I'm working on something to post to my blog regarding City of Heroes, its history, and its future.
I'd like players to provide a paragraph detailing why they play, so that I can tie it all together with the general point of the post.
Since I'd intended the blog as being largely tied to literature and technology, Paragon City seems like a seemless blend of the two major aspects I want to deal with, and I hope to start it off with something extremely important.
Why do I play City of Heroes? I've been at the game for the past four years (having started September 21, 2008), paying for full year stints in advance. In part, it's been stress relief from work--a chance to unwind after teaching all week. In part, it's also something that my girlfriend and I have in common and enjoy doing together. In part, it's a chance to do all that fun superheroic stuff that I've only been able to dream of in my head with many other superhero paper and dice RPGs of the past; the immense amount of customization available to the player of City of Heroes was what got me into the game, enabling me to try all manner of fun creations over the years. However, despite all the above, being able to spend time with the many friends I've met playing those creations is perhaps the chief reason I've continued playing to the present.
When I started City of Villain just came out. I got the Good vs. Evil edition. It was just a game for me then. I live in an area where going out isn't easy, add to that I'm phobic of crowds 4 or more people around me and I'm uncomfortable, a club level of population and i'm in panic mode. Then City of Heroes got in me deeper then any game before. So many ways to make a new character I could see my creations rendered if not fully very close to what I had in mind. thought in game I still tend to run solo I interact with others. I made friends and even met a girlfriend (thought we broke up later). What I want to save isn't a 8 year-old game, it's the lore, the experience, the franchise, and most importantly the community. All those will be lost when the servers go dark, and yes I have gone and tried out the other Superhero games. It's not the same like trying to sleep in a strange bed.
I play City of Heroes because it's a place where dreams can come alive. Every character I create can have a unique appearance, and I can give each its own individual backstory telling where it's from and how it gained its superpowers. City of Heroes is a world full of such unique individuals, each hero or villain a work of creative art in its own right. And that's before the 'game' proper has even started for that character! For me, above all else, City of Heroes is a playground for the imagination. It is a place where co-operation reigns supreme, where different skills need to come together in order to triumph over adversity. It is nothing less than a testing ground for the human spirit. And I play because I believe that dreams are what define humanity, and the dreams of today can become the reality of tomorrow. The motto of Paragon City is the "Birthplace of Tomorrow", and so it is. Countless dreams have been born there over the past eight years. Paragon City may die, but those dreams can never be killed.
I've been a part of City of Heroes since 2003. Pre-beta.
I'm a geek; lover of RPGs, sci-fi, comics, wrestling, you name it. The very concept of this game -- the very possibility it would exist -- was so exciting. The forums were buzzing with so much creativity. Heroes were born, relationships formed, and stories unfolded, spreading from thread to thread like a wildfire. In our hearts and minds, this world was already as big as Marvel and DC before we saw one pixel of Paragon City. I think a huge factor in the development and success of the game was that Cryptic (and later Paragon) Studios heard us and felt the same way... they were just as excited and in love with the concept of that world.
The only way I can describe my first experience of walking the streets of Paragon City is to say it was my teen pen-and-paper days all over again.
...oh, and I. GOT. TO. FLY. Circling around skycrapers! The first moment I dropped down in the middle of a group of Skulls and cleared them out in a flurry of punches... I don't think it ever got old. It was that stupid Real Life thing that pulled me away from the game. I still stayed in touch with my teammates. They became a family of sorts. I never got that from Everquest -- or any other game before or since. Hell, here it is nearly 10 years later! I still keep in touch with a bunch of the guys I build these characters with pre-Beta, even after a few months on, then off, then repeat.
I live out in the country, 20 miles from the nearest small town. Needless to say, as a liberal female fantasy writer I don't have much in common with my neighbors. My best friend only has internet at work and does not have chat. Other friends and collaborators don't have chat at all, or have limited internet. Virtually 90% of my contact with the rest of the human race comes via the acquaintances I have made in CoH. I do have some people I consider very good friends, some of whom are also collaborators, who have not vanished completely as they leave City, but they are much, much younger than I am (I am 62) and have lives outside of work. Often I do not talk to them for as much as a week at a time, and then it is only a few lines of chat. All I have left now is my husband and my work. I am feeling horribly alone and lonely now.
As a writer, I am deeply invested in my characters and their stories. Some of them have made it on to professional prose, but writing is very hard work, and nothing like as immersive as the experience of playing their stories and reactions. NCSoft is going to do something no one else ever has: completely destroy almost a hundred of my characters and stories. Legally, that is not a criminal action. But by all that is holy, it should be.
Why do I play? If you had asked me that question six years ago I'm not sure I could have answered it. I was never much into video games, I had an ancient (for the time) computer, and I had much more important things that demanded my attention. Yet, there was...something... that kept bringing me back time and again. I now know what that something is.
I had the freedom to be whoever I wanted, do whatever I wanted to do, go wherever I wanted to go. I could leap tall buildings, I could fly, I could throw fire or control minds or defeat a dozen foes at once. I was, in short, a hero. I was the star of the greatest story in the world and, to make it even better, I found people who loved it as much as I did. I made friends with people from all corners of the planet.
Over the last six years, I've tried other games. Some were good, some were not, but none of them were home. Paragon City is my city, my home.
That is why I play.
I play CITY OF HEROES because it allows me to express creativity in ways I'd not considered - and I've considered a LOT. Character biographies, costumes, stories, and videos - it has been an outlet for me in so many forms. It rescued me from writer's block and stifled creativity that was slowly killing my spirit. Not just that - it has been entertainment for my husband and me when we couldn't afford anything else. It has brought new friends into my life, both online and in the real world. It has helped me develop and further my professional skills as a writer and videographer. And it has allowed me to make people laugh, cry, cheer, and celebrate our game through the videos and stories I've created as a result.
COH is not just a game; for me, it's a way of life, and a way to LIVE.
Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite
Obviously, I'm not going to attach any names to this unless I'm given permission, but I think that's enough. I should have a first draft done by tomorrow night.
Here's the first draft. It took me a little while longer to get it the way I wanted. I won't post it until I've had a chance to get feedback.
Voices from Paragon, Part I
I play City of Heroes.
Despite the announcement of its impending shut down (http://ca.ign.com/articles/2012/08/31/city-of-heroes-developer-shuts-down), I find it very difficult to conceive of saying so in the past tense. I am certainly not the only one. I asked a group of players why they play City of Heroes, and got some very different answers. As such, it is necessary to scribe these answers, and the experiences of the players behind them, into memory.
First up is a player known to me as Tubbius, who had this to say:
QuoteWhy do I play City of Heroes? I've been at the game for the past four years (having started September 21, 2008), paying for full year stints in advance. In part, it's been stress relief from work--a chance to unwind after teaching all week. In part, it's also something that my girlfriend and I have in common and enjoy doing together. In part, it's a chance to do all that fun superheroic stuff that I've only been able to dream of in my head with many other superhero paper and dice RPGs of the past; the immense amount of customization available to the player of City of Heroes was what got me into the game, enabling me to try all manner of fun creations over the years. However, despite all the above, being able to spend time with the many friends I've met playing those creations is perhaps the chief reason I've continued playing to the present.
Given my own reasons for playing City of Heroes, which will be described in the final part of this series, I completely understand where Tubbius is coming from. In all the games I have played online, only City of Heroes had a truly realized community, as I have heard countless stories of how this game has enriched lives, my own included among them.
Another player, known as Rotten Luck, told me:
QuoteWhen I started City of Villain just came out. I got the Good vs. Evil edition. It was just a game for me then. I live in an area where going out isn't easy, add to that I'm phobic of crowds 4 or more people around me and I'm uncomfortable, a club level of population and I'm in panic mode. Then City of Heroes got in me deeper than any game before. So many ways to make a new character I could see my creations rendered if not fully very close to what I had in mind. Though in game I still tend to run solo I interact with others. I made friends and even met a girlfriend (thought we broke up later). What I want to save isn't an 8 year-old game; it's the lore, the experience, the franchise, and most importantly the community. All those will be lost when the servers go dark, and yes I have gone and tried out the other Superhero games. It's not the same like trying to sleep in a strange bed.
Given my understanding of how important a community is to a person's healthy psychological development, I view the impending shut down of this game to be no less severe a blow than being evicted from one's home. Given that for both Rotten Luck and I, this game is a social training tool, it is very difficult to see where we can go without having to fight against our very natures.
Turjan presented an extremely valuable insight, by saying:
QuoteI play City of Heroes because it's a place where dreams can come alive. Every character I create can have a unique appearance, and I can give each its own individual backstory telling where it's from and how it gained its superpowers. City of Heroes is a world full of such unique individuals, each hero or villain a work of creative art in its own right. And that's before the 'game' proper has even started for that character! For me, above all else, City of Heroes is a playground for the imagination. It is a place where co-operation reigns supreme, where different skills need to come together in order to triumph over adversity. It is nothing less than a testing ground for the human spirit. And I play because I believe that dreams are what define humanity, and the dreams of today can become the reality of tomorrow. The motto of Paragon City is the "Birthplace of Tomorrow", and so it is. Countless dreams have been born there over the past eight years. Paragon City may die, but those dreams can never be killed.
Humans as a species thrive in environments where new stories are told, and the City of Heroes is certainly no exception. Unlike nearly every other online game that I have played, the focus is not on competition, but rather co-operation, even between those who play heroes and those who play villains. We have learned to excel at uniting against common threats, which is perhaps the strongest reason why our response to learning that our online home is going to be deactivated is what it has been. In the game as super heroes we daily battle threats to our City and World. Is it any wonder we would respond in a positive and powerful way to yet another threat?
No human can survive long without having an outlet for their dreams and imagination, and I suspect that many of the other players of City of Heroes will find it difficult, if not impossible, to integrate themselves into the player base of other games. Paragon City was unique, and will likely never fully be replaced.
In my studies, I have learned that many of the strongest brands around the world have developed not only a strong cultural attachment, but a community focus as well. Take tea, for example. This simple plant extract has such a strong impact on human civilization that it has triggered more than one war, and millions of people around the world take time away from every day to simply enjoy a cup with their friends, family and co-workers.
City of Heroes is more than just a game, as we, the players, have adopted the developers of our game as our own. They are a part of the same family, so in learning of the closure of the studio to which they have dedicated nearly a decade of their lives, we had no choice.
We bought them dinner. (http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09/13/city-of-heroes-fans-buy-paragon-studios-a-meal-and-proclaim-alle/)
This was only the beginning.
Edit: Made some changes
Looks good :)
There is one thing though - this sentence :-
QuoteWe have learned to excel at uniting against common threats, which is perhaps the strongest reason why our response to learning that our online home is going to be deactivated.
- seems incomplete. Feels to me like a few words there should be juggled around a bit, something like :-
"...which is perhaps the strongest reason why we responded as we did to the news that our online home is going to be deactivated."
Or even:
In the game as super heroes we daily battle threats to our City and World. Is it any wonder we would respond in a positive and powerful way to yet another threat?
I dislike how truncating my own thoughts occasionally occurs. Thanks for catching that.
Quote from: Ironwolf on October 25, 2012, 03:38:22 PM
Or even:
In the game as super heroes we daily battle threats to our City and World. Is it any wonder we would respond in a positive and powerful way to yet another threat?
(https://images.weserv.nl/?url=www.fragglerockforever.com%2FCoX%2FCoHndescendingWonka.jpg)
http://missingworlds.wordpress.com/2012/10/25/voices-from-paragon-part-one/
It is now live!
Why do I play City of Heroes:
There are a few interlocking reasons here. First, I've been playing games since childhood, and the games I favor are the ones that let you explore and - when video games started having that option - make your own character, and customize your experience, and are not focused on competing with other players. First-person shooters and arcade-style fighting games leave me cold. I devoured the Pokemon series, with its ample flexibility in party combinations and playstyle options, in my early teens. When I discovered BioWare, I latched right onto Knights of the Old Republic, especially the second one with its even greater depth of dialogue trees, individual character stories, and character build customization options, and held on well into other BioWare titles (I'm halfway through the first Dragon Age and loved the first and second Mass Effect games; still need to get my hands on Jade Empire). However, aside from City of Heroes, my great love in video games is, and remains, the Elder Scrolls, in particular Morrowind: while it looked interesting to me even on its own, once I discovered that it came with its own Construction Set and there was a whole community of people online who dedicated even more of their spare time to allowing the player to be exactly the character they wanted to be
than they did to actually playing the game, I did nothing else for years. I'm still a part of that community, though I've become a little more scarce over the past couple of years, for one reason and one reason only:
City of Heroes is better. Morrowind (and Skyrim, and I suppose even Oblivion) are all fantastic worlds to explore, in which you play exactly what you want to play - an aside; I played WoW for about twenty minutes before I got tired of being Orc Shaman #3,428, I mean, sure, I got to pick my own hair color and style and skin tone but any game that changes your avatar's outward appearance based on what equipment you're wearing only goes so far in terms of visual distinction if you can't add new equipment yourself - but The Elder Scrolls series comprises single-player games, which means that there is no ingame, real-time roleplay as the character you've dreamed up. The next best thing is tabletop RPGs; I've played a lot of D&D, Star Wars D20, and even tabletop Dragonball (which was far more amazing than I could have ever expected), but tabletop also lacks - there is a limited pool of players, sessions have to be set up and agreed upon ahead of time, meeting in person is inconvenient, rolling dice slows things down, etc., and there are also no visuals. To imagine is one thing, but to be shown is another thing entirely. This is the crux of what makes City of Heroes my most beloved video game title: My character, that I play with hundreds of other people, in real time, feels like
my creation as I watch him fight evil using the powers that I have chosen for him.
