Your favorite thing about City of Heroes

[bros402]

Aside from the givens, the costumes/costume creator and the community, I really liked jumping.

Not combat jumping, not super jumping.

Just jumping.

[corvus1970]

The sound of footsteps changed depending on the surface you were on and even those were upgraded somewhere around issue 20?

This I knew.

The wisps in Croatoa would follow you around and act like endurance buffs?

This I did NOT. Aw man!

[Glass Goblin]

The text on the history plaques in Praetoria was actually in Estonian?

Now that one's new to me.

(And I actually have a clear, saved copy of that dev hospital pic around here somewhere.)

[therain93]

Music and sound effects galore, that really seem to fit. Most notably energy melee, any automatic weapons (two different sounds types) and anything fire.   I'm pretty sure it was willpower that had this hearbeat that would suddenly catch my attention, typically after a battle just ended.
Also, aside from diversity of powersets, but diversity of mitigation -- there were roots, holds, and sleep, but also fear, confusion and the most underappreciate one of all, knockback/down/up.  I slotted kinetic combats and overwhelming force kd procs into anything melee....it was particularly wicked on my claws/dark scrapper.

[Vasarto]

having something to do with my friends irl.

The Costume Editor
The amount of powers available and gaining new levels and getting that cool new level of power and using it!
Making something born from my imagination and creativity come to life.

[Shinobu]

Costume editor -- and all the character slots so that ou could really play with it.  Making new characters was the best mini-game ever.

[Electric-Knight]

I'm not just going to say COSTUMES, because, for me, the customization actually goes beyond that and incorporates so much more...

The entire game, from character creation - costume and powers selection, to the manner/pace in which you play, how often you manage to play, what level(s) you are/play as, how you go about using your mix of powers (it may be very different than the way others do), how you slot/enhance your character, the additional powers that you pick, what sort of content you prefer (stories, radio missions, street sweeping, Giant Monster hunting, Task/Strike Forces, Raids, Trials, solo, teaming, duo-ing, small-teams, leagues)... whether you enjoy min/max-ing, role-playing, what emotes suit your character, what stances your character should use when idle...

It was all so customizable so that your entire experience was almost tailor-made for you.

This allowed us to not only create the characters we wanted... but also to play them how we wanted to... all almost universally on a very equal playing field. Besides a very strict solo approach (mainly with the incarnate system), you really were not at a disadvantage to simply do what you preferred to.

It was my game... because it allowed itself to be my game, while also being everyone else's game.

And that provided such a great deal of attachment and investment.... and, most importantly, enjoyment.

[Dollhouse]

It's hard for me to pick a single thing, so I'll just mention one of 'em. More than any other MMO I've played, City of Heroes absolutely nailed what I've come to call "kinetic immersion." That is, the sense of the character being a mass-bearing body moving in real space, with real laws of physics in effect. Many video games (and virtually all MMOs) fail in this to varying degrees. But in CoH, the movement was smooth, and the physics engine worked superbly to give a very "real" feel to how the world (physically) worked.

This isn't really a matter of animations (for which CoH was a mixed bag). Perhaps the best way I can get this across is to suggest that you recollect the first time you used Super Jump. The sensation of reaching the peak of the jump..that brief moment of seeming weightlessness...then gravity taking over. Amazing, wasn't it? This sort of physical realism is usually the realm of shooters, not MMOs.

Our characters might have been doing crazy, impossible things in their virtual world...but they're superheroes. They do that. but the world itself felt realistic...and the result was a level of kinetic immersion unparalleled in MMOs.

[emu265]

It's hard for me to pick a single thing, so I'll just mention one of 'em. More than any other MMO I've played, City of Heroes absolutely nailed what I've come to call "kinetic immersion." That is, the sense of the character being a mass-bearing body moving in real space, with real laws of physics in effect. Many video games (and virtually all MMOs) fail in this to varying degrees. But in CoH, the movement was smooth, and the physics engine worked superbly to give a very "real" feel to how the world (physically) worked.

This isn't really a matter of animations (for which CoH was a mixed bag). Perhaps the best way I can get this across is to suggest that you recollect the first time you used Super Jump. The sensation of reaching the peak of the jump..that brief moment of seeming weightlessness...then gravity taking over. Amazing, wasn't it? This sort of physical realism is usually the realm of shooters, not MMOs.

Our characters might have been doing crazy, impossible things in their virtual world...but they're superheroes. They do that. but the world itself felt realistic...and the result was a level of kinetic immersion unparalleled in MMOs.

Never thought of it that way, but I know what you mean.  Very cool.

[emu265]

I can't really articulate it but...

In this game, if someone sent me an unsolicited tell asking to team, or an unsolicited team invite, I always felt like I needed to not online decline politely but give a reason why I couldn't team right then. Other games, particularly WoW, I just ignore the request (though I would make a rude gesture if someone of significantly higher level than I was made a duel request) and never hear another thing about it.

I know exactly what you mean.  I felt bad if I just didn't want to team.  And sometimes I'd hit accept when I didn't want to and end up having a great time.  Cohesive and talkative teams were the best.

[Hedonism]

It's hard for me to pick a single thing, so I'll just mention one of 'em. More than any other MMO I've played, City of Heroes absolutely nailed what I've come to call "kinetic immersion." That is, the sense of the character being a mass-bearing body moving in real space, with real laws of physics in effect. Many video games (and virtually all MMOs) fail in this to varying degrees. But in CoH, the movement was smooth, and the physics engine worked superbly to give a very "real" feel to how the world (physically) worked.

