Website is Live!

[VyoletRose]

Great news! The website is now up!

I would like to introduce you to... ourcityofheroes.com!

Now you can show your friends what exactly our cause is all about! They can check out the game's rich history, explore the game's best features, and read up on all the SaveCoH Movement news!


Just a couple of things to note, because technically, the site is still incomplete.

Some panels are pictureless, but the wording is there. If you have screenshots that will work, feel free to submit it.

Some items are missing. I'm sure I overlooked some articles. I noticed I left out mention of MIDS in the Legacy section that I'll have to squeeze in somewhere. I still need to add a panel and article list for the Freedom release. These are things I'll get around to with time.

There are some features that I have plans to expand upon, like the game's features slider in the Legacy section. I have big plans for those later on, but for now it's just to show a quick overview.

I'm still reading through the various article lists looking for good quotes. I could use some help there.

For now I had to remove the sidebar slider that rotated top stories. That bugger wasn't working right, so I've got to fiddle with it, or probably rebuild it. Besides, I need content for our top stories! If you have something in mind, let me know.

Also, I want to add a Current News section at the bottom of the home page. What would be good for that section?

I figure as a community, we can get this baby fine-tuned by the end of the month, which is the shutdown notice 1-year anniversary.


Overall, I tried to keep the website objective. I did question some things, as we all did, but tried to keep everything in a good light. It's up to the viewer to make their own conclusions.

Please provide feedback. Add your own submissions. And most of all, enjoy!

[VyoletRose]

Okay, first big oops - it only is working in Chrome right now ugh. I'm going to have to do some adjustments to fix it in the other browsers.

[JaguarX]

good stuff. Man man, I wish this website was a around long time ago to show to people that I know. Anyways that small beans.

That is one good well put together website and pretty good on the objective side.


Although I always wondered about that 95-98% retention thing and  figure. How far back do that number go? If the life time of the game that is false according to graphs given that the peak population was 160,000-180,000 at one point and if the population increased after Freedom and ended with 60,000-80,000 players that means before freedom sometime, the population was even lower than 60,000 people. Which is far below a 95-98% retention rate. Just one of those things I wondered.

[SerialBeggar]

Typo: 
Our Story -> panel for "Martial Assult"
Response -> 1st panel "Had ALL options really been exhaused"


Overall, this is a very pretty website.  Very good work.

[Eoraptor]

it made me tear up... though most things regarding Paragon City do that .

I think there should be info in there about Phoenix and H&V. Project Phoenix in particular has had some fair share of media coverage for being a large scale fan-driven project.

[Aggelakis]

Perhaps also mention that they announced it on the first day of PAX. Which totally fucking soured my ENTIRE weekend. Ruined PAX for me and I actually heard occasional mention of it out on the floor, so word got around.

EDIT: Might also mention that Zwillinger actually posted an I24 teaser pic to Facebook THAT MORNING, less than two hours before the sunset announcement.

EDIT2: LEGACY > the little "definition" blurbs near the middle says GM stands for General Manager...which is true in real life, but they are Game Managers (or Game Masters) for video gaming.

[OzonePrime]

Good work!

[OzonePrime]

Typos:

The End   Why shut down a profiable game
The End   Dispite everything that has come to light

[therain93]

The achievement in realizing such a grand vision -- there are no words for such an outstanding job in narrative and execution.
 
 
Observed in the "Hope" section --
A panel with the gold box beginning "The marketing opporunities are vast" should be 'opportunities'.
Observed in the "The end" section --
IN "what it could all mean", there's a dialog box that reads "Are they still be open to selling"?  Drop the 'be'

[Todogut]

Awesome. Spectacular. Amazing. Brilliant. Inspiring.

Thank you.

[Cinnder]

Amazing!  A very thorough and attractive summary.  I'd feel confident pointing anyone with questions to this site.

[Lucretia MacEvil]

*teary*  Wow... that was amazing.

Please tell me that TF:Hail Mary will be using this site!

[batqueen]

Brilliant, told the story, and made the case for our continued existence... please, someone, please read this and do the right thing! 

[LadyVamp]

Very nice.  about all that was missing was the game's music.

[Sajaana]

It is as it was.

[Bold]

Awesome website, thanks so much! Great design, too.

