How and why did you buy the game?

[Thunder Glove]

I am legitimately curious how the lack of PvP attracts people.

Does it stem from a fear that PvE and PvP will be mixed?
Do people worry that people who could be working on PvE are using their time on PvP?
The type of community it may bring?

I've never heard of an addition to a game, which has no effects on the existing game, turn people away. I started the first issue like a lot of other people here, PvP being announced made me stay much longer than I would have originally (up until the end). I'm not the only one either.

I want to hear people's thoughts on this, because I like PvP in games and don't want games not attracting PvErs because PvP exists. We also already know that every project being worked on will include PvP.

Did people quit out-right when PvP was introduced?
Why doesn't anyone feel this way about things like Bases, AE, Ouro or Incarnate?

While I don't like PvP in general, I really liked the way CoH handled it.  Specific areas for PvP, each with level restrictions, and where your powers automatically worked differently to make it more fair, especially where mez is concerned.  Plus, it was completely optional: you didn't need to PvP to get items required for high-end PvM content.

Dofus - the game I play currently - does not separate spell effects for PvP and PvM, which means every time they make a change - any change at all, for whatever reason - the PvM players blame the change on the PvP players, and vice versa.  Plus, several gatherable items are located in areas that require you to be PvP-OK - and part of the faction that controls the area - to access.  And some items can only be crafted with an ingredient bought with PvP reward tokens.  It leads to a lot of griefing in game and on the forums, again with PvP and PvM players growling at each other from their respective sides.

[FatherXmas]

A group of younger friends told me about it, saw it at their apartment and picked up a copy the next day, probably CompUSA when they were still around my area, and a copy of Prima's Guide at the time (Includes Issue 1 changes).  This was near the end of August 2004.

[Electric-Knight]

In 2003, I began playing Star Wars Galaxies at launch. Despite the company's really terrible handling of the game, I fell in love with it and played it a lot!!
When CoH came out, I wasn't interested in jumping ships, but, eventually, I found enjoyment in visiting the CoH forums and seeing the great interaction that the Red Names took part in there (and the great humor and wit that was on display amongst them and the rest of the community).
In November of 2005, SOE trashed the SWG that I loved and replaced it with a completely different game that I despised.
I gave it some time, but it was no dice...
My wife and I took a break from playing any such games... came back and gave SWG/NGE one more chance, before deciding to venture on a Free Trial exploration of all the existing mmorpgs in April of 2006!

Foolishly, I chose the City of Villains Free Trial first!
I say, "foolishly", because we both fell in love with it and, within days, agreed that we should buy the game (both games, CoH and CoV)!!

We ordered them online (grabbing the Good Vs. Evil editions), loved it and enjoyed it greatly... And when I made the super hero I had created as a child, in this game, Electric-Knight, and the powersets and AT and gameplay worked out so perfectly for him... I pretty much soloed my way to the low 20s (the old fashioned way!) and learned the ins and outs of the game as a Blaster.

As much as we loved it though, a few months in, we both realized that it was too soon, as our love for the old SWG (seriously, our favorite game ever) and our sadness in missing it made enjoying CoH a little more difficult.

So, we both canceled our subs to take a break, believing full well that we'd be back shortly. We visited some friends in other games and tried trials of games, but we didn't really enjoy any of them.

I can't remember exactly when it was (maybe a year later!), the time seemed right and we were about to start up our accounts again. We actually made new free trials, just to test it out and make sure that the magic would be rekindled (I guess. We were both pretty confident though, hehe)...

Unfortunately, I started suffering from a health issue and everything got put on hold. (Although, when the intense headache and pain began, it served as the launching point for my favorite and main villain, Malfaz... As I had the costume created in the new free trial, but couldn't quite decide what powers to give him... until an intense bout of head pain and anguish inspired the Mind/Psi Dominator that suffered from chronic, perpetual migraines, which he then mastered to share with his opponents! So, good from bad!)

