New efforts!

[Fleur_uk]

Thank you for taking the time again to explain what this group is doing.  As Heatstroke said and I agree this is a monumental effort and I can't imagine the stress and frustration they must be going through to get this deal sorted.  Many thanks!
I really really appreciate all they are doing and you always here to explain things with understanding and patience. 

I really just look forward to the day/moment I can log on and hear that login screen music.  Make a heroine and see Atlas again with other heroes around fighting, and even a costume contest.  That will be blissful. :)

Cheers Ironwolf and also those working for us behind the scene. xx

[sindyr]

They are finding out now that getting the game itself up and going at Issue 24 (it was only a week away from release) may be the only option at the start. I pointed out in an earlier post - there are problems once it starts. It may not be possible to easily develop it going forward. I likely am not explaining it well but the game as a game is workable. All the other parts of it are completely uncertain.

O my fraking god (and that is coming from an atheist)!

When I hear this is sounds like the best news possible. Like trumpets sounding.

Sure, I would love to have my vet badges back - I had been in the game (with one bried period of away) since pre-launch. I would love to have my dozens of level 50 toons across two accounts. I would love to have my gargantuan stockpile of inf back. And we should give getting what we can of those things back a shot.

But my biggest worry BY FAR (apart from not getting CoX at all) was not getting I24. I cannot overstate how deeply I believe, think, and feel that in human terms, I24 was CoX PERFECTED.

And to now hear that we may have to accept I24 with no guarantees of what comes next?

FROM YOUR MOUTH TO THE EAR OF CHANCE, FATE, GOD, OR WHOMEVER AND WHATEVER NEED BE.

I24 RULES!!

In this mans opinion, if we get I24 and still complain about lacking anything else, we will be like someone who was giving another hundred years to live, but complains that he's still allergic to penicillin.

I TREMBLE at the ever likening prospect of getting back, not just CoX, but I24 COX!!

Good show!!!

[Ironwolf]

Yes, the whole of my post is - the CoH game engine is likely not worth the money to buy. Get the game running - start development on CoH2 and move it to Unreal4 or whatever engine seems likely.

I know this is very sobering. I said from the start I would tell you what I can openly and honestly. Running from the truth and facts is silly. I will again state this is the status of things at this point. It might change but it seems very unlikely. I would say the most realistic situation is that the game will re-open at Issue 24 with some sort of Open Beta.

You will most likely have to start over again, however it depends on what form the Character databases are in as to whether they can tie them to players. It would be a real tragic thing to have someone else take all of your work on your past characters. Maybe seeing the game at the start as an alternative reality where the old dimension was destroyed might be the best fit. Things might change and until they get the stuff actually in their hands the folks don't know what can be done.

[FloatingFatMan]

You will most likely have to start over again, however it depends on what form the Character databases are in as to whether they can tie them to players. It would be a real tragic thing to have someone else take all of your work on your past characters. Maybe seeing the game at the start as an alternative reality where the old dimesion was destroyed might be the best fit. Things might change and until they get the stuff actually in their hands the folks don't know what can be done.

As much as I'd like my chars back, if the account data isn't available, I don't see how they could really reconcile char data back to original owners.  At best, it'd be a huge job to work it out, so just have us all start from scratch.

I just want to play again! I can always reroll.

BTW: Can anyone remember what the unlock conditions were for PB's? It's been so long now... Level 20, wasn't it?

[Dale-Man]

I believe that without getting the old character data a significant portion of the player base will be unhappy, but if it's not feasible then we'll just have to deal. Personally, if no further development is done on CoH, that actually makes me more okay with losing all that data. While the new devs are working on NewCoH, I can spend time piecing my old characters back together rather than playing with my fully developed and bloated characters.

I also kinda wanna see what the game's economy would look like without the years of built up influence preceding the market.

[HEATSTROKE]

 So basically if I read what you are saying correctly. They have the ability to get the game up and running at some point should a purchase be successful. However further development on that same engine would not be feasible. At that point they would be better of developing a " modern " game on a new engine.

Well I have always said that if CoH was running in an Issue 24 maintenance mode and never developed anything further than that they would have still gotten my 15 bucks a month....

So to that all I can say is..

    Shut Up and Take My Money..

[Thirty-Seven]

Woot!  Tally this up as a win, so far....

[Fleur_uk]

Yes, the whole of my post is - the CoH game engine is likely not worth the money to buy. Get the game running - start development on CoH2 and move it to Unreal4 or whatever engine seems likely.

