I Burnt The Toast

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  1. One can only hope people don't get so emotionally involved.

    As for the rest of your hyperbole; meh. To say that CoH was "healthy" is quite the stretch as it was BARELY maintaining it's revenue the past few years and is anemic in comparison to 2-3 years ago.

    Posi's statement about CoH being the Largest/Most active may be true, but rest assured some MMO will take it's place sooner than later than can "boast" that. I mean SWG probably could have boasted such claims when it was shut down. I doubt CoH will have much effect NOW on the MMO industry; it didn't have that much of an effect when it was active. Most people I know moved on very shortly after 8/31 to GW2, STO, and CO. Not all CoH players are as "emotionally" attached as some/most...nor do they harbor such ill will as some people towards NCSoft.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BlueBattler View Post
    I have to admit on a certain level I wonder if NCSoft did some damage to the whole MMO concept with their decision to cancel COH so abruptly ... at least in the Western Markets.

    Personally, I can't see myself ever getting as emotionally attached to another MMO as I am to COH. Not because there isn't a game out there that is-- or won't be someday-- that's just as entertaining and fun as COH but because having been burned by such an unexpected closure-- one that not even the Devs knew was coming-- I can't see myself be willing to invest as much time and money in another game like I did COH.

    With MMOs basically gong to a FTP micro-transaction based economy, they are to a larger degree than before more dependent on customer loyalty. When they shut down such a seemingly healthy game, they didn't just affect the COH customer ... they also affected the other players of other games who read about it. Will the DC Online fan or the Champions Fan-- or the fan of any MMO that isn't WOW-- now think twice about spending $10, $20, $50 or $100.00 on a costume or pet or powerset knowing that even if their game seems healthy right now it could wind up on the chopping block at any time?

    To be sure, there are many people who are just MMO fans. When a given game shuts down, they just move on to another-- or never spend more than a few months or any given game-- but there's also the long term "been here since beta" fans of every game. How many of THOSE fans are going to cut back their financial or emotional involvement in a game because of what's happened to COH?

    I don't know. There may not be any effect at all, but it is something I've pondered lately.
  2. I Burnt The Toast

    Devs moving on

    As a gay man please do not use something that is a real world issue to compare to a frickin MMO..it belittles the true struggles that the LGBT go through every day... My life is not a game..nor are my rights - they are REAL hurdles I face every day because of closed minded people who think hate and denial of human rights is ok....


    Seriously.. CoH is a game...that's it. "Forcing" someone to team in a game is NOTHING like forcing one's morals on someone's actual life. If you fail to see the difference by comparing them...I feel bad for you.

    And contrary to your opinion Freedom (at least) ran multiple itrials every day not just Mag farms. EVERY toon of mine that was 50 had EVERY MOITrial badge (Yes even UG).


    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Bill Z Bubba View Post
    You mean all those TFs I soloed with the use of a single offline pad?

    The big sticking point here is that had the devs not decided to **** over the soloists, you'd have still been able to run all the itrials you wanted.

    The mindset of "well, you gotta team to get the incarnate goodies at less than a glacial pace" comes from the same mindset that gives us "gay people have the same right to marry someone of the opposite sex as everyone else!"
  3. I Burnt The Toast

    Devs moving on

    And as I have stated multiple times in the past: The incarnate system is what kept me subbed

    I loved the iTrials; except for UG. You and I are direct opposites...you loathe teaming...and I loathe soloing. In my 7+ years I think I have soloed a whopping 10-12 missions. If CoH were not an MMO where there were other people I could easily team with...I never would have purchased it.

    Group rewards were time gated before itrials btw...look at all the TFs

    Back to the OP: I feel confident in that the devs will easily find new work, and am hopeful it doesn't require up and moving (unless of course that's something they want).



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Bill Z Bubba View Post
    No, it makes no sense to **** over those that don't wish to team and have avoided doing so for 8 years by time-gating rewards as they chose to do so for this incarnate progress.

    No issues getting all your incarnate stuff doing DA arcs? By "getting your incarnate stuff" you are NOT talking about getting fully T4ed. The math has been laid out before and claims to the contrary are ********.

