Call to Action: Bring CoH Home! - Phase 2

[Lightslinger]

Cancelled, please support the ad-buying project(s) that are currently in development.

[The Fifth Horseman]

I think you want this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aI5CRaQvEg&feature=player_detailpage#t=2060s

It's not a cut of the video, but links to the phrase you wanted.

[Lightslinger]

I think you want this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aI5CRaQvEg&feature=player_detailpage#t=2060s

It's not a cut of the video, but links to the phrase you wanted.

Changed that link out, very much appreciated!

[dwturducken]

Jack has a LinkedIn account:

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jack-emmert/1/6a6/614

Also, members of the CO community are trying a mailing campaign to get some dev attention back the their game. The link (included because it has the Cryptic mailing address);

http://championsonlineroleplayers.shivtr.com/forum_threads/1395179

[Tubbius]

A laudable goal.    Here's hoping this can be pulled off!

[Surelle]

Thanks for spearheading this effort, Light!

I sent all four press places a note, but I don't have a twitter so I skipped that one.  I'm sending emails to Cryptic and NC, but don't want the Wildstar guy to get into any hot water so I probably won't bother him.

You know, even if Jack was being facetious on that panel, just bringing it to everyone's attention that a major panel of MMO head honchos think CoH shouldn't have been closed down is newsworthy in and of itself.  And as an Everquest 2 player, it was particularly heartening to hear Dave Georgeson (whose Smokejumper forum persona has taken a lot of beating from trolls on the EQ forums over the years) say that you will still be able to play Everquest in 2050.  I still secretly wish SOE had taken on CoH, much like I wished it when the phony rumor was going around about it shortly after CoH's closing announcement was made, but alas, I digress....

And dw, it's good that CO players are trying to get some attention back onto their game!  At least it's still up and running, but they'll be no worse off than they are right now even if their pleas don't help much.  You never know if something can happen until you ask about it.  Just like us with CoH.   

[Lightslinger]

Jack has a LinkedIn account:

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jack-emmert/1/6a6/614

Also, members of the CO community are trying a mailing campaign to get some dev attention back the their game. The link (included because it has the Cryptic mailing address);

http://championsonlineroleplayers.shivtr.com/forum_threads/1395179

Thanks for these, especially the mailing address, that will be needed for Phase 2 mailings.

Thanks for spearheading this effort, Light!

I sent all four press places a note, but I don't have a twitter so I skipped that one.  I'm sending emails to Cryptic and NC, but don't want the Wildstar guy to get into any hot water so I probably won't bother him.

You know, even if Jack was being facetious on that panel, just bringing it to everyone's attention that a major panel of MMO head honchos think CoH shouldn't have been closed down is newsworthy in and of itself.  And as an Everquest 2 player, it was particularly heartening to hear Dave Georgeson (whose Smokejumper forum persona has taken a lot of beating from unicorns on the EQ forums over the years) say that you will still be able to play Everquest in 2050.  I still secretly wish SOE had taken on CoH, much like I wished it when the phony rumor was going around about it shortly after CoH's closing announcement was made, but alas, I digress....

And dw, it's good that CO players are trying to get some attention back onto their game!  At least it's still up and running, but they'll be no worse off than they are right now even if their pleas don't help much.  You never know if something can happen until you ask about it.  Just like us with CoH.   

Completely agreed, I want as much publicity for that whole exchange as possible. CoH being shut down was, among that panel, a resounding mistake. Let's work to help NCsoft right that mistake. And I do completely support what the CO players are doing and hope they understand we're not trying undermine them or CO at all, we just want our game back.

[TonyV]

Guys, I'd like to hold off on this at least a day or two.  I don't want us spamming Jack or Cryptic, or worse, Carbine, with a ton of messages.  That could easily turn people who would otherwise like us against us, and could actually cause harm to innocent bystanders who have no influence over this thing at all.  If you want, feel free to ping NCsoft (please note: NOT Carbine, as they have absolutely zero influence over this issue, and those people too busy as it is right now to deal with this) and let them know.

I'm still pondering what, if anything, we should do about the whole Cryptic thing.  I'll probably see if I can somehow reach out to Jack and see if 1) he's serious, and 2) if so, if there's anything he thinks we could do that would help the situation, or at a bare minimum, if there are things we shouldn't do that would probably hurt the situation.

But I don't exactly have the guy on speed dial, and I'm not sure he even knows who I am, but we'll see.

[dwturducken]

A couple of Titan members (users, not Orange Dots) are journalists of one flavor or another. It would be useful if they could get a read from Jack, as well, since a member of the press would be someone he'd at least consider responding to.

[Lightslinger]

Guys, I'd like to hold off on this at least a day or two.  I don't want us spamming Jack or Cryptic, or worse, Carbine, with a ton of messages.  That could easily turn people who would otherwise like us against us, and could actually cause harm to innocent bystanders who have no influence over this thing at all.  If you want, feel free to ping NCsoft (please note: NOT Carbine, as they have absolutely zero influence over this issue, and those people too busy as it is right now to deal with this) and let them know.

I'm still pondering what, if anything, we should do about the whole Cryptic thing.  I'll probably see if I can somehow reach out to Jack and see if 1) he's serious, and 2) if so, if there's anything he thinks we could do that would help the situation, or at a bare minimum, if there are things we shouldn't do that would probably hurt the situation.

But I don't exactly have the guy on speed dial, and I'm not sure he even knows who I am, but we'll see.

Agreed, I'll edit the OP accordingly. I never intended to blow up anyone's mailbox really, or get anyone in trouble, just thought we may get a few dozen of us to let some people know we're listening and we're interested in this idea. Carbine/Mr. Gaffney were only included because he was there at the panel, the person Jack was talking to, and might be able to get us a contact at NCsoft to speak with.

[Mazz vs The World]

Being nice gets you nowhere. The nice guy always finishes last. Jack wants to throw out a statement like "Have NCsoft call me!" knowing that a multitude of "COH'rs" are watching and anticipating it's return, then he should be able to deal with the consequences of that. I say do what you want the game is gone it's as of right now NOT coming back. So what will it hurt to "annoy" whoever we want to annoy. If they don't want to be annoyed then stop making comments getting everyones hopes up. I am honestly tired of it and I feel if you want to hold a full fledged press campaign targeting what Jack said, DO IT! Why hold off, the game is gone nothing can hurt it anymore than it already is. If Jack didn't mean it then he shouldn't have said it. If Carbine has no power I would agree not to flood them with emails for support but then again I say do what you want if you think it will help. Heck contact Oprah if you think it will help, cause as of now the game is NOT coming back! Like Nike says "Just do it"!

[Lightslinger]

I get that sentiment too, and honestly if in a week we haven't heard anything from Tony's attempts I'm open to restarting the campaign.

[TimtheEnchanter]

--Youtube I'd like to cut down the MMORPG video of the dev panel to only the "Tell NCsoft to call me" exchange. Adding subtitles would be great. Here's the original video, (set to jump directly to Jack's comment): Editing this down and subtitling would make it much easier to spread around.

We might need to get permission from MMORPG if we're going to distribute an edited version of it.

[SypherVendetta]

Guys, a few points here to consider before jumping the sack here, first off, let's see the track record of jack emmertt and how he has dealt with CO, right now that game is nothing more than a cash conduit, serving up to just rake in the dollars, they have very little interest in it, and it is only running because it was part of the star trek purchase to perfect world, they have the complete license, which means to do whatever they please.

Now consider they bought CoH license, they will use it like it has with CO and continually to ravage the market by selling it out, and that's not even to say it will be out for another year or so anyways, which brings to another point.

Say they want to get rid of it after a year, keep the ip servers, or even just mess it up, do nothing with it, so many things that can go wrong here.
Also, it's not my place to really judge, but my experience with CO while i been there since beta was tarnished because some of the community and their elitist attitude, we would be sharing with them, they would bring that kind of attitude over, we don't need that.

