I can't speak on behalf of your idea specifically for its purpose, but it gave me another.
Anything that can show off what we DO and LIKE about the game might be valuable in attaching to letters and fliers that could be included into the NUTS! campaign I'm trying to get off the ground. The people directly responsible for coh's closure would see first hand perhaps just what makes the game so special, if only for a moment.
For example, a screenshot of a bunch of people trick-or-treating together. I've always loved the halloween event. Or even skiing. I'm sure they at least know about the game since they own it and everything but still, it sort of would add a visual touch to the letters explaining their passion for the game.
It might help to convince them that CoH and MMO's of any kind, are not just games, but living communities that exist in the gamespace as it's canvas, and that to shut it down should require much, much more forethought than numbers that arnt good enough. The community that comes with the game and its servers should require delicate care, and should be tried to save at all costs. It's not just a video game that makes money on sales.
It can effect the market when 100,000 people suddenly are woken up to the realization that any mmo they invest any significant time in can be executed. They're not used to that, they're used to being able to still play Super Mario Bros. & Duck Hunt they have in their closets still whenever they want, many decades after its prime.
MMO's truly are a unique breed, who's only problem lies within the fact it is an owned "IP" and has to unfortunately exist beyond the user's control (servers) to retain integrity (against cheaters, which isnt a problem with single player games).
I once read a book about game design and they talk about how with MMO's, if a player is not hooked or invested themselves into the community within 3-6 months, they will likely never be with the game for the long haul.
It was an old book and it still remains relevant today.
If we can somehow pass on this message to them, maybe they'll see the bigger picture here.. it will effect many players decisions to join MMO's to begin with.. and maybe their friends, and friends of their friends wont join either without their buddies who arnt interested in it for fear of their time being in vane.
MMO's CAN survive almost forever due to the rapid growth of technology. In 50 years kids will probably be able to assemble their own MMO's that match the quality of City of Heroe's and the cost to maintain them on servers will be pennies as hardware and infrastructure improve.
A server that cost thousands to maintain and run MUD's of long ago, you could host a hundred times more on a cheap server today for less than $5 a month.
We need to convince them if they're worried, that letting go of City of Heroes won't necessarily mean competition.
The one great benefit of the free-to-play model is that it allows people to play multiple MMO's at the same time. If every mmo adopted this model, there would be no competition. The problem would then be trying not to piss customers off by nickel and diming them for every little thing and making things insanely expensive for things like visuals (costumes) and so forth.
If CoH were to keep the free-to-play model I really dont see any competition with their numbers of other games they have, what are they truly afraid of? It really seems to be they're primary concern is the possibility of COH2 in the far future, which is sad that they would hold out for. If CoH dies in the manner it is planned, CoH2 is going to be a failure.
