News?

[Knightward]

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.

Well, I wasn't planning on going, but perhaps I should...

[DrakeGrimm]

* DrakeGrimm walks into the thread and sets down a portable stereo, cranking the volume up.

* DrakeGrimm punches play and walks out as OminousVoice's cut of "Rise of the Heroes" plays.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hKPWrX85U8

[Victoria Victrix]

Dr. Yoon is based in Seattle.  Flowers or other physical messages sent to her there will reach her.  That is where I sent my two letters via Express Mail (which should reach her tomorrow).  I am hoping one successful woman will listen to a second successful woman. 

                        Dr. Songyee Yoon
                        Chief Executive Officer
                        NCSoft Corporation
                        1501 4th Avenue, Suite 2050
                        Seattle, WA

Mercedes Lackey
----------
----------
----------
www.mercedeslackey.com
xxx-xxx-xxxx

Dear Dr. Yoon;

I am New York Times bestselling author Mercedes Lackey, and I beg your indulgence in reading this letter to the end.

There is currently an exhibit on video games at the Smithsonian's American Art Museum in DC.  The very first placard had this to say, which I thought rather relevant to our situation:
..................................
Three Voices
Artist, Game, Player
..................................

Video games combine graphics, sound,
story, and interaction to create meaningful
and immersive experiences.  Imaginative
artists and designers use this medium to
create worlds and tell stories.  None of this
is possible, however, without the participation
of the player.  Everyone who plays a game
puts a little of themselves into the experience,
and takes away something that is wholly unique.
The conversation among the game, the artist,
and the player is critical to understanding video
games as art.


The situation with City of Heroes becomes much clearer when you understand that it is not merely a game to the players, it is an ongoing work of community art.  Because of the structure and story within the background of the game, as placed there by the creators, because of other aspects such as the Mission Architect, the Character Designer, and the encouragement to create true original characters, the game has become "playing the game within the context of an ongoing personal drama."

I use that word in the same sense as  한국드라마 which we here know as K-Drama.  Within my circle of players alone, we have written at least the equivalent of 20 full-length novels about our own characters, and have acted out at least half of that in real-time within the context of playing missions and quests within the game.  That is well over two million words of prose.  Some of these stories have come to an end, but hundreds are still going on.   This is interactive, cooperative storytelling, and what one character does or says unexpectedly can entirely change the story that another character had planned.  In a sense, this game evolved over time into the US version of Maple Story.

Now imagine, if you will, the outrage if suddenly, with no warning, You Are My Destiny, The Secret Garden, or Rude Miss Young-Ae suddenly...stopped with no resolution.  And all previous episodes vanished.  Imagine the how the viewers would react.  This is what is happening to us.  We have made these creations, these characters.  In our hands they have won, lost, fallen in love, lost loves to someone else or to death, some have married and gone on to have children that we also created.  Each evening as we get together to create the next episode within the game, we look forward to finding out what new twists will occur in the plot and how our characters will react to them, creating a new story within a story.  As a writer, the idea of losing all of that, the work and the community that helps me create it, is breaking my heart.  I have created many, many characters in the course of writing over eighty books—but I have never had even one taken away from me forever.  When you shut down City of Heroes, you are doing something no one has ever done, to me, and to the rest of those who have done the same as I.  You are destroying our work as thoroughly as if you had gathered up every copy of a book and burned it.

I hope now you can understand why there is such protest over the closing of City of Heroes.  I hope now you can understand why we beg you to allow someone else to purchase it and bring it back to life. 

Please, make a good artistic decision as well as a good business decision.  Sell City of Heroes.  Let the stories go on.



I deliberately made the analogy of book-burning.  I am hoping that the Eastern tradition of honoring scholars and artists will kick in here.  I am also hoping Dr. Yoon is Western enough to think of just who else burns books. 

I'm trying to yank a lot of visceral chains with this letter.  I hope I do, and I hope I manage to make the chain-yanking not so overt that it backfires.

