New efforts!

[Codewalker]

simple port to a modern engine

lol

[Golden Girl]

lol

It's all relative - totally recoding CoH to fit a new engine is still simpler than making a whole new game from scratch :P

[Fanta]

If I were a gambling person, I would take that bet.

I don't know exactly how you are defining "a few" here, but methinks long time players who lost everything they ever gained through years of play are going to have some thoughts about it.

I know at first everyone will be happy just to be able to log in.   But what about a month later when everything around you in game is reminding you of all those other characters you had but can no longer play?

Clean slate



Advantages:

1-names are available on a first come first serve basis.  Act quickly because you know a lot of people will make 20 characters the first day.   Good luck getting "Firestorm" or something.

2-Everyone starts out the same.  (I guess that's a good thing?  Some seem  to want that)   This will last about a week due to some people playing more than others and some even actively striving to level up quickly and acquire wealth.

Downside:

1-You lose all the time invested achievements you ever obtained.  Characters, badges, vet rewards, inf, base and base items, crafted items.

2-You lose all the things you bought.

I think the downsides far outweigh the advantages.   ...And I don't really even care that much about the costume packs I bought.   Money is one thing...but time is what my life is made of.  I would of course join a power-leveling club to shorten the time needed to truly "get my game back"....but that's going to look like an impossible task.   How do you get those years of your super hero career back?   It's not hard to imagine that I would never get a few of those characters back no matter how long I played.   There were a couple of characters whom I liked playing....about once a month.   Would I really devote all that time to get them back?  I wonder.   I would still miss them but probably realize it wasn't worth the effort.

Given a choice, I would rather find a new name for my characters than lose them completely.

That probably only makes sense to a person like me who actually loved playing his lvl 50 characters and only started new ones on an infrequent basis.   The clean slate game would be dramatically different for me.

Starting from scratch, hmm.

I'd be pretty disappointed if I lost all my character data. I'd still play, but it would be a race to 50, as that's the part of the game I most enjoyed. And losing all my badges, I think I had around 1200 on my traps defender. Eight years of vet rewards and anniversary badges, never to be seen again! I'd be a sad panda, but I'd still play.

I had 10 - 50's, most of them min/maxed. 4 or 5 that had taken incarnates as far a possible. My traps defender had 10 or so of the lore pets. I'd still play.

I also had a solo SG. The largest plot available. Million and millions in prestige. It would take at least 5 years to get all that back solo. Max storage for enhancements (10 IIRC), everyone one them full of crafted goodies! Ya know what, I could grit my teeth on that one. I'd still play.

Yeah, Keys...... green.... D'oh!

Magisterium.... the really hard way.....

I doubt there'd be just a few people disappointed. We'll play even if it hurts!

[Kaos Arcanna]

The way I look at it, any chance to return to City of Heroes is a good thing.

If I have to start over-- if I have to buy the things I had before-- that's no big deal. After all, I spent all that money before and don't have anything to show for it now except memories.

[ag88t88]

The way I look at it, any chance to return to City of Heroes is a good thing.

If I have to start over-- if I have to buy the things I had before-- that's no big deal. After all, I spent all that money before and don't have anything to show for it now except memories.

Yeah, I'd really rather not have to re-purchase things. And I'd rather not have to re-do all my characters from scratch.  It would not be ideal. That doesn't mean it is a deal breaker.  if CoH comes back, count me in, I'll get my level 50s back, quicker now than before and even if I have to start from scratch, I know the game better now, I'll be having the proverbial do-over while being smarter and better than I was when I first started. 

Still not ideal, starting from scratch, but I'd do it in a heartbeat if that was the only option to play again.

[Fanta]

However, it can also be said that it's "possible" that there's a great flying spaghetti monster.

Does that come with garlic bread? :D

[Golden Girl]

A compromise might be to make all previously purchasable things free, but also make the restarted game sub-only for a few months, as there'd be nothing to sell in the store.
Or, alternatively, they could include all previously purchasable things as part of the full game, but require people to rebuy the game to use it again.

