New efforts!

[LaughingAlex]

Sadly having a lot of dislikes on the one video tied to CoH IP will likely just discourage them from releasing more CoH/CoV characters in it. I don't think they care that we are upset still at the closure. This is a business move and they are trying to bring players into MxM, and if something is getting highly negative attention they will likely stop using it.

I'm not likely to play MxM as MOBAs don't really speak to me, but I will give it a load (if F2P) and do a couple of matches with States just to support the IP use. The hope here being that positive response to the character will make them think about the IP more. If they see lots of love maybe there will be hope for a CoH2, or a CoH Legacy. If they see nothing but hate they may go 'see we were right to keep that buried'.

I don't want them releasing CoX characters in a game that is a clone of DotA, I want them to focus on something like releasing the IP to people who care about the game.  But no, they had to turn and put statesman in a MOBA that won't last long due to not standing out.

They had no idea what kind of salt they'd be rubbing in the wound especially since they made it pretty clear they ain't in talks anymore with this kind of a poorly thought out move.  In a way, they broke their end of the NDA, unless the group talking with them knew and were never allowed to say anything which is a possibility.

I feel betreyed either way.

Oh yeah I forgot about how toxic communities in MOBA's can be from what I've heard.  Thats rich, Statesman in a game with a rotten community of narcissistic ego maniacs compensating for something.

[nicoliy]

So Codewalker, any good news surprises for Paragon Chat coming for the anniversary :)

[FloatingFatMan]

I really am amazed ANYONE still thinks that so called deal with Nate etc was still going on... Come now, after all this time? It's been dead ages, and this just confirms that.

[Surelle]

I really am amazed ANYONE still thinks that so called deal with Nate etc was still going on... Come now, after all this time? It's been dead ages, and this just confirms that.

I agree.

However, I hope SCoRE doesn't start getting harassed now that it's pretty much public news that CoH is never again going to see the light of day, in any official capacity anyhow.

And has anybody from Atlas Park Revival been apprised of these new developments, or is APR not really even a thing anymore?  It's been 5 years since the shutdown.  Maybe they gave up.

[Sermon]

Interesting comment from Tim Sweeney in reply to the latest MOP article: http://massivelyop.com/2017/03/22/heres-why-everyones-pissed-off-about-city-of-heroes-npcs-in-ncsofts-moba/

"The databases, I will freely admit are most plausibly gone by now. Claiming to not have the server code is risible. If they dig and ask around, it's out there."

Also, doesn't really jive with what we heard early on during the "talks" to revive CoH.

[Mister Hassenpheffer]

Talks = Smoke to placate the vocals.

Money = Never going to NcSoft products not even after the sun turns red and incinerates all life on Earth.

[MegaWatt]

they "lost the code" ? no they didnt, thats Publisher code for 'Neener neeener ! we know what you want and yoooou caaaaant haaave it". 'sorry guys we dont have the Pre-CU code any more, you'll have to settle for the NGE'. Studios have done this to me TWICE now......its starting to feel like a personal insult.

[Codewalker]

I never believed that for a second. Of course they have copies, it would be stupid for them to delete an asset when storage is so cheap. I always interpreted that as language lawyering -- the exact quote was something along the line that it's "not available" for inclusion in any potential sale.

I always read that as 'unwilling' to part with it rather than unable.

[Surelle]

I never believed that for a second. Of course they have copies, it would be stupid for them to delete an asset when storage is so cheap. I always interpreted that as language lawyering -- the exact quote was something along the line that it's "not available" for inclusion in any potential sale.

I always read that as 'unwilling' to part with it rather than unable.

I remember your saying that, actually, right when we first heard about TFHM's attempted deal.  It's good that Tim Sweeney publicly decried it too, though.  Between that and C. Bruce breaking the silence about what really killed Paragon's CoH deal in that recent Reddit, the true facts are starting to emerge.

Now if only NCSoft would just "look the other way" if a CoH emu ever launched.  I know they're fierce about that stuff and that's a pipe dream, but jeez, other developers have done it.  SOE/Daybreak has looked the other way at SWG emus and The Matrix Online emus, and even has a contract with the Project 1999 (Everquest 1 emu) crew, and Everquest 1 is still live and being run by Daybreak besides!   

