Word-Spreading Event: Media Day

[Vulpy]

And here I reveal just how much I have to learn here: "text that accompanies the message?"

Well, I assume that press releases aren't sent "naked"--that there would be a paragraph before the body itself explaining what the press release is, who should be interested in it, and why. It seems especially useful for a "cold call" like this one. That said...

[ihavenoideawhati'mdoing.jpg]

Never take advice from a fox on a keyboard to heart without thinking it over.

[dwturducken]

I had been holding back my premium account for vigil use, but this is better. Also, my son is grounded from the computer at the moment, so his free account is available, too. ;D

[eabrace]

Also, my son is grounded from the computer at the moment, so his free account is available, too. ;D

Well played.  :)

[dwturducken]

Well played.  :)

It was hardly a planned thing. He threw a chair in class. Now we have to go to a family counselor. It's a shame, too, because it was a video game that we could actually both play together, unlike Mortal Kombat (I kick his @$$) or the various iterations of Smash Bros (he kicks my @$$). We're both upset, especially in light of the Sunset.

Unrelated, I was recently followed on Twitter by @KeyBiscayne, who says they live Tweet sunrises and sunset. My wife laughed. A lot.

[Segev]

My condolences, dwturducken, on the timing of the incident in light of the sunset and all. Here's hoping this might change things so you can play CoH with your son again when this is over!

[Victoria Victrix]

I have 48-50 accounts on both Virtue and Pinnacle that are on the Maria Jenkins arcs.  Since those were revamped I think they are fine examples to show folks, and the storyline is self explanatory. 

[QuantumHero]

Rolla, Mo is difficult but not impossible for me and possibly two laptops a couple of microphones some Lan cable, and whatever else I can get out of storage and shlep with me. 

It appears to be a solid 6-7 hour drive so um an inexpensive train, bus or really cheap plane fairwould be preferred...perhaps you could list where buses, trains, and planes come into and whether transport from them could be arranged...also its been a very long time since the con circut for me but any chance of doing the sleeping bag space thing either as one group or with existing attedees to keep costs down?  I would drivethis but after a 7 hour drive. That is a lot of the energy I would need to be helpful spent in transit.  Money is tight right now but if I ca do tis on the cheap and not utterly exhaust myself bydriving 14 hours in two days...I will be there and happy to speak and mentor :

Anyone else considering this from Illinois?

[Aquashock]

I can't really help out much with this (I work weekend :( ) but I would suggest taking our guests to some SG bases. An editing demo could be interesting, too.

[Segev]

I am, myself, flying up from Dallas to STL and driving from thence to Rolla. The plane fare from here is ~$160-170, SouthWest Airlines.

I am crashing at a friend's place, so I can't really help others with lodgings. Hotels and motels in Rolla do tend to be of the double-digits per night price range, IIRC, though. I know there's a train track through Rolla, but I don't know if there is a passenger stop. I will see what I can find out.

[Moonfyire101]

This is a fantastic idea with one downfall. If you don't already have City of Heroes installed you can't get in game.

Would it help if i post the CoH bits that are installed on my computer on thepiratebay? Putting these files in the proper directory would make it force patch.

[Segev]

Unfortunately I forgot to try today, but I have been told that the installer can be boot-strapped from the NCSoft general sign-in page, so we CAN get it on anybody's computer who needs it. We're getting around the account problem with donors; if you check the first post in this thread, you'll see a link to a folder with google docs that are how we're organizing this.

In other news, here's my second attempt at the announcement/invitation thing, phrased a bit more as a "press release." I understand those tend to have eye-catching titles, but I'm drawing a blank. As before, thorough comment and criticism are heartily requested. I have mentioned a certain authoress's involvement in this effort in this version in a shameless attempt to make it more news-worthy; I hope I have not offended in doing so and will remove it if asked. (If I don't hear a confirmation that it's okay, I'll message her tomorrow, but I don't want to spam her inbox if she will see it on her own.)

Anyway, enough with my late-night ramblings! Please read and review. I'd like to get it out Sunday, Monday at the latest. We'll need at least that much time for our potential guests to get interested, exchange some planning details, and make their own plans.




On August 31, 2012, Paragon Studios was abruptly shut down to the complete surprise of its employees and management. Its signature game, the still-profitable City of Heroes, is scheduled to be permanently shut down on November 30, 2012. Since the announcement, the players of City of Heroes (CoH) have come together in a surprisingly active and vocal movement to try to convince NCSoft, the parent company which owns the rights to the game and which shut down Paragon Studios without warning (citing a "realignment of focus" as the sole reason), to take action to preserve the game they love and in which they have grown an extensive and involved community.