I realized myself after another fit of uncontrollable sobbing (what, did you think I was immune?  happens at least twice a night) that the reason I am heartbroken by this is that I have never, ever had a creation taken from me.  In even the worst deals, eventually the book has gone out of print, the rights revert, and I can take it back again.  I can make it live again in e-book format.  I can write sequels.  Even when I kill characters, they can come back.  That won't happen when CoH goes dark, and it's been emotionally devastating.

[DrakeGrimm]

...we all know the feeling, VV. We do. Here. I hope this helps.

* DrakeGrimm hugs VV.

[Osborn]

I realized myself after another fit of uncontrollable sobbing (what, did you think I was immune?  happens at least twice a night) that the reason I am heartbroken by this is that I have never, ever had a creation taken from me.  In even the worst deals, eventually the book has gone out of print, the rights revert, and I can take it back again.  I can make it live again in e-book format.  I can write sequels.  Even when I kill characters, they can come back.  That won't happen when CoH goes dark, and it's been emotionally devastating.

This I think characterizes a bit the worst part of the Publisher/Developer or Publisher/Author relationship is the fact that IP can be bought and sold away from the creator.. at all.

The crux of our current problem is summed up entirely there, that we the fans, and Paragon Studios have our collective works taken from us, not because of lack of money brought in by the fans, not because of lack of interest in the IP by customers, not because of lack of dedicated hands to do the work to write for the IP or lack of dedicated hands to do the work of building the virtual house the IP resides in, but because the Publisher doesn't want it to happen.

I think it's one of the major reasons holding back storytelling in a medium such as video games or television shows and helps to keep video games from being a true art form, is this. I'm going to dub it the Firefly effect until a better name is chosen.

These words really hit hard to me, as somebody who is an amateur co-author of sorts of my own personal use game settings. I've had it suggested from friends before that I should try to publish my works, but I never will, because I'd prefer poverty from the possibility that Amazon.com or EA or Wizards of the Coast or somebody could take my work and just sort of bury it or completely redefine it without my consent. That and I don't frankly think that what I've written is really all that great or all that original.

It might sound selfish or weird, but it's sort of great, to me, to hear that you've never had a book, as a known and published author, that was completely taken out of your hands forever. I know that's probably in no way on topic and probably doesn't really help you feel any better about the current topic, so I'll leave what I've said at that.

[TimtheEnchanter]

I realized myself after another fit of uncontrollable sobbing (what, did you think I was immune?  happens at least twice a night) that the reason I am heartbroken by this is that I have never, ever had a creation taken from me.  In even the worst deals, eventually the book has gone out of print, the rights revert, and I can take it back again.  I can make it live again in e-book format.  I can write sequels.  Even when I kill characters, they can come back.  That won't happen when CoH goes dark, and it's been emotionally devastating.

Well that's not entirely true. You can still write about your CoH characters if you want, even if you can't sell them (though technically you can, it's just that if NC wanted, they could do spinoffs and not pay you any royalties).

And possibly tabletop RP in the near future. Someone's working on that, but I can't remember where I read it.

[Victoria Victrix]

Well that's not entirely true. You can still write about your CoH characters if you want, even if you can't sell them (though technically you can, it's just that if NC wanted, they could do spinoffs and not pay you any royalties).

And possibly tabletop RP in the near future. Someone's working on that, but I can't remember where I read it.

As to the first....it's not remotely the same as the immersive experience of the game; merely writing about them is viscerally different.  It's also not remotely the same as the cooperative RP, where what someone else does can completely change the gameplan for my characters.  There are no great surprises and there is nothing unexpected about what happens when I write for them alone.  On the contrary, it is all completely thought out and planned in advance once I start on the actual prose.

As to the second....Tim, I live in rural Oklahoma.  We have been trying and failing to get a tabletop group together for the last 10+ years.