After over a year of dealing with these health problems, I finally became well enough to play games at the computer again around April of 2008... and we gleefully reactivated our accounts and never canceled them again!

[Arachnion]

July 2006.

Gift for my birthday that year.

Before being gifted it, I was enjoying the game as a trial, I believe.

[adarict]

I started playing for one reason.  They added Coyote to the game.  Coyote was my real life brother.  He had been telling me all about CoH, but I just couldn't bring myself to pay a monthly fee to play a game.  After he died, I was looking at his forum posts and things, and found out that he was part of the game.  I bought a copy of the game to try it out with my wife, who had been interested in the game.  When I saw him, and saw that it wasn't just coincidental that the character had the same name as my brother, I went and bought another copy for myself, then a third copy for my son. 

If it hadn't been for Coyote being in the game, I probably would never have bothered to try it.  I figured it would be too painful.  In the end, it was not only NOT painful, it ended up being the only game that I maintained a subscription for numerous years.  I enjoyed the game from the very first time I entered the City, and never got bored with it, right up until the last seconds.

[Razy]

   Being a comic book fan i loved the idea of a superhero game but, i had my doubts about buying the game. I never played a mmo before, and i was afraid of what to expect from the community. My best friend convinced to give it a try, and i bought the game. When i loged for the first time i was amazed of all the graphics and all the players running around.
  I found a game that made me feel a hero, a game with a friendly and helpful community. I found a place i wasn't afraid of introducing my young nephew into it.  I made friends, and found love in CoH.
  I feel i lost my best friend, my home outside my home now that CoH is gone. Have i cursed NC-crap? Lots, and lots of times, and still do.

[Flamazing Sally]

My son introduced me to the game.  I was bound & determined NOT to ever pay for an on-line game.  I made a toon on his account and I was hooked.  I bought a copy from Best Buy and was a paying customer from Feb 2005 til the lights went out.  I have met some truly awesome people playing this game and enjoyed every minute of it.  Gosh, I miss my City.

[Garble]

My boyfriend at the time had already been playing and occasionally let me play on his account. We went to Comic Con together and someone was handing out free copies of the game as reward for answering trivia questions.

He won me a copy of my own by knowing that Bruce Banner's love interest, Betty Ross turned into "The Harpy" after being exposed to gamma rays.

We were a very nerdy couple.

[LaughingAlex]

I bought the game in mid 2008.  Some friends wanted me to try it out when I was getting bored of guild wars, I quickly found the game was much funner and it kind of stuck with me.  Especially since there was always something new to learn, some new way to play the game or some new powerset.  While I quit for a short time to play champions online, I came back to CoX after a year of finding that game wasn't getting any new content or powers(and still isn't getting enough even today).  I enjoyed not needing a healer to make an effective team(self justifying 'healers' don't need to reply, I know if you did nothing but rock the aura when the team wasn't taking any damage in the first place how useful you really were...if you actually buffed the team and attacked besides just healing I don't consider you a healer, I considered you to be a defender.  Debuffs and crowd control counted as support to), we didn't need to wait around for a dedicated tank when everyones powers could protect everyone else effectively.

I couldn't move on because the problem of other mmo's is that they force you to play the holy trinity, and I get bored waiting around, and these days I cannot stand that "playstyle", at all.  It's so dated, it relies on bad AI mechanics(accidental or intentional), and forces people into doing only one thing(often to complete exclusion of anything else), I kinda hate it nowadays.  It's something that should not have remained after the 1990s to me.  City of heroes had buffs and debuffs that were USEFUL, and useful crowd control.  It also had VARIETY in that category.  Other mmo's just seem to forget about those forms of support, entirely.

