Status Update (January 1)

[TonyV]

[Golden Girl]

Just a quick correction - unfortunately, Fire Man is no longer at Trion - he was one of the layoffs when they downsized at the end of last year.

[blackjak]

Thank you for the dev listing. Glad so many have found places to land on their feet.

[Perfidus]

Thanks for the update.

[dwturducken]

Thank you, Tony. I know I had seen a few of the job updates, but not all of them. I'm glad that A) so many are finding work and B) someone is keeping a spreadsheet.

Been keeping half an eye on Twitter for the ones I have handles for, and Posi seems to have taken the family to Orlando for New Years. (That sounds stalkery...) Having made that trip as a kid, I can say first-hand that it would certainly be the kind of end to the year someone in his position needs, particularly to recharge the batteries in prep for hitting the ground running in the coming year.

Here's to the new year!

[NecrotechMaster]

it sounds like things are still progressing which is a sign of hope IMO

this is still one of those "hurry up and wait' things where we just got to keep going even though its glacially slow

[WildFire15]

Looks like Paragon staff were snatched up by some pretty high up studios. Kinda shows that NCsoft really didn't have a clue what they had

[beveri8469]

ncsoft should have appreaciated the PS since they were some awesome talented people.

[blackjak]

I was thinking this morning; it will be interesting to see what the talented people who worked on COX can do with a decent budget and advertising. Perhaps COH has heroically given it 's life to save the gaming world...

[DJMoose]

Thanks for the update, Tony!

[psicotic]

And now i just want thanks to Tony V for the update happy new year my friend! and i have some doubts or questions.

If CoH rise from the hand of a new publisher, then what happend with the other protects?(i mean all in the Plan Z). They stop? become a new ones? they merge together, or we going to have many clones of our beloved game?

Note. i dont troll and those who know me know i never doit, is just a bunch of things going on my head at the moment and dosent matters what become to the end all you guys have my best wishes on the success of every project!

sorry for the bad english i try to made my point or questions the best i can.

A great HUG for all you.
Yours
Psicotic.

[TonyV]

If CoH rise from the hand of a new publisher, then what happend with the other protects?(i mean all in the Plan Z). They stop? become a new ones? they merge together, or we going to have many clones of our beloved game?

At this point, both teams have been working on their respective projects for months.  I can't really speak for them, but I think they would go ahead and diligently try to follow through on their respective projects.

[Omega Mark V]

If anything, the fall of City of Heroes/Villains should give rise to many more Super Hero games and MMOs.

But we all want our City back. I know I do.

Thanks for the update, Tony. Best hopes to the Hail Mary team with Disney and Google.

[Tivomaniac]

Thanks for the update and keep up the great work everyone!

[downix]

And now i just want thanks to Tony V for the update happy new year my friend! and i have some doubts or questions.

If CoH rise from the hand of a new publisher, then what happend with the other protects?(i mean all in the Plan Z). They stop? become a new ones? they merge together, or we going to have many clones of our beloved game?

The ultimate Architect Entertainment setup ever!!!

[FourSpeed]

Happy New Year all! 

Thanks for the update Tony - some interesting tidbits in there.


Regards,
4

[Nafaustu]

I was thinking this morning; it will be interesting to see what the talented people who worked on COX can do with a decent budget and advertising. Perhaps COH has heroically given it 's life to save the gaming world...

I've been toying with that mentally as my assigned silver lining.   Good to see i'm not the only one who thought it.   

Happy New Years Everyone.

[srmalloy]

Looks like Paragon staff were snatched up by some pretty high up studios. Kinda shows that NCsoft really didn't have a clue what they had

In my experience, most upper management fails to recognize the distinction between a coder and a programmer; the former can produce code when presented with a detailed specification of what the code does and what its inputs and outputs are to be, while the latter is able to take "We want to have code that will do this" and figure out how to turn a general description into a fleshed-out and functional piece of code without having to have everything already spelled out for him, and is further able to take "wouldn't it be cool if we could do this?" and make it work.