The second reason, that I believe depends heavily on the first - I have Asperger's syndrome and it gives me severe social anxiety, and if not for this game, I would not have friends. It's much, much easier for me to understand the minds and motives of fictional characters than real people, so I gain relief from this anxiety when there's a safe curtain of fiction between me and whoever's on the other end, that I can pass through at my own pace. This
works. Case in point: I just got back from a vacation in Mexico, on the Mayan Riviera, arranged by the co-leader of my SG. This kind of real friendship is not something that comes easily to me, and it only happened because of our RP together and later, our joint efforts to keep our SG running. The only other place that I can encounter this safety curtain is at conventions, and even then, it's neither as effective (conventions end, and people go home to unreachable places) nor anywhere near as affordable, not to mention a much greater expenditure of time and energy, which I can't sustain for long.
Lastly, Ms. Lackey has already said exactly what I feel, though I don't write professionally:
QuoteAs a writer, I am deeply invested in my characters and their stories. Some of them have made it on to professional prose, but writing is very hard work, and nothing like as immersive as the experience of playing their stories and reactions. NCSoft is going to do something no one else ever has: completely destroy almost a hundred of my characters and stories. Legally, that is not a criminal action. But by all that is holy, it should be.
Sorry Plangkye, but I already have more than enough.
I'll see what I can do about fitting your voice in, but what you've written is much longer than what I need. Think you can trim it down significantly?
If not, you're more than welcome to post it as a comment.
What you can't use Terwyn we can post in some kind of CoH memorial site. Host these "Voices" as well as Screen shots and videos.
I can't tell you how much I like that idea.
The second entry is being drafted, and with VV's kind permission, I will be reproducing not only her answers to some of my questions, but both of her letters to NCSoft.
It will be quite lengthy, and before posting it I will certainly share it here for feedback. Ammon, I would be exceedingly grateful if you assisted me in maximizing its SEO presence.
Below is the first draft of the second entry of the series. I would appreciate a thorough criticism, as well as advice in making it as effective an on-line piece as possible.
I was also going to include what we know as the "Kibun" letter, but since I am unsure of its final form, I felt it safer to save it for later.
Thank you, again, VV, for taking the time to answer my questions. I hope my efforts meet with your approval.
It should be noted that this is only the text, the formatting will be much more professional.
QuoteI live out in the country, 20 miles from the nearest small town. Needless to say, as a liberal female fantasy writer I don't have much in common with my neighbors. My best friend only has internet at work and does not have chat. Other friends and collaborators don't have chat at all, or have limited internet. Virtually 90% of my contact with the rest of the human race comes via the acquaintances I have made in CoH. I do have some people I consider very good friends, some of whom are also collaborators, who have not vanished completely as they leave City, but they are much, much younger than I am (I am 62) and have lives outside of work. Often I do not talk to them for as much as a week at a time, and then it is only a few lines of chat. All I have left now is my husband and my work. I am feeling horribly alone and lonely now.
As a writer, I am deeply invested in my characters and their stories. Some of them have made it on to professional prose, but writing is very hard work, and nothing like as immersive as the experience of playing their stories and reactions. NCSoft is going to do something no one else ever has: completely destroy almost a hundred of my characters and stories. Legally, that is not a criminal action. But by all that is holy, it should be.
~Mercedes LacKey
When a multi-award winning best-selling author, beloved by thousands around the world, complains of a terrible loneliness and isolation, something is terribly wrong.
After taking part in a podcast with Mercedes two weeks ago, (You can access it here) I started collecting stories from other players for the purpose of getting a better picture of the player community. I did not expect her to add her own. Intrigued by her comment about the consequences of the shut down, I asked her a few more questions, reproduced below.
QuoteMW: You characterized the consequences of the shut-down of City of Heroes as doing something no one else ever has - completely destroying over a hundred of your characters and their stories. This is certainly not at all similar to one of your books being taken out of print, and is certainly something which likely has never happened before to an extremely prolific author. What should the publishing world think of this occurrence? What measures ought to be taken to ensure that this can never happen again?
ML: In fact, this is vastly more devastating than having a book go out of print. When a book goes out of print, the author still has a copy of her original manuscript. Her readers can still get used copies. And all authors are protected by "reversion of rights" clauses, essentially "use it or lose it" clauses in our contracts that stipulate that if a book is out of print for X number of years (as little as two, generally not more than 5) we get all rights back and we can do what we want with it, including reselling it and putting it back in print with another house. And, in fact, many authors have done just that. Or nowadays, as is happening with the Marion Zimmer Bradley Trust, going straight to e-book, wherein all the profit comes right back to the author. In the case of City of Heroes, my characters and their storylines will be gone. Inaccessible. Forever. It's as if NCSoft willfully came to my house, blew up my computer and burned all my manuscripts. Personally I think that the publishing world, authors, and game designers should be appalled. I strongly believe that game designers should also have reversion of rights clauses in their work, so companies like NCSoft can't squat on the carcasses of games like greedy vultures until the end of time.
The very thought of a permanent destruction of years' worth of work is horrifying, regardless of where it may occur. The concept of applying many of the same rules which protect traditional authors to game designers and studios is fascinating, and certainly one which could only be of a benefit. As one who is working on one's own novels, I am stricken with a sense of fear. If this is happening to her, what may prevent it from happening to others, unless better protections are put in place?
QuoteMW: City of Heroes has been a lifeline for so many people, myself included, largely due to the strength of the community that built up as a result of the game. What do you think contributed to the existence of such a tenacious and intractable community, and its response to the impending demise of its home?
ML: I think there are a number of factors that led to the development of this community. City of Heroes began as heroes only. Somewhere I read a quotation by a famous theologian, that even if you do not feel prayerful, if you put yourself in the posture of prayer, devotion will come. Even though people might not have felt themselves to have the "heroic virtues," by acting them out within the game, I think many of them actually acquired the heroic virtues. That tended to contribute to a less exploitative and more cooperative community in general. City of Heroes also lent itself to extensive roleplay within the context of the City story arcs, and as psychologists the world over will tell you, roleplay can be both therapeutic and character-building. As a result the game encouraged the building of community ties, cooperation, friendship, even some real-world romance. In short, for the long-term players, it stopped being "a game" and started having value far outside mere gameplay. It became our village, the place where we came after work to socialize, gossip, have some improvisational theater, and maybe gain a level or two. Given the experiences that NCSoft has seen with its partner Nexon regarding Nexon's social game, "Maple Story," where the social aspect is the game, they have to have brains made of aged linoleum to be surprised at the strength of our negative response to ripping our world out from under us. Really, their stupidity just astonishes me.
Certainly, City of Heroes is a unique addition to the entire MMO genre, winning multiple awards as well as several entries in the Guinness Book of Records, including being the first MMO to use adaptive difficulty as well as being the first to institute a mentoring system. Despite its age, it proved an intractable thorn in the side of villains everywhere, with its cooperative focus enabling its players to develop a unique relationship with the game's developers. Prior to the shutdown, the second player-designed costume set was nearing completion, and the player's input into the 24th expansion enabled many game fixes previously thought impossible.
I sincerely doubt that NCSoft fully comprehends the storms gathering on its horizon.
QuoteMW: You've stated that you are not a gamer. What brought you into the City of Heroes, and what did you find to be its greatest strength?
ML: I have very poor hand-eye coordination (I've been stalled for so many weeks on the early levels of Portal and Psychonauts that I've deleted them from my desktop where they have been a never-ceasing reminder of my Epic Fail). Solo games don't hold my interest for very long (I never actually finished Myst, pretty as it was) because I want social interaction. City of Heroes provided my aging reflexes with a game that was not so "twitchy" that I couldn't succeed (and even become quite good at the ATs of Defender, Controller and Tank), and just as importantly, gave me a social setting I simply can't get in the real world. My equally aging old friends and older relatives either do not have internet outside of work, or don't chat--and live hundreds to thousands of miles away. My younger friends all come from within the game, where they were impressed by my skills at keeping their characters alive long before they knew I was a writer--if that even mattered to them (after all, there are several billion people on this planet who have no idea who I am). For me, it was the social context that was the greatest strength--that, and being placed literally within someone else's storyline, where I was "living" it in a more visceral way than just reading it.
Mercedes and I played on the same server. As far as my interactions with her have gone in game, she was just another hero, trying to make the world a better place. I have found City of Heroes to be a standard by which I measure other games. Not in regards to complexity or difficulty, but in regards to its immersive capacity. The ambient sounds of City of Heroes included many things which you would never notice if you weren't paying attention to that made the game's world far more realistic, including dogs barking, the ringing of phones, and my personal favourite, the crunch of soil under one's feet. Over all, City of Heroes is the most satisfying experience of nearly any game I have ever played.
QuoteMW: What has playing City of Heroes taught you? Has it influenced your craft in any way? What advice would you have for those who want to make their living telling stories, either through writing novels and short stories or making video games? Do you see any difference between novels and story-driven games like City of Heroes?
ML: The one thing that playing City has taught me about the craft of writing is that cooperative storytelling is a heck of a lot more fun--and often, more rewarding for both the reader AND the writers--than solo storytelling. It was in the context of prosing up our roleplay, and then writing stories outside of the roleplay--and then finding the tools to manage true interactive writing--that I discovered that having more heads than just my own on a story generally made it much better and far less predictable. My dialogue improved immensely. Writing cooperatively made me sensitive to places where it is much better to sacrifice "my" character's place in the spotlight in the interest of a better story. I've always had the firm belief that anyone who thinks she is "writing for the ages" had better get that particular stick out of her butt and just concentrate on writing a good story. But cooperative storytelling really brought that home, and I've thrown out hundreds of ideas and subplots in the course of making those stories a hundred times better because they were about the ensemble, not just one main character. There are a lot of differences between what a game designer and a novelist have to do, of course. But I was extremely pleased to see our City writers were creating what were essentially mini-novels, following all the classic ideals of good story-telling.
The fact that it is possible for an author to learn from a game designer just as easily as a game designer can learn from an author illustrates clearly why the community of City of Heroes, including its developers, is worth preserving. I recently picked up the first novel of the Secret World Chronicles, which is the collaborative project Mercedes is speaking of, and found it to be the most entertaining read of any of Mercedes' books. The truth of what she is saying is self-evident.
Never mincing any words, it should be noted that Mercedes has been a staple of the resistance movement by the City of Heroes community, providing insight to both the realities of the situation as well as galvanizing the community with well-timed words of support. She has also made sure that her involvement with this community is well known by NCSoft, sending letters alongside many of the player community. She has given me permission to reproduce a letter that she has sent to the CEO of NCSoft, Taek Jin Kim.
Her first letter contained quite the fascinating offer.
QuoteDear Mr. Kim;
This, like so many other letters, is a plea to save Paragon Studios and the City of Heroes, City of Villains, and Going Rogue games. And like so many others, I could tell you about the thousands of hours I have spent there with friends, the thousands of dollars I have spent within the games, or even how this game allows my husband and I to "meet" and play nearly every night with my father in law, the retired, and multi-medaled Special Forces Sergeant-Major Jim Dixon. I could even tell you how this game is the only one ever to interest him.
Instead, I am going to make you an offer. I am a multi-award-winning, New York Times bestselling fantasy and science fiction author. And I will offer myself and my likeness to endorse and advertise, exclusively, all NCSoft products for a minimum term of five years and a maximum term of ten years, for no compensation or payment, if you will make it possible for the game and Paragon Studios (even in a reduced capacity) to continue to function, either once again under the NCSoft umbrella, or until a new owner comes forward.
