Disappointing. I only just discovered CoH in August of this year. Fell in love
with it immediately. Played f2p for a few weeks and was
considering subscription when the bomb dropped.
If you have a F2P account, you can still get onto Beta. It's open to anyone with an an account registered prior to their closure of the account system, no matter what status they are (free, prem, VIP, doesn't matter).
I'm kinda in the same boat as you. Beta will allow you to experience all of the game save Incarnate content (and you can still experience a little of that, in that you can craft and slot Incarnate powers, and obtain Incarnate XP by converting Threads.) You won't be able to benefit from Incarnate powers, or participate in trials or Incarnate story arcs, though.
Still though, all the powersets and purchaseable costume options are available in the Paragon Market for zero points, as are numerous levelling aids. Beta is in I24 as well, meaning you can benefit from the revamped power pools and the new Sorcery power pool, as well as new arcs and mission content both hero and villainside.
