Huge new write-up of CoH/PS closure on Gamasutra

[InOnePiece]

Does it make me a bad person that as I read that I had two thoughts?

• At least 3 people had about 2 months to make a personal copy of all the game code, and
• about 24 hours in advance 15-20 people had the same opportunity...

[Lightslinger]

That seriously should have happened. Hell, didn't WoW's code get leaked? CoH is small potatoes compared to that. In all the chaos it probably would've been easy to get something copied and maybe wait a while before leaking it.

Is it illegal? Yeah, absolutely, but what NCsoft is doing by hoarding the IP and game refusing to even TALK to anyone about it, that's immoral.

[Intone]

Much appreciate you bringing this article to our attention, TonyV.  And your response is spot on.  Hope and frustration continue to compete for so many of us on this issue.

[LightBlack]

For those of us who believe that it's better for the team members to be able to support themselves and their families, I would argue that it'd be both illegal AND immoral to have copied the game code.

Is it disagreeable that NCSoft isn't releasing the code? It is to us. But they own it; what they do with it is their prerogative.

[Lightslinger]

What surprises me most is how close PS got to buying itself out. I'd always assumed they'd offered the buyout, not much happened then they were shut down.

To hear that there were lots of negotiations and it even appeared for a while to be going good for the game, then NCsoft just called everything off and scorched earth the place...that stings.

[Lightslinger]

For those of us who believe that it's better for the team members to be able to support themselves and their families, I would argue that it'd be both illegal AND immoral to have copied the game code.

Is it disagreeable that NCSoft isn't releasing the code? It is to us. But they own it; what they do with it is their prerogative.

Oh come on it's just musing about what might have been. The fact is NCsoft is being unreasonable with regard to how they're treating the IP. I'm not saying it condones theft, I'm not saying its right, I'm just saying I, personally, wouldn't disagree with the person doing it.

[LightBlack]

Oh come on it's just musing about what might have been. The fact is NCsoft is being unreasonable with regard to how they're treating the IP. I'm not saying it condones theft, I'm not saying its right, I'm just saying I, personally, wouldn't disagree with the person doing it.

Unreasonable and immoral are two wholly different issues.

[UruzSix]

Does it make me a bad person that as I read that I had two thoughts?

• At least 3 people had about 2 months to make a personal copy of all the game code, and
• about 24 hours in advance 15-20 people had the same opportunity...

My thought was what came as a complete surprise to us, wasn't a complete surprise at Paragon.

[Ironwolf]

What came through to me LOUD and CLEAR was this was not just another job for these people.

They loved the game and saw us, the players as co-producers of a work of art. It was a community effort to raise the level of involvement of both devolpers and consumers to a level never seen before. They even gave us THEIR tools to make our own worlds. This cannot stand, we must work harder to show NCSoft that there is a way for them to pass on the legacy of this game to a new home.

[JanessaVR]

Does it make me a bad person that as I read that I had two thoughts?

• At least 3 people had about 2 months to make a personal copy of all the game code, and
• about 24 hours in advance 15-20 people had the same opportunity...

I'm too much of a pirate at heart to not have immediately zeroed in on those things myself.  That's exactly what I was thinking as soon as I came across those points...

[Hyperstrike]

http://www.cox-supergroups.com/the-media-is-still-talking-about-coh-why/

[JetFlash]

Well, this definitely piqued my curiosity - what was the dealbreaker, if the talks were going well? It seems odd that it would turn up right at the end of the negotiations - do we know when they were taking place, and if there's anything that we know or can find out that might have at NCsoft to suddenly make the entire negotiation moot?

It is my conjecture that the "dealbreaker" was an edict from on high.  The person who had decided that COH Must Die caught wind of the negotiations, and simply brought the hammer down.  Thou shalt not make a deal.

How do you negotiate with someone who wants you dead, and has the power to kill you without repercussion?