I hope if there is ever a CoH emu, that it is copied and distributed so many times to so many people that it can never truly be stopped.  Maybe there could also be a backup program for character progress on the client side, too, in case players had to move from one provider to another.

Ah, well, a girl can dream....  :-*

[Codewalker]

Just thinking out loud, a peer to peer model where everyone technically has their own 'server' that synchronizes with everyone else's 'server' over a shared neutral medium would, in theory, be just about impossible to shut down.

[Surelle]

Just thinking out loud, a peer to peer model where everyone technically has their own 'server' that synchronizes with everyone else's 'server' over a shared neutral medium would, in theory, be just about impossible to shut down.

Wasn't it interesting how Tim Sweeney seemed 100% sure the code was still around?  I wonder if he knows where it is and who has it!  Oh my God, I'll shut up now.

[Sinistar]

Wasn't it interesting how Tim Sweeney seemed 100% sure the code was still around?  I wonder if he knows where it is and who has it!  Oh my God, I'll shut up now.

I wouldn't be surprised if the code was "accidentally copied" to the portable USB drives of some of the devs after the shutdown was announced.

[Kaos Arcanna]

Wasn't it interesting how Tim Sweeney seemed 100% sure the code was still around?  I wonder if he knows where it is and who has it!  Oh my God, I'll shut up now.

Who was Tim Sweeney in relation to COX?

[Vee]

Am I the only one who snickered that the game's called Master X Master? They may get a whole different group of users than the usual moba crowd.

[Codewalker]

Several people snickered when one of the posts made mention of the "Master Beta"...

[Surelle]

Am I the only one who snickered that the game's called Master X Master? They may get a whole different group of users than the usual moba crowd.

In that case, they should have had Jamie Dornan voice Statesman.   :P

[Surelle]

Who was Tim Sweeney in relation to COX?

He is none other than former CoX Senior Designer Tim "Black Scorpion" Sweeney.   :)

[Arcana]

Just thinking out loud, a peer to peer model where everyone technically has their own 'server' that synchronizes with everyone else's 'server' over a shared neutral medium would, in theory, be just about impossible to shut down.

I mentioned this on the official forums prior to shutdown as well.  I actually mentioned three different models of distributed MMO that would be impossible to shut down:

1.  Everyone has a server node, game runs distributed.  Technically challenging, but with interesting scalability if achievable.  Essentially a distributed supercluster running a single (possibly segmented) version of the game.

2.  Everyone runs a private server, and player characters are portable between servers.  This is the "Dungeons and Dragons" version of MMO where everyone can host their own games and everyone can bring their own character sheets to said game, and what is allowed and not allowed is arbitrated by who is hosting that particular session.  You can theoretically have big servers running large scale massive environments and small scale ones right down to single player instances.

3.  Everyone runs a node, and the nodes interconnect into larger worlds.  Basically, the interconnected base-building / architect version of an MMO.  Everyone makes their own little piece of the game, Second Life-style, and the game runs as a large world composed of many smaller interconnected ones.  Local processing power would determine how much complexity that node can host in terms of content and players.

I seem to recall option 2 was the one that garnered the most discussion, specifically (of course) because of the potential for private single-player gameplay as an option.

The synchronized Paragon Chat model is technically not really one of those three, but a distinct fourth option.

[Arcana]

I wouldn't be surprised if the code was "accidentally copied" to the portable USB drives of some of the devs after the shutdown was announced.

On the day the shutdown was announced, I was told they actually got all the Paragon staff together to make the announcement and while they were in that meeting their computers were boxed up to take them out of circulation.

On the other hand I've never seen an example of that process being executed in a foolproof manner.

[Sermon]

He is none other than former CoX Senior Designer Tim "Black Scorpion" Sweeney.   :)

Thanks for remembering his avatar, I was blanking on it. He was a delight on the livestreams that Paragon put on in the final years :)