Make non-players care

[Koopak]

It would make sense to assume that gamers and non-gamers will have little care of a game they know nothing about, and a long article explaining why CoH is so awesome would do little as most people do not like to read that much.

So i had an idea that iv seen a little of but we could do more, take some screenshots, share them on facebook with a little about your character's story, those who feel up to it, get some footage on youtube, get the word out, that not only are we trying to save our game, we are trying to save a game for future players.

CoH is not like any MMO out there, even its commentators pail in comparison, we need to show that, and that's exactly what sharing our stories as heroes will do, exactly what showing what its like to be in a massive super powered fight will do.

Don't burn yourselves out, but keep it alive, keep it on the front, iv already committed to posting at least one thing about it everyday on face book.

Will add links when i have done just what iv talked about.

[edit] First one is up, this is a long summery of the story behind my main character, iv spend a good while trying to sort it into existing lore, if anyone has any questions or suggestions feel free to pm me :p Also if anyoen else would liek to post theirs i will happily add them to the list.

Final Glint: http://www.facebook.com/derek.warren.3304/posts/406411449408611

[TonyV]

Just as a side note, one things to be mindful of is who you're talking to.  If you're talking to someone who doesn't play City of Heroes but is involved in another MMORPG, couch it in general terms that they understand.  Instead of, "I've been in such-and-such a supergroup for so many years..." go with, "I met these friends years ago..."

When talking with the general public, people who aren't familiar with MMORPGs, people who might be inclined to think that this is all pretty silly, here's what I've come up with.  For eight and a half years, this has been the world in which our imagination lives, into which we have poured endless hours of creativity and work.  Whether your passion is cooking, woodworking, baseball, gardening, quilting, running marathons, reading... whatever it is, to have someone come flip a switch and say, "You can't do that any more," it's really gut-wrenching.  This is our masterpiece, our Mona Lisa, our Harry Potter, our Gone with the Wind.  Anyone who has any kind of devotion to anything like this can hopefully understand that we're just doing everything we can to fight to keep our passion alive.

[Scrier]

I've considered that it's akin to playing tennis, and having a circle of friends that you play tennis with. Friends from all over the world who come together over tennis. They share stories, they laugh, they play. Then all of a sudden all the tennis courts in the world are gone. You have nowhere to meet up with your friends. Sure you could go play soccer, but some of your friends don't want to play soccer. Other people aren't in the mood to take up another sport. They loved Tennis.

Likening it to another passion or hobby is a great idea with non-gamers. Especially when you point out that it's a key outlet for creativity.

[Soundtrack]

And let's not forget comic book aficionados. The lovers of all thing "superhero" could also be sympathetic to our cries.

I also thought it's a shame that we couldn't contact the offices of comic publishers. Yes, I know DC already has an online MMORPG and Marvel did (does?) have one... but in the last 10 years, there has been an increased awareness of superheroes (let's look at the theatre billboards, TV shows, etc. for example) and I can't help but think that City of Heroes didn't help that growth of awareness. Maybe they didn't spark it, but they sure were there at the forefront...they were the trend before it became trendy.

And even if we don't feel comfortable contacting the giants in the publishing world, I bet there are smaller publishing companies who would be willing to gain some good publicity and support in even the smallest way.

May be worth checking into.

[malonkey1]

Talk to Dark Horse/Image/Etc? I think DH even published some of the CoH comics...

[emu265]

And let's not forget comic book aficionados. The lovers of all thing "superhero" could also be sympathetic to our cries.

I also thought it's a shame that we couldn't contact the offices of comic publishers. Yes, I know DC already has an online MMORPG and Marvel did (does?) have one... but in the last 10 years, there has been an increased awareness of superheroes (let's look at the theatre billboards, TV shows, etc. for example) and I can't help but think that City of Heroes didn't help that growth of awareness. Maybe they didn't spark it, but they sure were there at the forefront...they were the trend before it became trendy.

And even if we don't feel comfortable contacting the giants in the publishing world, I bet there are smaller publishing companies who would be willing to gain some good publicity and support in even the smallest way.

May be worth checking into.

Worth a try.  A successful rescue of City of Heroes is good press for superhero MMOs, and that can't hurt anyone.

[Ammon]

I'd suggest not even just making this about hobbies at all.  It isn't.  This is at heart a matter of human reaction to the trend for corporations to care nothing for quality, or customer commitments, only profit margins and return on investment.  The meme's of "the 1 percent", and "occupy movement" both show how much people already despise these corporate attitudes.

