And the mask comes off.

[Noyjitat]

That's existed forever, it's called "paying attention to your kids" although this ancient technique has been long ignored, some practioners of this ancient art still exist today.

Seriously though blaming companies for what your kid has seen on a video game, movie, etc is just laziness. Maybe if people tried to take interest in what their kids were into, or even just taught their children to be open and honest, we as adult consumers wouldn't have to miss out on things like this.

Did you even bother to read? These are the type of posts from the official city of heroes forums that always made me facepalm... You suggest an optional/alternate feature and someone feels as if the word optional or alternate means MUST USE.

Optional textures and such would change the rating system... Imagine a game that's truly built for everyone where the rating is a range of E - M or T - M or whatever.... The game could have certain aspects turned off if you didn't want your kids seeing it. Hell I know some people that did indeed have problems with many of the newer costumes especially when it came to children still playing. So with the optional textures feature it would essentially filter them and replace them with a different texture. You don't like your kids seeing characters run around in panties and bras? Well it would replace that with pants and a tshirt. You don't want your kids playing with blood enabled? It gets turned off just as you can turn off animated grass or shadows.

You can't pay attention to your kids when they are over at the neighbors house or a friends house. If they want to play that bloody video game or watch adult material they find a way to... usually at a friends house.

And where exactly did I blame a company? I personally don't have any children but I feel too many games are held back by shooting for a rating when they could simply add options to disable certain aspects of the game. So far all of the current super hero mmos are rated T and soon even our beloved city of titans is shooting for a T rating. Now I'm sure it will be as fun as cox was but it leaves me wondering just how much further you could go with combat system.

[Baja]

There may or may not have been an ongoing effort to do exactly that, which may or may not be continuing. :) Basically, everything server-side needs to be reverse-engineered from the client in order to make a playable game on a private server (because as Arcana mentioned, it was not leaked to the plaers like some other MMO source code), and this is not something that can be done easily or quickly by hobbyists. In addition, since there may be potential legal hassles invovled (it's probably legal to undertake such an activity, but nobody wants to be in the position to have to hire a lawyer to prove that) any efforts along those lines are proceeding so far under the radar that some people believe they don't exist. Either that, or they don't exist. I'm not sure. :)

So short answer: Yes, technical issues. But not necessarily insurmountable ones, in the event that the deal falls through.

Those are some pretty heavy implications right there my good sir. *tips fedora*

[Teikiatsu]

Really? So if a group of twenty good friends you played coh with said "we have a private server you can play on, just don't tell anyone." You'd go around telling people most likely resulting in a shut down?

The main point there is 'just don't tell anyone.'

We saw how the Ironwolf postings spread once they were discovered.  If something like this got out, we'd hear about it.  We haven't, so there are 2 options:

1)  It isn't true, so there is nothing to play.
2)  It is true, some of us are playing on it, and we are keeping our mouths shut, and everyone else isn't playing on it.

Either way is irrelevant to the main point, there is no CoX to play.  There is no point in talking about it.  Even if it were true, IT DOES NOT MATTER.  Maintaining this discussion is pointless.  It's not like someone will notice your discussion and say 'Hey, let's invite that guy.  He seems like the type to not talk.'

So my advice: drop it and wait.

And that's all I got to say about that.

[opprime2828]

Quite.  This crazy conspiracy theory suffers from the flaw they all have - that large groups of people can keep a secret - perfectly - for years on end without leaking even a hint of it.  Does anyone here (aside from Baja), really think this community could keep that secret for even 5 whole minutes?

I think you're all being a bit jerky to Baja, myself.  He's just saying what he THINKS is the case, just as you are. You have zero proof that there AREN'T private servers somewhere, and he has zero proof that there are. 

Ranting about crazy conspiracy theories is just rude.  He wasn't offending you, but you immediately went on the offensive with him, ironically making the case for an earlier part of his post. 

Is it likely that if multiple private servers were running SOMEONE would have said something? Yes.

Is it possible that private servers are running and people are just being very careful who they invite because this game is so dear to us all that we wouldn't risk it ever getting taken away again?  Also yes.

Is it reasonable to assume that because many, many games have been reverse engineered into private servers after shutdown that CoH may very well have been too?
Yes.

Does CoH have some aspects to its design that make it reasonable to assume that this HASN'T happened? Yes.

Polite disagreement is usually much more preferable than name calling and insults. 

[opprime2828]

Defensive?  More like I'm laughing as the idea is so ludicrous.  I just don't want any newbies here to get the wrong idea that these super-secret CoH private servers actually exist, as it's just mean to send people on a snipe hunt.