I would suggest keeping your hopes low, this is at best, a joke form his part, a sick joke, but i don't see how this could benefit any of us, and i say this with sincerity and i mean it.

Can you honestly believe we will get the same game that it once was? some of you can't let go, i get that, but some of us have moved on, played other games, thought meh, and opened the door to other things so to speak, now i am all for bringing this game back, for the right reasons, and i got to say, maybe it was it's time to go, maybe it was not to go any further, can we accept this?

I for one won't sit here and let them take this game, i prefer it dead in the hands of NCSoft than to be used as a guinea pig for cash flow purposes, think about my words, i am not trying to lower your hopes for this game, just to give you a reality check, but, and a big but at that, if they can give us the content we were getting, the old team that was apart of it, and the continuity that it was showing, i will accept it and play again, but for now, this sounds like a bad idea.

I was Sypher Vendetta in CoH for 6 and a half years and i spent alot of time and money on that game throughout the years i was there, so i hope to god this is for the right reasons.

[Taceus Jiwede]

Why hold off, the game is gone nothing can hurt it anymore than it already is.

I don't feel this is entirely accurate.  If every time someone says anything related to CoH either about trying to bring it back or it being shut down and we are always there email bombing Carbine and Cryptic people will get annoyed, eventually you get to the point where people will go out of their way NOT to say anything ever about the game to avoid us being there and responding.  We are the only front fighting for CoH we can't lose the few teammates we have got here.  Light I think you have a great idea I only read it after you edited the first post but I does seem like a really good idea.  I would just wait because Tony made really good points, and it is also his website.

[Electric-Knight]

I posted in the thread that led to this, but I just wanted to say that the point may not be in getting Jack or Cryptic to buy CoH or anything.
The opinions expressed about CoH by these people within the industry should, however, be used to continue publicity for SaveCoH and for NCSoft to sell and to keep it in the minds of anyone and everyone we can reach.
So, I just see this as valuable publicity, regardless of whether or not the actual parties involved are the ones who may end up buying CoH.

So, I'm not in favor of blowing up anyone's inboxes over it (other than news outlets). I just think we should use this as another banner to wave and shout to the world that we still want the game back and that it never should have gone away... and a panel of experts AGREES.

[JWBullfrog]

Again, a quiet reminder about straws and the advisability of grasping at them.
 
Any hope is better than none at all.

[dwturducken]

Again, a quiet reminder about straws and the advisability of grasping at them.
 
Any hope is better than none at all.

So, you're saying we should be mailing straws to NCSoft? On it!

[Brou]

So, you're saying we should be mailing straws to NCSoft? On it!

Send them the premium stuff. Not that industrial crap.

[Tanklet]

if they can give us the content we were getting, the old team that was apart of it, and the continuity that it was showing, i will accept it and play again,

No new publisher is going to give all of these things. Not at all ever. Regardless of who wrests CoH from the hands of NC$oft, it will be done under their banner, and the way they do things. So to expect this from Cryptic & Jack, just cuz that's what it'll take to get you to play, is unreasonable.

Honestly, all this "hold & wait" pattern stuff has me kinda frustrated. I've tried moving on and honestly there's nothing that has that homey feel that CoH had. I miss it. I want it back.

Yes, I get the point of wanting a focused effort, but really, you had to figure that enough of us wanted to get on this ball before it was left gone and forgotten in the dust of PAX past.

Grand total, we're waiting for Disney, we're waiting for Google proposal, before then transitioning to waiting for Google response. We're waiting for so many things, when do we get to -do- something? Jack had to have known what he set himself in for when he made that statement. Even if CoH were in maintenance mode, I'd play it still.

IMO - if there's no one with a direct line -to- Jack, simply waiting for him to return a call or message from someone he doesn't even know is more time waiting that could be sent mailing postcards to NC$oft with the youtube link printed on it.

In the end, it's not my call. I'm just frustrated like I know many of us are. *shrugs*

[Lightslinger]

I hear you man, but since we're organizing here at Titan I'll listen to TonyV and respect his wishes. I know Tony ultimately supports this effort and we'll be moving on very soon.

Bring CoH Home! is still on. Please contact the press via the links in the OP and let them know: this is a big deal, talk to Jack and let's find out how far down the rabbit hole we can get with this.

[Taceus Jiwede]

I posted in the thread that led to this, but I just wanted to say that the point may not be in getting Jack or Cryptic to buy CoH or anything.
The opinions expressed about CoH by these people within the industry should, however, be used to continue publicity for SaveCoH and for NCSoft to sell and to keep it in the minds of anyone and everyone we can reach.
So, I just see this as valuable publicity, regardless of whether or not the actual parties involved are the ones who may end up buying CoH.

So, I'm not in favor of blowing up anyone's inboxes over it (other than news outlets). I just think we should use this as another banner to wave and shout to the world that we still want the game back and that it never should have gone away... and a panel of experts AGREES.

Beautifully put! +1

NC$oft

I haven't seen this one before.  It made me laugh.

[Tanklet]

NC$oft

I haven't seen this one before.  It made me laugh.

Why thankya
Started using it not long after D-Day

[ukaserex]

A cryptic comment from Jack, who works at Cryptic. Who woulda thunk it?

Honestly, I think flooding Jack's in-box isn't a good idea at all. There are probably a few people who have personal access to Jack and can simply ask him to elaborate. Odds are, they already have, but the clarification hasn't made it's way around yet.

Let's just buy the man and his team dinner and simply ask him ourselves if we haven't heard back from him in a week. This way, we will have, in a sense, paid for his time and built some good will in the process.

[Lightslinger]

A cryptic comment from Jack, who works at Cryptic. Who woulda thunk it?

Honestly, I think flooding Jack's in-box isn't a good idea at all. There are probably a few people who have personal access to Jack and can simply ask him to elaborate. Odds are, they already have, but the clarification hasn't made it's way around yet.

Let's just buy the man and his team dinner and simply ask him ourselves if we haven't heard back from him in a week. This way, we will have, in a sense, paid for his time and built some good will in the process.

Jack's email has not been posted here and is not part of our mission, only emailing the press.

If we get some positive info from those out looking for more info we may proceed to snail-mailing postcards, some of support to Cryptic and some urges to sell to NCsoft. Outside of the press no inbox bombing will be part of Bring CoH Home.

[DeathSentry]

Have to admit, I've been playing CO since CoH was shutdown and its sad the way Cryptic is handling the title (to buy a token just to retcon/respec), you pay some pretty hefty fees, even as a gold subscriber so definitely a cash machine only for Cryptic.  With that said, I too would be happy even if it came back in maintenance mode if nothing else there was more to explore there than CO.

I love the customization in CO but it doesn't begin to compare to the vastness of the CoH universe.

[Captain Electric]

We missed a golden opportunity to show support for those recently laid off by NCSoft (seriously confused as to why those suggestions were ignored, are we all full-up on good press or something?), please do not let this one go cold too folks.

Let's imagine for a moment that consumers throughout history had decided to play nice and "not get too loud" whenever they had the chance to wave their banners and let loose their voices. What would they have gained?

Spider-Man was on the chopping block whenever he was first introduced in 1963 because he was too different for most of the top brass at Marvel. That is until the fan mail came in, flooding their mailboxes like never before. After that, there could be NO DOUBT. Shy Peter Parker was no Superman or Batman, but the fans had spoken up about what they wanted; their voices literally could not be contained (by a mailbox ) and Spider-Man left the pages of Amazing Fiction for good--because he had his own magazine!

I'm not pleading for riots in the streets, just more "Titan in action", less "Titan inaction". When a multitude of voices rises up in unison, that is not a riot--it is a rally.