As far as anyone can tell, and certainly from what Dev's and others have said, City of Heroes is not making a loss.  It is just making an insuficient profit compared to what else its investors might sink the dollars into.  The interests of shareholders are protected and boards of directors must serve them.  So why is there apparently no similar legislation about a company board serving the needs and demands of their customers?

The people actually behind this decision don't read comic books.  They don't read MMO reviews much.  That's what they hire devs for.  The guys who make the decisions read stock reports, and balance sheets.  Make this business news and they are much more likely to see it, and care about it.

But the real turning point is going to be when NCsoft's directors and shareholders start seing that a search for NCsoft does not just bring up their corporate website and a few stock quotes, but instead brings up a lot of negative press that puts future investors off.  That is the tipping point at which it becomes someone's job at NCsoft to care.  That is the point at which NCsoft will have an interest in trying to fix things, and seeking the most economical method of doing so.  A single PR campaign to undo damage like that can cost more than it would cost to keep Paragon running with no income at all for a decade.  Make it a simple business decision, but an urgent one.

[jacknomind]

I'd suggest not even just making this about hobbies at all.  It isn't.

No, it is.  Please, please, don't make it something else.

This is something we do as a group of people, as groups of friends and fellow-hobbyists; we're passionate about it and we're humble.  The last thing we want is to tell everyone we're on some kind of crusade against corporate greed -- it makes us sound short-sighted and entitled (that we only noticed corporate greed is a problem when they took away our toy).  There are way better reasons to campaign against corporate greed, and if you'd like to get involved with that crusade, I bet I can help you find a great organization to work with about it.

I agree with what you said about making it obvious this is going to be bad for NCSoft's business; that's a great idea, and it will really help us save this thing that we all care so very much about.  But in the end, that's really an appeal to corporate greed, not a battle won against it.  Because we do care about this thing, and we're willing to work with the business which has legal control of it right now to make it something that can continue well into the future.

[Victoria Victrix]

I actually gave a lot of thought to this last night, when I was explaining it to some folks on a forum for one of my other hobbies (a particular kind of doll).  They immediately "got it."  So I started working on analogies for non-game and I think I came up with two that work for just about everyone.

For sports fans:

Think of it this way.  Imagine if the owner of (your team here) decided that he was going to start a brand new team in another city.  Which is fine, but you stay loyal to (your team here), which has a devoted, if smaller, following than the new team, and is profitable, though not as profitable as the new team.  Then of course, we're in a recession, and people stop spending as much on sports.  Both teams are not as profitable as they used to be, although both teams are still making a profit.

But the owner decides he is not making enough profit from (your team here) and decides to shut it down in mid-season so he can put all his interest into the new team!  And he goes to you and says "Well sorry, I am shutting (your team here) down.  Sorry about that, but look at my brand new team!  Come and support that!  Oh, and too bad about that season ticket you bought, no refunds.  Oh, and you have to give me back all that (your team) merch you bought, you never really owned it even though you bought it.  No, sorry, all you can keep are memories."

For Granny, Auntie, and Great Gramma:

In a way, these games are a little like churches; the fellowship with your fellow churchgoers, the covered dish potluck suppers, the church picnics, and the socializing after worship are very important to churchgoers--who wants to go to a church where you just march in at 10 AM on Sunday and march out again at noon and never see or talk to anyone in between?  That would be VERY unChristian, wouldn't it?  You make friends in church, and we make friends in our games.

Think about how you would feel if the bank came and said "Sorry, you just don't have enough worshipers at your church, we're closing it.  No, it doesn't matter that you gave to the building fund for that new kindergarten, no refunds.  Why don't you all just go to that shiny new television evangelist's church down the road, it's a LOT bigger and newer anyway than your 100 year old church.  We're going to knock it down and put up a parking lot."  How would you feel about that?

[Chamomile]

Don't make it about the game, because games are often seen as trivial.  Make it about the community, about how NCSoft is cutting ties and dooming a community that's stood for over a decade to crumble apart as the shared interest that bound it together and which we paid money for (several of us totaling hundreds of dollars over time) is suddenly yanked away, even while it's still making profits.

[jacknomind]

We're going to knock it down and put up a parking lot."  How would you feel about that?

I would feel a lot like this.

[eabrace]

I would feel a lot like this.

Yeah, the spots on our apples were just fine with me, thanks.