If I let myself dream...

[Kyriani]

If it were within my power to buy the IP for COH this is what I'd do:

I would NOT bring back COH as we knew it.

What I'd do is hire back every dev I could from the Paragon Studios team and have them rebuild COH from the ground up as a sequel. Same gameplay we all know and love, same aesthetic but more modern tech/graphics and way better coding. Basically picture COH with a new coat of paint even more options and far more optimized code. Every costume piece would be recreated for the new engine. We'd all be able to recreate our costumes exactly as they were but we'd have a ton of new options on top of it.

The reason why I'd do this instead of just firing up the old COH is because the old COH is just that... old. It's not enough to just bring back the old faithfuls. I'd want a new COH to not just survive but thrive! As a new game with newer graphics but all the gameplay/story arcs/features we loved plus MORE content on top of it, a new COH would not only bring back the old guard but potentially ignite interest from new people as well. I'd ensure the base builder was overhauled and updated but still capable of doing all it did and more. I'd also ensure all the code was clean and thoroughly documented

Two things I'd do that I think the community would appreciate include:

a) Get all the old account info from NCSoft in the deal to buy the IP so I can offer returning players who invested in COH all the unlocks they previously had before the original game went down. So if you had all the AT's/Powersets unlocked at the end you'd start the new COH with all that stuff unlocked too. It would be my nod to those loyal to the original game.

b) I'd make sure the client could be easily turned into a stand alone/lan based game in the event of a future shutdown. Basically if I was unable to keep the game going I'd make sure people could take it with them.

What I wouldn't do:

I wouldn't give anyone remade characters from the old game. Everyone would start off from scratch, albeit with unlocks they had previously.

This is something I daydream about often /sigh

[LightofthePhoenix]

That's not a bad sentiment, to improve on the old.

But developing a new game from scratch, even if they have the outline of what they want to do laid out, would still take a great deal of time.  Wouldn't be a bad idea to rerelease the old CoH to give people something to do/cling onto while they wait for 'CoH2'.  Could also reopen the store and such in it to help fund the new game while it's being developed.

[Kyriani]

Well this is all daydream for me... ideally I'd be insanely wealthy and be able to pay a crack team to get the ball rolling... but... you're right... bringing back original coh as a hold over wouldn't be a bad idea.

[johnrobey]

Well this is all daydream for me... ideally I'd be insanely wealthy and be able to pay a crack team to get the ball rolling... but... you're right... bringing back original coh as a hold over wouldn't be a bad idea.

It's a beautiful dream, Kyriani.  Thank you putting this vision into writing.  I especially liked the part about hiring back all the devs and letting them design the sequel while keeping original CoH intact.  You made me smile just reading this!   

[Sailboat]

The reason why I'd do this instead of just firing up the old COH is because the old COH is just that... old. It's not enough to just bring back the old faithfuls.

Eh.  I've gone on to newer MMOs...only to discover the main difference between them and COH is "you can't do that here."  Well, what about...nope, can't do that either.  The interface is worse and less customizable, the characters are far less varied, there are fewer skills/powers (and each does far less for you), everything is more mundane.  Graphics...well, they sure consume a lot more resources.  I suppose if you like "brown" there's some degree of graphical difference, but the characters look old fashioned (I constantly think of old 1996-1997 games like Battlespire and Daggerfall when I see how the characters move in The Secret World).  And nothing compares to the dynamics and movement of COH combat.

So far, eight-year-old, closed-down COH seems orders of magnitude more technically capable, attractive, dynamic, and creative than its "successors."  It allowed far more variety and creativity than anything I've seen, and the interface worked better.  The fact that it wasn't as hard on my computer's resources seems like good planning rather than old age; the lengthy load times and occasional freeze-frames and graphics redraws in The Secret World only allow me to jog slowly and be stopped cold by a waist-high fence.  I used to be able to fly.

[srmalloy]

Eh.  I've gone on to newer MMOs...only to discover the main difference between them and COH is "you can't do that here."  Well, what about...nope, can't do that either.  The interface is worse and less customizable, the characters are far less varied, there are fewer skills/powers (and each does far less for you), everything is more mundane.

