I got this email in my inbox the other day. The sender is a friend and fellow survivor.Quote
Subject: So what do you think is the "point of no return" for COH?
It's been almost two months since NCSoft shafted COH players. In the time
leading up to and the time after the shut down, many rumors have abounded along
with much finger pointing as to the why's and wherefore's of the shutdown.
Also of course amongst the rumors were talks of COH being sold to new owners, or
NCSoft grabbing their ears and pulling their heads out of the ground and
restoring the game (not likely to happen).
So, what is the point of no return? When should you or anyone decide that enough
time has passed and that COH will never return? Let's face it, some of us have
moved to other titles to try out, and some of us may not return to COH if it
takes too long to return (among other factors such as who owns it and what has
changed).
For me, I'd say by June 2013 if the game isn't restored or at least an
announcement made that it IS coming back hasn't occurred, then it is indeed Game
Over.
The following was my reply.Quote"I have to ask you a question.
And it's an important one so I want you to think about the answer before you give it to me,
OK?"
"Ok."
"When a Player and a Game really love each other but they can't get it together,
when do you get to that point where enough is enough?"
"June 2013."
"That's your answer?"
"Yeah."
"That's not right. I mean, there's a right answer here, but that's not it...
Anyway, it's a loaded question.
Look, when a Player and a Game love each other,
totally, truthfully, all the way love each other,
the answer to that question is simple, especially in OUR case.
When do you get to that point where enough is enough?
Never.
Never."
--Leroy (The Mexican, 2001)
I thought I'd share :) @no hero, Virtue.
(https://i.imgur.com/WCSphlc.jpg)
A journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step.
I've been seeing a bit of this, a few are feeling the time passing very keenly and some are tempted to lose hope. I always try and reasurre them while explaining that these things can take a lot of time.
I do feel sympathy, for some this kind of sustained effort can be very draining, especially if there are lifes other difficulties to deal with too. I suppose it comes back to ideas that were around 4/5 months ago - that as feckless consumers we are expected to initially make a lot of noise but to fade away after a few months and buy into something else.
This way never going to be a sprint but always a marathon. We can gather respect and eventually win by playing the long game. Every CoH supporter that can continue to be active after the 4/5/6 month after closure line is invaluable but we need the numbers to press onward.
I suppose my point is that while there are various efforts going on - making a new game, salvaging the old, tinkering with the mechanics of it all (great stuff btw), we need to continue to support each other.
I agree and disagree.
I agree in that I will always... ALWAYS be willing to try out a City of Heroes restart or a City of Heroes 2 creation should one ever come out. I will also always HOPE that it will eventually come out.
Having said that, I will also try every new Super Hero MMORPG that hits the streets. It's a genre that I love and will always hold out hope that another excellent example of the breed is made available.
Now, here's where I disagree. While I do hope and pray that the game gets revitalized... I honestly believe that even if it is... it will never... NEVER... be the same as the game we lost. There is one big reason why I feel this way. The Developers have all gone on to new projects. Let's face it... it was the Devs who made this game as great as it was. If some other company buys the rights and makes the game real again; they will not be same people who built it to what it is now.
So... if CoH or CoH2 ever do rise from the grave to hunt the night for tasty brains upon which to munch... I will definitely try the game out... but I will do so as though it were a new game I had never played before. Expecting it to be the same as what we've lost is asking for disappointment.
Quote from: Steelclaw on January 23, 2013, 05:35:44 PM
. Expecting it to be the same as what we've lost is asking for disappointment.
Yeah
Quote from: Steelclaw on January 23, 2013, 05:35:44 PM
Now, here's where I disagree. While I do hope and pray that the game gets revitalized... I honestly believe that even if it is... it will never... NEVER... be the same as the game we lost. There is one big reason why I feel this way. The Developers have all gone on to new projects. Let's face it... it was the Devs who made this game as great as it was. If some other company buys the rights and makes the game real again; they will not be same people who built it to what it is now.
