Negative Article on Massively

[Maressa]

I'm just going to leave this here and check back in the morning when I have enough brain power to say my thoughts on it.

http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/04/10/a-mild-mannered-reporter-stop-digging-up-the-grave/

[Kistulot]

I have an email saved in my drafts. I spent some time going over it, and in reflection I've decided to share it here and encourage others to send their own feelings and thoughts in a positive and constructive manner

Hello,

I just wanted to send you an email thanking you for continuing coverage of CoH on Massively even after its end.

While I haven't given up hope, it's a different kind of hope than when someone dies and the desire for them to return to the living. When someone dies, they're gone. I've been through that. Its hard, it hurts, and its sad. Nothing can change it. When my girlfriend died it took me five years to stop crying every time I thought of her because the emotions were too intense. Nothing would bring her back, and eventually I was able to work past my feelings. But this situation is not the same.

Code can be executed again after it's been terminated. While what made CoH special was more than just its code, the people can return too. If not all of them, enough for it to be worth hoping and fighting for.

Our hope is also not the kind that demands or needs things to occur immediately. A lot of us have already accepted its probably not going to happen. It might not. But it could. It could, so we can't give up trying in ways that don't harm our abilities to continue living our lives. I've taken the closure of CoH to learn how to code, to get back to writing more. If CoH returned I would have less time for it, but i would be grateful all the same.

We aren't holding our breath. We aren't living in the past. We've moved on from the closure. That's not why we persist. That's not why twitter has so many of us showing #SaveCoH tags and #CallJack tags. it's because we hope for a future with CoH again. We hope for a future where City of Heroes is once again active.

The spirit of CoH is alive in those who remember it, those who were affected by it, those who loved it. That, might be able to be killed and never again resurrected. But it hasn't died. The Spirit of CoH is alive. It just needs a codebase to inhabit.

I know this was a long email, and I partially don't expect you to read it. I imagine it must have been emotional to compare our hope and grieving process with your own lost loved one. By no means is this email to call that loss illegitimate, or to bare you any ill will. I'm glad you were able to move on, just as I'm sad you had to in the first place. This email was to share how I, and many in the City of Heroes community feel and will continue to feel. You can call us crazy. You can say our hopes have no chance. We're okay with that.

Heroes don't need odds to be in their favor, and neither do Villains.

If you choose to drop continuing discussion of CoH from Massively, that's fine. It will be disappointing, but understandable. You can only report on new goings ons, right? If we do something that gets notice, I hope you'll report on it. That's all we can ask for.

Thank you for your honest posting, and I hope that you have a wonderful day.

Best Wishes,
*My real name is not important I put it in the real email*

[Lily Barclay]

I guess this is what Elliot was talking about when he said on his twitter feed that he hoped his CoH peeps didn't hate him after Wed (today).

[Menrva Channel]

He has  right to move on and "accept" things as they are. We also have a right to hope, even if it is small. Didn't this guy only join the last few months and join because it was shutting down? Or was that someone else? (I /think/ this is the one that covered the closing. And if he had only played till shut down it's easy to see his "acceptance".)

[LadyVamp]

+1

If he wishes to move on, then I'll wish him the best of luck.  As for me, I believe I will wait and see.

[goodtime]

I skimmed through that article because after the first paragraph I had a pretty good indication how it was going to go.    A third rate rant on a "news" site.   It's not journalism, and it's not his job to tell other people what to feel or how to behave. 

It's not mine, either, but then, I'm not masquerading as an internet reporter.    Or even a "blogger."

[dwturducken]

I'll consider my response as I finish this six pack, so as to be sure my response is lucid, well reasoned and inciteful. Wait: insightful.

[JanessaVR]

I skimmed through that article because after the first paragraph I had a pretty good indication how it was going to go.    A third rate rant on a "news" site.   It's not journalism, and it's not his job to tell other people what to feel or how to behave. 

It's not mine, either, but then, I'm not masquerading as an internet reporter.    Or even a "blogger."

Indeed, it's just an ill-informed rant - he must have been scraping the bottom of the barrel for something to write this week.

When we get CoH back, in one form or another, I'll make a point to bring this article up to him so that I can laugh in his face.

[Kistulot]

I skimmed through that article because after the first paragraph I had a pretty good indication how it was going to go.    A third rate rant on a "news" site.   It's not journalism, and it's not his job to tell other people what to feel or how to behave. 

