Starburst Magazine - Boycotts NCsoft

[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.