Don't bug the people at Wildstar you say? Don't email every Cryptic address I can find? Well I hope you'll forgive my passion but I have already done it. Those who can do nothing for us still have mouths and that's how the message of the meek becomes the talk of the town. Rallies are made to inspire, and as long as those messages are written as politely and as respectful as if you were on your best behavior at a rally, no one in this industry will hold us in contempt or blame us for speaking up and showing our love for a game they loved too--and continuing to do it seven months on; and with our voices still strong.

I began writing emails before the first Call to Action and I'd still be writing them after the last if I had to. I'm a fan--it's what I do!

[Lightslinger]

Just want to urge everyone to continue what is essentially just talking about this.

If you don't have a twitter account; get one. It's easy and free, use your CoH character's info if you want to like I did. Then start posting using hashtags like #SaveCoH and #CallJack. Direct them RIGHT to NCsoft at their contact info in the OP. People have accomplished some big things against bigger companies than NCsoft through twitter.

You can also search using #SaveCoH so you can see other CoH players posting, "follow" those people and now you're connected right to a great CoH community.

Other than that, just keeping the conversation going about Jack's comments keeps this effort going. There are people working to contact Jack/Cryptic regarding that comment and once we know more we'll move on.

[SeaLily]

Let's imagine for a moment that consumers throughout history had decided to play nice and "not get too loud" whenever they had the chance to wave their banners and let loose their voices. What would they have gained?

Spider-Man was on the chopping block whenever he was first introduced in 1963 because he was too different for most of the top brass at Marvel. That is until the fan mail came in, flooding their mailboxes like never before. After that, there could be NO DOUBT. Shy Peter Parker was no Superman or Batman, but the fans had spoken up about what they wanted; their voices literally could not be contained (by a mailbox ) and Spider-Man left the pages of Amazing Fiction for good--because he had his own magazine!

Not to nitpick, but you're kind of romanticizing here- Spiderman was a risk, yes, one that Stan Lee was allowed to go ahead with because the Amazing Fantasy magazine was ending and the higher-ups didn't care if he put a failed character into that final issue.  Until they saw the sales numbers for Amazing Fantasy #15.  Money spoke there, not fan mail, and Spidey got his own comic because of that.  When the execs saw those AF#15 sales numbers, they were more than happy to let Spider-man have his own comic.

Because it was a good business decision.  Because people spoke with their money.

Unfortunately there's no way for us to do that here.

[Captain Electric]

Well, it's pointless if you'd like to take the wind out of my sails; because at this stage, going on an email blitz is practically a habit which I can perform with my eyes closed.

And you are nitpicking. The post you just typed was to nitpick. You side-skipped a direct response to the purpose of a City of Heroes email campaign in order to describe how fan mail supposedly did nothing for Spider-Man in 1963 (something which Marvel Comics editors would dispute based on their recollections to the contrary over the years--I did not just pull that anecdote out of my can); and your counterpoint (if taken in context--that is if you were not just babbling unrelatedly) is suggestive that our emails are similarly non-useful; that we should not be writing letters or emails.

Based on your conclusions--that people spoke with their money--NCSoft made a bad business decision in spite of CoH: Freedom's increase in profits.

Seriously. If you want to be part of the effort to get our game back, pick up a banner. But I don't deal in apathy.

Stand aside. I'll be moving ahead.

Edit: Maybe I'm wrong about you, and maybe you would have argued any little minutia if you saw a duck misaligned in its row. In that case, my sincerest apologies. I realize that's generally what Internet forums are used for. But, still. Waaaay more important things to do. (See the thread's subject line.)

[TonyV]

Here's the thing.  I don't think we have to convince Jack Emmert to want City of Heroes.  It sounds like he's already open to the idea.  We have the same problem now as we've had since August 31: Getting NCsoft to get off their duffs and do something.  Jack could want the game with every fiber in his being and it wouldn't matter right now.  I say this because I know of at least one other person who wanted the game so badly that they couldn't stand it, engaged in some very serious negotiations with NCsoft, and now has basically nothing to show for it.

The problem, my friends, is NCsoft corporate, pure and simple.  THAT is who needs to be convinced to let go of the property.  Not Jack, not Carbine, not even NCsoft Seattle, but NCsoft corporate--the people in Seoul, South Korea.

I wish I knew what buttons to push to get them to open up.  If I did, I assure you I would have been pushing them long before now.  But as long as NCsoft is as close-minded as they are now, all other efforts will be for naught.

[Electric-Knight]

Well, it seems to me that keeping the pro-continung-CoH publicity up, however we can (reasonably/positively) is worthy and good.

If NCSoft continues to have negative coverage and CoH continues to have positive press about deserving to continue (both as a desired game and from a business standpoint), then we're possibly accomplishing something.

[Kistulot]

It occurs to me, the only reason we're going towards Google/Disney and not NCSoft to sell is to try to pressure them, right?

Jack in all his abrasiveness would be more likely to say "We offered them *ridiculous amount here* and they said no, so I did my part" if such a thing occurred than most.

Just a thought.

[Steele Magnolia]

Whatever we need to do, I'm in. I can't afford to fly to S. Korea and picket, but I can send postcards and email, chip in for a goodwill dinner, whatever our next direction is.

[Tanklet]

Did someone say letters & Postcards???

Address to NC HQ
    158-16 NCSOFT R&D Center B/D, Samsung-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea (ZIP 135-090)

[SeaLily]

Here's the thing.  I don't think we have to convince Jack Emmert to want City of Heroes.  It sounds like he's already open to the idea.  We have the same problem now as we've had since August 31: Getting NCsoft to get off their duffs and do something.  Jack could want the game with every fiber in his being and it wouldn't matter right now.  I say this because I know of at least one other person who wanted the game so badly that they couldn't stand it, engaged in some very serious negotiations with NCsoft, and now has basically nothing to show for it.

The problem, my friends, is NCsoft corporate, pure and simple.  THAT is who needs to be convinced to let go of the property.  Not Jack, not Carbine, not even NCsoft Seattle, but NCsoft corporate--the people in Seoul, South Korea.

I wish I knew what buttons to push to get them to open up.  If I did, I assure you I would have been pushing them long before now.  But as long as NCsoft is as close-minded as they are now, all other efforts will be for naught.

Yeah, basically all of this.  Harassing Cryptic about it isn't going to help anyone- Jack's obviously interested, Cryptic's got a big attachment to the game, they're already onboard with this.

As always, the problem is NCsoft.  And it's been increasingly difficult to get their attention as more and more people have peeled off from the outrage surrounding the game's shutdown to just go do other things.  There's an audience for the game here still, but we're not talking thousands of people willing to physically mail letters anymore.  Or even hundreds.

You'd need something big to get people's attention and get them onboard.  Something huge.  We don't have that anymore.  Smaller, more focused efforts are the way to go at this point.  Not slap-dash GUYS SPAM TWITTER things, which do more harm than help.

[Ironwolf]

That is why tomorrow I am going to get the rates for a number of sites and we can post our own advertising to bring the game back.

It is time to spit or get off the pot.

[SeaLily]

That is why tomorrow I am going to get the rates for a number of sites and we can post our own advertising to bring the game back.

It is time to spit or get off the pot.

Yeah, the trailer/ads effort sounds like a good direction to go.  Game news sites will definitely take notice of people buying ads to try and help get CoH's future back on track, as well as the trailer itself.  If handled right, that could give the effort a very big boost, especially if it's made clear that people need to keep pushing NCsoft to either bring the game back with a skeleton crew or sell it off entirely.

[Tanklet]

So, I've been working on layouts for postcards, and basically don't have the patience to edit photos to make them fit....
Here's what I'm thinking ..

