Just tucked my kids in bed and said good night to my wife, and now I'm in the basement, sitting at my keyboard, wanting to transcribe a thought and not sure how it's going to end up. Here goes anyway....
I don't need to tell anyone that the world sure looks like a screwed up place right now. Le's see, we've got kids being turned into soldiers and suicide bombers. Then there's the girls being shot, harassed, and assaulted, for daring to wake up and go to school. I don't know what it's like in Japan or South Korea right now, but I figure that whole region of the world is one knuckleheaded prank call away from World War III. Domestically (USA), we have major hacks of confidential information being revealed weekly. People are freaking driving cars and shooting up with kids in the back seat. The air's warming, the seas are choking, and the things that divide us..... I'm not even going to get into politics, the news, riots, free speech, health care.....the shouting matches that pass for discourse and debate these days... it sucks. Pick a topic and dominate your opposition, because they're not worthy of basic human respect. At least, that's how it all sounds to me.
So, thank you. Thank you to the original game developers, who put together a wonderful, thrilling, engaging game that was so much fun for so many years. I can't say anything that hasn't been said far more eloquently by someone else. The character creation was awesome. The powers, the team synergies, the missions, the players...it was all awesome, and there hasn't been a day that's gone by since shutdown that I haven't thought about the game. But here, today, more than ever....I miss the positivity that was my experience in the game. I miss banding together with random strangers to go fight crime. I miss madly typing quotes from Monty Python and Princess Bride back and forth with other players in the middle of missions. I miss random higher level people saying stuff like "Hey, nice costume" and slipping me enhancements or influence or inspirations. I miss the Taxibots in the Hollows, some of whom worked for free! I miss the sense of people wanting to help each other and see each other succeed. I don't think you developers know how you did it, but whatever it was, it struck a chord with me.
Thank you, again....this time, to the group of people who have been involved with the "let's keep CoH alive" effort. Samuraiko, Angelus Animini, Leandro, whoever did that "Bomp Bomp" video, and all the others who made movies-my kids have spent some of their formative years with your clips and soundtracks. Victoria Victrix, who wrote that series of hero-themed books. Nate Downes. City of Titans, Atlas Park Revival, Heroes and Villains, Ship of Heroes, Valiance Online-We won't know what the future holds for any of those projects, but, except for the presence of a lot of dedication and persistence, we wouldn't even have the chance to look forward to the successors. The Cape Radio. The writers over at Massively Overpowered. Paragon Chat-got nothing to say without sounding like a complete idiot, except to give my sincere thanks. Arcana (or is it Arcanaville?) The Pantsless Avenger. Ironwolf. MWRuger. Tubbius. And I know I'm not even scratching the surface-but if you're part of this community, then thank you, too. Thanks for persisting and/or participating. I don't know if we will ever have a game world with as much positivity as CoH again, but I am looking forward to the day I can log in with you all again.