One of the things that keeps jumping out at me and breaking my immersion playing SWTOR is that you get very little character customization, even for the NPCs, and it feels as if the same half-dozen or so NPCs keep running backstage to change costumes for the next time I have to interact with someone.

[Kyriani]

Eh.  I've gone on to newer MMOs...only to discover the main difference between them and COH is "you can't do that here."  Well, what about...nope, can't do that either.  The interface is worse and less customizable, the characters are far less varied, there are fewer skills/powers (and each does far less for you), everything is more mundane.  Graphics...well, they sure consume a lot more resources.  I suppose if you like "brown" there's some degree of graphical difference, but the characters look old fashioned (I constantly think of old 1996-1997 games like Battlespire and Daggerfall when I see how the characters move in The Secret World).  And nothing compares to the dynamics and movement of COH combat.

So far, eight-year-old, closed-down COH seems orders of magnitude more technically capable, attractive, dynamic, and creative than its "successors."  It allowed far more variety and creativity than anything I've seen, and the interface worked better.  The fact that it wasn't as hard on my computer's resources seems like good planning rather than old age; the lengthy load times and occasional freeze-frames and graphics redraws in The Secret World only allow me to jog slowly and be stopped cold by a waist-high fence.  I used to be able to fly.

Don't get me wrong... I think COH classic looks great still... even for a game its age. My thinking when I say "it's old" isn't a criticism of the aesthetic. I am thinking more along the lines of not just bring back what we love for us, but bringing back what we love with a new coat of paint for us AND a new generation. A fresh start with a "COH2" would do more than just bring back the old guard but potentially bring in a whole new band of heroes/villains that would help the game thrive.

I'd gladly settle for the version of COH we had in beta back as a stand alone or lan game, but that won't bring new content or resources to develop. A sequel would and a sequel could bring in fresh customers. It could be a much larger community and more opportunity for development. But I'd absolutely want the original Paragon Studios team back running it if I had the resources to make all this happen.

[no hero]

I sooo thought "If I let myself dream..." was about tossing and turning
in the nightmare that is a world without heroes.
That's what happens when I let myself dream.

"They ruined it now. I hope, but can't sleep, or I'll dream about it
And when I dream, I wake and can't sleep and I scream about it.
My hope becomes fears, eats at me and I can't breathe without it."

-gleefully plagiarized and selfishly modified to suit my needs

[FatherXmas]

Just on the border of your waking mind
There lies... Another time
Where darkness & light are one
And as you tread the halls of sanity
You feel so glad to be
Unable to go beyond
I have a message
From another time...

ELO - Prologue, Time

The visions dancing in my mind
The early dawn, the shades of time
Twilight crawling through my windowpane
Am I awake or do I dream?
The strangest pictures I have seen
Night is day and twilight's gone away

With your head held high and your scarlet lies
You came down to me from the open skies
It's either real or it's a dream
There's nothing that is in between...

CHORUS:
Twilight, I only meant to stay awhile
Twilight, I gave you time to steal my mind
Away from me.

Across the night I saw your face
You disappeared without a trace
You brought me here, but can you take me back?
Inside the image of your light
That now is day and once was night
You lead me here and then you go away.

REPEAT CHORUS

(You brought me here, but can you take me back again?)

With your head held high and your scarlet lies
You came down to me from the open skies

REPEAT CHORUS

Twilight, I only meant to stay awhile
Twilight, I only meant to stay awhile
Twilight, Twilight, Twilight, Twilight.

ELO - Twilight, Time

[johnrobey]

Dear Father Time,
I'll see your ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-uaXyc6Mlw  and raise you a Guns N' Roses Use Your Illusion I and II  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_Your_Illusion  (for the clever use of maya in the title rather than the actual music or song lyrics, just to be pancakey obnoxious) 

For actual music, here is one of my dreams:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmkRY6h0hJE "Mother Nature's Son", The Beatles

Curiously, Wikipedia does not include the song's lyrics:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Nature%27s_Son