[roribeedm]

A compromise might be to make all previously purchasable things free, but also make the restarted game sub-only for a few months, as there'd be nothing to sell in the store.
Or, alternatively, they could include all previously purchasable things as part of the full game, but require people to rebuy the game to use it again.

Game goes sub again? I'm in. Game goes free to play with optional subs? I'm subbing even if I'm not playing for a while. Game gives no benefits at all to subs? I'm still subbing. Game requires you to buy the packs again separate from subs? TAKE MY MONEY!

Short version: Whatever their monetization plans are, they got my money.

[SpectaPhantom]

The way I look at it, any chance to return to City of Heroes is a good thing.

If I have to start over-- if I have to buy the things I had before-- that's no big deal. After all, I spent all that money before and don't have anything to show for it now except memories.

I wouldn't mind rebuying things. The way I see it is that CoH will be the only game I'm playing. A new game costs around 60 bucks. That's a lot of content I could get in CoH. A lot of hours of game time compared to a 60 dollar game I'll get 30 hours maybe stock without dlc in a new game. I'd take nickel and diming in CoH where I know it'll keep me playing vs a shot in the dark.

[AlienOne]

Does that come with garlic bread? :D

/thumbsup

With butter!

[Tyrannical]

A compromise might be to make all previously purchasable things free, but also make the restarted game sub-only for a few months, as there'd be nothing to sell in the store.
Or, alternatively, they could include all previously purchasable things as part of the full game, but require people to rebuy the game to use it again.

I'm all for this idea. It gives us all the things we originally had back, and allows room for development for a new marketing system, along with new items, and those that were WIP that were due Soon™

Means a hell of a lot less butthurt, and having it sub-only for a while is no bother, since most early access/starting phase games tend to have  a purchase element to the game before it's released for free.

It means a definite income of money, without the loss of all the hard work grinding and paying for items. There were.... 8-10 Powersets in the works, and about 6 or so costume packs due too. Enough to start the market off nicely.

[Golden Girl]

Yet another alternative might be to make all previously purchasable packs free for the first, say, 3 months of the restart - then after that, put them back in the store.
Of course, this is all assuming that they would need a cash injection at launch, or wouldn't have the account data available to see who'd purchased what in the past.

CoH had around 100k active accounts at the shutdown, so if they got even 10% of those back fro the restart, selling the game at $25 would still bring in a useful quarter of a million dollars to help keep the momentum going.

[Tyrannical]

I think if we can get the Account Data (rather than the personal Gaming Data), it could easily be identified who's made what purchases, and what stage in the veteran system they are at. As stated before, it's highly likely this information exists (especially given it's an NCSoft account, which are still current).

So, should this information be available, it's a matter of applying the same purchased serial codes to the game once more, and unlocking these items for the player's account.

EDIT: That's assuming everyone remembers their old accounts though, which may not be the case

[Fanta]

Yet another alternative might be to make all previously purchasable packs free for the first, say, 3 months of the restart - then after that, put them back in the store.
Of course, this is all assuming that they would need a cash injection at launch, or wouldn't have the account data available to see who'd purchased what in the past.

CoH had around 100k active accounts at the shutdown, so if they got even 10% of those back fro the restart, selling the game at $25 would still bring in a useful quarter of a million dollars to help keep the momentum going.

I said before that they could sell us something along the lines of a "Rebirth", or maybe the "Second Coming" cape ;) Maybe a T shirt.
Someone mentioned a Freem (sorry I can't remember the who ATM). Anyway, $50 or $100 a pop to get the ball rolling.

[HEATSTROKE]

 What I am far more concerned about beyond the recovery of my costumes and veteran badges is the recovery of the 8 years of effort I put into building 40 plus characters to level 50 fully equipped with IO's. many of which I played on a regular basis. While of course I would be happy to have the game back, I hope the current group of potential owners realize how important that recovery of character info is to the player base.

I fully realize that very well might not even possible, however I hope that is investigated. I would be willing to even play a fee upwards to around $50-$75.00 to recover my account in full with everything I had previous as well as subscribe to the game just as I did previously and buy items in the store as I did previously. I put a lot of time an effort into those characters and for me they are as much a part of City of Heroes as the city itself.