I had in mind something like this: Advertisements with a photo of myself, imposed over a transparent image of one of my more striking characters, both of us in the same pose. Text: "I am New York Times bestselling fantasy author Mercedes Lackey. Creating fantastic realms is hard work, and when I relax, I like to play in someone else's world. I play NCSoft Games. Anything else is unimaginable." The tagline for the ad campaign would be "NCSoft: anything else is unimaginable."
I hope, sir, that I have caught your interest, and you will consider this proposition.
Yours truly
Mercedes Lackey
Estimates of the value of Mercedes' endorsement of NCSoft and its products are difficult to accurately determine, but I believe it would be enough to make any game studio sit up and take notice. No acknowledgement of Mercedes' offer was made. In fact, on October 2nd, as a response to the efforts of the City of Heroes community, NCSoft posted the following:
QuoteCity of Heroes® Players and Fans,
We wanted to let you know that your voices have been heard and your concerns have been taken into serious consideration. We appreciate the overwhelmingly constructive and positive messages in the emails, notes, and packages you've sent in support of the game. It has not been an easy decision for us to close Paragon Studios® and prepare to shut down City of Heroes. We've exhausted all options including the selling of the studio and the rights to the City of Heroes intellectual property, but in the end, efforts to do so were not successful. City of Heroes has a special place in all of our hearts, and we want to ensure its reputation and the memories we share for the game end on a high note.
Once again, we will be holding events throughout the process of preparing for the game's end, and we encourage players and fans of the franchise to join forces and enjoy their time in a game that we've enjoyed supporting for more than eight years.
The NCSOFT® Team
Sources have reported that offers have been made from two different studios to acquire the IP, and that NCSoft did not respond to either of them, thus indicating that their claim to have exhausted all options is demonstrably false. It is arguable that they did not even attempt to seriously consider the option. Given the estimated value of Mercedes' offer, I would strongly encourage any investors of NCSoft to start asking serious questions.
That was a most satisfying read. Well done!
Have you considered getting together with Rae and making any tweaks necessary to these interviews and essays to make them into articles that can be sent to and published by various gaming sites like Rae has done?
I saw this comment on your article. I don't know if the poster resides here at Titan or not. But I haven't seen it posted here.
This is incredibly moving. So I felt I had to re-post it back here.
QuoteMike Brafford says:
25/10/2012 at 4:43 pm
This is for my grand daughter who I call Bean.
She is 10 now and has never had a single year that was without drama from a male figure in her life – except me – I am her Papa. She was 1 and her father "dropped" her breaking her right wrist. He left her and mom and moved from Michigan to Texas. She has never received so much as a birthday card from him.
Then my daughter married a guy who seemed a good guy and appeared to love my grand daughter as his own and I hoped against hope as parents do that they would live happy and forever. I was wrong. It turned out he had a drug problem brought about by working in a factory that caused his back and knees to ache. Within a year I was buying my daughter groceries as any money I gave them ended up buying drugs. Several years passed until my daughter saw the damge being done and left him.
My daughter found a new guy who was wealthy and hard working and unknown to us was also an ex-con who was basically insane. He tried every way possible to control my daughter and separate her from her family and isolate her – not all at once but step by step like Worm tongue. During this time he also on a regular basis was mentally abusing my grand daughter. Being called stupid, a loser and every other hateful thing under the sun – took an outgoing 10 year old girl who got straight A's in school to sad loner who was failing 4th grade.
One day while at our house she watched me play City of Heroes, now I have been playing since the game began but she never really understood we were HEROES. She saw me battling a monster and defeat him. For the first time she said, "Can I play?" I said of course and we spent the next 3 hours building a character and playing the game. I watched and coached her a bit and she played. I listened to her laugh – a real from the belly laugh and I realized to my horror it had been YEARS since I had heard her laugh like this and I nearly cried and had to leave the room for a moment.
I won't talk about the way we got the family out from under this monster. I will talk about my 10 year old hero standing beside her Papa fighting back against this live-in monster as she walked out of hell. She yelled at him and told him he was hateful and a horrible dad and that they would never go back to him. I was never more proud in my life of anyone and her spirit was bent but not broken.
My grand daughter then helped us get back her 2 year old sister who had been kidnapped by the father's family. She helped open the door and unbuckle the seat belts, when we had accidentally saw her sister at a McDonald's sitting in the car eating with one of the grand parent kidnappers. I ran interference and she helped her mom get the rest of the family back. Ten years old is young to have walked in the fires of hell and yet this game helped her learn she can fight back and defeat the monsters.
It also showed me the laughter that was missing from her soul and now I will spend every day working to keep the laughter loud and long and I thank this game for as long as it lasts for the bond we shared that was already strong now becoming a thing of legend. She now has a tale to tell her sister as she gets older in how she helped save her from the kidnappers.
I now have a 10 year old who is my hero.
Quote from: Atlantea on October 27, 2012, 03:23:54 PM
That was a most satisfying read. Well done!
Have you considered getting together with Rae and making any tweaks necessary to these interviews and essays to make them into articles that can be sent to and published by various gaming sites like Rae has done?
I am now. ^_^
That was my post from the testimonials page. I cut and pasted it from here.
My grand daughter is now living with us - going to school and even just got an "A" on a math test. She goes with me to walk our dog 2 miles a day now and I am doing everything I can to help her recover from the nasty mess that adults made of her life.
She has a few characters either she plays or I level up for her when she is doing other stuff.
Flying Turd Flinger (she is 10 after all)
BlackVeil Bride
Scarey Clown Bunny
Electric Chelsea
Chelsea Bean
I even have her starting to read Arrows of the Queen!
Quote from: Ironwolf on October 27, 2012, 04:56:19 PM
That was my post from the testimonials page. I cut and pasted it from here.
My grand daughter is now living with us - going to school and even just got an "A" on a math test. She goes with me to walk our dog 2 miles a day now and I am doing everything I can to help her recover from the nasty mess that adults made of her life.
She has a few characters either she plays or I level up for her when she is doing other stuff.
Flying Turd Flinger (she is 10 after all)
BlackVeil Bride
Scarey Clown Bunny
Electric Chelsea
Chelsea Bean
I even have her starting to read Arrows of the Queen!
Yay! Woot! That's awesome. ^_^
Although... ooh... You might want to hold off on the third book in that trilogy for awhile... It's very good. But there are some pretty adult and even traumatic themes going on there that might - given what she's been through, be pretty tough.
Then again, it could be cathartic as well. Just want to give you a heads up in case you yourself haven't read it.
Please tell her, from one without voice to another, I have heard her clearly. ^_^
Quote from: Ironwolf on October 27, 2012, 04:56:19 PM
That was my post from the testimonials page. I cut and pasted it from here.
My grand daughter is now living with us - going to school and even just got an "A" on a math test. She goes with me to walk our dog 2 miles a day now and I am doing everything I can to help her recover from the nasty mess that adults made of her life.
She has a few characters either she plays or I level up for her when she is doing other stuff.
Flying Turd Flinger (she is 10 after all)
BlackVeil Bride
Scarey Clown Bunny
Electric Chelsea
Chelsea Bean
I even have her starting to read Arrows of the Queen!
I wish I had her courage at her age.
Quote from: Ironwolf on October 27, 2012, 04:56:19 PM
I even have her starting to read Arrows of the Queen!
I love her already.
But yeah, hold off on the second AND third books. The trilogy was written for adults so...ahem. There is sex. And a lot of trauma.
HOWEVER the new Collegium Chronicles series WAS written to be YA friendly. So no sex or excessive trauma.
Also for a fun read, Rosemary Edghill and my zombies and Wild Wild West tribute,
Dead Reckoning from Bloomsbury. She's gonna love Honoria and Jett.
I strongly recommend Diane Duane's "Wizard" series--begins with
So You Want To Be A Wizard. And of course, Diane Wynne Jones'
Howl's Moving Castle.
I'd like to post the second entry tomorrow.
Is there anything that should be changed or added?
I'm good with it, just as long as you guys know I don't think I'm all that and a bag of chips. Deal?
Quote from: Victoria Victrix on October 29, 2012, 02:52:53 AM
I'm good with it, just as long as you guys know I don't think I'm all that and a bag of chips. Deal?
I respect you as much as I respect any of my teachers (you have certainly already filled that role in several ways). You have no need to worry about ego-stroking from me. ^_^
Also, I made two changes - I linked directly to the October 2nd announcement, and mentioned that the stock price is down 19% from its position on the day it was announced the game was closing down, linking to the company's stock register via Reuters.
This may be risky, but I do not care. I have not lied.
Quote from: Terwyn on October 29, 2012, 03:03:45 AM
I respect you as much as I respect any of my teachers (you have certainly already filled that role in several ways). You have no need to worry about ego-stroking from me. ^_^
Also, I made two changes - I linked directly to the October 2nd announcement, and mentioned that the stock price is down 19% from its position on the day it was announced the game was closing down, linking to the company's stock register via Reuters.
This may be risky, but I do not care. I have not lied.
I think it might be a little unhealthy that way that you were indulging in loud maniacal laughter at the same time as posting it. That said, I gleefully joined in, but I think that says more about me than it does about you.
http://missingworlds.wordpress.com/2012/10/28/voices-from-paragon-part-ii/
The post is now live. I would encourage commentary and sharing as much as possible.
I am hoping that my contacts in the publishing world notice the very alarming information VV provides. That could help us build momentum.
Thank YOU my friend. I'm going to be linking your blog post over on CCCP in the next article I do, which will be about NCSoft's failed "strategies."
Shared with the FB troops, and about to tweet it to #saveCOH :)
Who knew that The Coming Storm (tm) would be the Rise of COH Community? 8)
Awsome project and a very good article...real life has all but eaten me alive this week so I'm just catching up now...but fantastic job. I just really hope we break through to mainstream soon...we are*so* close I can feel it.
Quote from: Victoria Victrix on October 29, 2012, 02:52:53 AM
I'm good with it, just as long as you guys know I don't think I'm all that and a bag of chips. Deal?
You
are all that
and the bag of chips, VV. Not the little ones that come with a value meal at Subway either, I mean a whole big Family Value bag of chips you get at Walmart or the grocery store. You've been a big help with this community, and helped bolster us more than once. You've proven a valued friend, and an invaluable mentor to several of us--intentionally or not.
You're just going to have to come to terms with it some day. The horrible, awful truth, that sits at the center of your being, that terrible secret you silently dread:
you are actually an awesome person. It's horrifying, I know, but I'm sure with time and strong support you'll come to terms with it. ;)
Nacho Cheese Doritos, even.
The extra cheesy kind.
All hail the power of cheese! :D
But seriously, yes. VV - you are awesome. I've thought that long before I knew you played City of Heroes. Even when I disagreed with the stance that you used to hold on fanfic, I still thought it. One of my favorite authors plays the game? AWESOME.
And you've been incredible with your support of the movement.
If TonyV is the head and the brains and the drive of this movement, you're most certainly the heart and the inspiration and the love.
(*Edit: Er... not to say you don't have a lot of the brains too. Certainly more than mine! Just... yeah. I think you get what I'm saying.)
I hope I'm not stepping in it here to ask, but...what is VV's stance on fanfic? (The one with which Atlantea indicated he disagreed)
Quote from: Segev on October 29, 2012, 09:09:24 PM
I hope I'm not stepping in it here to ask, but...what is VV's stance on fanfic? (The one with which Atlantea indicated she disagreed)
A very touchy legal issue.
Quote from: Terwyn on October 29, 2012, 09:15:34 PM
A very touchy legal issue.
Unfortunately it's the same touchy legal issue for just about any creative content professional. Some day in the distant future when I get published, I'll have to follow the same guidelines VV does, just to protect myself. Unfortunate, but necessary.
read, supported and commented (although I have to admit the comment is aimed more at people reading who arent already part of the movement so dont know how useful it will be).
Quote from: Segev on October 29, 2012, 09:09:24 PM
I hope I'm not stepping in it here to ask, but...what is VV's stance on fanfic? (The one with which Atlantea indicated she disagreed)
Yeah - VV herself could tell you much better. But a thumbnail sketch from a layperson like me goes thusly -
VV legally CAN'T read fanfic of her own stuff.
Here's what I remember. Bad Memory disclaimer applies!
There was a legal furball between a friend of hers - Marion Zimmer Bradley (MZB) and a fan of MZB's work where the fan had written a piece of fanfic and some of the things in one of MZB's later works
vaguely (VERY vaguely - as in you had to squint HARD to see it and even then...) appeared just enough close to the ideas in the fanwork...
Basically MZB had a trusting relationship with her fans and she was also an editor and IIRC encouraged fan writers to develop their original ideas. That relationship was taken advantage of by this one person... Well it got ugly in a legal sense and actually prevented one of MZB's novels from ever seeing the light of day.