[Minotaur]

In my experience, most upper management fails to recognize the distinction between a coder and a programmer; the former can produce code when presented with a detailed specification of what the code does and what its inputs and outputs are to be, while the latter is able to take "We want to have code that will do this" and figure out how to turn a general description into a fleshed-out and functional piece of code without having to have everything already spelled out for him, and is further able to take "wouldn't it be cool if we could do this?" and make it work.

This is on the money, I was very much a programmer and got bored and disenchanted when told to become a coder, so switched to another area of work.

[downix]

In my experience, most upper management fails to recognize the distinction between a coder and a programmer; the former can produce code when presented with a detailed specification of what the code does and what its inputs and outputs are to be, while the latter is able to take "We want to have code that will do this" and figure out how to turn a general description into a fleshed-out and functional piece of code without having to have everything already spelled out for him, and is further able to take "wouldn't it be cool if we could do this?" and make it work.

And what do you classify someone who can take overall descriptions and turn them into the specifications for coders?

(my coding skills are not the best, but I can break things down to let coders do their jobs)

[Surelle]

Thanks so much, Tony!  I am always amazed at how positive, upbeat and level-headed you remain, no matter what the situation.  The ability to see the good of any situation is an awesome life skill to have, and it's uplifting to read your take on things every time.   

Just one question:  This reverse engineering you speak of...will it allow those of us who still have CoH installed to play it again on massively multiplayer servers once all the reverse engineering is complete?  And if so, where do I donate to this cause?     I sure hope I'm reading what I think I'm reading there.  I have all 38 of my toons backed up with Sentinel and Pandora's Box is just begging to be opened....

[Kheprera]

For one more PS staffer, Dink, who did costume 3D, she's @SDink on Twitter and has been doing a steady stream of commissions.

[Minotaur]

And what do you classify someone who can take overall descriptions and turn them into the specifications for coders?

(my coding skills are not the best, but I can break things down to let coders do their jobs)

A systems analyst in the company I worked for in the UK. Some people did both jobs as analyst-programmers.

[Colette]

ICON is terrific! Just seeing my characters again kindled new hope.

I'm excited about the future of our community.

[Menrva Channel]

Thanks for the update Tony--and furthermore, thanks for keeping the community alive. I miss CoH terribly, but if i wasn't here, I think I'd be much worse off than I am when it comes to feeling homesick. I don't think I can ever sum up how much I truly appreciate Titan boards. Hopefully 2013 will bring us back to the City we love.

[dwturducken]

I imagine it a bit like Captain Sisko walking triumphantly back onto DS9.

[LT. Couper]

So, in the case that CoH is bought and we are able to play it again, what will happen with our Plan Z projects?

[Mistress Urd]

Thanks for the update Tony! There is no doubt that eventually something will happen because people want it to happen.

[Victoria Victrix]

So, in the case that CoH is bought and we are able to play it again, what will happen with our Plan Z projects?

Caveat: I am not part of either project so this is just supposition.  Having had one warning that our game can be yanked from under us without warning, I presume they will carry on.

[downix]

Caveat: I am not part of either project so this is just supposition.  Having had one warning that our game can be yanked from under us without warning, I presume they will carry on.

Or offer our work as a basis for CoH2....

[blue storm]

thanks for the update as usual TonyV !

[Osborn]

So, in the case that CoH is bought and we are able to play it again, what will happen with our Plan Z projects?

Probably nothing will change with it, in the sense that they'll continue exactly the same as they are now.

If Plan Z lives or fails, it won't be because CoH comes back to life or not, at this point, I think.

[ThePhlebotomist]

Thank you so much for the update!

Could someone give me a pointer to where the server reverse-engineering work is being done and if it's on github or somewhere?  I'm a software engineer but I've never worked on games before and I'd love to help if I can.

[Aggelakis]

Could someone give me a pointer to where the server reverse-engineering work is being done and if it's on github or somewhere?  I'm a software engineer but I've never worked on games before and I'd love to help if I can.