[VyoletRose]

Thanks for all for the kind words! It was my pleasure to make this site. I'll be sure to implement the suggestions made so far in the next day or two.

I think I figured out the display issue in IE and I'll be making those adjustments. Firefox is still being a pain *shakes fist* but I've got a trick or two I can try to see if it will display correctly with that as well.

Glad you're enjoying it!

[eabrace]

Clicked the "Home" link on the right while on the "Our Story" page.  It directed me to "Index.html" and generated a 404 error.  (I'm guessing it's because the 'I' in index is capitalized, but I'll leave that to you.)

[The Fifth Horseman]

Thanks for all for the kind words! It was my pleasure to make this site. I'll be sure to implement the suggestions made so far in the next day or two.

I think I figured out the display issue in IE and I'll be making those adjustments. Firefox is still being a pain *shakes fist* but I've got a trick or two I can try to see if it will display correctly with that as well.

Glad you're enjoying it!

Apparently IE 9 is unable to properly handle some of your scripts. With ChromeFrame installed on top, the site works fine.

[Metal Mountain]

Perfect.

And yes, we are waiting.

[0nehanklap]

Just got a chance to go through the site:

I actually couldn't bring myself to go through all the material simply because the story is so complete and accurate I was flooded once again with all the hurt and anger of the closure.  Think I'll have to approach it in small bites.   I am wowed by the scope and coherence of your coverage.  Marvelous job.

[VyoletRose]

Hi all

I believe I fixed the display issues happening in IE8 and Firefox - all the panels are in the right spots again. Both seem to be working alright for now and I'll look into Chrome Frame, or something similar, tp help with the script handling in IE.

I also think I got the misspellings that have been caught so far and any case-sensitive link issues - good catches.

Also removed the 95-98% mention on the hope section, as it's kinda unsupported.

about all that was missing was the game's music.

I'll see about adding a music player. Would be cool to read our story with the game music as our theme.

I think there should be info in there about Phoenix and H&V. Project Phoenix in particular has had some fair share of media coverage for being a large scale fan-driven project.

I'll work this into the new current news section.

[SerialBeggar]

Grammar:
Hope --> panel with the Crey billboard, 4th text bubble:  "Why not reintroduce this strategy to fund free gameplay for free-to-play customers?"

[Harlequin565]

What an excellent summary. Amazing piece of work even if it's a sad read

Thankyou.

-H

[Ironwolf]

This is why I stopped working on my site - your vision and clarity far surpassed mine.

Excellant site and it says everything we need it to.

[wyldhunt]

Stunning, VyoletRose, stunning!

[Tubbius]

Great website.  One quick thing: spelling on "We anxiously awaited a response."  The "N" is missing in "anxiously."

[Remaugen]

Outstanding website, well done! I was extremely impressed by the quality of work invested and the thoughtful text. Very well done!

[Nyx Nought Nothing]

Thank you VyoletRose, that's a really nicely made site.
While i haven't exactly been going through the whole thing looking for problems or errors what i have looked at so far seems to be working fine in Firefox after i told noscript to allow the site's scripts.
Very professional looking and it really evokes CoH's themes and aesthetics.

[Peacemaker]

Love the website! Great work.  I really like the comic book style.

[batqueen]

This is the first time I've been back to visit the site since the Firefox fixes, and it looks amazing. It tell the story, and points the way to possible solutions, all using City of Heroes to do it. Very good work. Thank you.

[DJMoose]

O_O

All I have to say is WOW!

Incredible website!  Very thorough with links to back up the information, and I love the comic book style!

Also, saw one of my screenshots on there.

Noticed a couple typos that I do not think were mentioned yet:

Red Bar Title: "NCSoft seemed to be facing it's own Morality Mission"  should be its in this context.

Red Bar Title: "And then if finally came..." should be it.

Otherwise, damn good work!

[healix]

[VyoletRose]

Thank you all! I'm very happy you guys are enjoying the site! It was a labor of love and was a pleasure to build.

I added the Freedom panel to the Legacy section with articles - but forgot about the recent misspellings. I'll make note to fix those this evening.

[VyoletRose]

Fixed misspellings.

Thinking about another section to go below Hope - might call it "Action". It will about how viewers can do their own part in participating in our Calls to Action campaigns. Viewers will be able to view and download the flyers and banners we've made so far.