It's not mine, either, but then, I'm not masquerading as an internet reporter.    Or even a "blogger."

But as of now most of internet, and therefore gaming (few mags still out, and those arent much better anyway) journalism, is done by bloggers like this.

That said, we can work with them to share our viewpoints to enhance the news and information gamers recieve. Blowing it off as "not journalism" is a slippery slope. Its editorial journalism. Most journalism has an opinion to it. This is just heavily in that direction.

You don't need to be CNN to be giving the news... some would argue you can't be CNN and give the news. 

[Surelle]

Someone should remind Eliot of all the online games that have been rezzed, although, being a reporter, he should know this himself better than anyone.  Offhand, I can think of many, though:  Vanguard, Hellgate:  London,  A.P.B., Gods & Heroes, Saga of Ryzom (several times changing hands on that one no less!!), Asheron's Call 2 just recently, and this isn't counting ones that have been bought out from their original publishers without having to close down first, like Pirates of the Burning Sea, DDO and LoTRO.  And I'm sure there are more I'm not thinking of right now.

Granted, NCSoft doesn't usually sell off its closed-down IPs, but it is far from unheard of for games to be rezzed down the road.  And I have to admit that a small part of me just refuses to give up hope that if we put enough pressure on NCSoft, and it negatively impacts their long-term income from future games, that they will one day consider selling CoH, if only to repair a small part of the damage to their global reputation.

And Eliot should know above all things that playing other NCSoft games only validates and encourages their future bad behavior.  The only way to send them a message is to speak with your wallet, or in this case, the lack thereof.  People who continually give NCSoft money after they've been shafted are just enabling them to continue with their shoddy behavior.  That's why it has kind of surprised me that he's so big on Wildstar.  (It just looks like a cheesy WoW knockoff to me anyway, like Allods, but I'm just going by the screenshots.)

[Nilbog]

that article does not faze me any way. He obviously did not have his creative heart invested in our game as much as my friends and I did. His footprints only indented sand to where many of us have been around since launch firmly planted in the concrete of the world we co created. it's like a novice telling Beethoven not to approach music writing so passionately. bottom line there is no competent substitute and there is an audience in need of a proper auditorium.

[JaguarX]

Interesting article. Don't necessarily agree with this one, but hey, in the past, been willing to take this as a form of news and reporting on the status of COX on this site, and thus just because I  don't agree with them on this doesn't mean now they are now just a "news" site.
 
I don't see anywhere in there where he tells people how to feel or what to do but describes actions and thoughts of his that of course is not agreeable with others. It doesn't seem anymore of telling people how to feel or think anymore than the other articles there that was in favor of not giving up hope. Not every article about COX and the closing will be positive. That wouldn't be journalism. That would be reporting only one side and the feeling of one side.

The reality of it is that not even all players of COX feel as passionate about the closing and trying to bring it back as most people here. Hell, the petition only got about nearly 22,000 signatures out of the 100,000 players or more that played COX at one point or another. And any thing against our views shouldn't be viewed as mere rant. That is display prime example of not being able to accept any view outside that everyone should be fighting to bring the game back or they are just ranting or unicorning and shouldn't express their view. That is feeding into the already negative stereotype that people here in Titan cant accept differing views without dismissing it when many of us was getting irked when people couldn't accept our view that the game is worth saving. If we want people to accept or listen to our view we must be willing to listen to views that are different or else, why should they listen to views they don't agree with if we cant even do it ourselves without getting negative about it?

So what the man feels like there is no hope. That is how he feels. That is how many ex coxers feel. We feel there is plenty of hope. But this with us or you're something negative is not good. How are we ever going to convince a major corporation to at least come (back) to the negotiation table when every time someone say something we dont agree with, we have nothing but negative things and sometimes insulting things to say about it? That is not good for negotiation. Hell, I wouldnt want to nor dont see how any one can negotiate wit ha crowd like that when they want everyone to feel their pain, and their view but cant even in a respectful manner accept other views that may not be in line with their view?

Even major news companies, some may say this is a valiant effort while others may say that it's a lost cause. What? we are going to treat the one that is with us as gods while insulting the other one? Is that how low we are supposed to operate here?