It's not public.

[Kaos Arcanna]

Even if COH did come back, wouldn't it be awesome if we had excellent games spawn from both Heroes and Villains and the Phoenix Project? I certainly wouldn't mind having THREE wonderful super hero games to play. 

[General Idiot]

Same here, I'd love to have the problem be too much choice, rather than the only really good game being gone.

[Steele Magnolia]

Thanks for the update, Tony.

[TonyV]

Aw shucks, you're welcome!

[Occultist]

My son and I want to say thank you for Icon.  It is fun to build new characters.  And thanks to all those keeping hope alive.

[Nyghtshade]

Having ICON and the demorecords we were able to make before the End of Days has been a real comfort.  Thanks so much, Tony, and everyone who's working so hard to convince investors that CoH is worthy of resurrection.  Because, as any comic reader worth their salt knows, no hero (or villian, for that matter) is ever really truly gone.

[MindBlender]

I thank you as well Tony.  I have been coming to the forums for over 2 years now (much more in the last 6 months of course) and these forums provide me with information I would spend hours trying to find on my own.

[nataliaofvirtues]

Thank you TonyV for keeping this forum alive. It has been a great source of information as well as keeping the feeling of hope for the return of City in some way to all of us that was made homeless with the closing of COH. I am able to stay somewhat connected by reading the forum and even commenting from time to time.
I look forward to the day that we are all able to walk down the streets of Atlas Park (if by some miracle we get her back) or Phoenix City or whatever the new home may call her main city. I know that because of this forum, we will all be able to reunite our community and protect our home as we have in the past. As stated so many times; WE ARE HEROES, THAT IS WHAT WE DO!

[Arctic Pulse]

Agreed nataliaofvirtues.

Look forward to a reunion

[DrakeGrimm]

Still here. Still fighting. For our City. For our home. For our people.

[johnrobey]

ncsoft should have appreaciated the PS since they were some awesome talented people.

I think NCSoft top brass demonstrated that they are a bunch of Pancake-Heads (Pancake in this case rhymes with the word "Fit"), who cared little to nothing and showed little to nothing of any sort of respect for the CoH community aka their customers, and I believe they treated former Paragon Studios exactly the same way.  Apologies to any NCSoft non-top tier exec who may read this; you guys and the rank-and-file rocked! But your numb-skull bosses don't!!!  I hope they are off enjoying their lives as "important" people 'cause near as I can tell, that is ALL they have going for them.  Pity.

[Osborn]

I think NCSoft top brass demonstrated that they are a bunch of Pancake-Heads (Pancake in this case rhymes with the word "Fit"), who cared little to nothing and showed little to nothing of any sort of respect for the CoH community aka their customers, and I believe they treated former Paragon Studios exactly the same way.  Apologies to any NCSoft non-top tier exec who may read this; you guys and the rank-and-file rocked! But your numb-skull bosses don't!!!  I hope they are off enjoying their lives as "important" people 'cause near as I can tell, that is ALL they have going for them.  Pity.

That's the general trend though, sadly, to treat your teams as disposable costs rather than valuable assets. I mean in general, but it's even worse in video game development.

The default schema for employment in that realm seems to be based on short term project farms that get sold off.

[johnrobey]

That's the general trend though, sadly, to treat your teams as disposable costs rather than valuable assets. I mean in general, but it's even worse in video game development.

The default schema for employment in that realm seems to be based on short term project farms that get sold off.

Hi Osborn! It's always a treat for me to see on Titan forums someone I actually gamed with in CoH.  Hope you and K. are doing well and thriving!   

The "trend" you note I have perceived in the U.S. since the early 1980's, when the film Wall Street told us "greed is good"  (Oh really??)  Prior to that U.S. industries and employees (at least in "white collar" work) practically had covenants of loyalty akin to feudalism, as contrasted to all the downsizing and re-orgs, contracting and out-sourcing - usually cost savings result by not providing medical insurance (e.g. our nation's for-profit prisons).  I saw that in public higher ed as janitors and custodians were replaced by contract labor (gee, how curious that such persons no longer suffer illness -  yes, i am being facetious.)  Anyhow, we're way off the OP topic.  Lovely to see you here on Titan Network forums:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T62FDHh56A  (Hope you like this music vid, Osborn)   

[MWRuger]

I'm NOT speaking for the The Phoenix Project but I am working on it.

