Negative Article on Massively

[JaguarX]

Little side note about that article.

*ahem* I dont think telling Massively to stop writing about us is a good idea. One, I think in some cases we brought it to their attention, 2) that is about the biggest piece of publicity exposure we have at the moment. 3)It's just not nice after all the articles they covered about us.

*steps off stump, kills a tapir and drags it off to the nearest thicket.*

[Surelle]

Little side note about that article.

*ahem* I dont think telling Massively to stop writing about us is a good idea. One, I think in some cases we brought it to their attention, 2) that is about the biggest piece of publicity exposure we have at the moment. 3)It's just not nice after all the articles they covered about us.

*steps off stump, kills a tapir and drags it off to the nearest thicket.*

I agree.  Although it really isn't anyone's place to tell anyone else how to feel or what to think, let alone blanket-criticize their mental health, Eliot and Massively gave CoH a lot of coverage over the years, more than most other sites ever would have. 

It doesn't change my mind a bit.  I'm kinda surprised one person would think that somehow their opinion would.  But whatever.  To each his own.

But I wouldn't bother giving Massively any more tidbits about CoH.  And Eliot's little rant was a bit ill-timed what with poor Matt Miller giving that three-page interview over at Gamasutra the same day.  But again, to each his own.  I think the professional developers are more aghast at CoH's closing to begin with, though, as evidenced also in that PAX East panel with Dave Georgeson, etc.

[JaguarX]

I agree.  Although it really isn't anyone's place to tell anyone else how to feel or what to think, let alone blanket-criticize their mental health, Eliot and Massively gave CoH a lot of coverage over the years, more than most other sites ever would have. 

It doesn't change my mind a bit.  I'm kinda surprised one person would think that somehow their opinion would.  But whatever.  To each his own.

But I wouldn't bother giving Massively any more tidbits about CoH.  And Eliot's little rant was a bit ill-timed what with poor Matt Miller giving that three-page interview over at Gamasutra the same day.  But again, to each his own.  I think the professional developers are more aghast at CoH's closing to begin with, though, as evidenced also in that PAX East panel with Dave Georgeson, etc.

yup but I think one of our members did just that as what I described about a few minutes ago.

Was poking around seeing if anyone I knew or recognized looked borderline that I may be able to nudge gently to our side. Then I saw something that may not be good even though it came from only one member.

[Noyjitat]

I can't begin to tell you how hard it was for me to restrain myself when I clicked the reply button in that thread. What a freakin asshole.

[Surelle]

yup but I think one of our members did just that as what I described about a few minutes ago.

Well....again, opinions are opinions and everyone's got a right to theirs.  And people have the right to express themselves.

Welcome to Amerrrrreeeka, the land of the free!   8)

[JaguarX]

I can't begin to tell you how hard it was for me to restrain myself when I clicked the reply button in that thread. What a freakin asshole.

I could tell. I understand the anger but breath for a moment, woooosaaaaaa. ;D We might need that site for later.

Publicity is thin right now.

[JaguarX]

Well....again, opinions are opinions and everyone's got a right to theirs.  And people have the right to express themselves.

Welcome to Amerrrrreeeka, the land of the free!   8)

yup yup. Might be over reacting. Sometimes I get off work but cant stop working. After I finish off this Tapir I'm going to play a little CO to relax for once.

[eabrace]

yup but I think one of our members did just that as what I described about a few minutes ago.

I'm probably better off if I don't go look.

[TimtheEnchanter]

But I wouldn't bother giving Massively any more tidbits about CoH.  And Eliot's little rant was a bit ill-timed what with poor Matt Miller giving that three-page interview over at Gamasutra the same day.  But again, to each his own.  I think the professional developers are more aghast at CoH's closing to begin with, though, as evidenced also in that PAX East panel with Dave Georgeson, etc.

Yeah, that was REALLY bad timing. The PAX news hit first and Massively probably got spammed before the Miller article was up. And then Massively probably read the Gamasutra article when they got around to investigating the PAX rumors, and then thought, "What the heck are these crazy people talking about?"

I can't even begin to list the number of times stupid things like that have happened in my life.

[Captain Electric]

Keep in mind that "acceptance" is not the same as "quitting." :)

What NCSoft did was unacceptable.

[Spellcaster Hana]

It's sad that we lost another one of our community but it's his choice to move on as it is inevitable. Some of us here are still hoping that City of Heroes will be saved by some company (including me) but his opinions and thoughts does not need to cloud our own.

[Captain Electric]

Gah...for anyone who read this post before I snipped a chunk of it...I just don't feel right even mentioning my own losses in comparison to the shut down of City of Heroes. Just doesn't sit well with me. (Feels like I'm cheapening my memory of them.)

City of Heroes was (and IS) a thing with a switch that was turned off--a switch that also has an "ON" function.

The switch should be turned back ON. Either by NCSoft or a buyer. Not merely because it's possible, but because by doing so, the world would be made BETTER. Instantly. Friendships would rekindle, families separated by time zones and distance would reunite, joy would be felt. That's worth it. It was worth it yesterday. It'll still be worth it tomorrow.