Page 1:
The entire face is a CoH image. What I'd LOVE would be for someone to be able to size the "We Will Never Forget" photo to postcard size, 4.2 x 5.5 or thereabouts.

A stock of 50 cards runs about $13-$15 bucks. If I can get images that fit, or if ppl wanna resize images themselves.

Page 2:
The back of the postcard I basically have mostly blank but with a text box to write NC's address on it. There's more than enough white space left for a nice lil message to whoever gets the cards.

Thoughts?

[ukaserex]

Is the number NCSoft said they wanted for the CoH IP 80 million?

What is the actual worth of the CoH IP? The tax valuation, if memory serves, was 3 million. This value likely has no basis in reality. Makes me think of when I would register my '96 Dodge and pay less than 30 bucks for my tag, while my newer car costs about 130 bucks.

My guess is that it's worth more than 3 million, but worth far less than 80 million. I'm thinking about 10 to 12 million - but I'm just shooting in the dark. I'm thinking the game could pick up about 10 million the first year just in subs, but I could be incredibly optimistic and naive.

How would such a thing be valued? Basic Economics state that something is worth as much money as someone is willing to pay for it. So, it's not worth 80 million, because noone has paid that yet.

Next question is roughly how many people still really, really want the game back? 1000? 10,000? I know a lot of people would like the game back, but if the sub price were 25 bucks instead of 15, they'd pass. Others would pay $50/month, they want it back so badly. (For me, 25 is about as high as I'd go.)

My questions arise out of a ridiculous notion that 100,000 of us should just fork over 800 bucks each to get our game back. But, then I thought - just getting the IP rights wouldn't be enough. I'd want the hardware, too. And, then, there's the question of maintaining the servers - a task I know next to nothing about.

And then, the cheap, frugal, common sense side tells me to just delete all this and go to bed. After all, 2015 isn't that far away, really. (optimistic date for MWM)

So, I'm not gonna delete it, but I am going to go to bed. You guys can just post silly pictures and mock me as if I'd actually followed through and posted this. 

[JaguarX]

Don't bug the people at Wildstar you say? Don't email every Cryptic address I can find? Well I hope you'll forgive my passion but I have already done it. Those who can do nothing for us still have mouths and that's how the message of the meek becomes the talk of the town. Rallies are made to inspire, and as long as those messages are written as politely and as respectful as if you were on your best behavior at a rally, no one in this industry will hold us in contempt or blame us for speaking up and showing our love for a game they loved too--and continuing to do it seven months on; and with our voices still strong.

Yup. Bolded part keywords to keep in mind.

[JaguarX]

Here's the thing.  I don't think we have to convince Jack Emmert to want City of Heroes.  It sounds like he's already open to the idea.  We have the same problem now as we've had since August 31: Getting NCsoft to get off their duffs and do something.  Jack could want the game with every fiber in his being and it wouldn't matter right now.  I say this because I know of at least one other person who wanted the game so badly that they couldn't stand it, engaged in some very serious negotiations with NCsoft, and now has basically nothing to show for it.

The problem, my friends, is NCsoft corporate, pure and simple.  THAT is who needs to be convinced to let go of the property.  Not Jack, not Carbine, not even NCsoft Seattle, but NCsoft corporate--the people in Seoul, South Korea.

I wish I knew what buttons to push to get them to open up.  If I did, I assure you I would have been pushing them long before now.  But as long as NCsoft is as close-minded as they are now, all other efforts will be for naught.

+1

[JaguarX]

Is the number NCSoft said they wanted for the CoH IP 80 million?

Is that the number they actually said for the IP after closing or just another rumor that gotten out of hand?

[Tanklet]

So, I've been working on layouts for postcards, and basically don't have the patience to edit photos to make them fit....
Here's what I'm thinking ..

Page 1:
The entire face is a CoH image. What I'd LOVE would be for someone to be able to size the "We Will Never Forget" photo to postcard size, 4.2 x 5.5 or thereabouts.

A stock of 50 cards runs about $13-$15 bucks. If I can get images that fit, or if ppl wanna resize images themselves.

Page 2:
The back of the postcard I basically have mostly blank but with a text box to write NC's address on it. There's more than enough white space left for a nice lil message to whoever gets the cards.

Thoughts?

Oye, I forgot to factor in postage to South Korea. For a postcard, it's $1.10.

[jeangray]

That is why tomorrow I am going to get the rates for a number of sites and we can post our own advertising to bring the game back.

It is time to spit or get off the pot.

We've been quiet for a bit and it seems foolish to not take advantage of the momentum shift that one comment/panel seemed to push us with.  A few well placed, well worded/designed ads might genuinely help put the right amount of pressure on NCSoft.  We need to get a little louder.   

[HEATSTROKE]

 I think step one is that someone needs to contact Jack Emmert to see if he was serious or not.

[dwturducken]

Tony is looking at channels available to him.

[MakoMako]

Is that the number they actually said for the IP after closing or just another rumor that gotten out of hand?

Quoted. I've heard that number a billion times and not a single source anywhere that indicates an ounce of truth to it.

Where the hell did 80 million come from? Did I miss a big official news thing on it?

[Captain Electric]

Titan in action. Yes. Seriously hope we do this ad thing.

Tony, I'm not telling you to shut up... but I am telling you to take my money.

Well. I mean. Our money. I can't pay for an entire ad campaign. The electricity bill in just one of my secret underground advanced physics laboratories is worth at least that much.

[SeaLily]

Quoted. I've heard that number a billion times and not a single source anywhere that indicates an ounce of truth to it.

Where the hell did 80 million come from? Did I miss a big official news thing on it?

Someone did the work on this and it seems to basically be a misunderstanding related to Trion's interest in CoH.

Trion's current overall company budget for upcoming projects was reported to be like $80 million.  And they were reportedly interested in CoH.  This got telephone'd from person to person and forum to forum until the story was they were offering the $80 mil for CoH and turned down by NCsoft.

Now, it's true Trion had/has that $80 mil, and it's true they were interested in CoH, but those two things aren't related.

[Empyrean]

I know this will go over like a lead balloon.  I know it will seem like I'm just being a wet blanket.  But, it's important for people on this thread to see, so I'll crosspost it once then I'll go away.

Quote from: Lily Barclay on Today at 02:23:06 pm

The poor CO people were asking about their game, too. =(

I'll tell ya, it's rough over there.  I don't know if it's Jack or PW or what, but their lack of even acknowledging that the player-base exists, much less dignifying their requests or concerns with one single communication actually addressing them, is...  staggering. 

Honestly, even if Jack isn't responsible, if he is so much as knowingly ALLOWING what is happening over there, I'd suggest we at least try to ascertain his firm intentions (which he's vacillated on more than once in the past), before getting too excited.

I know, I sound like a negative Nancy, but if you haven't been to CO, you may not understand the level of being totally ignored that is possible in a game.  I didn't truly understand how lucky we really were with Matt Miller and Paragon Studios untill I experienced the depth of the Cryptic/PW's neglect.  It's bottomless.

PS-  I just realized it probably sounds like I'm exaggerating to some of you.  Understandable.  If you go look at the Champions forums for about the past week or more, it will become clear.

Quote from: Codewalker on Today at at 05:09:57 pm

Jack has always been all about the "new shiny". He basically abandoned COH to work on CO, then CO to work on STO, and more recently refocused most of their resources away from STO for Neverwinter. Ironically, he probably would have fit in well at NCSoft as it's strikingly similar to their MO, except that he just forgets about "old" games instead of actively shutting them down.

I strongly suspect his comment was just something he said in the moment, along the lines of, "Well, if they don't want it, they can always give it back to me." I wouldn't expect him to seriously pursue buying it unless NCSoft came to him and knocked on his door, offering it for a song.

Yes, COH was his first big project so there's likely some emotional attachment to keeping it alive. But beyond that? It might keep his interest for a few months but it wouldn't be long before it ended up in the same boat as Champions.

