News?

[Codewalker]

Yes, that appears to be an automated system, which makes sense.

[Wammo]

I read a link this morning posted by Titan on twitter stating NC was refusing to sell the IP and denied having a PR problem in all of this. Is that true? Are we now banging our head against the wall? Is hope lost?

[Wammo]

http://gamespeopleplay.smackjeeves.com/comics/1587704/fool-me-six-times/

[WanderingAries]

Which sets off a chain reaction of...things best left unsaid.

Suffice to say, keeping things "Blue Side" is still our best bet. For now.

drat, who wants these official looking name badges?

[Kheprera]

I read a link this morning posted by Titan on twitter stating NC was refusing to sell the IP and denied having a PR problem in all of this. Is that true? Are we now banging our head against the wall? Is hope lost?

I just went through all of Titan's twitters from the 22nd of Sept to now.  No such mention made.

[kerensky914]

Tempting, but I would argue against it.  At this point if ANYTHING remotely happens to the servers, the top management will spin it as vindictive children breaking their toys to keep from having to share.  And they will say to HELL with the nov 30 and never bring the CoH servers back up.

Laf, if I *were* going to do something red-side, I sure wouldn't have said anything on a public forum! ;)  I mean, sure, it was cathartic to consider it for a moment...

[DrakeGrimm]

I think we've all had Reside thoughts. As long as we don't actually act, s'all good. :P

[Victoria Victrix]

http://youtu.be/PX1OSD_jPEI

[Wammo]

I just went through all of Titan's twitters from the 22nd of Sept to now.  No such mention made.

Click the link above...it was the link posted on the Titan twitter

[DamianoV]

Wammo, that's a link to a gaming-related cartoon site with a related topic (and expressing a thought many of us here have had, I'm sure), only.  I suspect it was posted on the twitter feed as evidence that the wider gaming community may be having similar reservations about NCSoft.  That kind of wider buzz would (presumably) be meaningful pressure to most management teams. 

That said, the detail in the CoH-related panel of the comic particularly is doubtless the cartoonists impression of the situation, not necessarily a fully informed report of current events.

[Siberian Spring]

Just bumping this up so folks just coming in can find it.

As long as I'm here: City of Networking. http://tinyurl.com/CityofNetworking (a Google Doc)

[TimtheEnchanter]

Well something I was at least hoping we could accomplish in the back of my mind now has a good chance at becoming a reality. I've been watching the petition slowly climb roughly 20-50 signatures per day in the past week or so, and dangabbit, wanted to see it hit 20k. Well, we just had a spike of about 300 today, and are now less than 70 sigs away from it.

Hopefully that landmark can incite a couple of story recaps from the newsmedia.

[DrakeGrimm]

I think we should start planning some kind of video project, Tim, for those last seventy signatures. Whatcha think? *griiiiin*

[TimtheEnchanter]

I have very little doubt that we're going to reach it. Not with the amount of new coverage we just got. We're getting signatures by people who don't even play the game now, and never have, but WANT to, after seeing the amazing things this community can do together. They want the game to survive so they can jump on board and experience what all the fuss is about, what brought us all together. It's truly mind-blowing.

[TonyV]

Brian touched base with me last night and said he is getting in touch with TonyV.

I can neither confirm nor deny this...

I'm not being coy, really.  The thing is, I don't know how much leeway Brian has in being able to talk to people.  If he's under some kind of NDA or severance package and I talked to him, even if it was just him saying, "We really appreciate the hard work everyone is doing!", it could get him into hot water and complicate any talks he might be in with NCsoft.  If I haven't heard from Brian and denied this and then if he calls me tomorrow, next time the question comes up and I don't deny it again, that's as good as admitting that it's true to most people.

I will say that I have talked to Paragon Studios staff in various capacities.  I won't name any names, but everyone I've talked to has expressed sincere gratitude to the community and to our efforts, and has told me that those efforts are making a huge difference.  Anything past that, I need everyone to not infer that I'm getting from any former Paragon Studios staffers, it's just me saying stuff I can't back up but that I hope you'll put some measure of faith in.  That would include stuff like:  I'm still optimistic that we're not dead yet.  I'm hopeful that NCsoft has not made a final decision to kill off City of Heroes forever.  And we can't give up yet, there's still more battle to be fought.

I know that trusting a random Internet stranger who keeps saying, "I can't say anything about that..." is probably more than a bit flustering.  Believe me, I wish I could spill everything I know (with sources!) and everything I'm speculating (with reasons!), but I can't.  Not yet.  Maybe some day I'll write a tell-all book, but don't look for it on store shelves anytime soon.  Really, by the time I could write it, hopefully all of the NDAs and severance agreements will be over and done with and you'll be able to get all of the answers you want straight from the mouths of the horses themselves.  I do think that as some of these severance packages start running out, we'll start getting some more communication, so I promise, things won't be so secretive forever.

In the meantime, we're going to be holding some more events and I have a Call to Action coming up (*ahem* you New Yorkers out there, get ready!).  These aren't just bread and circuses, they are really having a positive effect on our own morale, generating publicity, and winning over people we really need to our cause.

So if you're wondering, "What can I do?", there are three main things.

First, keep playing the game.  Keep engaged with your supergroups.  Are they smaller?  You leaving will only make it worse.  Keep showing up for the ones that remain.  Keep running those task forces, those incarnate trials, those PuGs and coalition events.  When we schedule something, show up if you can.  Aside from being fun, it also generates great publicity.  Don't get discouraged.  Or if you do (as we all do sometimes), don't stay there long before dusting yourself off and continuing to have at it.

Second, if you have talents such as being a video wiz, musically inclined, artistically inclined, comically inclined, ...whatever your talent is, if you can spare some of it for our cause, please do!

Third, stay tuned in.  Things really may change on a day-by-day basis.  You never know when that one thing that you can really help us out with will come along.  Plus, the more you stay engaged with us, the less attrition from our player base we suffer.  Even if the game does shut down on November 30, we can continue to fight and work on alternatives.  But if people get to where they just don't care any more, that will be when our movement really does meet its match.

[TimtheEnchanter]

In the meantime, we're going to be holding some more events and I have a Call to Action coming up (*ahem* you New Yorkers out there, get ready![/b]).  These aren't just bread and circuses, they are really having a positive effect on our own morale, generating publicity, and winning over people we really need to our cause.

Oh, really? Something within range of my land vehicle? And I don't think I have anything on that weekend!

[MishaFox]

I do know a little about the business world (just enough to be dangerous!) And I know that in times like this companies can and do slap some VERY serious penalties for breaking the keep silent rule. The general rule of thumb is "Shut up and say NOTHING or we'll make you pay for it!"

   But the silence itself is a hopeful sign. It means something IS going on in the background.

[Knightslayer]

Thanks Tony, much appreciated!  :D

[Quinch]

   But the silence itself is a hopeful sign. It means something IS going on in the background.

That's the problem, though. We don't know if that something is something even remotely acceptable. Just a something.

[Victoria Victrix]

Well I just spent $20 of my own money on an Express Mail letter to Dr Yoon attempting to convince her that (a) City is now an evolving work of art and deserves to be preserved and (b) one of the things it has evolved into is a US version of Maple Story (Nexxon's 2-D MEGA hit).  Should be on her desk Friday.  Well, assuming it gets that far.