New efforts!

[Surelle]

Well, we're no worse off than ever either way, but I think we would have heard if there had been a definitive "No" given.  So I doubt it's that.

However, I can't help but wonder if NCSoft is so afraid of yet another bad P.R. scenario (or more email bombings from NA/EU) that they're just hoping to string the current Hail Mary Team along until they eventually give up. 

If this is the case, you'd think they'd also realize that we're never going to go away, and that every team that approaches them may be a lesser one than the first as far as having the capability of running an MMO goes (the first being Paragon Studios, of course), so the longer they say no, the more potential there will be for both repeated bad P.R. and additional, lesser teams to step forward in desperation.  So they may as well just get the show on the road here!   :P

In any case, until I hear a definite "No," I will still hold on to a tiny sliver of hope. 

As for Irish_Girl, her section of this forum was retired and she continued on over at her own forums.  Of course her biggest focus is on APR, which she started herself, and there really isn't a place to keep mentioning that here.  Maybe reading her forums might give some sort of hint about how things are going IP-wise?  (If a team of 200 is going like gangbusters, that might be saying something without coming right out and saying anything, lol....)

Hey, did you guys hear that Unreal 4 is free to download and use now?  You even get all the patches free as it goes along.  I downloaded it the other day, I just haven't had the guts to open the thing up yet.  Either I'm going to be thrilled, excited and find my new hobby, or I'm going to be completely horrified, I'm not sure which.  It will probably be a mix of both. 

[Ban-Sidhe]

My 10 year old asked me about CoT's progress this morning.

Son: "when are we getting the CoT costume creator??"
Me: "Soon™, son.  Soon™."

Time perception is different for kids, do you remember when days stretched out and summer vacations felt like an eternity?  Patience is not something easily obtained by children.  Now this old man is patient, I believe I'll be playing CoH again sometime this year, I believe I'll be playing some early form of CoT next year, all in good time.

Sorry... Read CoT as "Circle of Thorns"  :-[

Son: "when are we getting the Circle of Thorns costume creator??"

[Arcana]

After 8 months of negotiations, I beginning to suspect more incompetence rather than professionalism in this deal.  This is taking ridiculously long now.  I'm sorry, but no. Business just does NOT take this long for something as simple as an obsolete IP sale.

Hell, the entire company I work for was sold to an Irish firm in far less time that this deal is taking, and that was an international, multi-million euro deal involving the sale of a large software development studio, including many patents.

The emphasis may be on negotiations, not sale.  It doesn't take long to work out the mechanics of a sale, but negotiations take however long they take.  I once spent a year negotiating the terms of a contract significantly smaller in magnitude than the CoH deal, simply because the client was treating the negotiations like a game they were trying to win; always trying to add terms or maneuver around odd contract language, which I wasn't willing to accept.

[JanessaVR]

Sorry... Read CoT as "Circle of Thorns"  :-[

Son: "when are we getting the Circle of Thorns costume creator??"

Well, that would be nice, too.  I hated the Circle of Thorns re-design in CoH.  The old "robes with a shadowed face and glowing eyes" appearance for them remains my personal "fanon definitive" version of them.  They looked like bugs after the re-design - their "robes" looked more chitinous than cloth.  I kept wondering "Why are they wearing bug shells?  Did they switch from demon-worship to insect-worship?"

[Stealth Dart]

more like the COT were shells for their bug masters.   ;D

[Artillerie]

I have no doubts about the ongoing situation between NCSoft and the buyers. Contact took time, negotiations take time, hammering out the details will take yet more time. Not being privy to the details can be frustrating but as a person who realistically can add nothing to the process, I figure the best thing that I can do is to keep calm and provide tacit support by not adding any more stress to this situation.

I trust those involved to tell us all if the effort fails. They have said nothing to this effect so the process is continuing.

[MegaWatt]

Until i hear somthing i shall continue to mess around with Icon and realize how much my remade characters outfits will cost me.

[GenericHero05]

I've believed for some time now that the deal is done and the powers that be are making sure that everything will run, without a hitch, before they let us know. Who could blame them for keeping it quiet? When it comes to this amazing game, we are a pretty ruthless group (and I mean that in a very, very good way).

[darkgob]

Time perception is different for kids, do you remember when days stretched out and summer vacations felt like an eternity? 

~sigh~

I was excited as anyone with Nate's announcement but, that was SIX months ago...on a property with minimal value and upside, that the owner honestly doesn't give a rat's pattootie about in comparison to pretty much anything else they have going on.

Remember, that wasn't a planned announcement...his hand was forced by someone who was gonna let the cat out of the bag.  Might have even set negotiations back? [heavy speculation based on nothing]

[Sinistar]

Remember, that wasn't a planned announcement...his hand was forced by someone who was gonna let the cat out of the bag.  Might have even set negotiations back? [heavy speculation based on nothing]

Honestly, I wouldn't be at all surprised if his hand being forced did indeed set negotiations back a bit. 
An NDA is a terrible thing to break.