I love, want, and miss CoH, and I want it back or I want a worthy CoH 2.  But it's wise to know who you're getting in bed with.  And no matter how randy you are for something, sometimes it's good to take a good, hard look...  and/or use some protection...

[JaguarX]

I know this will go over like a lead balloon.  I know it will seem like I'm just being a wet blanket.  But, it's important for people on this thread to see, so I'll crosspost it once then I'll go away.

Quote from: Lily Barclay on Today at 02:23:06 pm
I'll tell ya, it's rough over there.  I don't know if it's Jack or PW or what, but their lack of even acknowledging that the player-base exists, much less dignifying their requests or concerns with one single communication actually addressing them, is...  staggering. 

Honestly, even if Jack isn't responsible, if he is so much as knowingly ALLOWING what is happening over there, I'd suggest we at least try to ascertain his firm intentions (which he's vacillated on more than once in the past), before getting too excited.

I know, I sound like a negative Nancy, but if you haven't been to CO, you may not understand the level of being totally ignored that is possible in a game.  I didn't truly understand how lucky we really were with Matt Miller and Paragon Studios untill I experienced the depth of the Cryptic/PW's neglect.  It's bottomless.

PS-  I just realized it probably sounds like I'm exaggerating to some of you.  Understandable.  If you go look at the Champions forums for about the past week or more, it will become clear.

Quote from: Codewalker on Today at at 05:09:57 pm
I love, want, and miss CoH, and I want it back or I want a worthy CoH 2.  But it's wise to know who you're getting in bed with.  And no matter how randy you are for something, sometimes it's good to take a good, hard look...  and/or use some protection...

I remember the mass celebration of Ncsoft being a hero and Jack a traitor. A few years later, my how times has changed.

[Codewalker]

I remember the mass celebration of Ncsoft being a hero and a traitor. A few years later, my how times has changed.

I remember the big Supergroup prestige grant shortly after the announcement of the buyout (just before Issue 11), with the stated intention of allaying the widespread fears about what would happen to the game after NCSoft acquired the rights fully from Cryptic and spun off NCNC.

I don't remember any celebrations.

[JaguarX]

I remember the big Supergroup prestige grant shortly after the announcement of the buyout (just before Issue 11), with the stated intention of allaying the widespread fears about what would happen to the game after NCSoft acquired the rights fully from Cryptic and spun off NCNC.

I don't remember any celebrations.

I rember those too. With many being accused of wearing tin foil hats.

[Lightslinger]

Update:

-As of right now if you've emailed the press links you've done your part for Bring CoH Home mostly. There has been some discussion about if we should be emailing the press en masse and I still think we should. Those aren't personal email links, they're links for tips. When a new MMO is announced they probably get thousands of tips about that 1 game.

A single tip regarding this could get missed, but if most of us send something I believe they'd be more likely to look into it. And honestly, based on thread participation and our general community levels right now, we're talking about maybe a couple hundred tips.

-Several people are attempting to reach out to Jack and Cryptic to clarify his words.

-Ko is working on a "trailer" for our efforts. Thanks Ko, you're awesome!

-If we hear back from that positively we're going to start looking very hard at advertising. Several of you have said you'll donate, we've definitely got details there to work out. I think that would be AMAZING for our community to pull off if we get to that point. I believe real advertising can effect some change and move NCsoft's position as we will be going at them very, very publicly.

[Captain Electric]

Lightslinger, you're one of my new heroes for getting the ball rolling on this.

[Lightslinger]

Double post...uh, here's a meme:

[jeangray]

Thanks for the update! 

I'm really looking forward to donating towards an ad campaign sooner than later too.  So excited we may be able to come together and pull this off as a community who still loves their game.  Even if Jack isn't 100% serious it's hard to not do something positive for COH after that panel spoke up.  I can't help but think how flipping cool it would be to see 'Bring City of Heroes Back' ads of some form from the players.  I also can't imagine that type of thing happens often or would be frowned upon if done right. 

Maybe some more creative types here could start throwing around ad ideas?  I absolutely adore the rough draft of the 9th anniversary video, too!

[Captain Electric]

I'd suspect the content of the ads to rely on how specific our chances are. If someone actually talks to Jack and he's like, "Yes dudes if you can get those people to actually PICK UP THEIR #$%& PHONE, then I'll make an offer." OK then obviously our ads are all about reaching NCSoft and, indirectly basically, bringing light to the fact that even with an offer on the table, the fans of the game are having to pay thousands out of pocket for advertising costs to scream at the ivory tower behind the wall of silence. Oops sorry some bitterness leaked out.

If Jack's like, "Did I say thaaaaat?" Well. OK. Obviously it's more like

BANNER UPPER LEFT: "WE NEED A REZ!!!" (because people won't know what wakie means  )
LOWER RIGHT: #SaveCoH
With a cool picture covering the whole background of the banner.

Any publisher in the industry will know what we're getting at. Larger spread ads (like pages--if we can afford that) should actually have a message with substances directed at publishers. Ask the Hail Mary peeps for advice on that.

These are just suggestions. Could be bad ideas. 

[Quinch]

Even if NCsoft doesn't pick up the phone and call, a campaign would still serve the purpose of giving them yet another black eye - openly, publicly rejecting an open, public business request by a company which they worked with, and quite well, in the past in favor of, well, making sure the sod on CoH's grave remains covered in concrete.

Either way, win-win.

[Captain Electric]

Even if NCsoft doesn't pick up the phone and call, a campaign would still serve the purpose of giving them yet another black eye - openly, publicly rejecting an open, public business request by a company which they worked with, and quite well, in the past in favor of, well, making sure the sod on CoH's grave remains covered in concrete.

Either way, win-win.

Yep I'd pitch in for that. 

[Lightslinger]

I'm starting to think maybe this campaign needs to continue even if Jack says something along the lines of "Yeah, I'd love to have CoH back but we aren't in a position to buy it" which could realistically happen.

For a Plan B I'd like to get a website like shouldmmosdie.com and start a campaign based around that idea. It doesn't have to be about CoH only, but we can cite CoH extensively as an alarm to ALL MMO players, can your game die? I doubt NCsoft would like to be heavily featured on a campaign like that either.

[Ironwolf]

Stay focused for now

City of Heroes first and then with more heroes we can reach even further.

[Quinch]

Stay focused for now

This, basically. As much as I'm chomping at the bit to get rolling, direction is what makes the difference between a firecracker and a gunshot.

[dwturducken]

In looking for something in the earliest threads for another discussion, I stumbled across some really good info from some really smart and experienced people. I'll just put the links to the threads, because a copy/paste will set off tl;dr filters.

Press release submission/structure guidelines from Rae

Part 2 on press releases again, from Rae

An old CtA on ComiCons from Tony; the dates are old, but, with Positron leading a discussion in Chicago at the end of this month, not to mention VV being a guest of honor at Gencon, the season has begun.

Making non-CoHers care from Koopak; there are still discussion threads on other forums that are talking about it. (Sorry, but I don't have more links on that one; I do have other work to do, today. )

Some tips for effective online PR writing from Ammon

And, finally, Banners! Lots o' talented folks, here.

Thought maybe it could help, since I have yet to run into an idea that I could actually contribute to. I can be research monkey!

[Pyro Embryo]

Would it be an outlandish idea for people to declare what area of this effort they feel they would be best able to provide focus?  Some are better with graphics, some are better with writing, etc.  Get organized so that people are networking with like-skilled people and making the best efforts communally that they can.  It's true that people have moved away from CoX, and it has slowly drifted into memory for a lot of former players.  I believe that the longer we wait, the more we are losing.  Keeping people passionately involved in things and having them feel connected/important by having them contribute in ways that they are best suited is paramount to this success.