But to answer your question - yes, I'd be telling everyone!  If I had a copy of the CoH source code I wouldn't waste 2 seconds in uploading it to every file-sharing network on the planet and would be handing out free copies to every single person who wanted one.  And I would have that source code, in very short order, if it were any of my friends that were inviting me to some super-secret private server.

Why on earth would you do ANY of that?  Why wouldn't you just play on the private server with your friends...privately...forever?

[BadWolf]

I think you're being a bit jerky to Baja, myself.  He's just saying what he THINKS is the case, just as you are. You have zero proof that there AREN'T private servers somewhere, and he has zero proof that there are. 

But extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. If I said that I THINK Robert Downey Junior keeps a pet leprechaun in his basement, my belief is not equivalent to your belief that he doesn't just because neither one of us can prove what we think. :)

[JanessaVR]

Why on earth would you do ANY of that?  Why wouldn't you just play on the private server with your friends...privately...forever?

Um...because that would be horribly selfish of me?  If I could return the game to the community...where it belongs...I would do so in a heartbeat.  And if there were a million copies of it floating around the net, it could never be censored.

[opprime2828]

But extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. If I said that I THINK Robert Downey Junior keeps a pet leprechaun in his basement, my belief is not equivalent to your belief that he doesn't just because neither one of us can prove what we think. :)

A better analogy might be if many celebrities were KNOWN to keep pet leprechauns in their basements, and Robert Downey Junior had spoken to many people about how he wanted one, and then you said you THINK he has one, then it's MUCH closer to what we had here.

His claim wasn't that extraordinary, and when I read it, at least, it was pretty clear he was saying what he ASSUMED was true and why, even then, it wasn't exactly a great answer due to people's tendency to quickly go off the deep end when they disagree. It would result in people getting kicked form servers and be more of a pain than it's worth.

Which I think isn't exactly unsubstantiated given recent discussions.

*cough*

[JanessaVR]

I think you're being a bit jerky to Baja, myself.  He's just saying what he THINKS is the case, just as you are. You have zero proof that there AREN'T private servers somewhere, and he has zero proof that there are. 

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof – and as he's the one making the extraordinary claims, the burden of proof is on him, not me.

Ranting about crazy conspiracy theories is just rude.  He wasn't offending you, but you immediately went on the offensive with him, ironically making the case for an earlier part of his post. 

If someone is spreading blatant misinformation, then yes, I'm going to jump on them for it.  No apologies.

Is it likely that if multiple private servers were running SOMEONE would have said something? Yes.

Glad you agree.

Is it possible that private servers are running and people are just being very careful who they invite because this game is so dear to us all that we wouldn't risk it ever getting taken away again?  Also yes.

No, this is flat out not true.  After 2 years, we have a pretty good idea who the people in our community are who actually have the technical ability to pull this off, and they haven't yet.  This isn't a maybe, it's a no.

Is it reasonable to assume that because many, many games have been reverse engineered into private servers as shutdown that CoH may very well have been too?
Yes.

Incorrect, see previous answer.

Does CoH have some aspects to its design that make it reasonable to assume that this HASN'T happened? Yes.

Glad you agree.

Polite disagreement is usually much more preferable than name calling and insults.

My disagreement is expressed proportionate to the quality of the statement being made.  Crazy conspiracy theories are given the answer they deserve.  Again, no apologies.

[opprime2828]

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof – and as he's the one making the extraordinary claims, the burden of proof is on him, not me.
If someone is spreading blatant misinformation, then yes, I'm going to jump on them for it.  No apologies.
Glad you agree.
No, this is flat out not true.  After 2 years, we have a pretty good idea who the people in our community are who actually have the technical ability to pull this off, and they haven't yet.  This isn't a maybe, it's a no.
Incorrect, see previous answer.
Glad you agree.
My disagreement is expressed proportionate to the quality of the statement being made.  Crazy conspiracy theories are given the answer they deserve.  Again, no apologies.

And I can tell you that if I were playing on a private server RIGHT NOW with close friends, there isn't a chance in hell given what I'm seeing here I'd tell you about it.

Do I believe you wholeheartedly love this game?  Yup. 
Do I think you're probably a nice person who is fun to play with?  Yup.
Would I trust you not to get the whole thing shut down?  Not at all.

As a matter of fact, if I had access to a private server, there are exactly 12 people I would invite, and I know for a fact all 12 of them would keep dead silent about it.  All 12 loved the game deeply, and would love playing with each other again, and would in no way risk it by telling even ONE other person.