[Codewalker]

Well, that would be nice, too.  I hated the Circle of Thorns re-design in CoH.

Now that you mention it, I'm always on the lookout for a good opportunity to drop this little gem into a conversation:

https://i1359.photobucket.com/albums/q795/campweezer/forum/cot_zps5e3d337d.jpg~original

[houtex]

"COWER... and tremble before the might of the Thorns!  Your bodies will make fine hos..."

Bad timing, that.

/I know, I know... I shouldn't post off topic given a recent post, but it was *right there*...

[brothermutant]

Amen, if City of heroes was back tommorow, goodbye Millenium City(and it's trolls and nerf-head scrubs), and hello Paragon City.
Edit: To take it further.
Goodbye two-gun mojo boring spam, hello energy blasts.
Goodbye needing to use, um, a trick to outdamage the above, hello fire blasts.
Goodbye enforced holy trinity, hello time manipulation for real.
Goodbye underpowered PFF, you always sucked, hello force fields, you always ruled.
Goodbye Lightning Reflexes, you always sucked only partly dodging half attacks, hello super reflexes that actually work.
Goodbye regeneration and "invulnerability", hello city of heroes invulnerability, regeneration, and WILLPOWER.
Goodbye defiance, because I also have electrical armor.

Goodbye useless active offenses, I get to take real damage abilities like build up.
Goodbye slow superspeed, I get a 100mph super speed instead of a weak 70 mph.
But ultimately...
Goodbye utter lack of a pet class, hello Masterminds and....
Goodbye utter lack of real crowd control and lack of solid buffs/debuffs, and hello all the buff and debuff sets and I most certainly miss storm summoning.  And as mentioned time manipulation.

Oh Yeah. Gawd I miss the actual MMs of CoX. So much fun to have minions do what I COMMAND OF THEM. MUA AHAHAHAHA!!

[Ryo Kinsaru]

After fighting with it for the entire duration of this forum, hearing about it very near to Ironwolf's first post, I finally caved and downloaded and installed the Icon costume creator. Man, talk about a torrent of mixed emotions. Like a dummy I never saved all of those awesome screenshots from back in the day, and seeing Ryo running around in the entry zone again was... brutal. I don't know if there were more laughs or cries, but man, that was rough. Hurry up, please!

[JanessaVR]

Now that you mention it, I'm always on the lookout for a good opportunity to drop this little gem into a conversation:

LOL!  Wasn't that the truth!  :)

[GamingGlen]

That pretty much sums up my view on spiky armor fantasy art.

[Waffles]

*Inhales*

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

[FloatingFatMan]

Hey, did you guys hear that Unreal 4 is free to download and use now?  You even get all the patches free as it goes along.  I downloaded it the other day, I just haven't had the guts to open the thing up yet.  Either I'm going to be thrilled, excited and find my new hobby, or I'm going to be completely horrified, I'm not sure which.  It will probably be a mix of both.

Already tried it, and was disgusted to see that a lot of the stuff the CoT folks showed us at Christmas, was built in stuff...

[Noyjitat]

Well, that would be nice, too.  I hated the Circle of Thorns re-design in CoH.  The old "robes with a shadowed face and glowing eyes" appearance for them remains my personal "fanon definitive" version of them. 

I liked having access to the new costume pieces they gave them but again the devs held back some of the pieces from player use (aughh!!) and I agree the old look was much better but if you hated the new look, you should of seen the look they were going to give them. They Looked like freakin clowns... It was aweful.

[Noyjitat]

While I'm not fully in agreement with this position, I'm certainly getting much, much closer to it.

With Q1-2015 nearly in the bag now, I can't help but wonder if anything is happening at all.

Having worked in Fortune 500 companies for most of my adult life, I'm fully aware of the amount of time that projects and negotiations can drag on, but I'm equally aware that simple projects can happen very quickly when motivated parties have a vested interest in the outcome.

I don't get a sense that latter point is the case here.

I was excited as anyone with Nate's announcement but, that was SIX months ago...on a property with minimal value and upside, that the owner honestly doesn't give a rat's pattootie about in comparison to pretty much anything else they have going on.

782 pages into this thread, I've got minimal expectation of seeing CoH ever again... I hope they prove me wrong.

I know the "anthem" is "No news is good news", however to me it's looking far more like "...any sufficient amount of silence is indistiguishable from complete inactivity".

To quote The Princess Bride, "Have fun storming the Castle boys!"

I'm out,
4

The wait is so immeasurably painful that it feels like an impossible reality and I've felt this way many times... However I do have hope that we will get the game back someday.

And then we can enjoy the game until it dies the correct healthy way that an mmo should die. Being replaced by a sequel that caters to it's loyal fans or a remake.

In my eyes coh could of lasted ten or more years if they had continued to update and upgrade existing systems. Eventually updating to a new engine, adding animated faces and new graphics (beyond going rogue) updating the client to take advantage of multiple amd and nvidia gpus those core updates over time ensure the game can never truly die.