    I did care about getting more than one character incarnated out. Attempting to do so with the solo incarnate path as it is now made that impossible.

    The devs did a fantastic job of keeping things equitable for soloists for the vast majority of this game's history and then pissed it all away with the incarnate garbage.

    My hope for Positron and company as they move on to other games is that they learn from this mistake. They did lose my money over it after all and it certainly didn't bring in more money, did it?

    EDIT: Not to mention how ridiculous it was to leave the shard system in place for alpha. Bah, can you tell how absolutely sick I am of running Heather's arc twice a night every night?
  4. Meh internet created data always makes me skeptical. I mean I'm sure NCSoft is not a GREAT place to work, but I also am not going to believe a website that's main reference is past employees who may or may not hold a grudge




    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dollhouse View Post
    If the reviews on Glassdoor are any indication, you're probably more likely to be anti-NCSoft if you are an employee...
  5. Nope. I do not vote in National elections.
    I guess I could amend my post to say only that kind of logic applies to the internet and politics


    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Black Zot View Post
    Someone hasn't been following American politics anytime in the past 20 years or so.
  6. I love how if you are not Anti NCSoft you are an NCSoft employee..only on the internet will you find that kind of logic LOL!
  7. I have a question regarding the 90 Minute Live Radio Show Of Your Own. The description says: 90 minute live radio show, with 60 minutes of additional recording time available that can be heard on the replay, on Blog Talk Radio. The winner will be able to have a radio show on any subject (no sexual content please) or just play their favorite music (they will also be able to pick songs to be played on the show).

    So does that mean that I would be like a Co-DJ? If that were the case I would be interested. I always wanted to become a part of the various "Radios" out there but never had the chance due to RL.

    Any more info on this would be greatly appreciated
  8. I Burnt The Toast

    Devs moving on

    Well considering most people team - that kinda makes business sense to cater to those people. It was never about persecuting soloers as much as they like to play the martyr role. I did the solo path on one of my toons (Well ok Duoed with a friend) and had no issues getting all my incarnate stuff. Then again I really liked playing my toon and it wasn't about how fast can I get the shiney. And for some reason on that toon during the DA arcs...I got a purple drop every day so in the end I made out nicely



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ogi View Post
    And it would be on the same geological time scale as DA to keep the fast track raiders feeling like special unique snowflakes.
  9. I Burnt The Toast

    Devs moving on

    Have you played the end game of most MMOs? CoH is nowhere near as "grindy" as them. The ONLY end game "power" that a solo or small team cannot accomplish is Hybrid. Had CoH lived...there was already plans for a small team/solo option for Hybrid.

    You are right that pvp has ALWAYS been borked in CoH...which is why on my wishlist of a CoH2 ...pvp never exists.


    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Xzero45 View Post
    I completely disagree with that. Sure, he may have been around the longest, but that doesn't mean he always made smart decisions. He actually became pretty close minded as the years went by. I really feel like a new CoH could easily survive without him, and maybe even do better with fresh blood. We could get an actual endgame that doesn't punish small team/solo players, or force the player to grind as badly as ours did. Not to mention implementing a better PvP system and getting a lead designer that's actually familiar with the lore.
  10. When I see CoH2 I think people are referring to an upgraded true sequel that still contains the lore we are accustomed to, the current enhancement system, a new engine, etc etc... a TRUE sequel.

    The successor from Titan Network is Plan Z (Not sure if they have settled on a name for it... Titan City maybe?). For IP purposes it has never been been referred to as CoH2 as they cannot incorporate any of the current lore legally.


    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Vyver View Post
    I might be wrong


    but im like 95% positive that when people say CoH2 they're simply talking about a successor to it, especially post sunset.


    95%
  11. You must work for NCSoft

    (kidding)

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SuperOz View Post
    Honestly, trying to influence/boycott/bring down NCSoft/Nexon for what happened with CoH is about the equivalent of what happened with Galaxies and the NGE.

    Nothing.

    Unsurprisingly, Sony wasn't impacted by people leaving Galaxies in numbers and the game continued for several years until it was shut down.