I've got to get the SaveCoH Twitter and Facebook links in the header. Then I've got to finalize some banner ad designs in order to better advertise this website. We need to get the gaming community buzzing about our game again. They need to be made aware - and help us.  Besides giving us established fans something that tells our story - I was hoping the site could create new fans who wish our game revived as well. Or at least give those who understand our plight a chance to voice their support.

Anyhoot, I'll try to get something together in the next week.

[PunkusJR]

Reading this had me in tears. I'm definitely showing this to my friends who fail to get why I get so upset over all this. this is a wonderful page ^^ Thankyou.

[Twisted Toon]

I "liked" the page on Facebook. 

[ThePhlebotomist]

This is amazing! Thank you so much for creating it!

It's still hard for me to think about it all -- I miss the game so much.

[Heroid]

Fantastic!  Beautiful work!  Thank you so much!

[FatherXmas]

For crying out loud warn people that the website is a 20MB download.  It's disconcerting that what looks to be a relatively empty page was fetching so much stuff.  If I didn't know better I would have guessed malicious software.

Well done but because how html works there isn't a guarantee that page one images load before the rest so you have to wait for the entire site to load to be sure.  I would have preferred the table of contents to take you to individual pages rather than the long wait to be sure the page was complete with a previous/next arrow on each page.

[goodtime]

For crying out loud warn people that the website is a 20MB download. 

I think separating the information out to several pages, or at least loading the parts on demand would be a more professional approach.

Don't get me wrong, I love the site otherwise.   The design and story are spectacular. 

[VyoletRose]

For crying out loud warn people that the website is a 20MB download.  It's disconcerting that what looks to be a relatively empty page was fetching so much stuff.  If I didn't know better I would have guessed malicious software.

Well done but because how html works there isn't a guarantee that page one images load before the rest so you have to wait for the entire site to load to be sure.  I would have preferred the table of contents to take you to individual pages rather than the long wait to be sure the page was complete with a previous/next arrow on each page.

I suppose I was being a little too ambitious - it's an easy fix that I somewhat prepared for. The home page now acts as table of contents and each section are now separate pages

[Globetrotter]

http://ourcityofheroes.com/Shutdown.html

This link is going to a 404.

[VyoletRose]

http://ourcityofheroes.com/Shutdown.html

This link is going to a 404.

Bah! I'm still trying to break the graphic designer habit of using title case everywhere. Should be fixed now.

[goodtime]

Bah! I'm still trying to break the graphic designer habit of using title case everywhere. Should be fixed now.

Reaction.html link on the shutdown page, too.

[VyoletRose]

Reaction.html link on the shutdown page, too.

Got it.

[VyoletRose]

Ahh *dusts hands* finished the Action section of the website. I think it's good to coast for now. Just in time too. The shutdown announcement anniversary is upon us and things are ramping up for me in RL with school and work.

Like it on facebook and tweet it. Share with your fellow gamer friends. Educate those who never heard of the game. And most of all, enjoy!

ourcityofheroes.com

[Luna Eclypse]

I LOVE the work you've done on that site. It really moved me and, at the same time, brought back all those feelings of absolute anger I was feeling towards NCsoft which wasn't a bad thing mind you. In hindsight of our rollercoaster of a journey through the sunset period and these post-shutdown days, I'm becoming increasingly concerned for the folks developing Wildstar. While they've really worked hard to make an attractive and unique game, that niggling feeling remains in the back of my head that NCsoft is not going to know how to sell it in the Asian market and they'll make another "kneejerk shutdown" reaction again to add yet another MMO to their graveyard. "Attractive and unique" don't tend to fly well in a market dominated by Manga/Anime style K-game grindfests. So they have me wondering how long it will be til we see the headline that these people are going to lose their jobs as well.

[Twisted Toon]

Ahh *dusts hands* finished the Action section of the website. I think it's good to coast for now. Just in time too. The shutdown announcement anniversary is upon us and things are ramping up for me in RL with school and work.

Like it on facebook and tweet it. Share with your fellow gamer friends. Educate those who never heard of the game. And most of all, enjoy!

ourcityofheroes.com

I really do like that website. You are an artist.