I also suggested way back when they started discussing buying CoX's rights that someone should start an account, (chipin or otherwise,) that people could contribute their monthly CoX subscription fee to, in order to start building our own war chest to help get CoX back online.  We've lost a lot of people who would have contributed because they are now paying for other games, distracted, disillusioned, etc.  The financial burden now for mounting such cost-intensive efforts falls more squarely on those who are willing to still give/still interested enough/passionate enough to give, and it's going to be more difficult to pull that kind of money together more quickly, rather than if people just contributed what they would have for CoX each month.  (It would be a lot easier than a big hit on people's finances, if they just paid a little bit each month). 

[johnrobey]

Busy now but I'll be watching this thread and don't at the moment have time even to read what's here yet, but if we have constructive action I'll be rolling up my sleeves and saying Thank You, Titans!!

/em holdtorch

[Taceus Jiwede]

It seems that finding people to buy or who want to buy CoH isn't the problem.  I am sure there were lots of people/companies that wanted to buy the game and still probably do.  But as long as NCSoft doesn't want to sell that is the biggest concern.  Bill Gate him self could want to drop 100 million on it and they could still turn him down.  The negative PR seems like it is helping, hopefully they will get tired of seeing "NCSoft is a unstable publisher" in game articles and decide to sell the IP.  But I think the majority of the focus should be trying to find out how to get them to sell or even want to sell as we have been this far. 

Jack Emmert at the very least will give them some bad PR if they shoot him down.  If they shoot Google down then that might just be enough bad PR to make them start changing their mind. 

[FatherXmas]

Strangely enough, having "big names" show up looking to buy the IP may actually be counterproductive.  Follow me here.

First, as far as we known NCSOFT hadn't sold any of their IP off ever.  Yes, they will license a game to third parties in areas to handle the political/regulatory problems but never turned over the code base.  They may not even have an idea how to approach such a deal instead of half hearted tries and weak excuses.

Second, having well known companies show up on your doorstep looking to buy a game that for whatever reason you decided was better to shut it down than do anything else makes you second guess your decision.  What were "we" not seeing?  Our process behind the decision was sound? 

Third, then the egos kick in.  What would others think of us if we admit we were wrong and sold it off?  Maybe we should keep it and create an entirely new game around the IP, one that could also work in Asia.  It'll only take 5 years (looking at their track record).  Sure they will change up the mechanics, make it more action oriented (add dodge, eliminate rooting, add telegraphing), make PvP a greater part of the game.  And we'll get a lot of skimpy women's costumes and character models with lemon breasts.    Do you want to wait for 2018?

[SeaLily]

I'm not sure what you're proposing, then?  Do nothing and wait for NCsoft to mismanage the IP on their own?

Something is better than nothing here, regardless of what hypothetical situations people want to dream up.

Personally I'm expecting NCsoft to not sell- but once they're swallowed up by Nexon, I imagine those guys might be a bit more open to the idea.

[TimtheEnchanter]

Third, then the egos kick in.  What would others think of us if we admit we were wrong and sold it off?  Maybe we should keep it and create an entirely new game around the IP, one that could also work in Asia.  It'll only take 5 years (looking at their track record).  Sure they will change up the mechanics, make it more action oriented (add dodge, eliminate rooting, add telegraphing), make PvP a greater part of the game.  And we'll get a lot of skimpy women's costumes and character models with lemon breasts.    Do you want to wait for 2018?

A reborn CoH 'might' work with different mechanics. That's mostly the optimist side of me talking. But as a PvP-centric game, I doubt any of us would want to go anywhere near it. RP in a PvP game is like trying to have chess club on the field during football practice. The whole community would feel more or less like an LA gang war.

[FatherXmas]

Well not open PvP of course.  That'll be horrible.

[johnrobey]

Strangely enough, having "big names" show up looking to buy the IP may actually be counterproductive.  Follow me here.

First, as far as we known NCSOFT hadn't sold any of their IP off ever.  Yes, they will license a game to third parties in areas to handle the political/regulatory problems but never turned over the code base.  They may not even have an idea how to approach such a deal instead of half hearted tries and weak excuses.

Second, having well known companies show up on your doorstep looking to buy a game that for whatever reason you decided was better to shut it down than do anything else makes you second guess your decision.  What were "we" not seeing?  Our process behind the decision was sound? 

Third, then the egos kick in.  What would others think of us if we admit we were wrong and sold it off?  Maybe we should keep it and create an entirely new game around the IP, one that could also work in Asia.  It'll only take 5 years (looking at their track record).  Sure they will change up the mechanics, make it more action oriented (add dodge, eliminate rooting, add telegraphing), make PvP a greater part of the game.  And we'll get a lot of skimpy women's costumes and character models with lemon breasts.    Do you want to wait for 2018?

What's horrible (imo) is my having to see a Pole-Dancing Beavis' avatar dancing for Butt-head, probably both of them on (nominally) female avatars who if they look anything like (gag) Blade & Soul they'll have these under-age elvin child faces and bodies that make even Dolly Parton look average (assuming that were possible--and it's not), but then I grew up in an era with TV icons such as Natasha Fatale and later (an underground comic) Mata Ducky!  So, no I don't want to wait until 2018.  Any, yipes, FatherXmas, I have to agree with your analysis.  I can see why some people think that what's best for us in the long run is for them to go out of business and THEN sell the IP.  If NCSoft execs had known how to work with this community and with their own (former) studio then this just would not be an issue.  I am now thinking that my best bet will be to pin my hopes on the Spiritual Successor going Live long before City of Heroes gets its well-deserved revival.

Here's hoping one or both of the Projects Z can re-create the magic that was my CoH experience.  Thank you, Titans!!   

/em holdtorch

[JaguarX]

Strangely enough, having "big names" show up looking to buy the IP may actually be counterproductive.  Follow me here.

First, as far as we known NCSOFT hadn't sold any of their IP off ever.  Yes, they will license a game to third parties in areas to handle the political/regulatory problems but never turned over the code base.  They may not even have an idea how to approach such a deal instead of half hearted tries and weak excuses.

Second, having well known companies show up on your doorstep looking to buy a game that for whatever reason you decided was better to shut it down than do anything else makes you second guess your decision.  What were "we" not seeing?  Our process behind the decision was sound? 

Third, then the egos kick in.  What would others think of us if we admit we were wrong and sold it off?  Maybe we should keep it and create an entirely new game around the IP, one that could also work in Asia.  It'll only take 5 years (looking at their track record).  Sure they will change up the mechanics, make it more action oriented (add dodge, eliminate rooting, add telegraphing), make PvP a greater part of the game.  And we'll get a lot of skimpy women's costumes and character models with lemon breasts.    Do you want to wait for 2018?

Not to mention drive up the price based off that "even big name companies" want to buy it and any small studio's chance is nill.


But then again for all we know, the third reason is the reason they are not selling. I already heard rumors they have a few games in pipeline. Rumors though, so may not be true just like the rumors surrounding the prices and reasons. They may make the next game using the IP with B&S skin and environment with War Witch turned into an elf. B&S with a bunch of COX cat girls thrown into the mix and all PvP. 

[General Idiot]

I'd like to think the internet as a whole would crucify them at that point.

[Thunder Glove]

If NCSoft was planning another game with the CoH IP, they wouldn't have simply shut down the original game and fired the entire development team (a team who, I remind you, wanted to make CoH2, but were turned down by NCSoft).

They didn't announce Guild Wars 2 by shutting down GW1 and disbanding ArenaNet, and it'd be absurd to lead into CoH2 by shutting down CoH and disbanding Paragon Studios.

No, it looks very much like they're just going to sit on it.

[General Idiot]

Admittedly from having played both Guild Wars games I don't think they actually share much beyond lore, and I wouldn't be surprised if it came out that very few of the original Guild Wars team worked on GW2.

