End Sinister

"Free to play" is a tricky thing isn't it? I'm not exactly opposed to it, but Lord Of The Rings Online aside, many M.M.O.'s tanked when they went free to play. Introducing such a system in City Of Heroes would be a difficult task by the devs. and possibly an even harder pill to swallow by the player base.

Gating content is unwise because it can very easily lead into, "I have a monthly subscription, but I can't become an incarnate unless I pay "x" amount." At the first sight of gating content to subscribed players I would leave immediately and I am sure that I am not the only one who feels this way.

One day City Of Heroes will inevitably become free to play in some form, that much I know.

Don't know GG, but I've been playing off and on since 2007 (new account here) and it just seems like it's well past its prime. Take into account that Going Rogue is without a doubt the last major investment into this game given the recent figures and the fact that a slew of old timers have moved on to other things. I wouldn't doubt that they have enough stuff in pipe line they've already invested in to last the next year, but after that... I'm not too sure. If the numbers continue the way they are now on such a downward trend...

I'm beginning to think that the suspicions of the server loads only appearing to be at higher capacity are just that; an appearance. I'm on right now and Virtue is in three red, yet the zones are virtually empty. Not everyone is plowing down enemies on their fifties right now... Again, I hope this game holds out for two more years.

Aww, I like City Of Heroes a hell of a lot, but I think my estimate for the lifetime of this game stands to what I said. I give it two more years. It's getting a bit long in the tooth now. Going Rogue certainly did not bring in the players that they had hoped to bring in. The DEPRESSION we're in has certainly had a negative effect too. I hope if things turn around people will resubscribe.

Look, these things happen. Six years is a long time for any type of clan to be active for any online game when most burn out within a few weeks. You all have to remember that City Of Heroes is only a game after all; people grow up or their priorities change, it's just the way of the world. Frankly, I feel players invest too much into their online lives. I'm saying this because I used to. Now, school and other aspects of my life in the real world have supplanted this once enjoyable diversion. I don't mean any of this as a slight against any of you who still invest a little more into this game than others, I'm just trying to point out why this has happened.

As for how they're going about it? I think it's great. They're calling it quits and ending everything before their S.G. that they care about becomes lost to the void of inactivity. I'm in a formerly very large S.G. that has become almost entirely inactive. I know for a fact that almost every S.G. mate was/is a college student, it seems all of us realized at some point that we either neglect our real lives and continue to live in the fantasy world we created or we expend our energy with what we should be expending our energy on.

I love City Of Heroes, it's the only game I've bought and played since 2003 (using a new account here). It was a good ride, but now I can't justify playing anymore because of real life priorities that are dependent on my hard work and attention. I'm pretty sure many of the Paragonian Knights are experiencing the same thing (aside from switching games). Remember everyone, one day City Of Heroes' servers will go dark. Seeing as this game is already 7 years old and that there is new competition out there, I have little doubt that we'll be seeing the end in the next 2-3 years anyway.

Kudos to you, Paragonian Knights, for ending things when you should.