I know this is very sobering. I said from the start I would tell you what I can openly and honestly. Running from the truth and facts is silly. I will again state this is the status of things at this point. It might change but it seems very unlikely. I would say the most realistic situation is that the game will re-open at Issue 24 with some sort of Open Beta.

You will most likely have to start over again, however it depends on what form the Character databases are in as to whether they can tie them to players. It would be a real tragic thing to have someone else take all of your work on your past characters. Maybe seeing the game at the start as an alternative reality where the old dimension was destroyed might be the best fit. Things might change and until they get the stuff actually in their hands the folks don't know what can be done.

It's way better than the alternative Ironwolf.   At least we maybe getting CoH back ....its more than we've had for a couple years now.  We'll hopefully find out exactly where we stand soon.  Cheers again.

[umber]

It was not stored in perfect condition to fire it back up. It was stored to retain the basic game and engine. They are finding out now that getting the game itself up and going at Issue 24 (it was only a week away from release) may be the only option at the start. I pointed out in an earlier post - there are problems once it starts. It may not be possible to easily develop it going forward. I likely am not explaining it well but the game as a game is workable.

That sounds like they only kept the equivalent of a compiled copy of the game not the code itself, and a compiled copy of the Test server at that.  A snapshot frozen in time, a snapshot taken at perhaps the best possible moment but still the limitation if not the outright prohibition of changing the code...  as if NCSoft isn't selling the vacation but photos of the trip.  Hope they can negotiate a damn good price over that.

I'd still play.  With or without my old stable of alts, with or without vet awards or badges or costume packs.  If they'd put up a subscription site today I'd be all like:

https://images.weserv.nl/?url=blog.gfx47.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F06%2Fshut-up-and-take-my-money.jpg

Thanks for the info, Ironwolf, the effort is greatly appreciated!

[Ironwolf]

I am saying that it is all a big mess. The game code may not even be completely up for grabs! All these things are what they are trying to get/do and if they are able to get the code - the game would likely not be able to be developed any further than Issue 24.

It just would make zero sense to spend a lot of money on a game engine you have to redo the custom tools to develop it with. Now you spend man hours and programmers making tools to build a game instead of developing the game. This means for a couple years nothing moves forward and you spend a lot of money to cobble together a 12 year old engine. I hope I am saying this correctly.

It really is in this much of a shamble. That is why the talks are taking so long as they find out things are really a mess. I know it seems incredible but things really are that badly confused.

[Ironwolf]

That sounds like they only kept the equivalent of a compiled copy of the game not the code itself, and a compiled copy of the Test server at that.  A snapshot frozen in time, a snapshot taken at perhaps the best possible moment but still the limitation if not the outright prohibition of changing the code...  as if NCSoft isn't selling the vacation but photos of the trip.  Hope they can negotiate a damn good price over that.

I'd still play.  With or without my old stable of alts, with or without vet awards or badges or costume packs.  If they'd put up a subscription site today I'd be all like:

https://images.weserv.nl/?url=blog.gfx47.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F06%2Fshut-up-and-take-my-money.jpg

Thanks for the info, Ironwolf, the effort is greatly appreciated!

Umber I think you said it better than I did! You are correct - it may not be the exact code as such but a snapshot of the code. This is what they are trying to wrestle through and it is not simple. You also I hope understand why I say all credit goes to these guys as they have accepted a Herculean task to clean the stables of NCSoft.

[HEATSTROKE]

I am saying that it is all a big mess. The game code may not even be completely up for grabs! All these things are what they are trying to get/do and if they are able to get the code - the game would likely not be able to be developed any further than Issue 24.

It just would make zero sense to spend a lot of money on a game engine you have to redo the custom tools to develop it with. Now you spend man hours and programmers making tools to build a game instead of developing the game. This means for a couple years nothing moves forward and you spend a lot of money to cobble together a 12 year old engine. I hope I am saying this correctly.

It really is in this much of a shamble. That is why the talks are taking so long as they find out things are really a mess. I know it seems incredible but things really are that badly confused.

wow... hope they can get a deal done.. because as someone who is working on a deal right now in real life.. sometimes you look at it and go..

Its not worth it.. Its better to start new.. and I can understand that 100%..

[Cailyn Alaynn]

I think re-building CoH is a newer engine is probably for the best in the long run. In the interest of transparency, I do develop Atlas Park:Revival (Which I really should re-name to CoH: Revival since I've moved on from just doing AP)

The CoH Engine was old, it's tools were difficult to work with at best, and It was a tangled nightmare (according to the CoH Devs themselves).
Now, they did some AMAZING things with their engine...Thanks, I believe, to their complete love for us (the community), and the game itself.
If it's going to cost millions of dollars to buy the right to develop using it...I don't believe it to be worth the cost.