Enough, I don't want to start a pity-party for myself here, just trying to articulate what I think a lot of other people are feeling, but are unable to explain why they feel it.

[Samuraiko]

Well, if you ever move to Seattle, I promise to include you in my gaming group. :)

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

[TimtheEnchanter]

Maybe we should try doing one over Skype someday? Or Google's video conference program... whatever its name is.

[Osborn]

Maybe we should try doing one over Skype someday?

I can suggest OpenRPG for a good virtual tabletop.

[downix]

Well, if you ever move to Seattle, I promise to include you in my gaming group. :)

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Suuuuuuure.  I live in the same complex as you and never get an invite..... 8)

[DrakeGrimm]

Maybe we should try doing one over Skype someday? Or Google's video conference program... whatever its name is.

+1 for awesome idea.

[Shadowe]

I can suggest OpenRPG for a good virtual tabletop.

Roll20.

Browser-based, so no silly faffing about setting up the server and connecting to it, drag-drop mapping, character tokens, on-screen dynamic dice (optional), and integrated voice and video chat, as well as text chat.

It's my current go-to virtual tabletop for one of my weekly pen and paper games that one player can't physically attend.

Oh, and the functionality I mentioned there is free, no download (maybe a standard browser plugin), no install required. Just go to roll20.net and sign up.

[zybron]

Roll20.

+1

It's awesome.

[Back Blast]

As to the first....it's not remotely the same as the immersive experience of the game; merely writing about them is viscerally different.  It's also not remotely the same as the cooperative RP, where what someone else does can completely change the gameplan for my characters.  There are no great surprises and there is nothing unexpected about what happens when I write for them alone.  On the contrary, it is all completely thought out and planned in advance once I start on the actual prose.

As to the second....Tim, I live in rural Oklahoma.  We have been trying and failing to get a tabletop group together for the last 10+ years.

Enough, I don't want to start a pity-party for myself here, just trying to articulate what I think a lot of other people are feeling, but are unable to explain why they feel it.

Well if you're up for a weekly drive to the DFW area...  :D

[TimtheEnchanter]

A bit off-topic, which by admin standards, is actually on-topic  8)

20000 signatures.

[Sol Eternal]

Affecting Change Through Social Networking and Virtual Capes
By Paindancer  |  Posted September 11, 2012  |  Los Angeles, California


CNN PRODUCER NOTE     'I started playing [City of Heroes] in 2005, took a few years off, and came back to the game a few months ago at the request of my son who lives several states away, so I have an emotional stake in this [planned shutdown], like many others.'
- hhanks, CNN iReport producer

Paragon City, RI
Clouds of dust surround a crumpled, caped form. Cracks in the  pavement  radiate from where it lies. A dark, ominous figure stands over  the  fallen champion. "In three months, you, your world, and everything  in  it will cease to exist. There is nothing you can do to stop me!   Mwahaha!"
The caped figure  stands slowly,  painfully rising back up. "You're right, I can't...." The  dust begins to  settle revealing numerous other caped and masked figures  behind the  rallying hero  "... but I am not alone... and WE will stop  you!"

The comic book cliché of heroes preventing the destruction of the world is  nothing new, but now fiction has crossed over into reality. On August  31st Korean based gamemaker NCSoft (OTN: NCSCF), in a move widely  considered baffling by gaming industry bloggers, announced the immediate  end to the 8 year old comic book themed MMORPG: City of Heroes. The  announcement, citing only "A realignment of company focus and publishing  support" resulted in the halting of all development and the immediate  layoff of its entire staff at Paragon Studios, based in Mountain View, CA.

The move came as a surprise to many, as new content was being released regularly and the game had a steady but growing player population.  City of Heroes was doing well for a game  of its age. Development staff were seemingly just as shocked as the  players, but Paragon Studios set the tone, publicly focusing on the  positive achievements. City of Heroes is an award winning game, widely known for its loyal base and strong internal community.

