I Burnt The Toast

Originally Posted by DarkGob

[citation needed]

Part of me is still expecting them to shut down tomorrow (end of the month since Zwil's departure).

Originally Posted by TimTheEnchanter

I think the petition is more important for the news element, than the signatures. The milemarks have gotten the story on the gaming sites 3 times now. First when it began, then at 10k, and again at 20k.

Originally Posted by Peregrine_Falcon

I did search the forum and I did not find a thread about this. Not saying it's not there, just saying that I did search and didn't find it.

Anyway, thanks for being a dick about it.

Originally Posted by Durakken

That's what you got out of what I said and while it is a waste of time in my opinion, because it is only postponing the innevitable and wasting money on something that could be spent in other places, but if that's what you want to waste time and money on. Go right ahead.

There is nothing "valuable" in my estimation about the game other than nostalgia, history, and brand name. And while those are nice to have sometimes, it is not the should be focused on. Are you really telling me that the devs can't create a newer better engine? or newer better lore? or newer better mechanics? i don't buy that for a second, but that's what trying to save this game really does. You're fighting for something that could be outdone in short order if you were to allow them to move on as a team.

For bringing in new capital that a start up needs to get going the only thing that is valuable out of those 3 things is the brand name which holds only a small amount of value, but even that with enough of a loyal fan base word of mouth would spread that it is the same people and thus in that sense isn't that valuable either. The only value then of buying the IP is the lore. And while it is cool it'd be like saying that an artist should just keep painting their first painting because it's so awesome as it is, rather than taking those skills and creating something altogether new and likely better.

Skip the buying the IP which will cost all that money, keep the team together, and create a new IP with the funds that you would spend on something that has relatively little value for what you'd pay for it. And maybe you find this all insulting that I would say your efforts are in folly, but they are. No matter what the result is, the best you can hope for is paying several million dollars for a game that due to these hits will continue to lose money likely only lasting a few more years before the numbers become too low to maintain anything more than the lights on with 2 of the 4 or 5 years left the game likely has left (now that it was hit with this) being in the red. And then where does this start up go from there? Nowhere because it doesn't have the money so it either dies or needs new investors and you are back at this same situation, pushed 5 years down road, working with a system that wasn't all that great to begin with from everything that is said.

If you take the money you'd pay for the IP and dump it into a new IP you might be in the red for the same amount of time, but the game "should" be better, you have a clean slate with new fans, and the IP is likely better and you will have a lot more profit in the end.

Assuming people follow the dev team with what they do Buying the game gives you a steady decline while building a new game the risk is virtually the same but it has a much higher RoI for an investor because there is always that spike of new people that are curious.

So in the end all you are doing is wasting time and effort if you are looking for the best possible product and profit. If you're goal is simply to tarnish NCSoft... You're doing a decent job. Or if your goal is to get your game back it's a crap shoot, but I'd bet your largely wasting your time and even if it works out you're going to get a much diminished product.

Originally Posted by TonyV

You know, I'm okay with this. If I didn't convey that impression to at least a few people, it would have been a clear sign that I was not emphatic enough and that my post was an utter failure for what it is designed to do: evoke a sense of exigency strong enough to call people to action.



Actually--and hold on to your socks because I'm about to blow your mind--it's both. Saving the community is easy. I can keep the Titan Network forums running indefinitely, post a few "Hey everyone, let's just convene over there!" messages, and mission accomplished.

If we stopped there, though, then 80+ people would still be out of a job and the labor of their love, their pièce de résistance, their Mona Lisa, would be destroyed for no good reason.



Believing that is your prerogative. Some people think that if the Mona Lisa were thrown into a bonfire and destroyed, hey, no worries. It's just a thing, and it was really kind of ugly anyway. Others fall somewhere in between the two extremes on the spectrum. Different people are coming at this from different angles, and believe me, the community is a major consideration of why I have been fighting so hard.



So that's your cutoff? You have to put yourself in mortal peril? So someone who fights a company who is dumping waste and destroying environmental resources, they're not a hero? After all, there's very little risk of mortal peril in a courtroom with metal detectors and all. A football player who is a great sportsman and role model in convincing kids to pursue high standards of academic excellence instead of just worshiping his physical prowess isn't a hero? When John F. Kennedy was piloting his PT boat, I suppose that was pretty heroic since he could have been shot and killed, but when he was navigating the tricky minefield that was the Cuban Missile Crisis, that wasn't particularly heroic since he'd probably be pretty safe and sound in the event of an actual nuclear strike?

To me, a hero is someone who fights for a noble goal, who clearly goes above and beyond the call of duty to set right things that are wrong. Are people who put their lives on the line to do so heroes? Oh, hell yes they are. Do you have to put yourself in mortal danger to be a hero? Absolutely not. And in that spirit, I really do think that we are heroes.

What NCsoft is doing is wrong. Destroying years of hard work and creativity when there are viable options in which everyone can benefit is wrong. Laying off 80+ people instead of spinning off Paragon Studios and keeping those people employed is wrong. Needlessly destroying a large chunk of a strong community without warning after helping to build it up is wrong. To me, fighting against this injustice is a noble goal, and the people doing it aren't just piloting fake heroes in a game, they deserve every ounce of support, appreciation, and respect that people have to offer.

Incidentally, if you still insist that lives have to be saved, people have told us that City of Heroes has quite literally saved their lives in some way by helping them through hard times and allowing them to make friends that they wouldn't have otherwise met. Maybe you think they're just being melodramatic, but I think they are serious. Maybe it's not as striking an image as running into a burning building and rescuing a child, but I think that it is worthwhile, and I'm extremely proud of every person here who has helped out in any capacity.

Originally Posted by Angry_Citizen

Pretty sure you're just a guy with a mouse and keyboard killing pixels and time. Some perspective, please, so you don't come across as completely off the deep end. We're not heroes. We're a bunch of cool people who grew close to each other while playing a fun game. Heroes are guys who run into burning buildings to save a child. They're not guys who run into burning buildings to save a collection of pixels. Please stop demeaning the word.

Originally Posted by Captain-Electric

They can't, unless they want to kiss all future employment opportunities in this industry goodbye. The fact is, devs THEMSELVES have pointed to Mercedes as the next best thing and the ONLY thing we've got in the way of news.

When things get tough you work with what you've got and hopefully learn to be grateful for it. And I'm grateful for Mercedes Lackey.

Lackey has also openly, publicly made statements about how devastating this has been for her and how her involvement has created more stress for her, not less; and yet she has continued to stay involved and go to bat for us. I don't personally know Mrs. Lackey, but when I see people slamming her for CONTINUING to do what other people in her shoes may have quit doing by now (feeding news to an ungrateful audience despite having Paragon's trust), it only makes me respect her more and more.

At least she has plenty of support on the Titan forums, where people are apparently not living under a rock for the past three weeks.

Originally Posted by FloatingFatMan

She's probably talking out of her backside, like usual.

Originally Posted by Golden Girl

The game isn't over yet - and if the worst does happen, you'll eventually get to take to the skies again.

Originally Posted by Dz131

They've all been kicked out the building. Skeleton crew are left to shut the servers down.