Super_Ready

My main is my forum name, Super Ready. He's an avatar of everything I aspire to be, even if the appearance is miles off.

The more astute of you will notice that the costume below in my fanart differs slightly from in-game - this is because I created Supes way back around 2001-2002, when CoH was still in development, though I never knew it at the time.
I've said a few times now that CoH is the only game I've played where I can bring MY characters to life - this is the proof that I really mean it.

This is how he looked way back when:


This is how he looks now:


This is the afore-mentioned fanart:



And I even made a model of him from an Aquaman figurine. See, Aquaman CAN be useful!:

Hell yeah, I'll chip in...!

I met the lovely Mystel in-game, we've been together for coming up to 2 years now, and we moved in together almost exactly a year ago. It's safe to say we would have had NO chance of even knowing of each other's existence without CoH.

As it is, I just love to tell people - particularly those outside the geek-o-sphere - that we met whilst dancing in a sewer. And I will never let my Grandad forget that he once described her as the girl I met "on the game".

I've actually been pondering this... more for a video that I might put together *IF* we can't save the City, rather than what I'll actually listen to at the end. So be warned, these may well end up being tearjerkers if you check them out.

Queen - Who Wants To Live Forever
Meatloaf - It Just Won't Quit
Meatloaf - Read Em And Weep
Meatloaf - Objects In The Rear View Mirror
Mariah Carey - Hero
Scorpions - Wind Of Change

Well, smeggit. I can't stream it from the work PCs *or* get to it on my phone (stupid Twitch app).
Can someone please put up a summary later, or a Youtube version if at all possible?

I almost forgot...! I DO have something else to say - it's the quote in my signature. Taken from the good General's telegram, sent from the frontlines of battle whilst surrounded by the foe.

He went on to win.

Any false information or other source of rumour that turns out to be untrue is only going to slow down the genuine efforts to save the game. For that reason, please - let's stop pondering on what anybody might have said to someone one time possibly about whether they may or may not be thinking about perhaps maybe one day picking the kids up from school or whatever.

FACTS, people. Concentrate on FACTS. If you have a rumour you think you can prove, check your sources and either prove or debunk it, then let us know. We can't work with anything else, indeed, concentrating on maybes will only slow us down.

I've already sent some details over to Penny Arcade as well. I'm a little more reluctant to go for the "spam the hell out of them" approach that we are with Valve, but certainly a few extra emails wouldn't hurt.

It would be shameful to see someone pour out their heart like this, only to watch the thread pass amongst all the others that have been here lately.

...well done, sir - putting this up couldn't have been easy. I applaud you.

False hope, my foot. And as an MA scrapper, it's quite the foot, I assure you.

I can only say this in response - trials like this is exactly what being a hero is REALLY about. It's not about the powers, the fame or the adulation. It's about standing up in the face of impossible odds, and giving it your all to fight for what you treasure most - even if you know you have no chance of success.

If that's not how you see it, then fair enough - go with my blessing, find another game that suits you if you wish. But please, don't belittle our efforts with your comparisons to charlatans and parlour tricksters.

A lot of us here in the EU were embittered by what happened with the closing of the UK studio, but that blow was sweetened by the hard work of the community reps at the time - in particular, good ol' Avatea. Now there's one I still miss.

But we've not exactly given up. Hell, I just sent this. I figure there's enough emails asking to save the game, but Valve will probably be more interested in another asset...

--------------------

Hi Gabe. If you're reading this, by now you've no doubt seen a number of other mails on the subject of the CoH announcement by NCSoft, so I won't bore you by repeating details - except to say that I too would be exceedingly grateful if Valve does pick up CoH. I've long been a fan of not just the games that Valve develops and supports, but of your successful efforts to transform the way the videogame industry looks today.

I offer instead a different suggestion. Paragon Studios, the developer working on CoH right up until the announcement, are a fantastic developer. They have time and time again become involved with the CoH community, and shown commitment to supporting and improving a fantastic game. At the time of the news, the game was on the verge of being updated with issue 24, a wide-ranging patch fixing a large number of problems once thought impossible to resolve with the game's older engine. This was received in great stead by those of us who tested the beta version of the patch, and in my eyes at least shows the talent, skill and ethic that is being laid to waste here.

The team at Paragon was 80+ strong but has very suddenly been laid off. I implore you - if you cannot save the game - please look into what you can do to pick up the staff, who will suffer the most from the game's cancellation.

If you're interested, hop onto the forums at boards.cityofheroes.com and have a look at the Dev and Community Digests for a glance back at what they've done for us (bearing in mind that most of the staff can no longer post from their previous positions). I promise, you won't regret it.

Yours crossed-fingeredly,
Matt Read (a long-time Valve fan).