Recognizing NCSoft's desire to be done supporting CoH is a legitimate choice for a South Korean business to make regarding a product popular in the West, the players have held ongoing vigils on the game servers wherein their characters hold aloft torches, have held rallies and marches to demonstrate their devotion, and have even bought a "thank you" dinner for the Paragon Studios developers, with the hopes that NCSoft will be convinced to allow the game and its developers to continue in other hands, rather than shutting it down. Even such luminaries as Mercedes Lackey - noted science fiction and fantasy authoress - have come forward in support of this effort.

On October 20th, the players of this game are holding a charity Game-A-Thon to support Children's Miracle Network hospitals. Also on that date, they are inviting members of the press to come and join them in demonstrations of how characters are made, what the most exciting parts of the game are to them, and to answer questions both in word and in deed about why this community means so much to them. Though things look bleak for their City, these players of heroes (and 4-color supervillains) are determined to take on the never-say-die attitude of the genre they love, and offer to share their experiences - poingant and stirring and wholesome - with others before the game closes and they can do so no more.

[Codewalker]

Unfortunately I forgot to try today, but I have been told that the installer can be boot-strapped from the NCSoft general sign-in page.

You don't even have to do that.

1. Install the NCSoft Launcher
2. Select City of Heroes, click install

I did it just a couple days ago on a fresh computer when I didn't have my files handy to copy over, and it worked fine.

[Segev]

Thanks!

I'll see about setting it up to do that overnight while I sleep. I should then try to remember my username and password.

[Victoria Victrix]

I'm fine with the mention, Segev.  Title might be: Save Our (Virtual) City!

[Segev]

Players of the City of Heroes Cry Out: Save Our (Virtual) City!

On August 31, 2012, Paragon Studios was abruptly shut down to the complete surprise of its employees and management. Its signature game, the still-profitable City of Heroes, is scheduled to be permanently shut down on November 30, 2012. Since the announcement, the players of City of Heroes (CoH) have come together in a surprisingly active and vocal movement to try to convince NCSoft, the parent company which owns the rights to the game and which shut down Paragon Studios without warning (citing a "realignment of focus" as the sole reason), to take action to preserve the game they love and in which they have grown an extensive and involved community.

Recognizing NCSoft's desire to be done supporting CoH is a legitimate choice for a South Korean business to make regarding a product popular in the West, the players have held ongoing vigils on the game servers wherein their characters hold aloft torches, have held rallies and marches to demonstrate their devotion, and have even bought a "thank you" dinner for the Paragon Studios developers, with the hopes that NCSoft will be convinced to allow the game and its developers to continue in other hands, rather than shutting it down. Even such luminaries as Mercedes Lackey - noted science fiction and fantasy authoress - have come forward in support of this effort.

On October 20th, the players of this game are holding a charity Game-A-Thon to support Children's Miracle Network hospitals. Also on that date, they are inviting members of the press to come and join them in demonstrations of how characters are made, what the most exciting parts of the game are to them, and to answer questions both in word and in deed about why this community means so much to them. Though things look bleak for their City, these players of heroes (and 4-color supervillains) are determined to take on the never-say-die attitude of the genre they love, and offer to share their experiences - poingant and stirring and wholesome - with others before the game closes and they can do so no more.

Added a title; wanted to make it sound more "news-y" and less "we're begging the media," but VV's title was a fitting one.

I'm going to hop over to the "...realigning of focus" thread and see what I can do to formalize a press release that uses the two images there, next. I will ask around a bit to see if I can't get somebody else - maybe the OP of that thread, maybe one of our media-experienced gurus - to send out that particular release, and let me know which outlets they sent it to. I'll wait about a day after and then send out the Media Day invitation/release. It's a cheap trick, painting it to look like two different people are sending out nearly-timed and conveniently related releases, but I think it will help. Especially sending out the salacious one first to whet their appetite, and then the "come find out more!" one second to offer them the feast.

[Segev]

Posted a first draft of the other press release I was discussing over in the "re-alignment" thread.

[QuantumHero]

Segev,

Okay the press release looks good but I do notice some things you may wish to polish....I know the words "shut down" are powerful to us but um you used them a LOT really close to each other...perhaps some other phrase?    Ending, lights going out, snuffed out, shattered community, fight for survival, right to existence, people not just pixels, reduced to ashes, dreams turned to dust.  Just randomly brain storming here.

Also you emphasize over an over that this is a game...unless it is going out to the gaming community perhaps the focus on that word/concept should also be decreased.  We are a community, this is a hobby, a virtual world, a form of artistic expression, a story brought to life, inspiration, a tribute to paragon studios and coh, a way to be heroes. 