Mercedes Lackey (VV) was
not directly involved, but she SAW it happen and MZB was a good friend. (In fact IIRC wasn't MZB was one of the people directly responsible for ML's first publish of the Arrows trilogy?)
VV for several years (over a decade I think) felt it necessary to discourage all fanfic based on Valdemar for concern something like the above could happen.
Until recently where a legal way of doing so that wasn't a threat was established using the Creative Commons rules. See here at VV's website.
http://www.mercedeslackey.com/news.html (http://www.mercedeslackey.com/news.html)
And look at the bottom.
Now - I didn't agree completely with VV's stance on that through the years. Mainly I thought she might have been a
little over the top with it. But I
certainly understood where she was coming from once I heard the story.
Mainly I heard about it because the fanfic Drunkard's Walk about a cross-dimensional displacee named Douglas Sangnoir (Looney Toons) had as a canon element his first dimensional cross-rip visit was to Valdemar and out of respect, the author
never actually wrote that segment. But started with the SECOND one, where he wound up in the world of Bubblegum Crisis.
(BTW - I highly recommend Drunkard's Walk. It's very well written. And if you want I'll post a link to the page. But I may be biased since I'm one of the pre-readers on it. ;D In fact the author - Bob Shroeck is a personal friend and my Supergroup leader in City of Heroes. And I'm proud to say I'm the guy who dragged him and the rest of the pre-reader crew for DW into playing City of Heroes with me. :D )
Now - take everything I said above and file it mostly under SPOTTY MEMORY for I fear I'm glossing over or doing a disservice to VV. SHE should tell you the story really. Not me. I only tell it from my POV to explain the "didn't entirely agree" statement above etc etc.
So take this not just with a grain of salt, but take the entire shaker! Okay?
I am happy to report that more than a third of all visits to my blog in its existence have occurred since the posting of Part II of the Voices series. :D
Quote from: Segev on October 29, 2012, 09:09:24 PM
(The one with which Atlantea indicated she disagreed)
(Oh and BTW - You referenced the wrong set of plumbing. Male driver here. Don't worry. I get that a lot. Heh.
I'm known by my real name -
William H. Jordan. A fannish "handle" I've had since the early 80s of
Logan Darklighter and of course
Atlantea.
Logan Darklighter was the name of my Traveller character when I played that game.
Atlantea was the name of my first character that I played in the P&P Champions game in 1991. And by her real name - Lora Doubet was my first City of Heroes character.
Even my real name has superhero connotations. A little over a decade ago I was a bit startled to learn that my middle name -Harold- is the long form of the name that "Hal" is a contraction of.
So yes. I'm also Green Lantern. Sort of. :D
And now you know...
...what an utter UTTER Jurassic Age geek I am. :roll:
Quote from: Terwyn on October 29, 2012, 10:57:34 PM
I am happy to report that more than a third of all visits to my blog in its existence have occurred since the posting of Part II of the Voices series. :D
Way to go!
Get that site traffic going! Woo! :D
I've only 3 posts, though. ;)
Oh. Well.
Woohoo just a little? *waves tiny little flag* :D
I have to say, that I was always in favor of fanfic; after all I got my start writing it. Darkover, Star Wars, Cthulhu Mythos, a little Indiana Jones... Like MZB, I encouraged it. Until Le Debacle. Short form was that Marion read a piece by someone in the Darkover fan circles, liked how the author treated Lew Alton, and offered what was the usual arrangement, an acknowledgement of where the idea came from in the book that Marion was going to write. Because, face it, it isn't the idea that is the work, it is the execution of the idea. There was no offer of collaboration. The author in question demanded full collaboration and payment, and threatened legal action. As a result, Marion abandoned the half-finished book and destroyed the manuscript, which now will never be seen. A doubly damn shame because this was one of the last things she was writing before her series of strokes started. And at that point our mutual agent decided that Fanfic was Dangerous, and should be discouraged. This made me sad, but the mess with Marion made us all super cautious.
Fast forward to recently when Russ (my agent) got Cory Doctorow as a client. Now, as we all know, Cory is Awesome personified, and is very, very much in the corner of the fanfic writers among us. Cory persuaded Russ that it was a very, very good idea to allow Creative Commons licensing of fanfic, that fanfic is good for the author, good for the fanbase, and takes not one thin dime out of anyone's pocket. As a result the only time Russ will turn into the Great White Shark is when someone is trying to make a profit out of fanfic.
I still can't read fanfic of my own oeuvre, which makes me sad. But as the lawsuits against Stephen King and Jo Rowling have proved, you have to be able to rigorously prove you never saw someone else's unpublished stuff when they sue you for "stealing their idea." But I am very, very glad that people can write their fanfic and share it now.
And hey, Atlantea, tell Bob Shroeck he can go ahead and write the first segment now!
Now there are other writers who think that fanfic is taking some of their income. Uh, no. No one is ever going to write as fast as readers can read. All fanfic does is keep the flame stoked during the wait for the next book. But you can't convince these people, I know, I've tried.
There are other writers who don't want anyone messing with their world and characters (some have even described a feeling like "being raped" when they discovered there was fanfic about their stuff. On the one hand, I kind of sympathize...but there is no way short of inventing mind control that any writer is ever going to be able to control what happens to his book, world, or characters once the manuscript leaves his hands. So IMHO, I think you ought to just pull on your adult pants, face up to that, and wave goodbye to your book as it heads out into the world. You did your best by it, you tried to make things clear, you gave it the best start in life that you could, but it's on its own now, and you can either make yourself crazy by trying and failing to keep control, or you can do the smart thing and go on to the next book.
Whew. Sorry that turned out long and OT.
Quote from: Victoria Victrix on October 30, 2012, 01:20:01 AM
Whew. Sorry that turned out long and OT.
Nah. I'm the one who unwittingly provided the tangent, so that was my bad. :)
And Bob already knows he can start on that segment. But he's already finished the BGC one and the Oh My Goddess segment and is now in the Harry Potter segment and the Buffy the Vampire Slayer segment. I don't know when he's going to start up the Valdemar one. But the title is already set: "Drunkard's Walk I: A Horse Ain't A Horse, Of Course, Of Course".
I have been debating the various options I have in writing the third part of this series. I will not be getting into specifics, but I believe it is time that I put my education to its fullest use.
I hold in my hands the weight of more than five thousand years of culture and history. And I am more then willing to throw it.
Some of this is theoretical original research that I've been working on for the better part of a decade, and other parts are simple curiosity.
I am sure that you will find the results promise to be quite.... explosive.
Quote from: Terwyn on October 31, 2012, 06:13:11 AM
I have been debating the various options I have in writing the third part of this series. I will not be getting into specifics, but I believe it is time that I put my education to its fullest use.
I hold in my hands the weight of more than five thousand years of culture and history. And I am more then willing to throw it.
Some of this is theoretical original research that I've been working on for the better part of a decade, and other parts are simple curiosity.
I am sure that you will find the results promise to be quite.... explosive.
Why is it I already *KNOW* what you're about to do? Oh, this is going to be quite interesting indeed.
And my initial reaction was more of 'Oh, Crap.'
Let the fireworks begin...
"Science may have found a cure for most evils, but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all--the apathy of human beings."
~Helen Keller
I have named this series "Voices" for a reason.
^_^
Quote from: Mentalshock on October 31, 2012, 06:19:08 AM
Why is it I already *KNOW* what you're about to do? Oh, this is going to be quite interesting indeed.
And my initial reaction was more of 'Oh, Crap.'
Let the fireworks begin...
*Gets popcorn. Sits down to watch.*
You might want to hang onto something, this could get pretty interesting.
Define interesting!
...oh god, oh god, we're all going to die?
<.<
>.>
Quote from: Atlantea on October 29, 2012, 11:01:52 PM
(Oh and BTW - You referenced the wrong set of plumbing. Male driver here. Don't worry. I get that a lot. Heh.
My mistake; it has been corrected. (I did just guess based on the name; usually, I assume male unless told otherwise online, but this one didn't even make me blink... Glad you weren't offended, and apologies extended anyways.)
Quote from: DrakeGrimm on October 31, 2012, 03:09:43 PM
You might want to hang onto something, this could get pretty interesting.
Define interesting!
...oh god, oh god, we're all going to die?
<.<
>.>
"May you live in interesting times."
Thanks for the story/explanation. I figured there were Very Good Reasons; I was just curious what they were because, well, I like understanding things. ^^
Quote from: Victoria Victrix on October 30, 2012, 01:20:01 AMI still can't read fanfic of my own oeuvre, which makes me sad. But as the lawsuits against Stephen King and Jo Rowling have proved, you have to be able to rigorously prove you never saw someone else's unpublished stuff when they sue you for "stealing their idea." But I am very, very glad that people can write their fanfic and share it now.
...this is tragic.
Is there no way you can structure the Creative Commons license you use such that fanfic authors automatically release all material they use that includes
your work in such a way that you are legally free and clear to use it, perhaps considered to "hold a non-exclusive but irrevocable license" to any "original ideas" expressed in fanfic using your work?
That would, if there aren't still more legal issues of which I'm unaware (and yes, I know there probably are), mean any fanfic writer who tried to turn around and demand "full collaboration" rights would have to either open themselves up to counter-suit for violating your IP by using it without a license, or acknowledge that they used the license you gave out and thus you have full right to use their work however you want.
Quote from: Kaiser Tarantula on October 31, 2012, 06:03:02 AMThere are other writers who don't want anyone messing with their world and characters (some have even described a feeling like "being raped" when they discovered there was fanfic about their stuff. On the one hand, I kind of sympathize...but there is no way short of inventing mind control that any writer is ever going to be able to control what happens to his book, world, or characters once the manuscript leaves his hands. So IMHO, I think you ought to just pull on your adult pants, face up to that, and wave goodbye to your book as it heads out into the world. You did your best by it, you tried to make things clear, you gave it the best start in life that you could, but it's on its own now, and you can either make yourself crazy by trying and failing to keep control, or you can do the smart thing and go on to the next book.
I can somewhat understand this, too. I imagine it's at least a bit
uncomfortable for Ms. Rowling to hear about/see/read/whatever fanfics involving her characters engaged in...shall we say morally questionable and perhaps pornographic activities?
Especially the authors who consider their characters in some way to be "family." I mean, we get up in arms over some of the ways family members of prominent public figures get treated just by the media, let alone if "fanfic" authors were to write them into morally-objectionable or horrific situations.
(I'm reminded of a Supernatural sequence of episodes wherein the main characters discovered that their in-universe exploits were the subject of an in-universe novel series, and that a fanfic authoress enjoyed writing sexually explicit versions of "brotherly love." They were rather creeped out.)
Anyway. All I'm saying is, I can understand this concern of some authors, but yeah, the only mature way to handle it is to accept it will happen and move on, ignoring it to the best of your ability. Console yourself that it's not canon.
Quote from: Terwyn on October 31, 2012, 06:13:11 AM
I have been debating the various options I have in writing the third part of this series. I will not be getting into specifics, but I believe it is time that I put my education to its fullest use.
I hold in my hands the weight of more than five thousand years of culture and history. And I am more then willing to throw it.
Some of this is theoretical original research that I've been working on for the better part of a decade, and other parts are simple curiosity.
I am sure that you will find the results promise to be quite.... explosive.
This sounds like something Jim Duncan would link to and quote.
Rest assured I would never write fan fiction. I feel it's to much like trying to improve a master piece only the original Artiest can give it justice. Sure I can write something but be just as easy to change names and locations if the Story I write as a Fanfic can stand on it's own then why write the fan fic at all.
Quote from: Victoria Victrix on November 01, 2012, 02:45:19 AM
This sounds like something Jim Duncan would link to and quote.
Yes, I expect collating my notes and thoughts will take until at least the weekend. If you take a look at the "About" page on my blog, one of the things it explicitly states is the reason why I chose the name Missing Worlds. I'll reproduce it here:
Quote from: Missing WorldsThe name Missing Worlds is intended to evoke a sense of mystery and curiosity, for every book, and every film, contains within it an entire narrative world. Due to the increasingly fast pace of North American society, many people simply do not have the time to read, or otherwise indulge in entertainment media. In short, people are missing out on these worlds.
To basically define just what it is that I am going to be doing, I am going to take a page from Robert J. Sawyer's handbook and talk of what makes City of Heroes both "grandly cosmic" and "profoundly human." I will talk of why some stories have lasting power, why learning is a weapon, and most importantly, the importance of how City of Heroes helped us all to seek a better world.
