correcting inaccuracies of the original Editorial?

I would imagine that the comments are no longer there because the mistakes have been corrected and it is really a new article.

Just to say - it is great to see this support, thank you Starburst

[Kaiser Tarantula]

Y'know what, I might just have to go subscribe to Starburst for being such bros about this.

Feel free to bring Meathead over onto the Beta server.  I'd be happy to join him in beating some unsuspecting villains into senseless heaps.

[Jordan_Lee]

I'm totally giving you e-hugs right now.

Thankies!

 

[Golden Girl]

This is a very nice gesture - and with over a quarter of a million followers, we might be able to help snowball this.

[The White Rager]

If that's the way we're rolling, we'd better start putting our weight behind it. Here's a link I've found to what seems like a solidly written article also espousing a boycott on NCSoft. I'll bring in more shortly. Let's get to it gang!

[Kaiser Tarantula]

If that's the way we're rolling, we'd better start putting our weight behind it. Here's a link I've found to what seems like a solidly written article also espousing a boycott on NCSoft. I'll bring in more shortly. Let's get to it gang!

Psst, you forgot your link.

[Terwyn]

I will be including news of this boycott in my next entry of Voices.

[Victoria Victrix]

Mr. Royce, if there is ANYTHING I can do for you and your publication please let me know.  And thank you.

[Atlantea]

Pssst!!  Jordan? Victoria Victrix in the post above me? That's Mercedes Lackey! She's probably too modest to mention it herself.

[eviella]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

This is EXACTLY what I needed right now.  Knowing that the word actually is getting out there, knowing that we're being listened to, knowing that we're not just an echo chamber here and in the game.

Like I've said, we might not get our game back.  But the fight matters, not just for us but to keep this from happening to other games in the future.  And this attention feels like a victory; what we do matters.  Thank you.

[DrakeGrimm]

They can never silence our voice.


...you can't stop the signal. You can never stop....the signal....

[Knightslayer]

Wow, many thanks!
Seeing support from Starburst made for a very nice surprise today! 

[TargetOne]

This is awesome. I can't even begin to describe how awesome this is. If only more print magazine and website editors would have the guts to call for a boycott!

Personally, I wish any widely-published review or news item involving NCSoft or any of their games would mention the CoH shutdown in a negative light. Even more, I wish game reviewers would dock points for it. (Can you imagine, oh, say, PC Gamer printing the line "Guild Wars 2 is an awesome game, but we cannot recommend it"?)

No matter how good NCSoft's other games may be, their corporate behavior is inexcusable and cannot be allowed to continue unchecked without SOME form of material punishment. Clearly, the only thing they care about is the bottom line, so let's stop beating around the bush and HURT their bottom line.

(I'll allow that hurting NCSoft financially also hurts the studios that publish though them. Great studios like ArenaNet shouldn't be blamed for NCSoft's mentality. But that can't be helped. We need to make both individual developers and entire studios realize that they don't WANT to work with NCSoft.)

By the way, has there been any progress on the idea of printing a message to gamers and/or stockholders in Korean publications? Or at least on Korean websites? I fear that no number of English-language articles or news items will really be enough to hit NCSoft in their home territory. It's clear they don't care about the Western markets, but if we can get the general public in Korea to see just how much they suck, NCSoft might actually have cause for concern...

TargetOne

[The Fifth Horseman]

Added a note about this to the Wikipedia entry.

[OzonePrime]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

This is EXACTLY what I needed right now.  Knowing that the word actually is getting out there, knowing that we're being listened to, knowing that we're not just an echo chamber here and in the game.

Like I've said, we might not get our game back.  But the fight matters, not just for us but to keep this from happening to other games in the future.  And this attention feels like a victory; what we do matters.  Thank you.

This is definitely a shot in arm! So needed this!

[The White Rager]

Attempt two to post my link to a solid article other than Starburst's espousing a boycott. Now it's been started by someone with weight, let's get behind the movement and keep it going. And make sure boycotting is all over the net, so anyone looking in NCSoft gets some seriously bad vibes.


http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9114174

[The Fifth Horseman]

"Someone with weight"? I'm clueless as to who this person is; can you elaborate in case this is a source notable enough for inclusion in the Wikipedia article?

[Knightslayer]

"Someone with weight"? I'm clueless as to who this person is; can you elaborate in case this is a source notable enough for inclusion in the Wikipedia article?

I took it as the "someone with weight" meaning Starburst (having set the example).

[marquandDance]

Linked it on reddit, probably worth liking it for more exposure.  Only takes a minute to sign up.

edit, probably good to include the link

http://redd.it/12vmbf

[Kitsudragon]

Wow. Saw this earlier today during lunchtime. I was listening to AC/DC, and when I read the post, I really *was* "Thunderstruck"! That really made my day!

Now I feel and ancient desire to write a story manifesting. I haven't had the time in years to feed the desire to write, but I might find the time now. What's the link to the magazine? I'd like to find what their submission requirements are.

Thanks for the great news!