Some of the sentences look like they need a bit of punctuation or to be a little less run on...but as people may have noticed that is not exactly my strong suit so...I'll let someone else play copy editor.

That said thank you for trying to put this together :)

Transit side of things

Apparently there is an amtrak station within 30 miles of rolla city center....I do not know how difficult it might be to get to campaign headquarters from there (rental car? shuttle service? Taxi? other people willing to play shuttle service :) or whether the fees/logistics will work but I'm still trying to make this happen.  I am also willing to drive PART of this if others from the chicago area or able to reach the chicago area want to pile in a car friday night and take turns behind the wheel. 

Also what time saturday were things supposed to start?    If say one could make it into Saint Louis or another Missouri town with relatives a few hours from Rolla;) and then continue the journey the next morning is that a practical option? 

[Quinch]

Okay, not sure if this is the right thread to ask or not, but I wrote up an open letter to NCsoft kind of thing that I'm planning to mail off to as many directions as possible {I did send a copy to Extra Credits crew, but I'm not sure if I did it through the right channels or if they're going to respond so I'm going to wait a couple of days anyway}, so would anyone mind if I pasted it here for feedback and stuff? Also if I should send it ASAP or try and coordinate with another event?

[Knightslayer]

On October 20th, the players of this game are holding a charity Game-A-Thon to support Children's Miracle Network hospitals. Also on that date, they are inviting members of the press to come and join them in demonstrations of how characters are made, what the most exciting parts of the game are to them, and to answer questions both in word and in deed about why this community means so much to them. Though things look bleak for their City, these players of heroes (and 4-color supervillains) are determined to take on the never-say-die attitude of the genre they love, and offer to share their experiences - poingant and stirring and wholesome - with others before the game closes and they can do so no more.

I think that's "poignant".
Also, love it! That's some great work there, Segev!  ;D

[Segev]

The way Cog Con runs, they have a number of "slots" during which games and other events happen. In my experience, this is not dissimilar to how most conventions and conferences go.

Saturday, they have a slot at 9 am, 2 pm, and 7 pm. Each slot lasts 4 hours, with an hour between for food and such. Traditionally, they have a charity raffle with the drawing at 6 pm.

My thought is to try for the 9 am and 2 pm slots, with the 7 pm slot as an optional "if the guests are still interested" thing. That's very early for anybody coming in from St. Louis, obviously, though. I will be staying at a friend's house (my family lives in St. Louis, but I will be striving to get down to rolla before noon on Friday the 19th so I can help set up CogCon and set up the room).

The other thing I am considering is making it a 9 am "build characters, early bird runs" thing for media guests who want to get there early, or simply starting it at 10 with a 9 am early-bird trickle-in. We could then do a solid 2 pm slot with everybody ready to go, and keep with the optional 7 pm extension.

Tying this in with the virtual attendees, we'll need to find out what time zones our mentors and guests will be in. If they're in mountain or pacific time, they may well not want to even get started until 11 am CDT (9 am PDT), while East Coast participants might be fine with 10 am EDT (9 central).

Thanks for both the proof read and the research on transit logistics. Your suggestions on the content are VERY helpful, and I will comb through it again. I tend to write in the same way that I speak, so words do get re-used a fair bit, and the emphasis on community over game is definitely worthwhile.

I'm afk for the remainder of the day, but I will strive to get the edits done late tonight and up then. Feel free to try your own hand(s) at it if anybody wishes; my feelings will not be hurt. I realize we've got limited time to get this out. If we can get the "realignment" press release out today or tomorrow (and I know I'm asking a lot of volunteer people, but if somebody would take over that one I'd appreciate it), and this one out tomorrow or Monday, we should be in good shape.

Okay, not sure if this is the right thread to ask or not, but I wrote up an open letter to NCsoft kind of thing that I'm planning to mail off to as many directions as possible {I did send a copy to Extra Credits crew, but I'm not sure if I did it through the right channels or if they're going to respond so I'm going to wait a couple of days anyway}, so would anyone mind if I pasted it here for feedback and stuff? Also if I should send it ASAP or try and coordinate with another event?

Actually, I'm fine with whatever you wish to do. Coordinating it is awesome, but I can't do it right now.

If you and others in this thread and the realignment thread and the nuts thread can coordinate something, spectacular!

A big help to me and this press release effort would be if you'd put whatever media contact means you use to put your open letter out here, where I'm building a repository of good sites to contact for all of these efforts.

Meanwhile, I would be delighted if you posted it for our consumption. you MIGHT want to start your own thread, but posting it here as well won't hurt, I don't think. ^_^_v

Thanks again!