This will be very.... difficult. I will quote Gilgamesh, I will quote Tolkien. I will even quote the original writings of Hippocrates himself, if I must. The simple point of the matter is that the City of Heroes has been a *home* for many of us, and a medicine for others. A gateway to make our lives richer, and a means by which we could connect to something more noble than ourselves. A spark of divinity, if one chooses to believe in that possibility. If not, then merely a spark of hope... a hope that everything will work out in the end. I will, in essence, talk of why we have had heroes for as long as we have been human.
But, of course, as a best-selling author, you know the rules of Story better than I.... and why it is important for people to believe in their *own* narrative.
Here is a quote that I actually try to live by:
Never violate a woman, nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat or steal. These things are for lesser men. Protect the weak against the evil strong. And never allow thoughts of gain to lead you into the persuit of evil.
David Gemmel from Druss the Legend
I live by "Never underestimate the stupidity of others. Even the smartest of us would do something dumb." This can be taken many ways, mine is that thought a person can be smart from time to time they will do something stupid. A moment of distraction, or just lack of knowledge could lead to a stupid moment. For example closing one of the most popular Superhero MMO...
There is something to be learned from a rainstorm.
When meeting with a sudden shower,
you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road.
But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet.
When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed,
though you still get the same soaking.
This understanding extends to everything.
Here's the current draft of the third part.
QuoteVoices from Paragon, Part III – The City's Culture
Last week, Mercedes Lackey talked of how cooperative storytelling is a great deal more fun and is often more rewarding for both the reader and the writers than a story told by a single person. I have had a great love of studying the history of storytelling for some time, trying to trace its origins and finding out why our species started telling stories to each other in the first place. There is a reason why several of my favourite tales are from the ancient world, ranging from the Epic of Gilgamesh to Aesop's Fables.
As indicated by the first post in this series, I am a player of City of Heroes, and am functioning as a chronicler of the resistance to NCSoft's move to close the game. The greatest efforts are centred on the preservation of our community, and through that, the culture of the game. As a result of the introduction of the Mission Architect, thousands of players were able to bring their own tales to life within the context of City of Heroes, alongside guest authors such as Mercedes Lackey, who needs no introduction, and Scott Kurtz, the author and creator of the excellent web comic, PVP (http://www.pvponline.com/), who also created a brief comic that shipped with the original boxed game in 2004.
Estimates of the total number of arcs created for the MA system vary, but comparisons to the late Great Library of Alexandria have been thrown around in the past. Given that the population of player characters has been estimated to exceed the population of that of my own country (http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/27/city-of-heroes-anniversary-letter-features-fun-facts-videos/), there is much to be said for City of Heroes' explosive impact on the creativity of its players, especially in regards to the mind-boggling number of possible unique character costumes.
While the metrics are impressive, they pale in comparison to the actual impact the game has on the psychology and mental well-being of its players. As stated by a player known as Rottweiler,
QuoteI've been a part of City of Heroes since 2003. Pre-beta.
I'm a geek; lover of RPGs, sci-fi, comics, wrestling, you name it. The very concept of this game -- the very possibility it would exist -- was so exciting. The forums were buzzing with so much creativity. Heroes were born, relationships formed, and stories unfolded, spreading from thread to thread like a wildfire. In our hearts and minds, this world was already as big as Marvel and DC before we saw one pixel of Paragon City. I think a huge factor in the development and success of the game was that Cryptic (and later Paragon) Studios heard us and felt the same way... they were just as excited and in love with the concept of that world.
The only way I can describe my first experience of walking the streets of Paragon City is to say it was my teen pen-and-paper days all over again.
...oh, and I. GOT. TO. FLY. Circling around skycrapers! The first moment I dropped down in the middle of a group of Skulls and cleared them out in a flurry of punches... I don't think it ever got old. It was that stupid Real Life thing that pulled me away from the game. I still stayed in touch with my teammates. They became a family of sorts. I never got that from Everquest -- or any other game before or since. Hell, here it is nearly 10 years later! I still keep in touch with a bunch of the guys I build these characters with pre-Beta, even after a few months on, then off, and then repeat.
City of Heroes is older than World of Warcraft, and has cohesion in its player base which I have not found to be matched anywhere within the gaming world. Like Rottweiler, I find that the ability to fly in game is the attribute that I will most remember once the game is gone, be it at the end of this month or years in the future. There is a reason why my primary character in the game will be parked in the far reaches of the desolate dimension known as the Shadow Shard, taking up a meditative solace at the heart of the Storm Palace for all eternity.
Rottweiler's descriptions of why he started to play the game is a very strong indication that this is not just a community that was born through a game, this is a community that shaped its own world. It was not unheard of for Paragon Studios to recruit from the player base, nor was it uncommon for the developers of the game to don an anonymous disguise to play with friends. Though our efforts are focused on saving our game, we also viewed it as a priority to find some way to keep our family of developers (http://mcdesignertales.blogspot.ca/2012/09/why-i-loved-paragon-studios.html) together. No matter whom I ask; if given the choice of saving the game or saving Paragon Studios, the answer was nearly always the same: Save the studio.
I don't think any developers were as much loved as those at Paragon. If any of them are reading this, know that where-ever any of you go; some remnant of our community will always follow. My brother started playing Star Trek Online only minutes after learning the beloved developer known as "Dr. Aeon" was snapped up by Cryptic, and I doubt he was the only one.
JWBullfrog, another player, had an equally similar perspective on the game. When asked why he played, he answered:
QuoteWhy do I play? If you had asked me that question six years ago I'm not sure I could have answered it. I was never much into video games, I had an ancient (for the time) computer, and I had much more important things that demanded my attention. Yet, there was...something... that kept bringing me back time and again. I now know what that something is.
I had the freedom to be whoever I wanted, do whatever I wanted to do, go wherever I wanted to go. I could leap tall buildings, I could fly, I could throw fire or control minds or defeat a dozen foes at once. I was, in short, a hero. I was the star of the greatest story in the world and, to make it even better, I found people who loved it as much as I did. I made friends with people from all corners of the planet.
Over the last six years, I've tried other games. Some were good, some were not, but none of them were home. Paragon City is my city, my home.
That is why I play.
Many others have stated that after City of Heroes is done, they will no longer be involved with the MMO genre. I have debated becoming one of them, but for numerous reasons have concluded that I would be betraying the principle of community that this game has taught me. Far too many of us are better off having experienced this sense of community to stay away. We must go to where our friends are. We must return home. If not Paragon City, then perhaps to another faraway place, as we can, and we will, find some way for our community to survive. That is why we resist.
Our local videographer, Samuraiko, made a fantastic video to remember our beloved city (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9IFDGRp6tk), saying:
QuoteI play CITY OF HEROES because it allows me to express creativity in ways I'd not considered - and I've considered a LOT. Character biographies, costumes, stories, and videos - it has been an outlet for me in so many forms. It rescued me from writer's block and stifled creativity that was slowly killing my spirit. Not just that - it has been entertainment for my husband and me when we couldn't afford anything else. It has brought new friends into my life, both online and in the real world. It has helped me develop and further my professional skills as a writer and videographer. And it has allowed me to make people laugh, cry, cheer, and celebrate our game through the videos and stories I've created as a result.
COH is not just a game; for me, it's a way of life, and a way to LIVE.
To many outside of the Paragon community, our actions and efforts seem extreme, as to them City of Heroes is just a game. I know many players who abandoned City of Heroes for Champions Online shortly after it had launched, decrying the game as a poor substitute for those who "truly love comic books." I, on the other hand, find Champions Online's design render it a game virtually unplayable.
City of Heroes, on the other hand, with its minimally intrusive design, had a beautifully integrated environment, filled with extraordinary detail paid to the background, that most never even noticed until it was directly pointed out. I greatly agree with Samuraiko's statements as it has improved my ability to communicate in general, it has helped me fine-tune my creative process, and most importantly, it has given me friends from around the world.
City of Heroes is no game. It is a community. It shall remain a community long after the servers go dark, because we carry with us the spirit of heroism.
Heroes may die, but heroism never shall.
I want to add more about the history of storytelling, but I worry if I do that, I won't stop. So I changed it from my original intent. Thoughts?
Save that for Part IV.
I'd say this needs to be a series that takes as long as it takes.
Quote from: Victoria Victrix on November 06, 2012, 05:06:48 AM
I'd say this needs to be a series that takes as long as it takes.
That was my precise intention. If I do it once per week, I can probably run it until March.
Part III is now live! (http://missingworlds.wordpress.com/2012/11/06/voices-from-paragon-part-iii-the-culture/)
Here is how I start Part IV (titled "Consequences"):
Quote"Confront them with annihilation, and they will then survive; plunge them into a deadly situation, and they will then live. When people fall into danger, they are then able to strive for victory."
~Sun Tzu
Here is the first draft of Part IV. I hope to have rigorous citation of the statements I have made - help in locating them would be greatly appreciated. I have marked the points at which I would hope to provide links as evidence, but have not been able to locate sources I find suitable.
----
Voices from Paragon, Part IV – Consequences
"Confront them with annihilation, and they will then survive; plunge them into a deadly situation, and they will then live. When people fall into danger, they are then able to strive for victory."
~Sun Tzu
November 30th is rapidly approaching, and with it the shutdown of City of Heroes. Our online home is threatened with annihilation. Our characters are threatened with a situation that has death as the only outcome. More importantly, our community is in danger of dissolution. And yet, still we make noise; still we fight on. It is a virtual certainty that we will not be able to win this conflict; we will not be able to save our City. However, it is also true that it is not possible for us to lose. The only losing move is to not go on, and that mindset is foreign and repulsive to us.
We are heroes. This is what we do. We are also villains. This, also, is what we do.
It is known that City of Heroes is not the first game to be shuttered under the watch of NCSoft. Auto Assault, Dungeon Runners, Exteel, and Tabula Rasa were all victims of similar decisions. Each time, NCSoft offered opportunities to play other NCSoft Products. Curiously, many of those same games which players were directed to as a replacement are now shut down as well. By count, NCSoft is now responsible for shutting down a third of all MMOs that have gone offline.*
At the time of its cancellation, City of Heroes was, according to long-time developer Matt Miller, known affectionately as Positron to the player base, "the largest and most active MMO ever shutdown." (Post link to Posi Podcast here) Unlike other games shutdown by NCSoft, there has been no conciliatory measure or direction towards new NCSoft titles, nor was there an indication that the game was failing due to low subscriber numbers or lack of revenue. Even the timing of the announcement is cause for suspicion, as it occurred the Friday of Labour Day weekend just after Guild Wars 2 was released.
Now, I have heard from reliable source that the price tag NCSoft has set for the City of Heroes IP - which may or may not include the actual code, and would certainly not include the studio and its developers, as that has already ceased to exist – is $80 million US. This number is very fascinating, as according to an audit found in NCSoft's own documents, they internally value their collective IP library, both what is live and no longer active, at about $2 million. (Post link to audit here)
Evidentially, the price they quoted was so that they gave every appearance of being willing to sell the City of Heroes IP without ever actually having the intention of selling. The shrewd investor would find it extremely prudent to ask why this is the case, especially considering that the same source which provided the price tag also clarified that the October 2nd message from NCSoft was a second draft. The first draft would have been issued from Paragon Studios itself. I believe that this is not the first time NCSoft has behaved in this fashion. (Cite Garriott incident here)
Needless to say, its previous actions have had significant consequences, and its continuing actions will have consequences of their own. One major consequence that was recently revealed is the fact that under the leadership of editor Jordan Royce, himself a player of City of heroes, the long-running science fiction and gaming magazine Starburst will be instituting a boycott of NCSoft products in protest of the closure. This boycott is total, extending not only from NCSoft's games, but to advertisements as well. (link to announcement here)
Now, it is possible that NCSoft expects our opposition to disintegrate after November 30th, as our cause will no longer have its anchoring point. They would be wrong in this conclusion, as the fact that the game is still online allows for a negotiated settlement to take place, in which the game and its IP are handed over to a party that will treat it with the dedication and respect it deserves. After November 30th, when the game is gone, the gloves will come off. To borrow a page from history, after Poland was overrun in the Second World War, they still managed to field one of the largest allied forces in the entire war, and garnered a reputation of being highly effective shock troops.
Given such comparable history, it seems quite probable that the City of Heroes community is a clear and persistent reminder to the game industry that there are standards that need to be kept in regards to community management and public relations. We have, despite repeated measures to clarify our demands, received no significant answer. We care more about knowing the truth about why our game is being shut down and the studio dismantled than we do about keeping the game online. After all, if the IP can be transferred to a more reasonable authority, we would have no real need to continue our campaign.
