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Started by Ironwolf, March 06, 2014, 03:01:32 PM

Abraxus

Nice!  A one stop shop for CoH video goodness! 
What was no more, is now reborn!

Litintha

Been lurking around here for a while, but figured I would post this and be the first to say it.

Got an e-mail from Carbine Studios today. Seems Wildstar is shutting down November 28 this year.

Link below:
https://www.wildstar-online.com/en/news/2018-09-26-wildstar-signing-off-november-28/

So, another game under the NCSoft banner goes away...

kaaduu1280

Might be a good time to strike at them at this point.
"Do not attribute to Malice what can instead be attributed to Stupidity." -NakaTeleeli

Litintha

#28743
Quote from: kaaduu1280 on October 10, 2018, 12:42:05 AM
Might be a good time to strike at them at this point.

If their finances are hurt enough, they may have to sell asests to cover the costs.

However, with Lineage being their huge cash cow in their own country, i doubt striking out at this point is going to make much of a difference. At work right now, so i can't pull up their most recent financial report. I'll have to do that when i get home.

*edit*
Just took a look at their q2 earnings, and it looks like the loss of WildStar isn't going to have any impact. They turned a 325% yoy increase in operating revenue. So, NCSoft is not hard pressed for cash right now.

Abraxus

Yeah, they are probably running pretty lean, since a lot of their non profitable games have already shut down.  Now ,with this latest money pit shutting down, they are probably looking good on paper, even if their game portfolio isn't as large as it once was.
What was no more, is now reborn!

Tubbius

Sounds like the lesson learned is to not get attached to an NCSoft game.  :/

Abraxus

Quote from: Tubbius on October 11, 2018, 10:46:51 PM
Sounds like the lesson learned is to not get attached to an NCSoft game.  :/

I have only EVER gotten attached to one, and it's the only one that I want back any way I can get it!  :gonk:
What was no more, is now reborn!

Taceus Jiwede

#28747
While I am not happy the players of Wildstar are losing their game, it has been pretty much doomed from the start.  It was incomplete at launch and lost the majority of its player base almost instantly - I went back a year or so after launch and it was a ghostland.  Everquest probably has more active players and it is a 20-year-old game.

It was promised to be a hardcore game and never really lived up to expectations.  City of heroes was not only still popular but seemed to be doing finically well enough too - they gutted that one as a refocus.  I hate to side with them on this one, but closing Wildstar probably was a smart financial decision on their part - as opposed to CoH(Yes I know im bias) which seemed very much so to be thriving and growing.

Still a shame though, I was stoked about Wildstar, then played it and thought "This won't last 5 years"  and at this point I think we all know how much it sucks to lose an MMO we like even if it isn't the worlds #1 most popular MMO.  I hope the Wildstar players can find a new home they are happy with.

Tyger42

Wildstar was a lot of good ideas that were never properly executed.

I'll miss my little fuzzball....

Sinistar

Quote from: Taceus Jiwede on October 15, 2018, 01:50:26 AM
While I am not happy the players of Wildstar are losing their game, it has been pretty much doomed from the start.  It was incomplete at launch and lost the majority of its player base almost instantly - I went back a year or so after launch and it was a ghostland.  Everquest probably has more active players and it is a 20-year-old game.

It was promised to be a hardcore game and never really lived up to expectations.  City of heroes was not only still popular but seemed to be doing finically well enough too - they gutted that one as a refocus.  I hate to side with them on this one, but closing Wildstar probably was a smart financial decision on their part - as opposed to CoH(Yes I know im bias) which seemed very much so to be thriving and growing.

Still a shame though, I was stoked about Wildstar, then played it and thought "This won't last 5 years"  and at this point I think we all know how much it sucks to lose an MMO we like even if it isn't the worlds #1 most popular MMO.  I hope the Wildstar players can find a new home they are happy with.

If memory serves, despite Paragon Studios apparently "hemorrhaging" money as they put it, CoH was still making a profit albeit somewhat reduced. nevertheless in my own opinion, NCsoft killed a still golden goose when they shut down CoH and refused then and now to sell it.

Wildstar: I have never tried it nor any other NCSoft title as I no longer trust them after the ignominious shut down and refusal to sell CoH.

On a slightly positive note, the person that has this list of CoH vids appears to have added a few more:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQ4YtNOxMPEvF2tcm4JZqOX4rlhHkwvi_

Fun vids to reminisce over.
In fearful COH-less days
In Raging COH-less nights
With Strong Hearts Full, we shall UNITE!
When all seems lost in the effort to bring CoH back to life,
Look to Cyberspace, where HOPE burns bright!