[CapaDevans]

Thank you Starburst!

[emu265]

Wow, that's great.  Thank you.  Didn't expect something like this, to be completely honest.  But I am very happily surprised, it really means a lot!

[Rae]

Starburst have shown us a huge amount of support, it'd be cool if we could support them back with a few comments.

I know we can't comment on the editorial about the boycott, but they've also put up this story:

http://www.starburstmagazine.com/gaming-news/3867-gaming-news-city-of-heroes-update

If you've got a few minutes, we should all head over there and say a big old thank you

[The Fifth Horseman]

Oh, this one... this one is sweet.

[Thunder Glove]

That's wonderful.

I think my only qualm with the article is that you should probably have noted that the game was still under active development when it was killed.  I think that's a vitally important point. 

CoH wasn't a dying game slowly wheezing to a halt; on the contrary, a highly-anticipated update was only weeks away from release when the shutdown was announced, and the devs had major story arcs planned out for at least four major updates after that one.  On top of that, at least twelve powersets (four on the Beta server, six more in active development, at least two more in the planning stages) were being readied for the game, a new zone (Khalisti Wharf) was being made as well, and the long-asked-for Moonbase was going to be added as part of the four-update story arc mentioned above.  Heck, they just added brand-new technology into the beta client for better cutscenes and movie-making.

CoH was not ready to die. It was still growing and flourishing. That's why it was such a shock.  Everyone - devs and players alike - were excited and looking forward to the future, and it was all taken away in an instant.

That would just strengthen the overall point of the article, I think: NCSoft will take your game away even if it's in the middle of a major update, even if it seems healthy, without warning, without explanation, and without mercy.  They cannot be trusted.

[The White Rager]

This is a good point, actually. We keep ending up talking about profit because everyone assumes the game must have been failing, but the fact is that while in the black, profit was not CoH's big selling point when they put out the verdict. The real argument is that it was still making profit AND HAD IMMENSE POTENTIAL TO IMPROVE AND GROW. That puts things in a very different perspective: CoH was a game that still had what it took to make a huge comeback with the right support - support in terms of advertising and publicity, not just developments (which were superb of course). It was still dynamic, still relevant, still capable of capturing new hearts, not just keeping the ones who were already devoted to it. THIS, and why it is true, should be what we emphasize most when discussing why killing the game so thoroughly was just plain stupid. Our big challenge? To write it out so someone who never played will understand and believe in it. There's a thread running on making a 'why save City of Heroes' site, it should be paid attention to.

[The Fifth Horseman]

I think my only qualm with the article is that you should probably have noted that the game was still under active development when it was killed.  I think that's a vitally important point. 

CoH wasn't a dying game slowly wheezing to a halt; on the contrary, a highly-anticipated update was only weeks away from release when the shutdown was announced, and the devs had major story arcs planned out for at least four major updates after that one.  On top of that, at least twelve powersets (four on the Beta server, six more in active development, at least two more in the planning stages) were being readied for the game, a new zone (Khalisti Wharf) was being made as well, and the long-asked-for Moonbase was going to be added as part of the four-update story arc mentioned above.  Heck, they just added brand-new technology into the beta client for better cutscenes and movie-making.

Indeed, it's very important.
I could use some media sources reporting on that - if you can find any - to add a note to the Wikipedia entry.

[Codewalker]

This is a good point, actually. We keep ending up talking about profit because everyone assumes the game must have been failing...

I'd just like to point out, and this is what I've been saying to all the people in various other forums who keep saying "It wasn't making enough money", that NCSoft did not say that COH wasn't making enough money. In fact, they went out of their way to avoid saying that, something that they didn't do for any of the other games they've closed.

Tabula Rasa, Auto Assault, and Dungeon Runners all cited low subscriber numbers and revenue as the primary reason in their shutdown announcements. The only thing NCSoft has said about City of Heroes is "realignment of company focus", whatever that means. I think it's very telling that they've specifically avoided mentioning the financial aspects.

[The Fifth Horseman]

"Realignment of company focus and publishing support" is just a fancy way of saying "we decided to terminate it", nothing more.

[Twisted Toon]

"Realignment of company focus and publishing support" is just a fancy way of saying "we decided to terminate it", nothing more.

Right. However, they cited low subscriber numbers and income as the reasons for closing the other games. Not a single mention of that for CoH.

There is a miniscule possibility that they wanted to change up the tired old "we're closing your game because it's not making us dump-trucks full of cash". I seriously doubt it though.

[Ironwolf]

Here is the thing - if that were true I would not have complained - it would have been a sad sigh and understanding of shooting old Yeller.

Sometimes a man has to shoot his dog if it gets too old or sick, but whoever had this idea was obviously on strong medication.

[Aggelakis]

http://www.starburstmagazine.com/gaming-news/3867-gaming-news-city-of-heroes-update

This article calls our home Liberty City. Wrong game (Grand Theft Auto).