[FatherXmas]

If NCSoft was planning another game with the CoH IP, they wouldn't have simply shut down the original game and fired the entire development team (a team who, I remind you, wanted to make CoH2, but were turned down by NCSoft).

They didn't announce Guild Wars 2 by shutting down GW1 and disbanding ArenaNet, and it'd be absurd to lead into CoH2 by shutting down CoH and disbanding Paragon Studios.

No, it looks very much like they're just going to sit on it.

When GW2 was announced GW1 was still making cash hand over fist as well as prove it could do well in Asian markets.

[Lightslinger]

OP has been updated with Phase 2 information. Phase 2 is focusing on letting NCsoft know about our initiative.

Phase 2: NCsoft, CALL JACK!

--Press Bomb - Let the media know what's going on, what Jack said, and what we're doing to help out.
mmorpg.com: http://www.mmorpg.com/contactus.cfm
Massively: http://massively.joystiq.com/contact/tips/
You can also pester Massively on twitter @Massively
At Ten Ton Hammer and MMOSITE you can email the following addresses with a tip:
tthnews@tentonhammer.com
news@mmosite.com

--Twitter - Use twitter and other social media to spread the word about the Bring CoH Home initiative. We have been using the #CallJack hashtag in conjunction with #SaveCoH. Contact NCsoft here to press our message:
@NCsoftGames

--Email Email NCsoft and let them know...Call Jack!

NCsoft - recruit@ncsoft.com
             ashort@ncsoft.com

Here is a sample email I sent off to NCsoft:

"Jack Emmert of Cryptic studios has publicly said he wants to talk to NCsoft about City of Heroes. No one is better suited to get our game back online than Jack Emmert.

City of Heroes fans are organizing a media campaign to let everyone and NCsoft know City of Heroes doesn't have to stay dead. Ads are being designed, money raised, social media campaigns prepared.

City of Heroes fans will not stop until our game is back online. Please reach out to Cryptic Studios and help us get our game back."

Yeah it's kind of a threat, but also letting them know they could end it all really fast as soon as we get our game back
 
NCsoft Support:

Remember your NCsoft login? Log in here: http://us.ncsoft.com/en/support/ and send in a support ticket with a message like the one above. Yeah it doesn't really fit any "support" ticket stuff but it still gets a message to someone, anyone inside NCsoft.

[Lightslinger]

Also, I personally think our campaign needs some stickied threads or maybe even its own forum if it goes any further.

[Quinch]

I second the motion - a subforum might be a good idea too.

[Ironwolf]

I have a website reserved that just needs to be built called Arkofheroes.com

My long term goal is to make a game about heroes saved by being placed into an "ark" and shuttled off earth by a number of other super strength heroes throwing them free of the planet prior to the shutdown and leaping into a Rikti portal to a random destination.

I will do a little work on it and see what I can do to tie some of these links all together. I am somewhat hindered by my daughters wedding in Florida, (I live in Michigan) and all the planning and expenses not to mention the time.  I will do what I can as swiftly as possible. I want to tie together all the media sources with links to everything as the Ark that just helps carry us until we have survived the journey.

I have contacted several sites and will be shortly spending money on banners at several sites.

[storm1777]

Just an fyi massively just wrote a nasty article about how we should stop trying to dig up city of heroes. Basically stating that anyone still working on the save CoH efforts are in a lost cause abs practically stated we are crazy. It really ticked me off.

I can't seem to paste this article with my phone but it is dated April 10 2013 and it was very frustrating to read.

[eabrace]

I can't seem to paste this article with my phone but it is dated April 10 2013 and it was very frustrating to read.

The article already has its own thread.

http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,8234.0.html

[Segev]

It also isn't trying to slam anybody, but rather discourage foaming-at-the-mouth excitement over what is ultimately a faint hope at best.

[Quinch]

There's a separate thread for it - I wouldn't call it nasty, personally. Frustrating, a little, but by the looks of it, Elliot doesn't think the game can be saved anymore. I didn't read him coming off as calling us crazy, just... hopeless.

[JaguarX]

It also isn't trying to slam anybody, but rather discourage foaming-at-the-mouth excitement over what is ultimately a faint hope at best.

Yeah.

[johnrobey]

OP has been updated with Phase 2 information. Phase 2 is focusing on letting NCsoft know about our initiative.

Phase 2: NCsoft, CALL JACK!

--Press Bomb - Let the media know what's going on, what Jack said, and what we're doing to help out.
mmorpg.com: http://www.mmorpg.com/contactus.cfm
Massively: http://massively.joystiq.com/contact/tips/
You can also pester Massively on twitter @Massively
At Ten Ton Hammer and MMOSITE you can email the following addresses with a tip:
tthnews@tentonhammer.com
news@mmosite.com

--Twitter - Use twitter and other social media to spread the word about the Bring CoH Home initiative. We have been using the #CallJack hashtag in conjunction with #SaveCoH. Contact NCsoft here to press our message:
@NCsoftGames

--Email Email NCsoft and let them know...Call Jack!

NCsoft - recruit@ncsoft.com
             ashort@ncsoft.com

Here is a sample email I sent off to NCsoft:

"Jack Emmert of Cryptic studios has publicly said he wants to talk to NCsoft about City of Heroes. No one is better suited to get our game back online than Jack Emmert.

City of Heroes fans are organizing a media campaign to let everyone and NCsoft know City of Heroes doesn't have to stay dead. Ads are being designed, money raised, social media campaigns prepared.

City of Heroes fans will not stop until our game is back online. Please reach out to Cryptic Studios and help us get our game back."

Yeah it's kind of a threat, but also letting them know they could end it all really fast as soon as we get our game back
 
NCsoft Support:

Remember your NCsoft login? Log in here: http://us.ncsoft.com/en/support/ and send in a support ticket with a message like the one above. Yeah it doesn't really fit any "support" ticket stuff but it still gets a message to someone, anyone inside NCsoft.

Dear Lightslinger, I would be feeling a little more confident if Rae from Team Wild Card were coordinating this but okay, I'll do my bit as a rabid CoH fanboy.  Here's copy of what I just emailed:

Dear TenTonHammer staff personnel,
Apologies if you get besieged by hundreds if not thousands of frantic fanboy and girl messages about Jack Emmert of Cryptic Studios wanting to talk to NCSoft regarding City of Heroes.  We fans and former players truly want our MMORPG back and as you can see there is little we won't stoop to or at least consider when it comes to attempting to leverage the implacable, pretending-to-be-unmovable-object NCSoft who killed our game for (near as we can tell) no reason, and told all the players to Kiss Off, I mean, Fly Free!

Hoping you at Ten Ton Hammer will consider this request to make a story of this and shed yet more Public Relations light (good or ill) on the corporate workings of an unresponsive yet purportedly global gaming company named NCSoft who strangely doesn't seem to have any interest in hearing from customers, or rather they made us former customers of, what is for us, the best MMORPG in existence.

Thank you very much!
Sincerely,
John Robey

Guess, I'll send this same message to news@mmosite.com, log into my MMORPG acc't.  Sorry, I don't FB or Twitter (yeah, so sue me for being a neo-Luddite!) so I cannot help there.

[dwturducken]

While you're absolutely right, in principle, Rae is currently working on the Google pitch. She has said that she is happy to review anything produced for this, but I want to just throw my vote in that the best use of her limited free time is best suited to the Google effort, ATM.

[johnrobey]

While you're absolutely right, in principle, Rae is currently working on the Google pitch. She has said that she is happy to review anything produced for this, but I want to just throw my vote in that the best use of her limited free time is best suited to the Google effort, ATM.

Thanks! I didn't get any further than emailing TenTonHammer and news@mmosite.com and I'm planning to wait until I see more about this on this thread.  After all, I am not exactly a rabid fanboy--but I do know how to roleplay that convincingly!   