Abraxus

Quote from: Taceus Jiwede on October 15, 2018, 01:50:26 AM
I hope the Wildstar players can find a new home they are happy with.

I wish them all the best, but as far as finding a new home, they should not have too much of a problem since the game was only around for a couple of years, and had been in decline for awhile.  This, as opposed to CoH, which was around for 8 years, and was definitely holding its own.  I still have not found a new "home", probably because I am not only spoiled by my CoH experience, but I am still holding out some irrational hope that we will get it back, so I am not even interested in looking for a new home.  Weird, I know.
What was no more, is now reborn!

slickriptide

Quote from: Abraxus on October 15, 2018, 01:24:38 PM
Weird, I know.

The saga of City of Heroes is pretty unique as far as dead MMORPG's go. The result has been a playerbase that is unusually loyal to a game that's long gone, and who have gone out of their way to remain loyal on the faith that doing so will eventually help the game be revived.

Also, the CoX playerbase is unusually vehement about NCSoft. Most gamers shrug their shoulders and either say, "That's business." or "That's EA.", mourn a bit, and then move on to something else. The number of people in CoX social media groups that still talk about the game and also still talk about their animosity towards NCSoft is astounding, IMO.

From what I've read about MxM, the suits at NCSoft may or may not have greenlit the use of Statesman, et. al. for the purposes of keeping their trademarks alive, but the developer(s) who proposed and implemented the decision had only good intentions in doing so. I imagine that everyone involved was baffled by the cold shoulder turned on the game by ex-CoH players in the USA. Differing cultures aside, it's just really unusual even by American standards for the players of a game to hold a grudge forever as so many ex-CoH players seem prepared to do. I've sometimes wondered if that cold shoulder does more harm than good, but it is what it is. A significant number of people feel HARMED by NCSoft and they won't be happy until they are completely out of the picture.

And, of course, the years of "we're close to achieving something; be patient" messages has served to keep the myth of the player buyout alive way longer than it ordinarily would have lived for most other games. (Note that I'm using the word "myth" in it's more academic meaning here; I'm not implying anything about the truth or falsehood of any of those messages.) Given that, it's not weird at all that many people are still holding on, hoping for Pandora's Box to open once again.

Personally; I think that the recent surge in interest in SEGS and its relatively recent growth from one-guy-with-a-dream into a fully-fledged team is a tacit acknowledgement by the still-remaining fan base that most of us expect that all "efforts" have failed and that it's basically up to us now to realize whatever vision of the original game we're capable of realizing.

Taceus Jiwede

CoH was really one of a kind.  I have played lots of MMO's since CoH's shut down and enjoyed plenty.  But none were as great as CoH by a wide margin.  I usually just end up missing CoH after awhile of playing an MMO.

Abraxus

I feel the CoX community turned a cold shoulder to the MxM inclusion of Statesman for two reasons.

1.  Despite the niceties that were wrapped around the gesture by NCSoft, it was a pretty obvious maneuver to make sure that they kept the copyright active, by doing the absolute minimum required to keep hold of it, despite their reticence to do anything with it.  Yeah, we get it NCSoft.  You own it, we don't, and there apparently is nothing we can do about it.  But, thanks for rubbing it in!

2.  The ONLY way CoX fans want to see Statesman used, is in the game where he belongs.  Not in some supposed benevolent gesture they were throwing to us, by using him outside of the only game where we actually want to see him.
What was no more, is now reborn!

Ohioknight

Quote from: slickriptide on October 15, 2018, 05:57:18 PM

Personally; I think that the recent surge in interest in SEGS and its relatively recent growth from one-guy-with-a-dream into a fully-fledged team is a tacit acknowledgement by the still-remaining fan base that most of us expect that all "efforts" have failed and that it's basically up to us now to realize whatever vision of the original game we're capable of realizing.

I try to minimize discussion of those things that should not be discussed and I don't know what is going on with SEGS, but the idea of a widely distributed stand-alone server that anyone can run and that can support CoH is something that has been discussed previously to enthusiastic approval -- independently of any efforts to get the game restored as an available MMORPG
"Wow, a fat, sarcastic, Star Trek fan, you must be a devil with the ladies"

Tyger42

Quote from: slickriptide on October 15, 2018, 05:57:18 PMFrom what I've read about MxM, the suits at NCSoft may or may not have greenlit the use of Statesman, et. al. for the purposes of keeping their trademarks alive, but the developer(s) who proposed and implemented the decision had only good intentions in doing so. I imagine that everyone involved was baffled by the cold shoulder turned on the game by ex-CoH players in the USA. Differing cultures aside, it's just really unusual even by American standards for the players of a game to hold a grudge forever as so many ex-CoH players seem prepared to do. I've sometimes wondered if that cold shoulder does more harm than good, but it is what it is. A significant number of people feel HARMED by NCSoft and they won't be happy until they are completely out of the picture.

