You Don't Realize What You Had Until It's Gone

[Little David]

So ... yeah. Making my own "post-mortem" thread for the City.

City of Heroes wasn't the first MMO I've played. I've played a lot of different MMOs; Ragnarok Online (legitimately, mind you) was my first, and I still run a webcomic based on it.

I got into City of Heroes just around the time I made this particular comic. The legit international RO servers were about to implement new episode content that would alter the game world significantly, see. I hadn't done some of the content due to be forever lost by that change yet (though I did get to it). At the time I was poking fun at my own lethargic pace when it comes to MMOs. I'm not a power-leveler by any means. I take my time and like to do everything I can for a given level range before I move on. But now, with City of Heroes gone, I look back at the comic and feel like I should have taken my lesson to heart.

I think I took City of Heroes for granted. Even after I swore not to play any of NCSoft's other titles when I learned of the dirty tricks NCSoft used to boot Richard Garriott out of the company and kill Tabula Rasa, I bet my money that City of Heroes' longevity and still sizable player community would stave off the whimsical executioner. Being one of the pre-WoW generation MMOs that held a lot of significance for both the game industry and comic book culture, City of Heroes seemed like it'd always be there when you want to put on spandex and punch a gang member in the balls.

Well, I lost that bet.

Like I'd said, I take it slow when I play an MMO. Experiencing and exploring these game worlds is a big part of the draw for me when it comes to playing them. So it was with City of Heroes; I made a lot of different characters, and had them in level "tiers." I often shut off EXP gain once the option was available, so I could completely run through the missions for contacts and see as much of the stories the game had to tell as I could muster. I also spent a lot of time just playing with the costume creation system, and designing story arcs at Architect Entertainment (though I never did publish anything).

When NCSoft fired Paragon Studios and announced they'd be ending City of Heroes in three months, I wasn't subscribed. An ongoing issue with my video card had been keeping me out of games entirely. So, from the very start of this sunset, I'd forever lost my chance to experience all the VIP-specific content. I'd never get to run Incarnate trials or experience the Incarnate system. I thought that maybe what I could do instead is just get my main hero and villain to the cap, running all the missions from contacts in between, just so I could say I saw everything else that was part of the game.

By the time I had fixed the video card issue (and a dead OS drive right after that), City of Heroes had only six days left. I tried to make the most of that time, but there was just too much to do and little time left to do it.

I never reached the cap, on any of my characters. Only one of them was above level 30, my first and main hero.

I never got to run a majority of the task forces in the game.

I never got to see a Hamidon raid.

I never got to experience the Shadow Shard.

I always thought I'd be able to eventually do them all. And now that I never can ... well, I regret that a lot.

City of Heroes was a lot of fun, and one of the only MMOs I could truly enjoy soloing. Even after Praetoria became a ghost town on Guardian, I had a total blast running my main Praetorian through the the Warden, Crusader, and Responsibility storylines, and then through all of First Ward. The missions involving Malta, while hard as Hell for an Assault Rifle/Devices Blaster, were really interesting. I'm glad I was able to get my main hero to level 44 from all the contact missions I'd ran, but it's left me regretting I couldn't have seen the story all the way through, and that I hadn't done so sooner.

It's true what they say: you don't know what you have until it's gone.

[Synodontis]

I feel kinda the same way; that I missed out on things due to being "slow."  With my first char, I had an outdated computer system that wouldn't have been able to handle teaming; at any rate, not knowing thing one about the game it didn't even occur to me that teams  were happening.  I got Khodek from 0-50 (starting in Praetoria) without teaming .  It took forever.  With my second computer, that I got specifically for COH once my old one couldn't handle it, I gradually started learning how to do teams and different stuff with my toons.  I *did* manage to do VIP stuff including Incarnate.  I *do* wish I'd have had more time once I started figuring stuff out, to do more stuff.  I *do* think COH was the best possible venue for me... I'm shy and don't do well with people writing me off as a dumb noob.  I've had bad experiences on some other games (like... on xbox) with that kind of nonsense, but for the most part COH was encouraging to me.  I wish I had discovered it earlier.  I wish I had done more.  But I guess I did as much as I could juggling real life and the game....  but I still wish I'd done more....  COH was the best place for me, I doubt I'll do any other MMOs.

[beveri8469]

i kinda regret myself taking a much needed break for a few months before they announced the closing. i was working on WoW and Rift at the time getting ready for those expansions and now kinda wish i didnt do that now. ill always appreciate CoH and the wonderful community. but overall, it doesnt matter what game i play or where i choose to make another home, it will never be the same as it was on CoH.
The community was one of the reasons CoH was awesome. good tech people if u had a question bout anything with pc's, or just anything in general for that matter. CoH will be back in some form or another in the future.
Now im just in sad mode for awhile.

DT

[Shadowhawke]

The one thing you have to accept is that you will never 'finish' an MMO. I went through the same bit when Star Wars Galaxies went down for the last time.



I never finished out my final, 5th-generation lightsaber with just premium Krayt dragon crystals.

I would never gear up well enough to solo The Katarn.

I would never land the deed for my YT-2400 freighter, thus the Phantom Phoenix would never fly (yes, I named it far before I could ever build it).

I would never collect all my Sith holocrons.

I would never own a Mustafarian Underground Bunker or Starship Hangar.

I would never own Elder Jedi gear ( I started playing too late for that; Elders were before the infamous NGE).

I would never own a completely RE-equipped (reverse-engineered) starfighter (although my final build of the Cobalt Dragon, my advanced X-wing, wasn't too shabby).





As far as City of Heroes goes-


While I did experience a Hami raid, like you I didn't get a chance to do all the TF's I wanted to.

I never finished my Incarnate slots.

I never got enough points to open the mecha costume pieces.

I will probably never get to do all the Red Astoria content I wanted to (as I so called the final version of the zone; having referred to the previous as Grey Astoria).

I will likely never see The Coven Wars: Part I in all its glory with a full-tilt group (my second, and most extravagant AE mission arc, which was designed to be awesome with large numbers).




I did see the Shadow Shard though....in fact, I saw a whole lot of it. My two 50's on Pinnacle were an Energy/Fire Blaster and a Broadsword/Regeneration Scrapper, both of which I did solo missions in the 'Shard with. It was a simply amazing zone, I've not seen its like in any other game. It was utterly terrifying, utterly fascinating and completely alien.

There was a cluster of 'dead' islands west of the Storm Palace where no mobs spawned. I actually would sit out there, watching the Storm Palace flare with lightning strikes (one of the most amazing virtual sights I have witnessed), sometimes opening my Architect Comlink to write missions or design characters there. I am indeed sorry to hear you never made it there yourself...it really was quite something.