[DarkCurrent]

I went to the mall in April 2004 and saw a huge CoH display with boxes for sale at the Electronics Boutique.  Caught my eye, but I was finishing up grad school at the time and refused to get involved with it while focusing on exams and such.  Talked to a coworker about it and he bought it.  First saw the game on his laptop.  Graphics card was so low end you couldn't see the colors, so his first character turned out to be a hot pink male genie (nrg/nrg blaster).  He let me play a few times during May and I decided soon as exams were over I'd get my own copy.  Bought it in June and fired up my first character on Protector server... dark/dark defender named Dark Current who put the fear into bad guys to repent their evil ways.  Formed Defenders of the Night SG for the downtrodden defenders who if they weren't healers they sucked, or why get a defender when a controller can do the same thing but better, or don't bother blasting cuz that's what blasters are for and just spam your heal.  Our SG was voted #1 on the server that first year.  Great times.

Shout out to any former DotN peeps or HTTT dommies!

[Optimus Dex]

I bought the game in August of 2004.  My son had told me about it and he had been playing Freedom Force. We both wanted the game for one reason - superheroes. Not elves or dragons or ninjas. Though you could eventually do remarkable things in other genres in COH. Eventually we got a second account. I was the only rabid every day player after the first 3 years.I mis COH- a lot.

[houtex]

A group of younger friends told me about it, saw it at their apartment and picked up a copy the next day, probably CompUSA when they were still around my area, and a copy of Prima's Guide at the time (Includes Issue 1 changes).  This was near the end of August 2004.

Pretty much what happened to me.  I was invited to check it out about 6 months late, but when I saw it, I immediately went to the local BestBuy around the corner, bought it, installed it, patched it, and rolled up Crimson Nomad as my first 'toon, Claws/Regen Scrapper.

Sorta now wish I hadn't deleted him, but he was in the way, and didn't 'work' for me back then.  Then Ruby Dawn the Mind/Emp 'Troller was second, THAT worked good for me, and was my first 50. 

/Ah, the wonder of the newness of her powers... they never, ever, grew old.
//And the game never did either, IMO. 

[Absolute]

While I don't like PvP in general, I really liked the way CoH handled it.  Specific areas for PvP, each with level restrictions, and where your powers automatically worked differently to make it more fair, especially where mez is concerned.  Plus, it was completely optional: you didn't need to PvP to get items required for high-end PvM content.

Dofus - the game I play currently - does not separate spell effects for PvP and PvM, which means every time they make a change - any change at all, for whatever reason - the PvM players blame the change on the PvP players, and vice versa.  Plus, several gatherable items are located in areas that require you to be PvP-OK - and part of the faction that controls the area - to access.  And some items can only be crafted with an ingredient bought with PvP reward tokens.  It leads to a lot of griefing in game and on the forums, again with PvP and PvM players growling at each other from their respective sides.

So basically a lot of games handle an introduction of PvP badly. Makes sense.

[Nightwatch]

Bought it because I was and am into comics in a big way.

My only experience with computer games was with Civilization and Populus.  Had no interest in MMOs.

In 2004 I was working in Switzerland but dont speak or read French or German, only English.  On a holiday to London I bought CoH.  My experience just trying to set up broadband in German/French almost scared me off that, let alone trying to set up CoH!  So I waited until 2005 when I had a new job in London to boot it up.

Was then hooked for life!

Since closure have tried CO, Star Trek, and The Secret World.  None of them do it for me.

I have been, and always will be, CoH.

[srmalloy]

Maybe this leads into an answer to your question, Sentry: my initial fear of PvP in MMOs was that I could never relax, because some other player might be out to gank me at any time.  Obviously, I have learned since then that good games manage this in various ways, so you always have safe areas.  However, as I have learned about MMOs I have come to dislike PvP for another reason: power set "balancing".  When the devs have a requirement that any new power set must not over- or under-match any other power set out there so that no one is at an advantage in PvP, I think it strait-jackets how creative the devs can be with new power sets.  It seemed to me from complaints on the forums that the CoH devs did not spend a lot of time balancing powers for PvP, and I think that's why there was such an interesting variety of powers out there.  In other MMOs that take PvP more seriously, all the power sets seem kinda dull and vanilla because the spark has been balanced out of them, with every set having pretty much the same powers with only cosmetic variations.  IMO, of course.