    You can personally choose to boycott a company's product, but it's entirely unrealistic to think you or any player movement of under a million people (at least) will remotely garner their attention. The G20 summits go ahead every year and affect financial policy around the world, replete with equally worldwide protests.

    I don't mean to downplay a decision to dislike a corporation, but the reality such actions rarely if ever affect the machine.



    S.
  12. +1

    Reality

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Father Xmas View Post
    The game could have been very profitable as long as you only included operating costs like the server hosting, bandwidth, customer support, the forums and the website. But as soon as you include Paragon Studio into the mix and can't see how it could be considered very profitable on sales of only $10-11 million a year. Unless of course people are suggesting that the numbers NCSoft reported as sales revenue are a fabrication.

    Assuming the sales numbers are accurate, the game's revenues have been on a steady downward slope for several years now. Freedom hadn't reversed this trend but may have leveled it out for the time being. There was no hope for growth into NCSoft's most profitable region, Korea, as the game died in Beta there years ago.

    It's been reported that Paragon Studio had spent time and manpower toward development of two new MMOs which NCSoft rejected in their early development stages. So all Paragon Studio had going for it was maintaining a game with near zero revenue growth with revenues that were now only 40% of what they were in 2009.

    The NC Interactive subsidiary that Paragon Studio is organized under is hemorrhaging money big time, with a Q2 loss as large as what all of NCSoft reported for the quarter.

    Yes it sucks our game is gone and the devs are now in the wind, landing at other studios but on the surface I can understand why NCSoft did what they did. Who else were they going to "take it out on". NC Europe was already gutted a few years ago. Arenanet was on the verge of releasing their new game which rocked the early reviews, creating a lot of positive buzz. And Carbine Studio is listed as being under the NCSoft parent company which was profitable last quarter. Blade and Soul got good reviews when it came out in Korea at the end of the second quarter. Their bread and butter MMORPGs Aion, Lineage I and II are still raking in the big bucks in the Asian region.

    So they killed off a studio in a foreign country that was behind a game which was rejected in your home market, a game whose sales revenues have been declining over the years, a studio haven't shown you a new game idea that you liked and are part of the wholly own subsidiary that has been majorly in the red for the last several years. Sorry but from their point of view, it's the logical play to make if they want to show their investors that they are trying to reduce costs.

    Saying this doesn't make me an NCSoft supporter or an apologist but a realist. They messed up, we payed the price. Is it fair to the employees of Paragon Studio or the players of CoH? Hell no. Is it the right move for NCSoft? Probably.
  13. 1. Telling people to move on is neither small nor petty - I fear SOME people are codependent on an MMO. MMO codependency is not uncommon. Personalizing a game by calling players "family" is a bit odd to me. I have friends from the game...we still talk regularly...but they are not family. In my 7 years of playing CoH I have seen it destroy people; divorce, loss of job, depression etc...ya don't hear about all that though because that doesn't make people want to play more. I know more people who divorced because of their addiction to CoH than got married because of CoH.

    2. SaveCoH and charities? Uhmm The ExtraLife campaign was a Team CoH thing...not a Team SaveCoH thing. It was simply advertised on Titan and here. Team CoH did Extra Life last year as well.... What other charity are you referring to?? The dev dinner?

    3. You tell people that repeating their opinions over and over is "ridiculous and severely lacking in character" but the funny thing is I see people on BOTH sides repeating their opinions over and over...

    4. Emulator: It has already been stated/quoted/shown that people form Titan ARE working on an emulator. Heck TonyV stated it himself (emphasis mine):http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index....ic,5437.0.html
    Quote:
    Still, at this point, at least for now, I think that our efforts should be fully focused on reverse engineering the game servers (which they are). I also highly suggest that you use the Sentinel+ Extractor character export tool to export your characters. Even if those data files aren't used directly by CoH-derived servers, I'm sure we'll figure out some use for them at some point in the future. And of course, we still have an active contingent of people looking to develop an entirely new game to follow in City of Heroes' footsteps.
    Ya see there... reverse engineering AND a completely other plan.Plan Z. Anyone who tells you that they are NOT reverse engineering for an emulator is lying.

