Agreed on all these points, actually. (B&S is creepy as hell to me!) It's why I'm still on these boards despite finding a home in GW2 - I honestly believe that our media blitz about COH has caused enough face-losing that they may hesitate to pull a similar move on other MMOs.
We didn't protest or quit playing COH when they closed 4 other MMOs, we all had our blinders on. I actually hope like hell that the fact this group raised our voices and screamed when it happened to us makes me think that NCsoft may have to ask themselves if they want to risk it happening again. Better to cut loose the studio than that - and Anet being cut loose would make me SO freaking happy.
I for one have no hate for GW2 or Arenanet. I've been playing GW2 sporadically here and there. I've been impressed with the game a lot. It's very good. And I'll likely play more soon.
(I don't think it's anywhere NEAR as "groundbreaking" as a lot of people say. It's a high-fantasy MMO. That's not exactly genre busting. It has a lot of little quality of life upgrades that are nice and make the gameplay more convenient. And reward you more for sheer exploration than any other game other than COH. But that's about it.)
Some dear friends who bought the game on pre-order and jumped in early were raving about it and were about to drag me in.
And then Black Friday happened. And I regretfully told them I couldn't make that purchase or personally support the game monetarily in any way. I was disappointed, because I WANTED to play.
I'm serious. I COULD. NOT. DO. IT. I actually went down to a Gamestop and held the box in my hand for 15 minutes trying to convince myself to buy it for my friends sake. (Because in the case of at least one, it's the ONLY game they are now playing.)
But that NCSoft logo kept burning in my hand.
My friends surprised the heck out of me by chipping in and dividing up funds and bought me an account. "Call it an early Christmas Gift" was one response.
Well heck - what can you do? I can't refuse that gesture!
So yes. I'm in. And although an initial purchase was made on my behalf, I guess I technically stuck to my vow of never giving NCsoft another penny of my money.
I can do positive game reviews for them. If I was a video maker like Samuraiko I'd happily make videos of the gameplay and post on youtube and point out the cool things. I can learn the lore (and it's very interesting) and talk about it. And I can encourage COH players not to hate on them.
I can/would do all those things. But no money. None. Sorry. Can't.
Which is not to say I would refuse to support Arenanet IF THEY ESCAPED from NCSoft! If that happened I'd do a 180 and IMMEDIATELY do all I could to support them. Heck - I'd buy a whole new retail box if they did that! I like the game and the studio enough to wish them the best.
I don't think I'm alone or even in the minority here in my feelings. And there are plenty here who actually aren't as adamant about these sorts of things who have no problems making that purchase and enjoying GW2.
So please don't say Titan boards are a cesspool of hate for GW2. That's simply not true. We completely recognize that Arenanet is in a similar position as that of Paragon Studios. They're good people making a good game whose publisher may yet kill their game for no good reason.
If that happens, I'd like to think that Guild Wars players would JOIN us. We'd certainly fight on their behalf as well as ours!