Also, I think you would have fit in with the Bouquet of Roses Super-group I had on the Champion server. I affectionately called the base "The Rose Garden". The only rule I had for the SG was that the the Characters' names had to contain Rose (Sniper Rose, Fairy Rose, Wild Rose, Yellow Rose of Texas, etc.). I even had a villain group with the Rose theme: Roses Grown Wild. The VG leader there was Rose and Posse, a Thugs/Poison mastermind.

I LOVE the work you've done on that site. It really moved me and, at the same time, brought back all those feelings of absolute anger I was feeling towards NCsoft which wasn't a bad thing mind you. In hindsight of our rollercoaster of a journey through the sunset period and these post-shutdown days, I'm becoming increasingly concerned for the folks developing Wildstar. While they've really worked hard to make an attractive and unique game, that niggling feeling remains in the back of my head that NCsoft is not going to know how to sell it in the Asian market and they'll make another "kneejerk shutdown" reaction again to add yet another MMO to their graveyard. "Attractive and unique" don't tend to fly well in a market dominated by Manga/Anime style K-game grindfests. So they have me wondering how long it will be til we see the headline that these people are going to lose their jobs as well.

Personally, I give them about a year from launch before NCSoft starts making serious closure noises.

[OzonePrime]

Very nicely done!

[Triplash]

That seriously is one very well done website. I had to stop reading partway through for a while, it just choked me up too much. You've done an excellent job on it VyoletRose, that should make a really strong impression on people when they read it.

*clap clap clap clap clap clap clap*

[Waffles]

Not to sound like a jerk, but the color scheme is kinda jarring. Any way you can separate the colors a little better to make it easier to read and look at?

[VyoletRose]

I tweeked the color scheme a little bit. Hopefully this will be better on the eyes.

[SerialBeggar]

Was the bottom of the Hope page always worded like this:  "We are City of Heroes ... and this is what we do." 

[VyoletRose]

Was the bottom of the Hope page always worded like this:  "We are City of Heroes ... and this is what we do."

Originally, I think I meant it be taken metaphorically - that we, the customers, are what make up City of Heroes. But probably better, and clearer, to just echo our slogan again - so I updated it to "We are heroes... and this is what we do."

[MaidMercury]

Sorry I have been away for a few months..
I just looked at the website. It is amazing the work you put into it. 
the design is very nive and the images you put together are very creative.

Thank you for posting, I will book mark this.

[johnrobey]

I've also been away, for about 3-4 months, but it's good to be back!  It was really great seeing this thread and checking out http://ourcityofheroes.com/ourstory.html  (I'm still scrolling thru the quotations in the Legacy section.)   That was beautiful and inspiring!!  (Okay I finished reading the website.)  What a beautiful labor of love!  Thank you!!!   

[SerialBeggar]

Bump

I was wondering if you were going to include any info on the successor projects, especially with City of Titans making a decent amount of press.  And hasn't Valiance Online been displaying and demoing their progress for the past several months?  Does Heroes and Villains have any tangibles to exhibit?

[VyoletRose]

I've been contemplating this for a while. I know I've mentioned that I would feature the successor startups - but I couldn't figure out a good way of doing it. The site in general was about telling our story with the goal of getting more outside support to pressure NCSoft to release the IP. I was concerned that featuring the successors would be a deterrent from this goal. I worried that the site's message would change to, "Please help us try to get the game back, but if not we're making other games - so no biggie if you don't want to bother NCSoft."

Realistically, I don't think NCSoft really wants to release the IP.... maybe because it needs some competition!

The focus of the site should be about the strength of our community. Going with that direction, the site would show the earnest determination of our community, and how we took a misfortune and turned it into an opportunity.

I will try to educate myself more on the successor projects so I can find the best way to portray it using the site's storytelling layout. Not sure how soon I could get something up and running, school and work are in full swing, but I will get to work on it right away.

[VyoletRose]

The first thing I can do is get the successor links listed. I will try to get that revision up in the next day or two.

[SerialBeggar]

- but I couldn't figure out a good way of doing it.

I was pondering that myself.  The best thing that I could come up with is an additional panel in the bottom of the Action section, maybe after a sizable gap, where you could evoke a cliffhanger of some sort that leads to a page with links to the other projects.