I have found it quite interesting how similar the basic rules of marketing and public relations are to the concept of psychological warfare and propaganda, as in all cases the goal is to influence a target audience's attitudes, perceptions, emotions, and behaviour regarding a subject, be it a simple product that a company wishes to build interest in, or a long-term persistent campaign against an intractable foe. In this particular case, those of us in the City of Heroes community are doing both.
What further consequences will there be as a result of the current affairs? It is observed that NCSoft's stock price on the Korean exchange is now down 30% (Post link to stock here) from its value on August 31st, and it is also noted that despite the message of October 2nd, there has been unceasing effort to keep pressure on NCSoft. The decision of Starburst is only the most recent consequence, and it is certain that it will not be the last. Given that Starburst's circulation is significant, the potential loss of exposure and loss of face that NCSoft stands to experience should not be discounted.
I fully suspect that as matters continue, other gaming magazines will note the disgraceful manner in which NCSoft has handled the matter of City of Heroes. Those of us from the western world pride ourselves on directness and clarity, neither of which has been provided by NCSoft, as they have simply left their reasons for terminating City of Heroes as mere buzzwords. (link to initial shutdown announcement and announcement of October 2nd)
I do not believe I shall ever trust the company with my money again.
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Any and all suggestions for improving this post as well as optimizing it for search engine purposes would be very greatly appreciated.
I'll add a few points of suggestions a little later, when I have more time (will try to do so within the next 48 hrs). However, the very first thing that leaps out at me as a marketer is to think "What is the author trying to achieve with this?".
It really helps in any kind of article to have a clear idea of what you want your article to elicit from the reader. Obvious goals can vary from subscribing to future news or further info, through to following a specific action be that making a comment, clicking a link, or referring others to the post. I'd strongly suggest thinking a little about what you'd like the reader to do after reading the article, and then 'sell' that action somewhat, lead them to it, and finish on a call to action.
Quote from: Ammon on November 10, 2012, 12:29:30 AM
I'll add a few points of suggestions a little later, when I have more time (will try to do so within the next 48 hrs). However, the very first thing that leaps out at me as a marketer is to think "What is the author trying to achieve with this?".
It really helps in any kind of article to have a clear idea of what you want your article to elicit from the reader. Obvious goals can vary from subscribing to future news or further info, through to following a specific action be that making a comment, clicking a link, or referring others to the post. I'd strongly suggest thinking a little about what you'd like the reader to do after reading the article, and then 'sell' that action somewhat, lead them to it, and finish on a call to action.
I recently graduated from a marketing program in June '11, so I'm aware of that particular aspect. However, since this is only the first draft and was written in a primarily flow-of-thought method, I haven't been looking at it from that particular perspective. So far my only goal has been to record and distribute information, as I have been building up to the general call to action with the entire series.
I suppose it would be greatly more effective to engage in consistent repetition as opposed to trying to build momentum through mass quantity. I have, after all, grown to greatly value quality over quantity, since high quality arguments are vastly more unique and more effective than simply dominating the podium through noise. I'll definitely put thought into it over the weekend.
I believe the words of Sir Winston are most apt here:
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack!
- Sir Winston Churchill
The only thing in question here is - what is the specific point? You've already "set the stage" with the other articles - this one has to be the "tremendous whack!" You've been setting up the story for people who may not have heard about City of Heroes, much less played it.
Gamers you can assume have a good chance of knowing the most basic facts, and the article expands on them from our side (since NCSoft isn't interested in telling their side) So you've done a good job at both general and specific set up. You've painted the picture of our community. What's at stake. You've described as best we can, given the limited information we have available, what NCSoft has done.
NCSoft could close those other games with the "fig leaf" of "they weren't profitable" or they were losing money, and even gamers with no business sense whatsoever can understand that reasoning. But this time things are far different.
Whether it was a million, 2 million, or 10 million dollars - the simple fact remains - City of Heroes was in the black and had NEVER lost money based on it's own sales and subscriptions. So right from the start - that fig leaf is GONE.
CoH had 8 years to develop a tight community. Something else those other games never had the chance or time to develop.
NCSoft did not take those simple facts into account. They apparently simply followed their old pattern of closing down a game when they thought the time was right for whatever inscrutable reasons they have failed to communicate. But given the above, that was a monumental error.
Whether it was from incompetence or sheer bloody-mindedness no longer matters. The deed is done, and the consequences must follow. Both to us and to them. The consequences to us are more than clear. They are inescapable.
The consequences to NCSoft - that's where we have our power and our say.
The biggest consequence of all is losing trust. Most companies dread losing trust - for without trust, money dries up.
Trust of the customer.
Trust from Development Studios that are looking for a company to join in order to see their vision turned to reality.
Trust in dealings with other businesses.
And all it takes for them to pay the consequences is for enough people to know what they have done. That's all. We can suggest a boycott (which you deftly refer to Starburst having done without actually calling for it in the article). But ultimately it comes down to a simple choice.
As a gamer, do you trust this company with your money?
As a Game Developing Studio, would you want these people to own you and your IP?
As a business, would you want to deal with people who seemingly make nonsensical decisions in a market they don't understand and are too prideful to admit it or change their views? Do you want to do business with a company and CEO who don't make decisions based on an easily understandable criteria? And who won't communicate with their studios or customers?
Don't even say - "They don't get my money." Just ask those questions at the end or something like them and let the readers draw their own conclusions.
The "tremendous WHACK" should be a simple question posed to the gaming industry as a whole, gamers, developers and businessmen at the tops of that industry all rolled into one.
Do you TRUST NCSoft?
Actually, this one isn't intended to be the last one just yet.
Ah ok. How many more do you think you've got to go?
I hope my thoughts are still useful nevertheless.
Quote from: Atlantea on November 10, 2012, 02:42:04 AM
Ah ok. How many more do you think you've got to go?
I hope my thoughts are still useful nevertheless.
I can certainly keep this up indefinitely. Enough to make a big headache for NCSoft, at least.
The catch is to avoid repeating myself unnecessarily.
I have a voice, therefore I have a right to be heard.
Quote from: Atlantea on November 10, 2012, 02:36:24 AM
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack!
- Sir Winston Churchill
This is virtually a law of presentation. The way it is worded for articles and presentations is: "Tell them what you are going to say, say it, then remind them what you said". You'll find the Tell, Explain, Recap method used very heavily in all sorts of informational presentations. Its highly effective.
Quote from: Terwyn on November 10, 2012, 12:46:50 AM
So far my only goal has been to record and distribute information, as I have been building up to the general call to action with the entire series.
Personally, I try to have goals in mind all the way through. The 'headline' has to make them want to read the first paragraph, the first paragraph has to interest them in the full story, and the full story need to fulfil whatever goal you had in writing it.
In writing of all kinds, foreshadowing is highly effective. It means having the conclusion in mind right from the start, and giving the reader an early feeling for what will be coming later. This is just as true with marketing writing as for fiction. Repetition - much like the thing I mention above of "Say, Explain, Recap" - is great for getting an effective call to action to work.
Some people will arrive at a page almost randomly and need to walk through the whole text. Others may be referred by a friend or link and know some of the story and be skimming ahead to what they can do, and still others will be arriving knowing what is there and looking specifically for your links or action, etc. Sometimes I'll put the call to action in a sidebar column, so that it is level with the top, but visually separated so that it doesn't feel like its trying to make them do something before they've read the argument. It serves the widest variety of readers that way.
I'll keep that in mind when I'm preparing the next draft.
Found out on facebook I got mentioned in a recent Voices article. NEAT! Thanks :)
Here's the second draft-in-progress.
---
Voices from Paragon, Part IV – Consequences
Quote"Confront them with annihilation, and they will then survive; plunge them into a deadly situation, and they will then live. When people fall into danger, they are then able to strive for victory."
~Sun Tzu
November 30th is rapidly approaching, and with it the shutdown of City of Heroes. Our online home is threatened with annihilation. Our characters are threatened with a situation that has death as the only outcome. More importantly, our community is in danger of dissolution. And yet, still we make noise; still we fight on. It is a virtual certainty that we will not be able to win this conflict; we will not be able to save our City. However, it is also true that it is not possible for us to lose. The only losing move is to not go on, and that mindset is foreign and repulsive to us.
We are heroes. This is what we do. We are also villains. This, also, is what we do.
City of Heroes is not the first game to have been shut down by NCSoft. Auto Assault, Dungeon Runners, Exteel, Tabula Rasa, and Dragonica are all previous games shut down by this company. In nearly all cases, the cause of the shut-down has been a falling player base, and with it a significant decline in revenue. This makes City of Heroes a unique case, as according to Matt Miller, the Paragon developer formerly known as Positron, City of Heroes is the largest and most active MMO ever to be shut down.
In 2008, when NCSoft bought out Cryptic's share of the City of Heroes IP and founded Paragon Studios, the player base largely rejoiced, because it meant that the game would receive the care and attention it deserved, and the developers made it a policy to be extremely open and courteous with the player base, establishing a player-developer relationship unique in the industry.
With the impending shut down of our game, it is necessary to point out that we the players were not the only ones to have been so unjustly treated. The developers went into work on Friday, August 31st, expecting it to be a perfectly normal work day. What they found was the exact opposite – waiting for them when they came in was a studio pink slip. It was not just individual developers who were told they no longer had a role in the development of City of Heroes; it was the entirety of the studio. They found out that the game they had put into a decade of their lives was coming to an end. In short, this was nothing less than a betrayal. In other industries, a fundamental betrayal of one's customer base is a short-cut to being utterly censured, be it through a boycott, or other means.
Some have made claim that the game had to have been on life support in order for the actions of NCSoft to make sense, but according to the developers themselves, the game was doing quite well. Certainly well enough to fully finance the development of a second MMO from Paragon. No, this wasn't a decision to take a game off of life support. This was a decision to euthanize. After all, if money were the issue, it is almost an expected standard that t it be admitted as such, after all, that is what NCSoft has done when shutting down earlier games.
In previous cases when NCSoft has shut down a game (which has occurred frequently enough that they are now responsible for the closure of a full third of all MMOs that have gone offline), the company offered a replacement opportunity. Quite curiously, with the closure of City of Heroes, this means that several of those replacement opportunities have been terminated as well. More alarmingly, there has been no offered opportunity to the players of City of Heroes. Even the timing of the announcement is cause for suspicion, as it occurred the Friday of Labour Day weekend just after Guild Wars 2 was released.
Now, I have heard from reliable source that the price tag NCSoft has set for the City of Heroes IP - which may or may not include the actual code, and would certainly not include the studio and its developers, as that has already ceased to exist – is $80 million US. This number is very fascinating, as according to an audit found in NCSoft's own documents, they internally value their collective IP library, both what is live and no longer active, at about $2 million.
Evidentially, the price they quoted was so that they gave every appearance of being willing to sell the City of Heroes IP without ever actually having the intention of selling. The shrewd investor would find it extremely prudent to ask why this is the case, especially considering that the same source which provided the price tag also clarified that the October 2nd message from NCSoft was a second draft. The first draft would have been issued from Paragon Studios itself. I believe that this is not the first time NCSoft has behaved in this fashion.
It is exceedingly difficult to have any trust or confidence in a company that shows an extreme, almost callous, disregard for its customers. Trust is the absolute baseline for effective customer service and public relations. And as it stands, NCSoft has consistently demonstrated the fact that it cannot be trusted.
Needless to say, NCSoft's past actions have had significant consequences, and its continuing actions will have consequences of their own. One major consequence that was recently revealed is the fact that under the leadership of editor Jordan Royce, himself a player of City of heroes, the long-running science fiction and gaming magazine Starburst will be instituting a boycott of NCSoft products in protest of the closure. This boycott is total, extending not only from NCSoft's games, but to advertisements as well. What other consequences lie in waiting?
Now, it is possible that NCSoft expects our opposition to disintegrate after November 30th, as our cause will no longer have its anchoring point. They would be wrong in this conclusion, as the fact that the game is still online allows for a negotiated settlement to take place, in which the game and its IP are handed over to a party that will treat it with the dedication and respect it deserves. After November 30th, when the game is gone, the gloves will come off. To borrow a page from history, after Poland was overrun in the Second World War, they still managed to field one of the largest allied forces in the entire war, and garnered a reputation of being highly effective shock troops.
Given such comparable history, it seems quite probable that the City of Heroes community is a clear and persistent reminder to the game industry that there are standards that need to be kept in regards to community management and public relations. We have, despite repeated measures to clarify our demands, received no significant answer. We care more about knowing the truth about why our game is being shut down and the studio dismantled than we do about keeping the game online. After all, if the IP can be transferred to a more reasonable authority, we would have no real need to continue our campaign.