Again. It might not even be an option. And I have to say this with all sincerity that many people including myself would immediately start PL'ing and farming for influence to recover what they had lost. And again that would not be the fault of the new team if that information were not available.. It is just one of the inevitable outcomes.

The recovery of those characters to me are #2 in priority... number ONE of course is getting the game back.  Is that a deal breaker for me.. NO.. its not.. and I am not even going to remotely suggest that it is.. Would I restart.. Yes I would.. Would I prefer NOT to.. obviously.. especially when I have already looked at starting several new creations and taking them to level 50 as well.. and hopefully things like Wind Control, Savage Melee, Psi Melee, Radiation Armor and Radiation Melee will release over time.. which means more time invested.. and in all honesty I dont know if I have that kind of time anymore as my life has changed quite a bit in the last two years...

I would love to just be able to log in.. run around with my old level 50 creations and my old SG mates.. run some high level TF's and have fun..

Again I hope the new team has an understanding of the value our created characters have.. and I hope thats a part of the negotiation.. and I would fully understand if that data is not recoverable.. but they also have to understand that will cause an issue for some in the community..

[Thirty-Seven]

I'd sub, I'd re-buy the game, but I refuse to re-buy what I already bought in terms of costumes and powers.

And losing out on the powers and costume packs I bought may just be a deal breaker.  Probably not, but maybe.

If I lose everything else, that's fine, but I'd expect all of the powers and costumes that were available at close to be part of the basic game at re-launch.  If they want to make new stuff to charge for, awesome, I'd buy it, but I would consider it bad form to make us re-buy stuff they had no part in creating.

Also, I'd be a little pissed if they charged us money to re-acquire our account and character info.  That's like preying on the grieving in my book.

[Tyrannical]

I guess with the general consensus it comes down to this;

- Players would like their purchases/vet items back
- Having to repurchase all of them again would be a pain
- People may be willing to pay a little extra if it means having these items back
- Would probably be best if offered for free with subs (for a limited time)
- Account Information would be nice, if possible

[HEATSTROKE]

Again for me its not just the purchases.. sure I want that..

I want my creations.. every character.. every power.. every single IO sitting on that character.. everyone thats slotted and everyone of them thats sitting in a tray.. I want every drop of influence.. I want every merit on that character.. every Incarnate Shard and Thread..

Basically I want it all....

[Fanta]

I'd sub, I'd re-buy the game, but I refuse to re-buy what I already bought in terms of costumes and powers.

And losing out on the powers and costume packs I bought may just be a deal breaker.  Probably not, but maybe.

If I lose everything else, that's fine, but I'd expect all of the powers and costumes that were available at close to be part of the basic game at re-launch.  If they want to make new stuff to charge for, awesome, I'd buy it, but I would consider it bad form to make us re-buy stuff they had no part in creating.

Also, I'd be a little pissed if they charged us money to re-acquire our account and character info.  That's like preying on the grieving in my book.

It's called extortion. I also refuse this. A few posts above I mentioned selling an in game cape or t shirt. I first thought of this when someone suggested paying for our data a ways back. If they want money right away give us something to buy that we would want, but not our data!

[dwturducken]

lol

I thought you'd get a kick out of that! ;)

Also if they advertise it as "CoH2" and it's the same game with just some upgrades, some people are going to be upset and feel it was all a lie, when they can make a big deal out of the return and upgrades in other ways that will seem less deceitful.

I'm gonna call this an understatement. :)

Obviously, I'm all about focusing on step one, as it's been cited in numerous posts, from Ironwolf on down. following along in this thread, as best I can, I got to wondering what I really want out of a "next stage" of the game itself. I really like a lot of the ideas for future issues, as laid out in the Lore AMAs. It seems like the advent of Battalion would make a good "launchpad" for a new game, but it work just as well to be a "world changer," as the former devs seemed (as I'm recalling it) to be leading up to, like a CoH version of Cataclysm (to continue the WoW analogy).

Whatever the (obviously, potential) future dev team has in mind going forward, at the end of the day, just having the game back is (yes, IS, dammit!) going to be better than discovering a previously-thought-lost favorite pair of shoes in the back of the closet. :)