    5. SaveCoH mature?? ARE YOU F***ING SERIOUS? As a Korean SaveCoH has APPALLED me with their complete and utter lack of maturity. They organized a kibun attack against NCSoft CEO! That is not MATURE it is HATEFUL! That action alone absolutely disgusted me. A lot of people on Titan know I am Korean..but did ANY of them ask me my thoughts on using a Korean custom meant to SHAME people? Nope. instead they took ill advised advice from someone because they did some research on the internet and decided as a group that it was a GREAT idea all the while laughing at how much shame they would cause.... SO MATURE! If NCSoft was a German company I'm sure someone would have thought sending Stars of David to them for "murdering" the community would be a GREAT idea! (And yes people have stated that NCSoft has "murdered" the CoH community). Want more maturity... look at some of the ideas floating around on titan atm..go ahead... comment bombing (Yeah that's mature) and has already started with some quite libelous statements in those "bombs."

    I stood behind SaveCoH for a little over 6 weeks until their tactics went frickin postal after 10/2. The slogan "We are heroes...this is what we do" used to be a signature statement that showed we fought for things in a mature manner...side by side...for the greater good. Now? SaveCoH has turned into nothing but a smear campaign. SAVERS refuse to listen to realistic opinions, call people tr0lls, unicorns, NCSoft apologists, NCSoft employees, childish, etc etc... Instead of throwing poop maybe they should stop for a minute and see what kind of impression THEY are giving to people? You ever think the reason people say the SAVERS are acting like spoiled brats is because that is how they are representing themselves with their smear tactics??

    I am Not PRO NCSoft
    I am Not ANTI NCSoft
    I am Not ANTI-CoH
    I'm actually not ANTI Titan...I just refuse to be associated with their tactics.
    I am not Pro Titan - I couldn't be after what they have done and what they have planned.
    I am a realist and know there is no way to Save CoH any more. NCSoft will not sell...plain and simple..no matter how much people think that maybe just maybe they will...
    I am anti emulator...morally I think they are wrong (GASP I HAVE MORALS!?!?!?)
    I am anti Plan Z - One I don't think it has a snowball's chance in heII and two...It's not CoH.

    I will continue to post whatever I like no matter how many times you..or anyone calls me immature/rude/etc etc...because as a Coher that is my RIGHT. If my posts or my fellow "NCSoft Apologists" posts offend you so much...put me on ignore. No one is forcing you to read what I type. I have just as much right to state what I believe as the next person. I am allowed to have an opinion; whether it is popular or not is of no consequence to me. I am not here to convert people away from Titan...I am here to say what I think; especially when I see things stated which I know to be categorically false.

    And now it's time to go watch Project Runway... What?








    Quote:
    Originally Posted by LadyGrimrose View Post
    [Note: This message is not From LadyGrim, but rather the original owner of the account. She left the game and forums as she stated. I've just seen enough to put my two cents in here.]

    What I don't understand is why we have this little collective of individuals that seem to think it is their place to tell us, over and over in several posts, that we are wrong for being upset over the closure of the game.

    NcSoft made a business decision, yes. They handled that decision's execution poorly. Like it or not the day they handed out the news is suspect. Augst 31st was the first full weekend of Guild Wars 2 (preorders only played the weekend before). It was also Labor Day Weekend and PAX. By Tuesday the announcement was buried under coverage. Was this a wise business tactic, yes. For the players and Dev team though, it's bad because it didn't allow for the closing news to get the voice it could have had.

    Stating over and over that it's just a game, move on, is not helping matters and it makes you look rather small and petty. Yes, it was a game, but it was a game doing well, in its own right and the communtiy surrounding it (which includes the Devs) is hurt because it "is" (whether you like it or not) like part of our family was permanently injured.

    Statements that the Devs knew it was coming are wrong because of what was stated at the beginning of this thread. Any speculation to the contrary is merely conspiracy theorim unless one of the many Devs that has stated otherwise comes forward suddenly to retract that they weren't as surprised as the players.

    Bad mouthing SaveCoH when it has done so much for charities because of all this is, to me, a horrendous travesty. SaveCoH has been lauded for its maturity in its actions. And before you bring up emulators, they have also stated, over and over, they are not working on it in conjunction with Plan Z and they are even distancing themselves from it, at this point.