In a potentially unprecedented move, that player base has taken action.  Using the power of social media they have quickly moved to great effect.  Within days petitions in protest have reached over 16,000 signatures  (http://tiny.cc/59v7jw) and numerous efforts are being made to save the venerable franchise. Blogs and forums are alight with stories, not only of the game, but of the intricate social interactions that have grown in its framework. Stories of marriages being made in game, of people finding the freedom to fly in the city skies while fighting terminal  illness, multiple generations of families playing together, of friends initially meeting online finally crossing borders  to meet in person all have been heard.  Twitter #savecoh was a top trend   and groups such as The Titan Network  (http://www.cohtitan.com) are spearheading multiple rescue operations.

As it turns out, the gamers of COH might be a  bit more adept at making real world change happen than one might initially expect.  Prior to this, in game groups have already organized  real life charities  (http://realworldhero.com/) and several on line  radio stations exist (  http://www.radioparagon.com  http://www.siradio.fm  http://thecaperadio.com).  Far from the  stereotypical loner behind the  computer screen, this community is  proving to contain a wide range of  professionals willing to organize,  publicize and make their voices  heard.  The effort  has even picked up celebrity endorsements from the likes of Neil  Gaiman,  Mercedes Lackey and others. As this virtual experiment becomes  more  organized, it is no wonder this has made the heads of NCSoft turn.

"You have their attention.  They are listening."

That was the the insider news regarding NCSoft, given to the virtual crowd at a player organized on-line rally, happening a week after the closure announcement.  Taking a page from the Occupy movements, over 3000 players logged in to 'camp' the virtual city hall, to recap the actions of the last week and show support of the game. All  that was missing were the tents. (Video:  http://youtu.be/XRsj2DtLCQs)

While  the end results of these efforts remain unseen, what is clear, is that  the people are rising up to defend not only a game but the friendships and social interactions formed within it, creating the potential for a damaging PR event for NCSoft. This creates a new chapter in business, as closing down a  product suddenly has become much more complicated than before, especially when that product has an active social network  attached to it.

It should be of no  surprise, that in a game based on being the hero and saving the world,  so many players are attempting to do just that. In doing so, it seems another comic book adage applies: "With great power comes great  responsibility". Companies are eager to access the power of the social  network, but may be finding that there is a responsibility that comes attached to that access.

Many eyes will  be on the ultimate fate of Paragon City, and this clash between the  social network and the corporate boardroom will certainly affect the  business landscape for the foreseeable future.

[Knightward]

As to the second....Tim, I live in rural Oklahoma.  We have been trying and failing to get a tabletop group together for the last 10+ years.

It's already been said, but Skype.  My gaming group is in North Jersey, New York City... and one player in the middle of Virginia.  Heck, it's useful when a nasty storm gets in the way of a scheduled gaming night.  The instant messaging in it is very useful for passing notes to the GM too.

Now, scheduling a game that everyone can make or making sure the GM isn't running out of story ideas... that's something else entirely.

[Victoria Victrix]

How would that work on not-exactly-broadband?   :'(

I live in very rural Oklahoma, on a wireless-tower connection which allows me to run City, but with noticeable lag, and sometimes unplayable lag.  :gonk:  There is no prospect of increasing our bandwidth and there is no other option.  We tried the Google Hangout the other day and the only way I could run it without disconnects was to turn all the cameras and video off.   :'(

[SithRose]

How would that work on not-exactly-broadband?   :'(

I live in very rural Oklahoma, on a wireless-tower connection which allows me to run City, but with noticeable lag, and sometimes unplayable lag.  :gonk:  There is no prospect of increasing our bandwidth and there is no other option.  We tried the Google Hangout the other day and the only way I could run it without disconnects was to turn all the cameras and video off.   :'(

There's always the option of an IRC game - I have a husband who's just dying to run Pathfinder with dedicated people, and I know an IRC server set up for gaming...

And you can use Hangout without a camera - if it gets voice through, then it's good enough.