MajorPrankster

So basically Tim you are raging against the current state of human affairs and you think this game shutting down over a decision in some board room is a microcosm of of what you think is wrong with humanity?

Some in this community seem to believe (and I use the word believe with the irrational connotations as opposed to the word think) that because a company chose, however abruptly or clumsily, to shutter a service that some higher power should intervene, that there should be a law or something, preventing them from doing so.

You are welcome to that belief.

"No, companies should not be allowed to lie about why they are stopping the service and spit in the face of all attempts to allow other people to continue the service in their stead."

You actually believe that any entity, company or otherwise, has any obligation to you or anyone else to reveal why it chooses to make a business decision? If you are a shareholder, then I can certainly see that line of thought, but other than that, not really. You believe there should be a law or something to prevent a company from deciding to keep it's IP as well? How draconian of you.

I loved this game for years. Sad to see it go.

I would still never condone any sort of business being forced to carry on a product or service it chooses to abandon, unless doing so some how seriously hurt the society at large, like there are regulations for utilities, etc.

This was just a game service. They come and go.

Learn to deal with it and move on or implode, the choice is, entirely, yours. Frankly, I pity anyone so embroiled in an MMO that cannot let it go. Those people need help. I had a friend lose everything, job, house, family, from getting to embroiled in an MMO. It is dangerous.

CoH was done the moment they sent all the Paragon staff home.

I don't like the game closing, but it's not the first I have seen go, it won't be the last, and I certainly won't forget it anytime soon.

Nevertheless, in a few days it will be no more.

You might notice, I never said legal or illegal, other than referring to the litigation arm of NC.

I am well aware of the various unknowns in the software field for who might really 'own' or 'rent' what is at hand. I am the IT Director and ISO for a software company, it is part of my job to be informed.

However, pretty much anything, here in the US, in this arena is still up in the air with regards to legal precedent. Cases fall on both sides, with really specific things being argued.

And, as discussed above, the best one might hope for is a ruling in favor of "I own my copy".

However, that's not my entire point, really.

The point is, if NC chooses to squash what it can be seen as an infringement, chances are that will end it.

If someone want to create a game like CoH and market it, that would be great! I would probably buy it myself.

But the entire 'emulator' idea is a slippery slope in terms of being viable in any long term. Additionally, it gives false hope, IMO.

And, frankly, IMO the only thing NC did in this case that could in any way be considered 'wrong' (at least at a 'moral' level) was to fire so many people without much notice. If they gave them anything decent in the way of severance, then even that 'wrong' becomes debatable. We live in tough times, companies close. Some think it was just a bad business more in general, some don't. I think Windows 8 is a bad business move, some don't.

So, to have all this petulant bickering over the game itself is laughable to me. It's ending. It was a great run, even though I mourn it's passing. To allow something such as an MMO closing it's doors overwhelm anyone to where it has for some is unhealthy at best. Possibly terribly destructive, even at a financial level not just an emotional one, if too many follow a bad idea.

That's what has me concerned. TonyV and his 'fellows' leading others into something harmful. You don't have to agree with me, it's my opinion.

TonyV, you never cease to amaze me in your rabid ignorance of reality.

TonyV, you and others are correct in that you did not call realists pathetic. Thanks for that, I guess.

In reality, the only reason I personally 'feel bad' about CoH closing is that one of my buddies that plays games finds CoH the easiest to play and I don't want him to stop having fun with us. That and flying rocks. Frankly, I was playing other MMOs and only playing CoH when he was around. Thankfully, he is enjoying other games with us now.

Personally, I find that anyone emotionally invested in a game to the point some of the players of MMOs are to be very dangerous. I have mentioned on these forums previously of a friend that lost everything over it. I mean a six figure income, house, everything. It's dangerous.

However, the amount of passive-aggressive emotional guilt you are slinging around is fundamentally what set me off and that is apparent if you read my post carefully. I cannot stand people that use guilt as a tool.

As for an online reputation of some kind being tarnished because of what I choose to post as my thoughts in a game forum, that simply shows me how some people take things too seriously. I do not care one whit if random people on the Internet judge me as a person based on my posted opinions over a game, simply because they disagree. There are already people in this world that want to kill me because I don't believe in 'higher powers'. Those are the ones that worry me.

The movement to get CoH moved to another publisher seems to have some level of traction and that's great. I applaud the effort. I still won't support guilt mongers.

I thought for days about posting this or not. Due to the number of people that seem to be swayed by a few well known (and well meaning I guess) voices in the community, I simply feel compelled.

Myself and several friends have enjoyed this game for years. I joined on Day 4.

Over the years, friends of ours have joined, played and left, with others joined to replace them.

Paragon has given us endless hours of fun entertainment.

It is sad that it's going and it's atrocious how the studio has been treated in this turn of events IMO.

It is equally atrocious that so many players are being given false hope that he game will ever 'be saved' or return in any meaningful form. Good intentions or not.

The developers have gone their separate ways.

Anyone that has followed the nuts and bolts of the systems that make up CoH knows that even the latest developers struggled to bend the game to their will due to the massive code base. No one will be able to just pick it up and use it.

As for campaigning for NC to reconsider or getting another company to try and buy the game, there is no sensible business person that would do so. It simply does not make financial sense.

I loved this game. I have close personal friends that shed a tear over losing it.

Please don't sully Paragons memory by spreading false hope to people in vulnerable emotional states. To me you are acting like charlatans offering to allow people to speak with their dead loves ones.

Let it go. Let people move past this. Please stop preying on their emotionally vulnerable state.