    As to why we trusted NcSoft after what they've done to other games, we haven't. We trusted Paragon Studios. If NcSoft had replaced the Dev team when they bought the game we probably wouldn't be here discussing any of this at the moment. The Paragon Devs asked for our trust, not NcSoft, and they never steered us wrong. And before the snide comment about "until the closure of the game", again, they were taken as surprise as we were.

    Your opinions are, just that, yours. Tauting them over and over and over in every thread you can find a spark is tantamount to ridiculous and severely lacking in character. If you're happy with NcSoft's decision, fine, let it drop. Go play their other games. Spouting your opinion on the matter won't change the minds of this community or SaveCoH. Stop trying to portray us as "whiney brats" when several sources have praised us for our actions, including our work for charities in the face of the closure.

    We are losing an MMO home and while it's true we could simply move the community, sadly, that won't happen. Some will go to other MMOs, others will stop playing MMOs, and a few will stop gaming all together. And that's what hurts. The heart of our community, the Devs, was ripped from us and we're being told (again by a select few) it's not okay to grieve, it's not okay to try and get the game in someone else's hands, it's not ok to considder it an injustice. Well to that select group, it's your opinion, and if you're fine with it, please, just move on.
  14. And yet people still buy MMOs...millions of people. So it only matters when it affects their game...or?

    Did people really think CoH was going to be around 20 years? I consider 8 years to be quite an achievement personally; especially when compared to the life of some other MMOs. I HIGHLY doubt either CO or DCUO will see as much life; I fear their time is coming much sooner than people want to think/admit.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lucky666 View Post
    Who cares what's in it for them, how MMOs work is NOT how video games traditionally work even for PC games. It's a relatively new thing to not be able to play games offline as far as history of video games goes. How MMOs are run seems like a den of snakes are in charge most of the time doing shady business practices to get the best tax write off.

    It really gives the video game industry a bad name and I hope to hell it changes soon but if not console gaming has hit the dream age for online play so I'm set.
  15. LOL OK. So if CoH was making 10x the profit they would still be closed down - you know that how? I realize you think NCSoft is an evil company blah blah blah, but if CoH had a much better PROFIT I doubt this thread would even exist. Again.. I stick by my assertion: CoH was profitable just not profitable enough.




    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Codewalker View Post
    You are wrong in making assumptions about the reason.
  16. I have never said CoH was not profitable - just not profitable enough to keep open apparently.

    I don't need proof to know that CoH was not VERY profitable. I can discern that from the NCSoft quarterly data myself.

    And for the record I am not PRO NCsoft, but I am also not ANTI NCSoft as they have done nothing to make me hate them.

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Codewalker View Post
    Of course they will. Never mind that out of all the people arguing about it, only one is in a position to have access to the kind of inside information that would definitively prove that, and only one would have the personal ethics to be unwilling to reveal their source -- even if it meant "losing" the argument -- because it would probably get people in trouble.

    I mean, if *I* said that I had that information, nobody would believe me. But Arcana doesn't make those kinds of statements lightly or without consideration.

    Of course they won't believe her anyway, because there's no "proof" they can see. So it's just "speculation". Never mind that saying it was unprofitable is speculation as well, but a less likely speculation since the only official statements that have been made have said that opposite.

    I'm kind of curious what kind of proof would be acceptable, in the age of electronic documents that can easily be fabricated.
  17. Yeah the last thing we need is MORE legislation. I knew my paragon point purchases were only useful as long as the game was running...I don't need some law to "protect" me because I am an adult and quite capable of making a rational financial decision regarding virtual goods.
  18. Sure you can see it that way...just like the other big businesses out there.. their true goal is profit. As I said NCSoft lived up to their mission statement to me for over 7 years. Up until 2 months ago I think you will find very little Anti-NCSoft on the forums; even though at that point they were still an "MMO Killer" but I guess it only really matters when it's an MMO you like.