[Lightslinger]

Penny Arcade has picked up the story as well: http://penny-arcade.com/report/article/how-city-of-heroes-was-a-signature-away-from-being-saved-and-where-paragon

I'm really hoping this story gets even more traction and NCsoft is forced to yet again try to get out in front of this.

The timing of this for us couldn't be better. We have a high profile developer/CEO publicly talking about wanting CoH and now this? The question is how to leverage that fact with this publicity.

[JaguarX]

Sounds like the planned end was around a few months at least prior to shutdown announcement. Seems as if the inner upper management knew about it, tried their hardest and more to prevent it but last minute things sunk. Why not tell the employees what is going on so when the announcement came it was not out of the blue? While it looked like the from the sound of it, the deal was in the bag what seemed to have been forgotten is that nothing is for sure until the last dotted line is signed. Sounds like everyone was caught by surprised because it was assumed that the deal would go through. Of course no one wants to be the negative guy but there should always be ready for worse. 
Well what is done is done but its good more details have surfaced to had a little more clarity to the situation. And it seemed those people were very passionate about their jobs. Unfortunately it seems that sometimes passion is not enough when the head guys make a decision.

It didn't seem the free to play was around long. Did ncsoft give it a fair shake to see if it was turning the game around? If what Matt states is actual truth then why not wait a bit? Sounds like ncsoft made their mind up long ago and didn't care about current. Assuming what Matt said us true about free to play model being more profitable.

[Ironwolf]

I guess its time someone ran an advertisement or two at some of these websites...........

[Ashen Fury]

Unreasonable and immoral are two wholly different issues.

I think you'll find that most people would find stealing code a lot better morally than firing 80 people with little to no warning and no other preventative actions taken. Its not like they are going to be losing money over it.

[JanessaVR]

I think you'll find that most people would find stealing code a lot better morally than firing 80 people with little to no warning and no other preventative actions taken. Its not like they are going to be losing money over it.

Ditto that - see me not caring about the "immorality" of it at all.  I've already hoisted the Jolly Roger on this issue.  If I had somehow managed to get a copy of the game's source code, I wouldn't waste 10 seconds before uploading it to every major file-sharing site on the planet.

[Segev]

I think you'll find that most people would find stealing code a lot better morally than firing 80 people with little to no warning and no other preventative actions taken. Its not like they are going to be losing money over it.

I would heartily disagree, but that's actually beside the point, since those suddenly-laid-off people all got laid off with positive references for future employment, 2 months' pay, and severance packages on top of that. They were not suddenly starving. Perhaps sad and stressed, but not hard-up financially. They had plenty of time to focus on getting a new job without having to alter their current lifestyles a whit, at least insofar as finances are concerned.

Sad? Sure. Immoral? Not by any stretch.

[Nafaustu]

My Scattered Thoughts (Just to show you i'm still lurking, and i've still got my torch even if you don't see me much):

I'm glad we're still making an impact.   I still have my Save City of Heroes Banner flying on my facebook.   90% of the pictures I ever uploaded were character profiles, explaining what was happening with CoH/V.   

This is a dicussion the gaming industry has to have with itself.   The 'always online' crap is very related.   And the first single-player/multi-player required login servers are getting ready to go down in 2014, iirc.

What I want to happen, globally, is to see the stuff no longer support by its companies be moved to true offline modes, or released into the wild.   The arguement I frequently see is nothing lasts forever, and its true but I can still watch Animaniacs on DVD, and I can still boot up Pools of Radiance in DoS Box.   Its mine, I paid for it.

Why is this different?   Just the perception gamers will put up with this crap?

I dunno, those are my scattered thoughts, take what you like and cast the rest aside.

~Catgirl Seargent Eve/Refracted

[JaguarX]

Seconded, let us rally forth and not use ANY negative veiws on NCSoft let us press the POSITIVE side.

If they were that close lets try and get them over the hump!

Yeah. Good idea. Calling them all types of names like ncstupid and etc don't help.