Unfortunately, having PvP-free areas doesn't mean that you can actually play in non-PvP areas; for example, in SWTOR, Tatooine has Anchorhead and Mos Ila for the Republic and Imperial factions, respectively, that require faction-specific transport to get to, so you'll never encounter anyone from the other faction in those areas -- but you rapidly exhaust the missions available in those areas, and have to go out into the main world map, which is accessible to both factions. Other games do a poorer job of separating PvP -- for example, I discovered in Aion that it was possible for a sufficiently-determined member of the other faction to be able to reach the 'home zone' of many areas while avoiding the defensive NPCs, so that you could be attacked despite being in a putatively safe area -- one of the things that turned me off of the game.

Making PvP work, though, is one of the ugliest problems that faces a game designer. The first consideration is that there can't be a single -- or even a few -- min/max solutions that are clearly better than the others, or the game will rapidly condense down into just those builds (if not by the entire player population, then certainly by the yahoos whose only method of validating themselves is how effectively their level-50 character can gank level-5 characters). The simplest method -- and the one that sucks the most vitality out of a game -- is to, as you describe, give each class abilities that are just cosmetic alterations of the other classes', sometimes concealed behind granting them in different orders (when the PvP is mostly intended to be the endgame content). A more complicated solution is setting up power sets with a 'Rock, Scissors, Paper, Lizard, Spock' premise -- that each power set may be able to routinely defeat some other power sets, but are vulnerable to some others. The problem with this is that, as the number of power sets increases, the number of possible combinations increases exponentially, and become much more difficult to test in any reasonable amount of time. And the testing itself can be vulnerable to hidden bugs; I'm sure that many people will remember the nerf 'small tweak' to Regeneration after the Cryptic devs discovered that a Claws/Regen Scrapper could solo +7 spawns set for a full team of 8... and how the changes were applied over the protestations of the playerbase that there was no way that a Regen Scrapper could do that, and despite the devs finding out that their internal test server had a bug and didn't decrease the to-hit and damage of characters fighting higher-level NPCs the way the live servers did. Unfortunately, CoH fell badly into the 'PvP as afterthought' category, and despite some attempts at balancing it, which in some cases spilled back over into PvE despite the assurance that PvE changes wouldn't be made for purely PvP reasons, it never got the attention that it needed in order to ever come close to being balanced.

[Reiraku]

Unfortunately, CoH fell badly into the 'PvP as afterthought' category, and despite some attempts at balancing it, which in some cases spilled back over into PvE despite the assurance that PvE changes wouldn't be made for purely PvP reasons, it never got the attention that it needed in order to ever come close to being balanced.

Well, there was only one power that was changed for purely PvP reasons (Hurricane, which could do some crazy stupid broken stuff). Everything else was for PvE reasons that just happened to effect PvP.

[CheerGunbunny]

I am legitimately curious how the lack of PvP attracts people.

Does it stem from a fear that PvE and PvP will be mixed?
Do people worry that people who could be working on PvE are using their time on PvP?
The type of community it may bring?

I've never heard of an addition to a game, which has no effects on the existing game, turn people away. I started the first issue like a lot of other people here, PvP being announced made me stay much longer than I would have originally (up until the end). I'm not the only one either.

I want to hear people's thoughts on this, because I like PvP in games and don't want games not attracting PvErs because PvP exists. We also already know that every project being worked on will include PvP.

Did people quit out-right when PvP was introduced?
Why doesn't anyone feel this way about things like Bases, AE, Ouro or Incarnate?

Too many people who simply do petty aggravating stuff and talk about how ub3r they are.  The endless, endless, ENDLESS "I pwned j00!  j00 r t3h suxx0r!" spam.  endless slurs of varying types (religion, ethnic, sexual, etc) when you tell  people "I don't PvP" I know full well not *ALL* PvP'ers are like this...on CoX, I'd even say these folks were a minority...a large one, but still a minority.  Every other MMO I've looked at, the MAJORITY of PvP'ers are these poster children for birth control (don't let this happen again).  If PvP hadn't been limited to those zones only, I was planning on quitting.

