GlassGoblin

1. What is the history (hah!) of Ouroboros?
2. What is the truth behind the Shadow Shard, and were there further plans for it?
3. Most of the Praetorian history we learned was through unreliable narrators. Was the rest of the world outside of this tiny pocket destroyed, or did other pockets exist?
4. Azuria was a powerful mystic, we're told. Why, then, could she never remember to lock the door behind her at night?

I was thinking along these lines, myself. It's an artifact of our new, increasingly digital age, I suspect. We own nothing.

Downstairs I have a shelf of Three Investigators, Brains Benton, and Hardy Boys books from my childhood in the '60s. Until I was packing up to move, I had forgotten I had them. They are all out of print now -- well, most of them, anyway -- but I can let the kids read them by handing them these old hardbacks. If they had been digital, there's little reason to expect the format would even be readable, let alone capable of being loaned out or passed on.

Likewise, at this moment there is a bookcase full of paper RPG dating back to the mid-70s on the wall behind me. There are shelves beside me overflowing with more games. If I wanted to, I could right now pull out my copy of Unknown Armies or Over the Edge or Everway or Tunnels and Trolls and make a character, write an adventure, or go and find some people to play. They exist, I own them, and as long as I have them in my possession I can get entertainment out of them. Once the lights go out in Paragon City, nothing will remain but some digital screenshot files and my memories.

Living digitally has its advantages, certainly, but in its reliance on the goodwill of corporations, it is infinitely more ephemeral. Are we losing more than we gain?

Sorry. I spend too much time thinking about these things. It's a side-effect of getting old, I imagine.

I won't say as much as I want to -- not now, anyway -- but just chime in with others to say, "I understand." For over eight years CoH has been my escape from some pretty unpleasant circumstances, and while my escape route is being closed, the circumstances... well, they aren't. I'm grateful, though, for all those times when I could get away from a world of pain and powerlessness by slipping into my secret identity and joining other like-minded heroes in bringing justice to an unjust world, if only for a little while.

Thank you for telling your story.

Well, I guess I'll let everyone know tomorrow what I can still access, and what I'm locked out of. I at least got screenshots of my characters on Exalted before logging off tonight.

Andy,

You are great at your job, of that there's no doubt. I've enjoyed reading your comments on the backstage parts of being a community manager, because it was so completely apparent how dedicated are to making this crazy business work. But that's not what set you apart.

It's your heart, sir - your enormous, magnificent heart. Paragon was lucky to have you on staff, and we were lucky to have known you.

I hope our paths cross again some day.

== Marc

By awful, awful coincidence, tomorrow is my next six-month billing date. They have said all subscriptions end immediately, so I am guessing that I won't be able to pay for another month.

Does this mean that tomorrow I will drop to Premium, and no longer be able to access my VIP content, like all of my characters? I want to at least take screenshots and video before the Battalion destroys Earth.

Thank you in advance.

It's ironic to think that instead of giving NCSoft more money to play the game, I'll end up buying Fraps so that I can record its end.

Also, I wish I had a better graphics card. :-(