Now, I've heard a lot of argument against doing so. Things like "It wouldn't play like CoH", "It just wouldn't have the same feel.".
Unreal is just a game engine. WHAT you do with Unreal is up to the developer. If your goal is to make City of Heroes in a new engine, there's nothing to stop that. You just have to put the time in. Trust me, I know how much time it takes to re-build CoH in a new engine! :P

[sindyr]

My only bit of fear is logging into a brand new account with zero Inf. While I will embrace that challenge with a smile and sally forth, over the last several years I'd amassed a GINORMOUS pile of Inf, which meant I could get the exact IOs I needed on the market for each character - 5 Luck's for each, for example.

So my fear is with a game reset not only will I have no Inf, but the supply of Luck's and other IOs will be back to zero as well. I hope I don't have to go back to farming, but if I do I can.

Maybe the new CoX company can raise dough by selling Inf or better yet IOs to those of us with more disposable income than time to play.

Any way it goes, I embrace the new chapter!

[Minotaur]

Ironwolf - has anybody asked NCSoft a cheeky question.

If the customer data is out of the question, what would NCSoft charge to send an email out to the email addresses attached to all the accounts. This email when returned would authorise the character data for the account to be made available to the new owners, and send out a randomly generated associated password so you couldn't access somebody else's on the new system. It would also encourage the account owner to log on to the new owner's website to register an email address using the password supplied.

The new owners don't see any personal data, even an email address unless they're directly given one. NCSoft gets paid for the extra work they have to do.

[Thirty-Seven]

Well if they can't develop anything new for CoH and we have to start fresh... Aside from some kind of subscription, how can they monetize it?

It seems we'd be left with the unpalatable scenario in which they sell us what we already bought... As well as character slots and the like.

[Fleur_uk]

Will the group looking to buy CoH still interested of just a 'snapshot' as it was called, of the game?  or would it make the price more negotiable?  Sorry,  I'm not techie and don't understand much of what it will take to get the game back to working order.  I get from what others have said the coding was unique and maybe abit of a mess, but just ending up with a snapshot of that unique mess seems worrisome.  Is it still possible to put the game back together with just that?   

I am saying that it is all a big mess. The game code may not even be completely up for grabs! All these things are what they are trying to get/do and if they are able to get the code - the game would likely not be able to be developed any further than Issue 24.

It just would make zero sense to spend a lot of money on a game engine you have to redo the custom tools to develop it with. Now you spend man hours and programmers making tools to build a game instead of developing the game. This means for a couple years nothing moves forward and you spend a lot of money to cobble together a 12 year old engine. I hope I am saying this correctly.

It really is in this much of a shamble. That is why the talks are taking so long as they find out things are really a mess. I know it seems incredible but things really are that badly confused.

[Ultimalord02]

Here's my 2 cents

If the best option is to revive base game at wat was developed for I24, then i say go for it. While new team works toward continuing everything with CoH2, everything available up to I24 should be open to everyone since the old wont be developed on anymore. All the extra sever slots, costumes, powers, temps, auras, insp, enhancement and recipe slots every... single... thing. At the same time, new team can also think up proper pricing for things that will of course help towards funding the CoH2 effort.


As for whether getting back all my alts....hey at this point ill be happy to start all noob up in this game again...


"LVL 8 Scrp formin all day FF mish team in hollows pst 4 inv."

[r00tb0ySlim]

Hey all.  Forgive me for a series of potentially dumb questions (I have a slight hangover).  The game comes back at I24 and we play and build up our characters back to their original greatness.  All the while CoH2 is being developed behind the scenes.  When CoH2 launches, what happens to our re-built CoH I24 characters (you managed to earn all that good stuff back  ;D) that run on the old engine?  Will we just "move" the character info over to CoH2 and be assimilated into the UR4 engine?  Will CoH2 recognize all of CoH1's achievements and goodies?  Just curious and wondering if we would need to start over again.  I'm good with either option as I want to super jump my big a$$ all over town  8)

[Minotaur]

Well if they can't develop anything new for CoH and we have to start fresh... Aside from some kind of subscription, how can they monetize it?

It seems we'd be left with the unpalatable scenario in which they sell us what we already bought... As well as character slots and the like.

This is an issue, but a one off "buy the virtual box" fee if there's no ongoing development (which I wouldn't begrudge them) plus selling extra character stuff which will always be bought by people that didn't have it should keep the wolf from the door. It will also give them a flying headstart of contacts for CoH2.