What would I do if CoH came back?

Hold a huge party online, take off a week of vacation and play the hell out of it.

But I would keep working on TPP as well. There are some awesome things planned. I would love to spill the beans but I need to be alive to play when this thing goes live.

[johnrobey]

I'm NOT speaking for the The Phoenix Project but I am working on it.

What would I do if CoH came back?

Hold a huge party online, take off a week of vacation and play the hell out of it.

But I would keep working on TPP as well. There are some awesome things planned. I would love to spill the beans but I need to be alive to play when this thing goes live.

I can actually envision myself playing both or even all three should CoH return and both TPP and H&V take wing! 

[LT. Couper]

I can actually envision myself playing both or even all three should CoH return and both TPP and H&V take wing!

Same here. I can't imagine anything better; an MMO where the devs are really great people who care about the players, and two MMOs made by the players and care just as much! I eagerly await any and all of these options that let me fly again. 

[srmalloy]

Same here. I can't imagine anything better; an MMO where the devs are really great people who care about the players, and two MMOs made by the players and care just as much! I eagerly await any and all of these options that let me fly again. 

I've been able to watch that happening. Back in 1992, I started playing SVGA Air Warrior, an online WWII air-combat sim that was on GEnie. Eventually, it became accessible via the Internet, and later evolved from a DOS game to a Windows game.

Unsatisfied with the glacial pace of updates and fixes to the flight models, a group of the Air Warriors players went off and formed their own company to create a WWII air-combat sim that would have better graphics and aircraft modeling. After several iterations of "this isn't going where we want it; let's go off and make one that will do it right" that spun off "WWII Online", HiTech Creations released Aces High, which became Aces High II with an engine rework. One of the things that ensures that AHII will remain a viable multiplayer sim even if the AH servers shut down is that the game was deliberately designed to be flyable offline (useful for bombing and strafing practice) and to have a LAN mode, where you can link, IIRC, up to 32 computers together and play without having to have a server.

So I know that it's possible for a dedicated group of fans to go off and take the foundation of a game, rebuild it, and make it better.

[johnrobey]

I've been able to watch that happening. Back in 1992, I started playing SVGA Air Warrior, an online WWII air-combat sim that was on GEnie. Eventually, it became accessible via the Internet, and later evolved from a DOS game to a Windows game.

Unsatisfied with the glacial pace of updates and fixes to the flight models, a group of the Air Warriors players went off and formed their own company to create a WWII air-combat sim that would have better graphics and aircraft modeling. After several iterations of "this isn't going where we want it; let's go off and make one that will do it right" that spun off "WWII Online", HiTech Creations released Aces High, which became Aces High II with an engine rework. One of the things that ensures that AHII will remain a viable multiplayer sim even if the AH servers shut down is that the game was deliberately designed to be flyable offline (useful for bombing and strafing practice) and to have a LAN mode, where you can link, IIRC, up to 32 computers together and play without having to have a server.

So I know that it's possible for a dedicated group of fans to go off and take the foundation of a game, rebuild it, and make it better.

AWESOME!!!!!!!   

[Osborn]

I've been able to watch that happening. Back in 1992, I started playing SVGA Air Warrior, an online WWII air-combat sim that was on GEnie. Eventually, it became accessible via the Internet, and later evolved from a DOS game to a Windows game.

Unsatisfied with the glacial pace of updates and fixes to the flight models, a group of the Air Warriors players went off and formed their own company to create a WWII air-combat sim that would have better graphics and aircraft modeling. After several iterations of "this isn't going where we want it; let's go off and make one that will do it right" that spun off "WWII Online", HiTech Creations released Aces High, which became Aces High II with an engine rework. One of the things that ensures that AHII will remain a viable multiplayer sim even if the AH servers shut down is that the game was deliberately designed to be flyable offline (useful for bombing and strafing practice) and to have a LAN mode, where you can link, IIRC, up to 32 computers together and play without having to have a server.