What further consequences will there be as a result of the current affairs? It is observed that NCSoft's stock price on the Korean exchange is now down 30% from its value on August 31st, and it is also noted that despite the message of October 2nd, there has been unceasing effort to keep pressure on NCSoft. The decision of Starburst is only the most recent consequence, and it is certain that it will not be the last.
Given that Starburst's circulation is significant, the potential loss of exposure and loss of face that NCSoft stands to experience should not be discounted. I fully suspect that as matters continue, other gaming magazines will note the disgraceful manner in which NCSoft has handled the matter of City of Heroes. Those of us from the western world pride ourselves on directness and clarity, neither of which has been provided by NCSoft, as they have simply left their reasons for terminating City of Heroes as mere buzzwords.
If they have so badly misjudged their understanding of the Western market that they seemingly make nonsensical decisions, why should any of their Western customers trust that they will be dealt with fairly? Given the current condition of the job market in North America, the fact that a company can simply shut down a fully profitable subsidiary and dump the entire staff into unemployment is unsettling. This is doubly so when the parent company consistently refused to provide an explanation, or even communication, with the impacted customer base until more than a month had past. This begs a very serious question as to whether or not NCSoft understands what constitutes acceptable business practices.
This much is known. NCSoft has demonstrated a clear disrespect to its western customers, and has certainly given numerous reasons as to why it should no longer be trusted. We have seen what happens to companies that are no longer trusted by its customer base. Shortly thereafter, the company begins to be mistrusted by its investors. If NCSoft can betray its own employees, as it did with Paragon Studios, what is to stop it from betraying its own investors?
---
I believe that this is significantly improved over the previous version, especially if I can get solid links to necessary information. I think it would be very damning to put that audit out where everyone can see it, no?
I really like what you've done, especially as I'm imagining the citation links on certain words adding to its weight and credibility.
There was one spot where the flow kinda hit a bump though:
Quote from: Terwyn on November 12, 2012, 05:25:43 AMIn 2008, when NCSoft bought out Cryptic's share of the City of Heroes IP and founded Paragon Studios, the player base largely rejoiced, because it meant that the game would receive the care and attention it deserved, and the developers made it a policy to be extremely open and courteous with the player base, establishing a player-developer relationship unique in the industry.
This paragraph didn't flow from the one that preceded, nor lead into the one that followed. It lost my attention for a moment as it jarred the otherwise smooth journey. I get the feeling there was more here that got cut, and left a paragraph that somewhat lacks a point, and didn't fit in the space it was placed.
Just my personal opinion.
When it comes to the games NCsoft has shut down, you might want to take Dragonica off the list, or consider adding a few more. According to Dragonica's own article on Wikipedia, it's still up and running; apparently NCsoft never had anything to do with the EU/NA release of it; only the Korean version. I made this mistake too (http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,5952.msg68561.html#msg68561) a while back, only for cmgangrel to point it out to me (http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,5952.msg68608.html#msg68608).
Of course, NCsoft did attempt to shut down the Korean version, only for the original studio to restart it and keep it running even today. But if you're going to list Korean servers shut down by NCsoft, you might want to add a couple more games to the list, like Point Blank.
This is very effective. With just a couple of minor tweaks as mentioned above I'd say go for it.
Quote from: Ammon on November 12, 2012, 10:40:07 AM
This paragraph didn't flow from the one that preceded, nor lead into the one that followed. It lost my attention for a moment as it jarred the otherwise smooth journey. I get the feeling there was more here that got cut, and left a paragraph that somewhat lacks a point, and didn't fit in the space it was placed.
Just my personal opinion.
Changed the relevant passage so that it reads as follows:
QuoteIn 2008, when NCSoft bought out Cryptic's share of the City of Heroes IP and founded Paragon Studios, the player base largely rejoiced, because it meant that the game would receive the care and attention it deserved, and the developers made it a policy to be extremely open and courteous with the player base, establishing a player-developer relationship unique in the industry. Evidentially, we valued this game much more than those who published it.
City of Heroes is not the first game to have been shut down by NCSoft. Auto Assault, Dungeon Runners, Exteel, and Tabula Rasa, are all previous games shut down by this company in North America. In nearly all cases, the cause of the shutdown has been a falling player base, and with it a significant decline in revenue. This makes City of Heroes a unique case, as according to Matt Miller, the Paragon developer formerly known as Positron, City of Heroes is the largest and most active MMO ever to be shut down.
As somebody else mentioned in another thread, it might be worthwhile to add that everybody expected CoH to continue on, that it had a lot of potential and expansion plans in the works. These other games, everybody saw the end coming, because they were dwindling to death. CoH was fully healthy and is being put down despite having many potential years of profitable and active life left.
I actually did that, but I've now clarified the paragraph in question (I think I'll link the AMA that Posi did to this one):
QuoteEveryone, from the players to the developers, expected City of Heroes to continue, as plans had been laid out for several further expansions years away from development. In other games, the end was patently obvious, as there was a slow dwindling in the population, much too fast to justify preservation of the game. Now, some have made claim that City of Heroes had to have been on life support in order for the actions of NCSoft to make sense, but according to the developers themselves, the game was doing quite well. Certainly well enough to fully finance the development of a second MMO from Paragon. No, this wasn't a decision to take a game off of life support. This was a decision to euthanize. After all, if money were the issue, it is almost an expected standard that it be admitted as such, after all, that is what NCSoft has done when shutting down earlier games.
Looking good to me! Nice work!
Is it ok to link to this article, once it is published, on the NCSoft Facebook page?
Quote from: Globetrotter on November 12, 2012, 04:54:52 PM
Is it ok to link to this article, once it is published, on the NCSoft Facebook page?
It`s a blog post, but absolutely.
http://missingworlds.wordpress.com/2012/11/12/voices-from-paragon-part-iv-consequences/
Comments on the page are greatly appreciated.
While "evidentially" is technically a word, I think "evidently" is the more commonly used variation.
Thanks.
Quote from: cmgangrel on November 12, 2012, 06:37:33 PM
No worries, however I am getting a bit worried about people having to correct stuff like this where it can easily be resolved with just a little bit of research to confirm your facts.
It is even worse when it is all from a group of players/people who *should* know more about their own game than most normal gamers.
Most corrections have been minor - Paragon Studios became Paragon Studios in 2008, but was established as NCSoft NorCal in 2007. I conflated the two dates.
"Evidently" colloquially means "apparently" or "seems to be." "Evidentially" would likely mean "there is evidence to support this." I am not certain "evidentially" is technically a word, though.
My word processing software recognized it as such, though. Could be because it's set to Commonwealth English as opposed to US.
Quote from: cmgangrel on November 12, 2012, 06:37:33 PM... a bit worried about people having to correct stuff like this where it can easily be resolved with just a little bit of research...
But that's the point of posting it here for peer review. We are here to catch these small errors and typos, which trust me, creep in to even the most professional writer's submissions. Even the bestselling authors have editors and proof-readers. :)
Quote from: Ammon on November 12, 2012, 11:06:07 PM
But that's the point of posting it here for peer review. We are here to catch these small errors and typos, which trust me, creep in to even the most professional writer's submissions. Even the bestselling authors have editors and proof-readers. :)
And sometimes our editors and proofreaders miss things.
I've been thinking about what I should do to follow up the sledgehammer that was the previous post. Definitely, I believe it should be something that further builds the case, and helps to show the real stories behind the people who play the game. I think it's time I put together a post covering the beneficial qualities the game offered those of us with non-standard neurology.
I happen to have quite a few people watching my blog who are very active bloggers within said community, so there's great potential there if I've done it right.
I was linked on Fark.com. Unfortunately, it was labelled as "Fail." Evidently, whoever did it missed the point of the series.
I'm wondering by what criteria "failure" is determined with your blog. c_c;; That seems a lot of effort to go to for somebody to just be a jerk. I wonder what his reason(ing) was.
Well, here's the comments on the link over at Fark, to give you the idea.
http://tinyurl.com/a5v3asm (http://tinyurl.com/a5v3asm)
I am not sure where they got the idea that I am personally boycotting NCSoft - I still play Guild Wars, after all.
Voices from Paragon Part V – The Voiceless
Although I had intended to finish this series by explaining the reason why City of Heroes is important to me and thus why I am involved in the efforts to save it, the number of tales similar to my own that I have heard make it prudent for me to provide my own history with the game sooner, as opposed to later. I hope that this helps to clarify not only who I am in association with the game, but why I have taken it upon myself to function as a chronicler.
QuoteThe average person speaks approximately 16000 to 20 000 words in a day, possibly more, possibly less, depending on the study you examine. I am lucky to manage even a quarter of that. To be as direct as possible, every word I speak has been translated at least twice before it even passes through my lips, since unlike the vast majority of the human race, I do not think linguistically (that is, in words). I have described how I think in several different ways, saying that I think in puzzles, that I think mathematically, especially geometrically, but it really boils down to I think in terms of almost pure visualized logic.
Thinking visually is only the first tier of translation, since it allows me to grab all the various components and spread them out, catching all the various links between them. This means that I can pretty much look at a machine and read roughly how it works with a glance, but it also means that the more complex biological machines known as people prove extremely difficult to completely account for in regards to behaviour.
The next layer of translation is descriptive, allowing me to put things into words, so that I may communicate my concepts and ideas to those around me. When it comes to actual spoken word, however, an additional layer of translation is required; otherwise it ends up frequently being lost. Either because the initial terminology chosen for the description is too complex, and thus needs to be translated in a less precise fashion, or because it is lost to the signal noise commonly known as a speech disorder. Truth be told, there is nothing actually disordered about my speech. If anything, it is far too ordered.
Having spent the majority of my life wondering why I had such difficulty interacting with members of the human species, I found an answer in the kitchen of a private club I started working at after my first (disastrous) year at college. It was there that a co-worker asked me a question that provided a missing piece from the puzzle I'd been trying to solve. She'd asked me if I was autistic, since her son was nearly non-verbal, and had a lot of behavioural traits that seemed quite in common with my own manner. Now, I'd known that I had a non-verbal learning disability since I was very young, but this was entirely new.
You see, the paperwork which identified the particulars vanished, likely in part due to the fact that it was so similar to that of my near-perfect partial genetic duplicate; it was discarded as a copy. My family has never been able to prove that, however, and despite my mother's efforts to find out what had happened and enable me to receive the assistance I needed, I ended up having to navigate the hazardous shoals of primary education up to high school almost entirely on my own. I may have had my twin brother's assistance, but unfortunately, even with his almost divine hand at gleaning the particulars of what I needed, I finished high school with very little of a self-concept. I never started regularly referring to myself as an independent being until we started studying at separate schools in the fall of 2003. It didn't matter that they were in adjacent towns, what mattered is that I finally had full authority to consciously handle my own affairs.
I failed; quite badly, in fact. Landing in academic probation, and having very little in terms of social interaction with classmates, I returned home for the Christmas break, where I was given some well-placed advice that allowed me to return to school and remove myself from academic probation. That summer, a friend of mine had picked up City of Heroes, and allowed me to fiddle with it on his account. I recognized the game as having potential, and promised myself to pick up a copy as soon as possible.
I acquired a copy in November 2005, but was unable to activate it due to the lack of a sufficiently competent computer until October 2006. My brothers decided they'd chip in for the monthly fees in exchange for having a server to themselves through my account (as it was my eldest sibling's computer we were using, I did not decline). I was promptly enthralled by the vibrant life on Pinnacle, meeting many colourful individuals, including one known as X-Funk (whom had some extremely encouraging words whenever I needed them), and found myself drawn increasingly deeper into the community, eventually finding a renewed faith in my own voice. It should be no surprise that The King's Speech is a film of tremendous personal importance.
As a result of the increased confidence in my own voice, I was able to go from a 2.72 GPA in my first run at college to a 3.42 in my second, which was a Business Administration Co-op program with a focus in Marketing. I had placements across multiple industries, from marketing services, to non-government humanitarian organizations, and the high-tech world of Waterloo, Ontario. Not only that, I found an anchor in the game that helped me codify many ideas into potential story seeds which I am still continuing to grow.
City of Heroes is far more than just a game for me, as it has frequently been my *only* social outlet. I have never been a greatly social individual, preferring the reliability and order of books to the inherent chaos of human civilization, but I had a friend point out to me a decade or so ago that for me to eschew chaos would be to deny the greater portion of my own being. She was right. In as much as my twin brother has been an interpreter for me when it comes to interacting with the world, she's been my guide and my teacher. I would not have gone to the risk of introducing myself to the Pinnacle community without her well-time advice.