You can perceive it that way, but the team has changed over the years - at times dramatically, like when Paragon Studios came into being - and so did the creative direction for the game. Those developers that were with the project from the beginning until the end switched positions and evolved both personally and profesionally. You are right about the revived CoH being different from the one that was closed, but that CoH was different from the one existing around the time certain milestone Issues were live. It's a thing inherent to online titles. And there is certain charm to that.
If CoH came back 20 years from now, I'd play it.
The first game I ever bought for my first PC back in 1988 was Sid Meier's Pirates. I loved that game. Last year I bought the Wii version (updated graphics and game play, but mostly the same game) and I've been playing it a lot since CoH went down. So yeah, once a great game, always a great game.
While not an exact analogy, it's been almost 24 years and I'm still waiting for David Gerrold to publish book 5 of his Chtorr series. :gonk: Even if he dies, I will continue to wait for someone to pick up his notes to write it up (and the other 2 of his proposed 7 total for the series). So, I have no qualms about waiting for however long it'll take for COH to be resurrected. I'll be keeping an eye out.
I've been replaying Starcraft-1 (single player) on and off for the past couple of months. I really want to get Starcraft-2, but Activision's (?) money grab to split it into 3 releases pissed me off. After I had heard that, I decided to wait 10 years minimum before I'd buy it, preferably as a Battlechest version with all 3 parts and on sale. >:(
I'm with SerialBeggar (although I have never read a Chtorr). If I should pass on before City of Heroes returns then I guess I won't miss it, until then I miss it and wait patiently. There must be a place where everyone goes to be an instant hero, and to be nice to everyone around them. Narcissism and altruism. Feeling good on so many levels.
Meanwhile I play two uplifting Cryptic game concepts that nonetheless attract a vast and noisy population of narrow minded defeatists. But every colony full of Klingons that I slaughter, for percentage gains in future slaughters, reminds me I remain ready to come home.
When a game has such a strong community such as ours, its impossible to give up hope that our game will return.
When Star Wars Galaxies was axed, the medium sized community recreated the game to a public playable state.
I don't know much about the Star Wars community, I tried Galaxies for a short while, but really wasn't my thing.
In 2004, Earth and Beyond was axed by EA. That community was really small ... we had, 15,000 players max at sunset
announcement, and once clusure was announced, I would say that 75% of the community left for other games.
This small community which I am a part of, has been working on a server for 8 years, never gave up, and today, there is a
public open beta server, anyone who wants to play can play! Its not a large community, but it has to be one of the most
desicated bunch of players I have ever had the pleasure to be a part of.
Now, with a massive community such as the City of Heroes one, I am extremely confident that this game will be reborn...
How long will it take? I don't know. But, mark my words!! Heroes will fly again in Paragon City!!
I cried for three straight days when CoH shut down...
I am past it in the sense that life goes on... and I have to go on, with other personal projects, with work, with life in general...
Similar to when I had to put my cat to sleep (a year ago, and I still miss her), I will never have another cat like that, but I can still love and appreciate the cat I have, and any other wonderful cat that comes into my life....
But if a "spiritual successor" comes around, I will jump on it. I mourn the familiar places I loved (like Atlas Park, Pocket D, etc) but more than that I mourn the characters I created. The ability to really feel free to create. The ability to share your creations with others!
If some game like this comes to be I will joyfully embrace it!
"The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door which it began
Now far ahead the Road has gone
And I must follow if I can
Pursuing it with weary feet
Until it meets some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet
And whither then I cannot say"
"No cause is lost if there is but one fool left to fight for it."
- Will Turner (Pirates of the Carribean, At World's End)
I'd be proud to be counted in this company of fools. *bows*
"I will walk this ground forever and stand guard against your name.
I will give all I can offer, I will shoulder all the blame.
I am sentry to you now, all your hopes and all your dreams.
I will hold you to the light, that's what forever means. "