This isn't really a matter of animations (for which CoH was a mixed bag). Perhaps the best way I can get this across is to suggest that you recollect the first time you used Super Jump. The sensation of reaching the peak of the jump..that brief moment of seeming weightlessness...then gravity taking over. Amazing, wasn't it? This sort of physical realism is usually the realm of shooters, not MMOs.

This is close to what I was thinking myself.  Being a gamer for close to 30 years, this game "felt right" from day 1.  It was always hard for me to explain, thank you!  What I've said in the past was that it was just easier to pick up and start playing this game.  Perhaps it wasn't easier to play as much as it was easier to "believe" in the actions I was taking.  With the exception of not being able to hop a fence or bush without getting caught up.......occasionally.   

[General Idiot]

For me, it has to be the teaming mechanics. The costumes, powers, community, all that is great in its own right but what really made the game fun for me, and this is something I've posted before here and elsewhere, was that at any time, I could join my friends doing whatever they happened to be doing and the game adjusted to there now being two heroes present.

It made the game truly a massively multiplayer game, unlike pretty much every other MMO out there that are all pretty much solo games with occasional multiplayer. Team for the solo content and it's boring cause you just roll over it without a thought, and try to solo the team content and you get stomped flat. While in CoH, EVERY mission was solo and team content at the same time, depending only on how many heroes you felt like throwing at it rather than on the devs deciding this map shall be for five players and that map for one, and screw you if you want to do otherwise.

It's not the presence of other players or the persistent world that makes an MMO, it's actually playing with those other players that does it. And CoH encouraged that to a degree no other MMO before or since ever has.

Also the team limit of eight people rather than five deserves a mention, so many times in other games I've had to tell friends sorry, we're full. In CoH I almost never had that problem, ever. Which may be more to do with my circle of friends, but still.

[johnrobey]

I don't have a single favorite thing; I can't, there's just too much I liked to have only one, but I'll try to keep it brief. 

1. animation.  With few exceptions, i really liked the way the characters looked when moving, when activating their powers etc.

2. the landscapes or backgrounds they moved within:  Cimerora, the Shadow Shards, Faultline, Ouroboros -  okay so I didn't fall in love aesthetically with how BoomTown looked, but then would one expect a devastated warzone to look beautiful?

3. the costumes.  I only once met a character who looked like one of mine, Force10 IIRC a Storm def run by an Australian player who looked very like my mystic blaster Aleksander from Cim.  We both had the Toga one got from Spring Fling, but even then there were differences, such Force10 having Wings.   Plus there were enough costumes that switching Aleks to his Roman armor was no prob. Force10 and I teamed on only a few occasions, due mostly to time zone differences, but we'd had a few laughs over having found a "twin" in-game on two otherwise fairly unique looking characters.

[Alchemedic]

Costumes. Easily, costumes.

Like probably many people here, I have too many commitments, and logging into CoH was often simply a stress release and study/work break when I didn't have time for a Task Force or anything more focused. I could easily kill time just working on a character's costumes, and if I only had 20-30 minutes -- well, that's playing with colors or maybe belt/boots. But it was something.

I'm sure I'm not alone in visualizing the aesthetics of a character. For the most part, your first level Elf Priest in WoW looks like everyone's Elf Priest. If I'm creating a character, that means more than just their abilities but how they present (or project) themselves into the world, and being able to work on detailed costume is part of that character-imagining.

Also: It's particularly important to me that my abilities and defenses are not linked to my outfit or. This really bugs me in other games.

Travel Powers. I see something in the distance and I intend to look at it...

in many other games, the problem is "what do you mean I can't jump over this freaking log? Or that I can't get over those trees?"

This is not a problem in City of Heroes. Correction: was ... 

Versatility & Flexibility. Superheroes are inherently multi-genre.

In what other setting could you team up a guy in power armor (= science fiction); a Norse deity (= fantasy) and a super-powered patriot (= classical super hero)? The super-hero genre can accommodate all these and more in their world-view. In fantasy games, you play fantasy races/occupations. In science fiction games, you play SF races/occupations. Sure, there might be some carryover, but you are limited to that world's construct.

EDIT: Sidekicking. Enough said.

There are probably more reasons, and I'll only realize them when I realize what I'm missing, but these are the first things that stand out to me.

[Megajoule]

Besides "costumes", and what it implies - the variety, the sheer degree of customization, and the separation of appearance from capability or "gear" - I'd also like to mention the level-matching mechanics, especially in their improved post-I16 format.  Play with anyone (friends or otherwise), without worrying about staying in lockstep.  Get experience from doing anything.  Wondrous, and far too rare in other games.

[Tanklet]

Costumes, powersets, ease of game play and last but NOT least the RP!!!!!

I've written so many stories. My characters' lives went places I don't think I ever really imagined, thanks to the interactions they had IG. I truly found my creative side in CoH RP

[Alchemedic]

[Vasarto]

Having mission and craft based super powers!

I got an Jet pack for Action Bastarrd whom is a hardware hero

[Peregrine Falcon]

The ease of teaming in CoH was the best part of the game and I believe it played a major part in building and maintaining such a great community. But, truth be told, my favorite part of the game was:

Flying.

[corvus1970]