[JanessaVR]

So what the man feels like there is no hope. That is how he feels. That is how many ex coxers feel. We feel there is plenty of hope. But this with us or you're something negative is not good.

But that's just it.  He's not just saying that he has no hope and that the "mature" thing to do is give up and move on, he's saying that we should also do the "mature" thing and give up and move on.  That isn't just disagreeing with us, that is against us.

It certainly is possible to disagree with us but not be against us, but that's not the case here.

[JaguarX]

But that's just it.  He's not just saying that he has no hope and that the "mature" thing to do is give up and move on, he's saying that we should also do the "mature" thing and give up and move on.  That isn't just disagreeing with us, that is against us.

It certainly is possible to disagree with us but not be against us, but that's not the case here.

But that phrase is no where in that article, not even "give up" or "move on" besides move on being used in the comment section. So I dont see anywhere where he said we should do the mature thing and give up and move on. or anything of the likes. 

Or maybe other keywords that you seen that gave that image?

[ukaserex]

I'm curious as to what he meant by this:

"I may be nervous about the "Plan Z" projects actually getting off the ground, but I have endless respect for the people working on them." (emphasis mine)

[JanessaVR]

[Tanklet]

Fact is, it's past time to stop hoping.

We need to let it go.

A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Stop digging up the grave

If that's not telling us how we should feel ... :/


Now, if this was just a matter of "I've moved on" etc etc etc
versus some pretty inciteful digs
that'd be one thing.

I respect those who have moved on. That's their prerogative. And as I've said in the FB goups, and I'll say it again, everyone is different in choosing to handle things in their own way. Not in the way someone else thinks we should. And comparing CoH to the death of a loved one just doesn't sit right with me.

I applaud TonyV & Kitsulot for their replies, because I'm pretty certain I wouldn't have been able to articulate quite that well. At least not just yet.

[FlyingCarcass]

I hate to sound cynical, but of course a Massively writer would like folks to move onto other games, perhaps becoming interested in another MMO, preferably one they write about. After all, there isn't much more they can write about CoH that hasn't been written. They want folks to visit their site often, read their articles, and look at their revenue-generating ads; they want folks to play live and upcoming MMOs, because those are the games that provide news and thus bring visitors to the site.

[Surelle]

I just made a quite rational post there (I'm Denice Cook). 

I feel better now.   

And excellent post there, Tony, as usual!  You truly are a gifted writer.  You never fail to impress me.

[JaguarX]

Um...yes.  That would be these parts:

Which of those parts seem unclear on that score to you?

Ah I see how it could be taken as such.

But how is that, mostly replying to Tanklet, is much different from our end when saying "we should never give up hope, we should mail NCSoft capes and "stuff", We should contact Jack. Not even most posts about how people feel about this game is worded How I feel." It's how we should feel and how ncsoft dissed this community, and how ncsoft screwed us all, and how ncsoft did this to everyone. Even here is it rarely, I feel that NCSoft screwed me over.


Why is what he saying although opposite, telling us what we should do and not do, and such a big problem, when telling us what we should do and not do in the same manner but for us is not a problem and havent been taken as telling us what to feel and what to do?


That is why to me it's coming off as more hate because he disagree with the general consensus around here than actual hate that is he telling us what to do or not do. It seemed ok for that type of wording for those for us, but as soon as someone says something that may be opposite it's them trying to tell us what to feel and think. Looks like a double standard.

Not to mention the daily digs here towards NCsoft, is kind of backwards to be catching feelings when someone may or may not take a dig at us. I dont think this was a dig, just saying, but as many times as NCSoft cant even be mentioned without taking a pot shot at them but worried anything that may be a dig at us , which seems to be anyone that is moving on or saying they will move on. Sounds like as a whole we can dish it but cant take it. Another double standard. I mean if we dont want people taking digs or what might be taken as a dig at us, then maybe we should stop taking digs at other things. You know, treat other how we would like to be treated?

It's not even like the guy is on here, saying that stuff. He is on his own site, own article. If the shoe was on the other foot, there would be someone by now telling him to leave. Yet, many go over there to massively to express their view, which is opposite of here but if he came here, it would have been an even bigger issue. Another double standard.

Trying to not come off as rude or aggressive as that is not my point, but really this "We can talk about "certain people" anyway we choose wrath of god if anyone say anything negative about the movement anywhere on the net" double standard is not cool.