As a matter of fact, can you prove that isn't the case right now? ;-)


Baja: 


I hope you don't let this response chase you away from this thread. It's been an awesome thread for about 90% of the time, and it really feels a little bit like CoH just by reconnecting with the players in here and discussing things like what might be, what was, what should have been, and if blasters really were one notch below emp/ice defenders on the damage scale. :)

[Aggelakis]

https://images.weserv.nl/?url=imagizer.imageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg7%2F4703%2Fmodhat2.jpg

So how 'bout them negotiations.

(That's mod-speak for "leave it alone, guys".)

[Aggelakis]

For reals, guys. I will continue to delete further responses.

[brothermutant]

My Patrol XP must be HUGE. That means that Blaster in permanent lvl 47 limbo is ready to DING 50?! Sweet.

[Phaetan]

If you're going to prattle on after a mod nixes things, you should probably at least least yourself plausible deniability that you hadn't read their warning.

At any rate, if/when we get the game back, I'm looking forward to seeing how things look with something other than the bare minimum graphics settings.  At shutdown, I was using a laptop with integrated graphics, but am now at a desktop.  It was really interesting to see what some of those powers looked like in Icon with Ultra Mode on.

Anyone else have something relatively simple like that which you are anticipating doing for the first time upon resurrection?

[Angel Phoenix77]

https://images.weserv.nl/?url=imagizer.imageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg7%2F4703%2Fmodhat2.jpg

So how 'bout them negotiations.

(That's mod-speak for "leave it alone, guys".)

I do wonder how they are going, but I do understand the quietness of it :)

[dwturducken]

See, this is funny to me.  I'm running Windows 8 as we speak, and since day 1 I've found it to be superior in EVERY way.  There is, literally, NOTHING I can't do in Windows 8 that I could in 7, and do it faster. The instant on thing is amazing.  It boots almost instantly. Once you learn the shortcuts it becomes even BETTER, and since the 8.1 update, now you can avoid the tiled home screen altogether and boot right to the desktop, and they even returned the windows button functionality.

Yes, I can do anything on my wife's Windows 8 laptop that I can do on my Windows 7 laptop (physical hardware differences aside), after I spend at least five minutes figuring out where the hell Redmond moved it in the interface. My grandfather is the only one in the family I hadn't gotten migrated from Windows XP, and I'm just leaving him at XP, with an active Kaspersky sub, until he runs into a reason to do otherwise.

[darkgob]

My Patrol XP must be HUGE. That means that Blaster in permanent lvl 47 limbo is ready to DING 50?! Sweet.

How quickly they forget... There was a cap on Patrol XP.  :P

[Rejolt]

I do wonder how they are going, but I do understand the quietness of it :)

There's a good chance they haven't spoken in weeks and are waiting for the next stage/meeting on xxxxxber 12!

[Cailyn Alaynn]

How quickly they forget... There was a cap on Patrol XP.  :P

Does 2 years count as "Quickly"?

[adarict]

Yes, I can do anything on my wife's Windows 8 laptop that I can do on my Windows 7 laptop (physical hardware differences aside), after I spend at least five minutes figuring out where the hell Redmond moved it in the interface. My grandfather is the only one in the family I hadn't gotten migrated from Windows XP, and I'm just leaving him at XP, with an active Kaspersky sub, until he runs into a reason to do otherwise.

Windows 8 is technically leaps and bounds beyond Windows 7 under the hood. It is also quite good to use on a tablet, or at least with a touch screen. It is also surprisingly good for people doing mundane tasks, or non-power users. On a regular desktop, it tends to be inefficient because too much focus was made on Touchscreen. 8.1 did address some of those issues. Also, for power users, Microsoft again buried or removed things from the normal menus, forcing us to use command lines or to know the exes.

I dislike using Windows 8 for my day to day work, other than when I have to do QA specifically for Windows 8. The Metro/Modern UI is really only suitable for tablets or mobile devices. The leaked builds of Windows 9 appear to be what Windows 8 should have been. With all the negatives I find in 8, I still love the fact that is runs on lower end hardware better than anything since XP. the UI really is the only thing in Windows 8 that is a downgrade from Windows 7. Even that problem can be worked around for power users, it is just annoying to HAVE to do that. I've always wondered why Microsoft never included an option for install that was actually geared towards admits and power users. A profile as it were, so rather than me having to move stuff around, make my own shortcuts, etc, I would just choose a radio button during first boot and all the power user type items would be preselected.