The animosity wouldn't be there had they been willing to pass on the property to one of the many interesting and willing parties to keep it alive. Instead, they shoved it in the closet never to be seen again. In spite of some pretty hard core pleading from the fan base. They had to know that would cause a deep wound in those fans that wouldn't likely heal any time soon.

Sinistar

Quote from: Tyger42 on October 22, 2018, 01:55:40 AM
The animosity wouldn't be there had they been willing to pass on the property to one of the many interesting and willing parties to keep it alive. Instead, they shoved it in the closet never to be seen again. In spite of some pretty hard core pleading from the fan base. They had to know that would cause a deep wound in those fans that wouldn't likely heal any time soon.

NCsoft neither realizes nor cares how much they have alienated the CoH fanbase.
In fearful COH-less days
In Raging COH-less nights
With Strong Hearts Full, we shall UNITE!
When all seems lost in the effort to bring CoH back to life,
Look to Cyberspace, where HOPE burns bright!

Sinistar

Idea for new scrapper/brute melee power set

Martial arts 2.0 - Project codename: Bruce

Given that in martial arts movies the fights tend to use a mix of hands, feet and weapons, I figure it is time to have a martial arts power that incorporates all 3 of those elements.

Taking a note from how dual pistols lets you toggle to different ammo attacks, this set is designed to allow you to click a toggle to switch from punches to kicks, click another toggle to go back to punches, or click a third toggle to switch to weapons

Set starts off with punches, some may have a mag 2 stun to them.

At level 4 the kick toggle becomes available, activate it and the attacks become kick attacks.  Different damage or other effects to them.

At level 10...possibly 20....the weapons toggle becomes available. Similiar to a Kheld changing forms, the activation of this toggle changes attacks to weapons attacks.

1. Throwing knives

2. Shurikens

3. Battle stave in each hand for smashing/stun attack,  borrow animation from dual blades power set, take graphic for standard staff from the staff set and edit it for this power.

4. quarter staff or battle staff: similar damage/effects to the staff set power

5. the one weapon that must never fall into the hands of a master like Bruce Lee: the nun-chucks!  Heavy damage/stun effects.......possibly when standing idle have character start twirling the weapon around like Bruce would do?...perhaps new nunchuck emote for players to have fun with....? Hmmmm

Alternate idea: instead of the toggles simply make new martial arts set that has weapons in place of some of the martial arts attacks and use power customization to set attacks as punches or kicks?.....Hm.....I like the toggles better.
In fearful COH-less days
In Raging COH-less nights
With Strong Hearts Full, we shall UNITE!
When all seems lost in the effort to bring CoH back to life,
Look to Cyberspace, where HOPE burns bright!

slickriptide

#28758
Quote from: Tyger42 on October 22, 2018, 01:55:40 AM
They had to know that would cause a deep wound in those fans that wouldn't likely heal any time soon.

Korean video game culture is very different from North American video game culture. I think they expected us all to get over it and move on to the next game. That's what your average Korean gamer would have done.

Then, years later, they say, "Okay, fine" and they attempt to cater to the loyal customers of CoH and instead of gratitude they get vitriol. At this point, I'm pretty sure the NCSoft marketing people have thrown up their hands and concluded that Americans are weird.

In short - I think they DON'T know, and certainly they don't understand or empathize. The good news is that if anyone ever does come up with an emulator, I'm confident that NCSoft is just going to shake their heads and ignore it as a lost cause.

All this is just IMO, of course. I'm no more clairvoyant than anyone else, and the argument can be made that MxM was in part intended to keep the City Of Heroes brand and trademark active in case of a challenge of some sort or a need to illustrate that it still has a certain value.

slickriptide

I think that it's also worth noting that for most American gamers the eventual reaction would be to get over it and move on. CoH players are uniquely loyal to their game.

I've speculated whether this comes down to the average CoH player being someone who puts a higher-than-average value on "fair play" and "justice". The players view NCSoft's cancellation of CoH as "unjust" rather than "just business" and that colors their feelings about NCSoft and its products for many of those players.