A Question About Private Servers

[Corona89]

Hey, everybody.

As the title says, I'm wondering if anyone could answer a question about private CoX servers.  I know that when the game shutdown () the players asked NCSoft about running private servers.  The company said that this would be illegal so none were ever established.  However, if the negotiations for the game's IP go through wouldn't that mean the company would no longer have any control of the assets and allow private servers to be set up?

If so, wouldn't that be the ultimate Plan Z project?  We could restore the game exactly as it was in Issue 23 and, with a lot of work, maybe even bring I24 to fruition.

[Aggelakis]

Part of the deal is to get the server image for I23 anyway, so, yeah to that at least. I24 is a whole big bag of beans we don't know about at this time. We don't even know if they've got all the data, systems, spreadsheets, etc., for it.

[Corona89]

Thanks for the info.

I24 would be great but I'm sure it'd be a beast to actually implement.  Just looking at the beta, it's clear there was still a lot of unfinished stuff when the servers went dark.  But I doubt the players would be unhappy with the game in its I23 form; at least for the time being.

[Codewalker]

However, if the negotiations for the game's IP go through wouldn't that mean the company would no longer have any control of the assets and allow private servers to be set up?

It depends on who buys the IP and what their stance on the issue is.

[Surelle]

It depends on who buys the IP and what their stance on the issue is.

A.)  It doesn't seem that likely that NCSoft will ever hand over complete control of the IP to that extent.

B.)  Even if they did, whomever buys it (if it is indeed a sale and not just a lease) is probably not going to be too crazy about having private server competition, when they're the ones forking over the big bucks to have access to a server image.  Most likely they're going to want any and all CoH players on *their* servers to help pay that investment money bill, as well as their server costs.

[Corona89]

Yeah, that makes sense and I'm sure the community would be happy to pay $15/month to keep things running (We all did it for years anyway).

As to whether or not NCSoft will release the IP, I'd certainly hope so.  To date they haven't shown any signs of reinstating the game or using the property as a basis for a sequel or similar franchise.  I understand keeping it in the back pocket just in case but considering how much effort is being put into successor projects you'd think they could do us all a solid and just give it up already.

[Soul Resonance]

Yeah, that makes sense and I'm sure the community would be happy to pay $15/month to keep things running (We all did it for years anyway).

As to whether or not NCSoft will release the IP, I'd certainly hope so.  To date they haven't shown any signs of reinstating the game or using the property as a basis for a sequel or similar franchise.  I understand keeping it in the back pocket just in case but considering how much effort is being put into successor projects you'd think they could do us all a solid and just give it up already.

Im of the belief they are gonna do another NCSoft/Cryptic ordeal, seeing as that company who would act as a third-party license holder(or the one they'll have run the game) is most likely gonna be abit new.

[Corona89]

Im of the belief they are gonna do another NCSoft/Cryptic ordeal, seeing as that company who would act as a third-party license holder(or the one they'll have run the game) is most likely gonna be abit new.

I wasn't around when the game changed hands back in the day but I've heard the horror stories of life under Cryptic's devs.  Hopefully whoever picks up the license will be understanding of the fact that the game was great just the way it was in 2012.  Pick up where Paragon Studios left off, sure, but don't come in with some sweeping changes to the fundamentals and ruin everything.

[Timelord Tom]

I wasn't around when the game changed hands back in the day but I've heard the horror stories of life under Cryptic's devs.  Hopefully whoever picks up the license will be understanding of the fact that the game was great just the way it was in 2012.  Pick up where Paragon Studios left off, sure, but don't come in with some sweeping changes to the fundamentals and ruin everything.

If/when the IP is in new hands, I'd be hoping that said new owners did their best to put as much of the Paragon staff as they can lay their hands on. Yes, all of them had faults, some more than others, but they all are a part of what brought us this game that we still want back.


*tries to catch breath*