I saw adverts for this game in many comic books. Didn't think anything of it.
One day I was in CompUSA (when they still had stores) and saw this on the shelf.
Not long ago I had bought Freedom Force, which I liked a lot and thought this was something of the same thing.
So I bought it - not reading the box that it was an MMO and you had to PAY every month to play it, besides the initial purchase.
It had one free month so I thought I'd give it a try. Played for the entire 8 years, taking a month off here and there, but certainly enjoyed the game.
Even made me decide to upgrade my PC so I could have a better experience.
Bought the pre-order on City of Villains and did the beta testing. The final night was the best, I was killed by Positron himself in one of the raids and he even called out my name!
I have played CO and DCU online after COH closed. Both are ok in their own way, but no where close to how I loved COH. I hardly play either anymore, I spent more time in Icon running around a dead city then playing a live game. That's what COH means to me.