Time hasn't changed the fact that there are still servers in a room that have an ON/OFF switch.

[FatherXmas]

Gah...for anyone who read this post before I snipped a chunk of it...I just don't feel right even mentioning my own losses in comparison to the shut down of City of Heroes. Just doesn't sit well with me. (Feels like I'm cheapening my memory of them.)

City of Heroes was (and IS) a thing with a switch that was turned off--a switch that also has an "ON" function.

The switch should be turned back ON. Either by NCSoft or a buyer. Not merely because it's possible, but because by doing so, the world would be made BETTER. Instantly. Friendships would rekindle, families separated by time zones and distance would reunite, joy would be felt. That's worth it. It was worth it yesterday. It'll still be worth it tomorrow.

Time hasn't changed the fact that there are still servers in a room that have an ON/OFF switch.

I give you long odds that the server software is still loaded and the player database is intact.  Heck I wouldn't be surprised if after four months they've "misplaced" all the live/I24 source code and raw art assets. 

The physical servers have likely been re-purposed for another game, existing or future beta.  The developer's rigs have all been packed up and sent to Carbine or ArenaNet with their drives wiped.  You aren't going to leave that much expensive equipment simply idle now, be serious.

[P51mus]

I give you long odds that the server software is still loaded and the player database is intact.  Heck I wouldn't be surprised if after four months they've "misplaced" all the live/I24 source code and raw art assets. 

The physical servers have likely been re-purposed for another game, existing or future beta.  The developer's rigs have all been packed up and sent to Carbine or ArenaNet with their drives wiped.  You aren't going to leave that much expensive equipment simply idle now, be serious.

Storage space is pretty cheap though, especially compared to the costs of running a business like NCSoft. They could keep everything CoH related archived indefinitely without really costing much, but who knows with NCSoft.

[Harpospoke]

Put my two cents in.    Even if this doesn't help...it's time for online gamers to stop "accepting" that their favorite game can be taken from them at any time.   Fans of other kinds of games don't have to do that.   Attitudes can change if you don't "accept" being treated like a temporary pile of money.

[FatherXmas]

Storage space is pretty cheap though, especially compared to the costs of running a business like NCSoft. They could keep everything CoH related archived indefinitely without really costing much, but who knows with NCSoft.

I know it's cheap and trivial but the logistics of keeping track of it I'm worried about.  It's the "but I thought you had the drives?" moment.  If whatever reason that kept them from agreeing to the buy out also is the sticking point with selling the game to anyone else (possibly some legal who ha), will someone there actually care about keeping track of it?

[TimtheEnchanter]

I know it's cheap and trivial but the logistics of keeping track of it I'm worried about.  It's the "but I thought you had the drives?" moment.  If whatever reason that kept them from agreeing to the buy out also is the sticking point with selling the game to anyone else (possibly some legal who ha), will someone there actually care about keeping track of it?

Heh, now THERE's a scenario I hadn't thought of.

"Why aren't we selling this IP again?"

"Because we can't find the source code."

"Oh... yeah, good reason. Keep ignoring calls."

[Kriiden]

Heh, now THERE's a scenario I hadn't thought of.

"Why aren't we selling this IP again?"

"Because we can't find the source code."

"Oh... yeah, good reason. Keep ignoring calls."

That made me chuckle.

[Rae]

Although I don't agree with Elliots sentiment, in defense of a fellow journalist:

1) The piece was filed under 'opinion', and that's exactly what he's writing - his opinion. It isn't fact, it isn't 'news', there's no interview, no piece of information he'd found.  It's what he thinks and how he feels.

2) You can't stop him writing about us.  The worst we can do is not talk to him or give him quotes or tips.  There's no copyright in news - just look at the other sites who ran the gamasutra article again, just reporting the fact that Gamasutra had run the article.  I'm not saying we SHOULD do these things.  He knows we need him and the publicity he can give us, a lot more than he needs us. A quick browse of these boards, could easily give him (or any other journo) enough information to pick up on what we're planning to do, when, and hundreds of quotes that are already in the public domain.

3) Mailbombing the media just isn't a good idea.  I know people are keen to get our story/idea out there, but from experience, if I have deadlines to meet and if 200 people sent me a 'write about this! ' email,  I would probably not have been too impressed either.  I know by our nature we're a bit of a multiheaded beast, and there will always be CoH players who aren't at this site, and will act independent of whatever advice is given here.  But harrassing people who can write and tell the world how we're behaving isn't a good plan if we want to keep them sympathetic to us.

Like I said,  I don't agree with his opinion, but I think that a) cutting our nose off to spite our face with Elliot would probably just drive home his opinion that we're losing the plot,  b) we couldn't really anyway, even if we tried and c) doing things that annoy journalists can backfire on us, on the CoH campaign and on CoH badly, and we should do what we can not to put ourselves in this position again.

[FatherXmas]

Heh, now THERE's a scenario I hadn't thought of.

"Why aren't we selling this IP again?"

"Because we can't find the source code."

"Oh... yeah, good reason. Keep ignoring calls."

I'm thinking more of an "Ark of the Covenant" moment where all the materials associated with the game is crated up, warehoused and then the paperwork is misplaced.