Considering that in the time since I joined City of Heroes, I've been able to find my own words with deeper certainty and vastly greater strength and passion, to the point where I am nearly ready to seek the publication of my first book, I have to say that there are no other words that I can put forth than to merely say "Thank you" to the community of Paragon City and the developers at Paragon Studios.
Thus, the reason why this particular series is titled Voices from Paragon, as it is through my interactions in Paragon City and the community around it that I found confidence in my own voice. Were I to present this information verbally, I would be extremely hesitant and practically incomprehensible. And yet, I would still find some way of succeeding in doing so.
The fact that much of the social interaction I experienced within City of Heroes occurred through a textual medium made the process of such interactions much less of a challenge. Although there were plenty of errors and miscommunications resulting in some exceedingly interesting, and yet at the same time friendly, argumentative encounters, as a result of playing City of Heroes, I have learned how to correct the errors that had developed in my methodology of dealing with living beings.
After all, when one's process regarding constant dealings with complex situations fails to consistently distinguish between objects and people, one has a significant issue. I am very frequently surprised by those who think I am eloquent, as if I were to write down my thoughts before they are thoroughly translated, the result is something like below:
QuoteHuman behaviour has always been, in the perspectives of myself and several others who share a similar methodology of mind and thought, an intriguing puzzle of incredible complexity to which there has never been a truly satisfactory answer, and as such, there has been a continual push to revise and modify the means and measures by which those of us have deemed it necessary to adopt for the purposes of seeking to determine such an answer. However, it is impossible to dismantle the higher order habits and behaviours of human beings without losing the significance drawn from the individually unique circumstances within which these behaviours occur. Humans do not act within a vacuum, as every action and thought that a human being can have necessarily influences succeeding thoughts and actions, just as the initial actions can and are influenced by the actions, thoughts, and circumstances that immediately preceded them. The purpose of this documentation is to trace the most basic elements of human behaviours and emotions and evaluate the various complex combinations they can emulate, with the express purpose of determining if it is possible to identify those individuals who are prone to patterns deemed hazardous to one's self and close interactions, as well as those who are prone to patterns that prove hazardous to those with minimal interactions with the selected individual.
The above text seems to have a Flesch-Kincaid reading ease level of 2.6, which means that it, like my general thoughts, are extraordinarily complicated, quite possibly needlessly so. It is quite possible to sum up the meaning of the above text with a single sentence, after all. In short, it says nothing more than stating that I do not quite get the way people act, as they never seem to match any predictive modelling to a suitable degree.
As far as I know, I am not autistic, although the designation certainly fits my experience. I am not the only person with non-standard neurology whom City of Heroes has helped, as the player known to me as Plangkye demonstrates:
QuoteThere are a few interlocking reasons here. First, I've been playing games since childhood, and the games I favor are the ones that let you explore and - when video games started having that option - make your own character, and customize your experience, and are not focused on competing with other players. First-person shooters and arcade-style fighting games leave me cold. I devoured the Pokemon series, with its ample flexibility in party combinations and play style options, in my early teens. When I discovered BioWare, I latched right onto Knights of the Old Republic, especially the second one with its even greater depth of dialogue trees, individual character stories, and character build customization options, and held on well into other BioWare titles (I'm halfway through the first Dragon Age and loved the first and second Mass Effect games; still need to get my hands on Jade Empire). However, aside from City of Heroes, my great love in video games is, and remains, the Elder Scrolls, in particular Morrowind: while it looked interesting to me even on its own, once I discovered that it came with its own Construction Set and there was a whole community of people online who dedicated even more of their spare time to allowing the player to be exactly the character they wanted to be than they did to actually playing the game, I did nothing else for years. I'm still a part of that community, though I've become a little scarcer over the past couple of years, for one reason and one reason only: City of Heroes is better. Morrowind (and Skyrim, and I suppose even Oblivion) are all fantastic worlds to explore, in which you play exactly what you want to play - an aside; I played WoW for about twenty minutes before I got tired of being Orc Shaman #3,428, I mean, sure, I got to pick my own hair color and style and skin tone but any game that changes your avatar's outward appearance based on what equipment you're wearing only goes so far in terms of visual distinction if you can't add new equipment yourself - but The Elder Scrolls series comprises single-player games, which means that there is no in game, real-time role-play as the character you've dreamed up. The next best thing is tabletop RPGs; I've played a lot of D&D, Star Wars D20, and even tabletop Dragonball (which was far more amazing than I could have ever expected), but tabletop also lacks - there is a limited pool of players, sessions have to be set up and agreed upon ahead of time, meeting in person is inconvenient, rolling dice slows things down, etc., and there are also no visuals. To imagine is one thing, but to be shown is another thing entirely. This is the crux of what makes City of Heroes my most beloved video game title: My character, that I play with hundreds of other people, in real time, feels like my creation as I watch him fight evil using the powers that I have chosen for him.
The second reason, that I believe depends heavily on the first - I have Asperger's syndrome and it gives me severe social anxiety, and if not for this game, I would not have friends. It's much, much easier for me to understand the minds and motives of fictional characters than real people, so I gain relief from this anxiety when there's a safe curtain of fiction between me and whoever's on the other end, that I can pass through at my own pace. This works. Case in point: I just got back from a vacation in Mexico, on the Mayan Riviera, arranged by the co-leader of my SG. This kind of real friendship is not something that comes easily to me, and it only happened because of our RP together and later, our joint efforts to keep our SG running. The only other place that I can encounter this safety curtain is at conventions, and even then, it's neither as effective (conventions end, and people go home to unreachable places) nor anywhere near as affordable, not to mention a much greater expenditure of time and energy, which I can't sustain for long.
Lastly, Ms. Lackey has already said exactly what I feel, though I don't write professionally:
QuoteAs a writer, I am deeply invested in my characters and their stories. Some of them have made it on to professional prose, but writing is very hard work, and nothing like as immersive as the experience of playing their stories and reactions. NCSoft is going to do something no one else ever has: completely destroy almost a hundred of my characters and stories. Legally, that is not a criminal action. But by all that is holy, it should be.
I do not believe there is anything else I can say.
~~~
I am sure there is actually more I can say, I'm just not sure how I should go about actually *doing* it.
Part V is now live.
http://missingworlds.wordpress.com/2012/11/20/voices-from-paragon-part-v-the-voiceless/ (http://missingworlds.wordpress.com/2012/11/20/voices-from-paragon-part-v-the-voiceless/)
Is there a way to share these blog posts on Facebook?
It should have automatically, at least on my own. Give me a second.
While I am still debating what to do for part VI, I will definitely be happy to announce that the title of part VII is "Enter the Mouse."
Speaking about the Mouse have you sent them a link to the blog! One thing to read letters it's another reading the same thing from those who don't seem to be trying to tug at the Mouse heart strings.
I decided to do something slightly different this time around. I'll be putting the links in later. Please feel free to point out any factual deficiencies or possible areas of improvement.
Voices from Paragon, Part VII – Resilience
Three weeks ago, at 3 AM EST on December 1st, the servers for City of Heroes went offline for what may be the final time. Despite seemingly running out of time to save the game, the community did not waver, and in fact intensified their efforts, being called the year's best online community by Ten Ton Hammer, one of the top MMO community news sites. Contrary to expectations, the loss of our digital homeland has not diminished the efforts to do something to save the game, and has in fact resulted in some extremely unlikely ideas.
Enter Team Wildcard, who, drawing from the single long shot idea of contacting Disney about the game, prepared a solid pitch and sent it to the executives best suited to make decisions on the matter. While obviously they didn't pitch the game itself, its IP, or its studio, all they did was point out why buying and rebuilding Paragon might be a solidly profitable venture, and provide the necessary contact information for those who *do* have the rights to sell.
Wildcard has stated that they have a list of companies with whom they will be targeting the pitch if Disney and other ventures do not work out. While I do not know for sure the contents of this list, I am quite confident that no one would be surprised by any of the companies that are contacted in this effort.
In addition to this Wildcard effort, the story broke on the front page of the financial section of the Korean Times, as a Korean journalist contacted our dear Mercedes wanting to know more about the game and its impending shut down. The most notable thing in the article is NCSoft's response, in which a spokesperson states that terminating City of Heroes was a "strategic decision," and more importantly, that "nothing had been decided on selling the game or other action afterwards."
Nothing had been decided on selling the game or other action afterwards.Extremely curious, especially because in the infamous October 2nd release, NCSoft stated that "We've exhausted all options including the selling of the studio and the rights to the City of Heroes intellectual property, but in the end, efforts to do so were not successful."
And yet, now they say that nothing had been decided on selling the game or other action afterwards. I think the events of the past several years in the financial industry reveal just what tends to be the result when companies do such things, and I think the evidence speaks for itself. The day the article hit the newsstands, NCSoft's stock hit a new 52-week low, and shortly afterwards, announced a reorganization in which it would sell its entire share of NC Interactive, the subsidiary operating in the west that actually owns City of Heroes.
Now, some might decry the effort of the City of Heroes community as being a pointless endeavour, a first world problem focused on something that is, after all, just a game, but I will be the first to say that it is much bigger than the closure of a game and the studio that created it. This is a problem which is endemic to the world, a problem which is the cause of a great deal of strife.
I am speaking, of course, of lapses in ethics and empathy. It is all too easy to make decisions that influence the lives of people you have never met thousands of miles away, because you will not see how your decisions impact their lives. They are not people to you; they are academic points of consumer data. I have shared many stories about the importance and impact City of Heroes has had on many lives, but I have been holding one in particular in reserve, because of the obvious emotional impact it carries.
My friend Ironwolf has already posted this as a comment on the first entry of Voices, but I feel I ought to give it a proper place within the narrative I am working to construct. He writes,
QuoteThis is for my granddaughter who I call Bean.
She is 10 now and has never had a single year that was without drama from a male figure in her life - except me - I am her Papa. She was 1 and her father "dropped" her breaking her right wrist. He left her and mom and moved from Michigan to Texas. She has never received so much as a birthday card from him.
Then my daughter married a guy who seemed a good guy and appeared to love my granddaughter as his own and I hoped against hope as parents do that they would live happy and forever. I was wrong. It turned out he had a drug problem brought about by working in a factory that caused his back and knees to ache. Within a year I was buying my daughter groceries as any money I gave them ended up buying drugs. Several years passed until my daughter saw the damage being done and left him.
My daughter found a new guy who was wealthy and hardworking and unknown to us was also an ex-con who was basically insane. He tried every way possible to control my daughter and separate her from her family and isolate her - not all at once but step by step like Worm tongue. During this time he also on a regular basis was mentally abusing my granddaughter. Being called stupid, a loser and every other hateful thing under the sun - took an outgoing 10 year old girl who got straight A's in school to sad loner who was failing 4th grade.
One day while at our house she watched me play City of Heroes, now I have been playing since the game began but she never really understood we were HEROES. She saw me battling a monster and my defeating him. For the first time she said, "Can I play?" I said of course and we spent the next 3 hours building a character and playing the game. I watched and coached her a bit and she played. I listened to her laugh - a real from the belly laugh and I realized to my horror it had been YEARS since I had heard her laugh like this and I nearly cried and had to leave the room for a moment.
I won't talk about the way we got the family out from under this monster. I will talk about my 10 year old hero standing beside her Papa fighting back against this live-in monster as she walked out of hell. She yelled at him and told him he was hateful and a horrible dad and that they would never go back to him. I was never more proud in my life of anyone and her spirit was bent but not broken.
My granddaughter then helped us get back her 2 year old sister who had been kidnapped by the father's family. She helped open the door and unbuckle the seat belts, when we had accidentally saw her sister at a McDonald's sitting in the car eating with one of the grandparent kidnappers. I ran interference and she helped her mom get the rest of the family back. Ten years old is young to have walked in the fires of hell and yet this game helped her learn she can fight back and defeat the monsters.
It also showed me the laughter that was missing from her soul and now I will spend every day working to keep the laughter loud and long and I thank this game for as long as it lasts for the bond we shared that was already strong now becoming a thing of legend. She now has a tale to tell her sister as she gets older in how she helped save her from the kidnappers.
The mantra we have continually repeated over the course of the effort to save City of Heroes is quite simple. We are Heroes. This is what we do. I have to admit, every lesson and ideal that comic books teach children, about good and evil, about making a stand for what is right, about acting out of love and mercy instead of malice and selfishness, and most importantly, just seeking to help.
It certainly not just a game to any of us, it is a realm of story and of great lessons, which many of us have used to teach our children. To paraphrase the old English author GK Chesterton, stories do not teach children that dragons exist. They already know that. Stories teach children that dragons can be slain. And the stories told in the City of Heroes do more than just that. They teach children to look for the helpers, and they teach children that they, too, can help.