While I understand sometimes making mistakes, that means every single article they've written about us has had errors in it. :/

[Knightslayer]

Here is the thing - if that were true I would not have complained - it would have been a sad sigh and understanding of shooting old Yeller.

Sometimes a man has to shoot his dog if it gets too old or sick, but whoever had this idea was obviously on strong medication.

Same here, Ironwolf - it's something I've mentioned several times to my friends, I fully understand that NCSoft is a business, and at the end of the day it all comes down to profit for them.
I'd have been unhappy about it, but when it can't be helped, it can't be helped.

[Knightslayer]

http://www.starburstmagazine.com/gaming-news/3867-gaming-news-city-of-heroes-update

This article calls our home Liberty City. Wrong game (Grand Theft Auto).

While I understand sometimes making mistakes, that means every single article they've written about us has had errors in it. :/

My guess is that they either haven't played it, or it was a while ago and things got blurred - hopefully someone will be able to contact them about correcting the mistake.
It's still a nice gesture of them though.

[The Fifth Horseman]

Or their editor "corrected" the article before it was published.

[Luna Eclypse]

After having to start a 4 AM shift and getting pulled over for speeding on the way, I came home after work to read this and it immediately made my day better.

Granted, I'm now enjoying a blossoming new hero career on Champions Online, I will never forget my roots and I make sure the veterans of that game know who they're getting and dealing with. I can't just imagine the last 7 years never happened, but I can't bring myself to look at the game anymore from all this BS that has it breathing it's last breath.

The most I can muster is to social network and spread links around like this article. My gratitude goes out to the editor and staff at Starburst Magazine. Thank you for standing with us in our hour of need.

[Jordan_Lee]

I don't subscribe to any gamer mags myself, but have we been able to get any other magazines/websites to post articles (hopefully feature articles with BIG lettering) about the attempt to save, and the recommendation to voice dissatisfaction or distrust with NCSoft? Having this one out is exciting, I hope more will pick up and decide to publish something like it as well to get the word out to more people.

[Aggelakis]

A couple.

http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,4908.0.html

[johnrobey]

Attempt two to post my link to a solid article other than Starburst's espousing a boycott. Now it's been started by someone with weight, let's get behind the movement and keep it going. And make sure boycotting is all over the net, so anyone looking in NCSoft gets some seriously bad vibes.

http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9114174

Thank you for posting this link, White Rager.  I'd have missed seeing that article otherwise.

[johnrobey]

Hi Everyone,

Just to let you all know that Starburst Magazine (World's longest running sci-fi, horror, magazine) has just announced a boycott of NCsoft and all their products until the date that this is dealt with in a manner that is respectful towards all of the players of City Of Heroes.

The Editor of the mag had been a player for years, and felt a vested interest in this fight. We have tweeted the details to our 280,000 followers and will continue to inform them of unfolding events. We are also including an article on this whole debacle in our next issue (384) - which has just gone off to print.

Everyone at Starburst is incredibly impressed with the Save COH campaign. It is remarkable how well you have managed to rally the troops. We are behind you 100%

If there is anything else we can do to help, please let us know.

Starburst Magazine

http://www.starburstmagazine.com/editorial/3869-boycott-ncsoft
asdfasdf

Thank you, Mr. Jordan Royce and thank you, Starburst Magazine.

While others noted previously that the MMORPGs killed by NCSoft lacked player numbers hence revenue all were at least technically "under development."  Ok.  Now, did any of these other "sunsetted" MMORPGs have cash markets selling new items less than 10 days prior to their sunset announcements?

While I might never be happy about the closing of City of Heroes, your article brings up ethics.  While NCSoft did refund the unused/unusable portion of my annual subscription, I bought my latest batch of paragon market points prior to the time period they're refunding (though only by a few weeks.)   How ethical is it to sell upgrades and add-ons to a product that will literally not exist in a short while?  Sure.  I get to play with my paid for "toys" for 3 months, courtesy of NCSoft, at a time when 90+% of the players I regularly teamed up with no longer play due directly to the sunset notice?

Legal?  I presume it must be.  Ethical?  How can NCSoft NOT understand what our customer feelings are at this treatment (other than willfully not wanting to understand its customers)?

Digression: I truly do support the MMORPG players Customer Bill of Rights movement.  Myself, I'd be satisfied if these products were usable for six months to one year.  Every time I paid extra money for a booster pack, I considered it an investment in my enjoyment of CoH for the life of the game and/or my interest in CoH.  Selling me something for a soon to be nonexistent product seems a scam.  (Real nitpicky vent digression: buying an account-wide Team Transporter power is nifty when part of an active group but less useful when the publisher's actions drives away one's sgmates - yeah I get to use it solo or as part of a Pick Up Group.  Ditto for the extra enhancement trays that would have made respec'ing characters much easier.  Sure, my toons can carry more enhancements, but I see little reason to respec any of them seeing as they're going to limbo soon.)

[Graphite]

Thank you so much for your support!  This means alot to us regular folks still in the trenches as we keep fighting the good fight.

/em salute