    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Coyote_Seven View Post
    In other words, it's BS.
  19. I didn't play the Halloween event. I actually prefer just the regular ToTing compared to the new stuff. But all my globals have moved on so I didn't even bother logging in. Basically I am done with CoH until 11/30 when we have a in game/skype party planned for the sunset.
  20. Well the realist in me has to point out: Guild Wars 2 will end... maybe not in 2014 or even 2017...but eventually it will. It could end because of Guild Wars 3 or for a plethora of other reasons. It is a beautiful game; just not my type of game (Like I have always said... I am not an MMOer..I was a CoHer).



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Vaelynn View Post
    Tbh GW2 isn't really that bad. Its a game that I really enjoyed playing solo or with my friends. The holiday events are frankly quite amazing even though I haven't done the costume brawl.

    This does not mean that I condone what NCSOFT did to COH. I bought the game before they announced the closure of COH. Right now, I'm tempted to put in some money to buy extra inventory slots and char slots but the only reason I'm not doing so is the way NCSOFT handled closing of COH.

    Anyway I have to give credit where it is due. Anet did an amazing job with GW2 and I really hope NCSOFT wouldn't shut them down in the someday in the future.
  21. So let's see....

    Negative62.8% 118 hits
    Positive28.2% 53 hits
    Indifferent9% 17 hits
    Conclusion
    The internet is negative about erectile dysfunction.
    (As are the men who have it!)

    Negative5.8% 325 hits
    Positive92.5% 5k+ hits
    Indifferent1.7% 94 hits
    Conclusion
    The internet is very positive about viagra.
    (So are the men who use it)

    Negative9.3% 34k+ hits
    Positive88% 322k+ hits
    Indifferent2.7% 9k+ hits
    Conclusion
    The internet is very positive about porn.
    (I actually thought this would be higher)

    Negative40.7% 337 hits
    Positive59.3% 490 hits
    Indifferent0% 0 hits
    Conclusion
    The internet is positive about nemesis.
    (It's all a Nemesis plot!)

    Negative0% 0 hits
    Positive100% 189 hits
    Indifferent0% 0 hits
    Conclusion
    The internet is absolutely positive about catgirls.
    (Damn RP! LOL!)
  22. Negative56.2% 10k+ hits
    Positive42.8% 8k+ hits
    Indifferent1% 195 hits
    Conclusion
    The internet is negative about sheep.
    (What did the damn sheep do!?!?!)

    Negative9.6% 349 hits
    Positive90.1% 3k+ hits
    Indifferent0.3% 11 hits
    Conclusion
    The internet is very positive about cult.
    (I think this site is ran by Heaven's Gate!)

    Negative0.2% 154 hits
    Positive99.8% 85k+ hits
    Indifferent0% 23 hits
    Conclusion
    The internet is absolutely positive about boobies.
    (Heaven's Gate teenage boys!)

    Negative3.8% 444 hits
    Positive95.6% 11k+ hits
    Indifferent0.6% 71 hits
    Conclusion
    The internet is very positive about weiner.
    (See above comment)

    Negative49.7% 10k+ hits
    Positive49.7% 10k+ hits
    Indifferent0.6% 130 hits
    Conclusion
    It seems the internet cannot decide what to make of underwear.
    (Heaven's Gate teenage boys who go commando!)

    Negative97.1% 21k+ hits
    Positive2% 431 hits
    Indifferent1% 207 hits
    Conclusion
    The internet is very negative about catholicism.
    (SEE!!!!!!!!!!)

    Negative58% 95k+ hits
    Positive37.6% 61k+ hits
    Indifferent4.4% 7k+ hits
    Conclusion
    The internet is negative about hair.
    (Heaven's Gate teenage boys who shave their heads and go commando!)

    This site is VERY scientific! LOL!



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tenzhi View Post
    That site mildly amuses me. The internet is positive about Adolf Hitler. And Satan.
  23. So seriously what does that site count? is it like looking at web search info? Seems kinda silly to me. Trying to figure out "how" it gets it's data.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Captain-Electric View Post
    I was just feeling playful.
  24. It's also human nature to call people sheep to make yourself feel better/unique
    (Hey at least you didn't call me a NCSoft apologist or employee)

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Scythus View Post
    And that's why you'll all be forever doomed as sheep. Don't feel too bad, though, it's human nature to run away from resistance.