So I know that it's possible for a dedicated group of fans to go off and take the foundation of a game, rebuild it, and make it better.

Considering that's almost exactly what a large chunk of indie games are made now, and how most all games were made back in the day, it's not impossible at all. The biggest hurdle in front of game developers making AAA titles isn't a lack of talent or ambition, it's a lack of funds. It's hard to develop full time to a AAA scope game when your kids are hungry and your rent's due, and that software and training doesn't come out of the sky.

But it wouldn't surprise me at all to hear there are a lot of very talented and dedicated people to be found who would want to contribute to something like this. So while the odds might be stacked against you, I'm confident that you guys can beat them. The internet has made game designers very lucky to be able to find such talented individuals in a way that was very difficult in the past.

If anything, publishers should embrace this very sort of thing more often.

[Riggs_Wild]

Keep up the good work. I have some 30 rl friends who are just waiting to jump back into the game.

[Victoria Victrix]

Rae, Quinch and Ammon are taking up the "reformat/rewrite pitch for Google" while I try and get my life back up to speed.

[johnrobey]

Rae, Quinch and Ammon are taking up the "reformat/rewrite pitch for Google" while I try and get my life back up to speed.

Please let me know if/when there is anything constructive i might contribute to these efforts.  Thanking Ammon, Quich, and Rae & everyone involved in this.
/em holdtorch

[healix]

*hoists torch next to JR*

[johnrobey]

*hoists torch next to JR*

    Thank you, Healix!  *virtual hugs from the faraway Land of 10,000 presently frozen Lakes of Minnesota, ja sure!*

One of these days i really should learn how to do the nifty graphics and animations you young geniuses do!

[Harpospoke]

Just went through some screenshots of a friend on FB and it sure hurts to see that awesome City and know I can't just log on to run around and be stupid.  (Unless I was on a team..then I was really smart!    )

Sigh....hope there is some good news at some point.

[healix]

    Thank you, Healix!  *virtual hugs from the faraway Land of 10,000 presently frozen Lakes of Minnesota, ja sure!*

One of these days i really should learn how to do the nifty graphics and animations you young geniuses do!

YOUNG? I probably have underwear older than you are......

[Minotaur]

YOUNG? I probably have underwear older than you are......

I thought only men did that ...

[healix]

I'm not cheap, just frugal......I won't go so far as to use both sides of the 'Charmin', however..........

[johnrobey]

LMAO!!  Thanks, Minotaur and Healix, for keeping the lines of communication open between the sexes.

Twice used Charmin (ugh!); however, gently broken-in clothing is groovy!  Ain't nothing like a pair of blue jeans softened by wear and washing.   

[Mazz vs The World]

Last update we got was January 1st?? Wassup?? What's new Tony??? 

[NecrotechMaster]

when i met tony at meet and greet on may 11 he said theres still stuff going on, but nothing big, pretty much not much since the last update

but tony can feel free to expand on that if he wants lol

[Perfidus]

Who were you at that meetup Necro? I was there too. Go us!

[NecrotechMaster]

i was wearing the city of villains shirt, had 2 name badges on (one from last years meet and greet, and one from this years)

[Perfidus]

I remember you, yeah. I don't think we talked much, we weren't sitting near one another. I was the big guy with the black shirt and the shaved head. The virtue guy people were teasing for being surrounded by Justice folks. Good to see ya!

[NecrotechMaster]

i think we did talk for a good bit, i think i remember seeing your name tag and i have an unusually good memory lol

i think i was one of the only ones from the meet and greet from victory lol

[Tubbius]

There was a meet and greet?  :O

[Perfidus]

Yeah, in Maryland on May 11th. There's another one coming in Virginia in late August.