[Rae]

Dear Lightslinger, I would be feeling a little more confident if Rae from Team Wild Card were coordinating this but okay, I'll do my bit as a rabid CoH fanboy.  Here's copy of what I just emailed:

As much as I'd like to be able to, I'm fully committed to TF:HM and TPP at the moment, as well as a rather demanding full-time job. I don't really have the energy to spread myself any thinner than I am at the moment.

What I'd (highly) recommend is choosing one person to be your media contact - as we saw from the recent Massively article, sending so many emails that we annoy journalists is not a good idea. If one person can't convince something is worth a story, the next 9,999 emails won't do anything more than annoy them and make them write something ranty about us. This person should act as the go-between, between the campaign and the media. Everyone else should leave the media alone.

The best way to deal with the media would be:

1) Google websites that have run articles about the SaveCOH campaign. Collect email contact details for them, or the links to the inevitable 'contact us' form. I also have a list of press contacts of people who were supportive of #SaveCOH I can let you have.

2) Get a press release written. Once this has been done, if you want me to check it out for you, just throw me a PM here and I'll be happy to.

3) Send the press release with a brief, polite emails to the list of contacts you created.

4) Put the release somewhere online, preferably on some decent-ish website. I'd suggest asking Leandro at SaveCOH.com nicely, to upload it there. Send the URL to the websites that only have a 'contact us' form through the form as a news tip. Works much better than copying and pasting the whole release into a contact form.

5) Send it off.

6) Set up a Google news alert to help you track any coverage you get.

7) Have a thank the media thread, so people can see any articles run, encourage them to post on it.  If WE aren't interested in our own campaign, why should anyone else be? Make a note of the sites who do run your story, as they're likely to be more receptive to follow-ups and will appreciate being kept updated on how it's going.

Share any articles on Twitter/FB/G+/Whatever the cool kids are on these days to spread the reach, drive traffic to those websites and get the word out there.

9) If you don't get coverage from a certain site, don't chase them.  They won't appreciate it.

10) But definitely thank those who did. Journalists need love, too.

I hope it helps. I'm happy to advise if you need me, but I can't really do much more than that without losing what little remains of my mind

[johnrobey]

As much as I'd like to be able to, I'm fully committed to TF:HM and TPP at the moment, as well as a rather demanding full-time job. I don't really have the energy to spread myself any thinner than I am at the moment.

What I'd (highly) recommend is choosing one person to be your media contact - as we saw from the recent Massively article, sending so many emails that we annoy journalists is not a good idea. If one person can't convince something is worth a story, the next 9,999 emails won't do anything more than annoy them and make them write something ranty about us. This person should act as the go-between, between the campaign and the media. Everyone else should leave the media alone.

The best way to deal with the media would be:

1) Google websites that have run articles about the SaveCOH campaign. Collect email contact details for them, or the links to the inevitable 'contact us' form. I also have a list of press contacts of people who were supportive of #SaveCOH I can let you have.

2) Get a press release written. Once this has been done, if you want me to check it out for you, just throw me a PM here and I'll be happy to.

3) Send the press release with a brief, polite emails to the list of contacts you created.

4) Put the release somewhere online, preferably on some decent-ish website. I'd suggest asking Leandro at SaveCOH.com nicely, to upload it there. Send the URL to the websites that only have a 'contact us' form through the form as a news tip. Works much better than copying and pasting the whole release into a contact form.

5) Send it off.

6) Set up a Google news alert to help you track any coverage you get.

7) Have a thank the media thread, so people can see any articles run, encourage them to post on it.  If WE aren't interested in our own campaign, why should anyone else be? Make a note of the sites who do run your story, as they're likely to be more receptive to follow-ups and will appreciate being kept updated on how it's going.

Share any articles on Twitter/FB/G+/Whatever the cool kids are on these days to spread the reach, drive traffic to those websites and get the word out there.

9) If you don't get coverage from a certain site, don't chase them.  They won't appreciate it.

10) But definitely thank those who did. Journalists need love, too.

I hope it helps. I'm happy to advise if you need me, but I can't really do much more than that without losing what little remains of my mind

Dear Rae, THANK YOU for all of this excellent, professional information.  Understood about not spreading oneself too thin - I am glad you have the wisdom not to do so.  While some say sanity if overrated, personally I'm a big fan of health.  THANK YOU for all that you do!  Take good (read: bestest) care of yourself.
One of your many friends on Titan Network forums,
John Robey
P.S. I hope you have a blessed day and a restful & relaxing weekend.

[Rae]

Thanks John, you're very kind

[johnrobey]

Shucks, ma'am.  Just doin' my job:  Calling It As I See It!

Rest well, and let us know if there is anything we fans can do to assist.   

[Lightslinger]

Ninja Edit...not worth going into detail on this.

Called off the Call to Action as there are more worthy projects that have sort of spawned alongside this. Please support the ad-buying initiative however you can, thanks.

[johnrobey]

John, just doing what I can to help man. I personally feel that what I outlined in the OP can help this initiative and I'm not alone in that thinking.

Overall though...tired of the venom and condescension I've come up against since getting more involved in Titan. I appreciate the support and kindness y'all have shown, but I don't come here to be talked down to for trying to be a part of this community either. So I'll step down from any future Call to Actions, from this thread, and probably just take a break from Titan overall for a while.

I'll be watching the ad-buying project and support that financially when the time comes but overall I think it's time this Call to Action was put down, which should make a lot of people happy.

Dear Lightslinger,  Thank you both for your OP and initiative.  I surely did not want to rain on yours or anyone's parade.  I especially dislike venom and condescension (tho I admit I am condescending and derisive or worse when talking about NCSoft execs.)   I am really sorry if you felt in any way less than Valued and Esteemed by the this community of fans.  For what it is worth, I still feel at times like if not a CoH/Titan "outsider" than at least newcomer, since I wasn't there since the beginning, etc; however as a longtime Science Fiction fan  I recently attended a convention panel on Inclusion and Exclusion even in something as light-hearted and frivolous as S-F fandom and sat there kind of amazed while people discussed "feeling unvalued" and "excluded" in what at the time was clearly defined as a "Come As You Are" open playground, open to everyone, even, LOL, those who don't read Science Fiction (we actually did have a few in the club who didn't read S-F but who still liked the club and were members.)

Taking a break and some time away, intuitively sounds like good sense to me.  At least, for moi taking a break usually gives me renewed energy and sometimes a fresh perspective.   I also know too, that if I don't take breaks then personally I run the risk of burnout.  So please take your time but I hope you come back soon and renewed!  I'm awfully sorry and apologize if I was one of those on your case/being unhelpful, I just felt (and still do feel) skittish around taking uncoordinated fan action--though that may just be me being fearful and childish--but with Rae and Misty up to their chins if not eye teeth, and perhaps even TonyV and Quinch as well--I just don't want to go off like the proverbial loose cannon.  Anyhow this is probably too much explanation.  THANK YOU, LightSlinger.  Happy break time and resting and please come back soon!

(P.S. to other Titans, particularly those who regard themselves as leaders.  Please feel free to chime in on this thread.  Maybe we should all be getting behind this.  Apologies that my focus has been so divided lately.)

[blacksly]

Ninja Edit...not worth going into detail on this.

Called off the Call to Action as there are more worthy projects that have sort of spawned alongside this. Please support the ad-buying initiative however you can, thanks.

How? Is there a place to donate for ad purchases?

[JaguarX]

yeah where is the donate button?

[Lightslinger]

Ironwolf's leading up the ad project best I can tell, hopefully we'll have some info on how we can pitch in monetarily soon. Right now they're busy getting the first batch of ads designed so if you can help with that I'm sure it would be appreciated.