[Rangle M. Down]

My first exposure to CoH happened when we were visiting friends in Seattle. They were playing the beta (in 2003) and showed it off to us. While I thought it was great, I was never really all that interested in paying a monthly fee for an MMO, and my work at the time didn't allow me very much time to game either.

A few years later when we visited again, we found out that not only were they still playing the game, but a few other friends were too. I still liked it, but continued to balk at paying a monthly. Well, that changed when I opened up my Christmas present later that year. My wife had purchased copies of both City of Heroes and City of Villains for me. With codes in hand, and no excuse not to play it now, I uploaded the game and became hooked. While my wife hadn't purchased the game for herself initially, I bought her the game 3 months later so she could join in on the fun. We were both continually subbed till "the announcement".

[CrimsonCapacitor]

Jumping in here:

1)  As far as PvP goes, that's one reason I DIDN'T pick up the game when it started.  I looked at the box many times in CompUSA across the street from work when a friend and I would wander over during lunch.  I thought all online games were PvP.  The thought of spawning in a zone, then dying rapidly as I was sniped from afar by some 14 year old wasn't appealing.  I thought the whole game was PvP and I simply saw that as an endless grind of being killed as "the newb."  And that didn't seem like fun.  When CoV launched, the same thoughts came up again, ESPECIALLY now that you could play a villain, which made the thought of PvP sound even worse.

2)  I finally stumbled across the game again in 2009 where something online caught my eye.  "Play free for 2 weeks" was what did it.  It was during the Halloween event.  I had zero clue what was going on.  Why was it night all the time?  Why are there zombies popping up?  Why is this pumpkin headed thing chasing me?  I got a Carnie Iron Man costume that had self-slotted and couldn't figure out why I had turned from my costume into someone with a bucket on their head.

I remember making a mad dash into Argosy Industrial Park where some Clockwork handed me my butt.  I remember making a mad dash through the streets of Steel Canyon from the tunnel to Atlas, over the wall by Wents, and into the University where I caught my breath in safety.

And at the end of the two weeks, I was hooked and joined.  I met some great folks and teamed with a lot of great people.  My God, I want this game back.  I HAVE POWERSETS TO TRY!

[ag88t88]

So in the summer of 2004 I was moving out for the first time and had a big chunk of change in my pocket.  I went on a video game spending spree and went to the store to look at some MMOs since I'd heard some interesting things.  I was mostly interested in SWG,  on my way over to the rack to look at it I saw the "City of Heroes"  box sitting their, picked it up and looked at it.  It was a great idea and I loved the concept of building my own hero.  I thought about it long and hard, and ultimately the sales guy seemed kind of into it, but he preferred SWG (I have no idea why.) and since it seemed kind of like "Generic" super heroes to me at the time, and being a complete n00b to MMOs I went with SWG since It was what I went into buy and the guy there seemed to prefer that to CoH.

SWG was a waste of time, i thought about CoH a couple of times but SWG had been such a turn off then I got into doom 3 and Halo 2 and blah blah blah.   Over a year later in early october 2005 I was in a different game stop in my town to buy Ninja Gaiden black.   I noticed a Red preview display box for City of Villains, I promptly asked the clerk if it was related to City of Heroes and got some information and I was VERY intrigued by the idea of making my own super villain.   Later that day I was in my apartment looking at some stuff on the web and I noticed a site,  Direct2Drive,  that was selling a downloadable version of CoH for only 30 bucks.  I figured I could try CoH for less than I'd pay to try CoV and if I liked it I could get CoV when it released.   10/10/05,  I  downloaded, installed and subscribed to CoH, and within 5 minutes of logging into Outbreak for the first time, I was hooked hopelessly.

I got CoV when it launched, the collectors DVD set and stayed with the game until the darkness fell.   It was always kind of ironic to me that CoV got me interested enough to buy the game, but I ended up always liking Hero side more..