Sounds good to me. Back in the days of the EERC, we were pretty close to arranging a meet-up. I'm sure we can rustle up interest for south-east England if not further.

Penny Arcade have now been emailed.

For reference - this is the text of what I put - the PC Gamer one looks pretty similar. And the brown-nosing IS genuine, before you ask, I'm not just sucking up.

________________

Hi Penny Arcade! Not sure if Gabe's direct address or the PR address would be better for this sort of thing, so forgive me for sending to both. My plea is (hopefully) simple.

PLEASE HELP SPREAD THE WORD ON THE City of Heroes RELIEF EFFORTS!

As you may or may not know, NCSoft are cancelling the game (I've already seen the coverage on the website), a long-standing superhero MMO that's been going 8 years strong now, and has in its time shown true innovation and inspired other MMOs in its footsteps. At first glance this might seem like a fairly standard occurence, given that MMOs are dropping all over the place in the last few years. But to those of us who play, the decision to drop the game makes little sense.

Not only is City of Heroes still profitable despite its age, with a steady playerbase and a dedicated developer team with one of the best communities and developer/player relationships I've ever seen - it was also still very much being improved, kept relevant by the hard-working Paragon Studios. It came as a great shock not just to us, but to them also, when at the end of last week they were told without prior warning that both the studio and the game would be shut down within 3 months.

The way that the cancellation has been handled is a shock. There were plans to implement some things that many players have been waiting for a long time for, that Paragon were proud to be bringing us. In particular, complete power customisation was just around the corner, as part of the upcoming Issue 24 release which was already on the beta servers being tested when the announcement came.

Enough background and getting to the point, then...
The players are not prepared to let the game go without a fight. There are numerous efforts in place to try and keep the game going, but the longer these efforts take, the worse the game will look afterwards as a result. There's a risk of losing the databases that hold all players' current characters, and the community would much rather keep Paragon Studios around, who know (and love!) the game just as much as we do.

Though I've not gotten in touch personally before, I've been following Penny Arcade for a long time and have always been extremely impressed and, well, humbled by the far-reaching "good work" that you do. Please, please please please help us get the word out, with your numerous fans and the fact that a great many industry professionals take your word seriously. Check out the forum thread below, which itself links to the different efforts we're getting involved in. We have a chance to save a unique game, a unique and stable community and an excellent small developer - but we don't have long and we need to get more people involved. More than anything, we need visible high-profile champions to aid the cause and this seems very much like it's right up the Penny Arcade street, so to speak.

We've spent 8 years saving our world from imaginary villains, monsters and crises - we're not about to give up now.
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=296239

Thanks for your time (not just here, but for a fantastic comic and interesting, intriguing site which I will continue to follow).

Yours unflinchingly,
Matt Read

I've always said that I will stand Defiant (plug!) until the end. That when the final hour comes, I will stand on the beach in Cimerora as the last few waves lap into the shore at my feet.
...in my mind's eye, I'm alone on that beach. But something tells me I'll be touched by the number of people I find waiting there with me.

FANTASTIC idea on Penny Arcade in particular, Feycat. If noone posts up that they have an inside track in the next couple hours, I'll shoot them a mail too.

Hi all, to let you know - I'm shooting an email off to PC Gamer to try and get the word out. So far they only have this rather generic coverage up:
http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/09/03/ci...-closing-down/

I'll be providing them with the basic background info in the hopes that they can spread the news of our efforts further.

Oooh, what's this? A random "say hello" thread. I'm on "Super Ready", under Defiant of course.

Aww, thank you everyone - especially Psy! Good job at keeping it a secret.

Thought this would be a good place to put down the vows we wrote.

I, Super Ready, take thee Mystel to be my wife. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad. I will love you and honour you all the days of Defiant's uptime. To have when in Holds, from this day forward. For better for worse, for Rikti for poorer, in [Mutation] and in [Health], until wakies doth run out.

Thanks, guys - your help means a lot, I haven't been on as much as I'd have liked the last couple days.

Everyone - please get the new TeamSpeak 3 server added if you can, kindly provided by Tri'Angel in the new sticky thread at the top of this board:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=253589

Ok, updated the main post with more names. With regards to preparation, EoE's are the main thing, earn what you can and remember they can be bought on WW/BM as well. Some handy temps would be Shivans and Warburg nukes as well, but they're less important as their use will be limited anyway.

Count me in! I'll be there. Not sure if I'll be bringing my PC or not... I will if I can manage.

He will be - thanks ATO. Updating the post with more peeps!

Thanks, guys. Psygon, if you could go with one of the fenders for now, as I could use a fender team leader.

Ok, here's who we have so far -

Team leaders:
Myself
Mystel - scrapper
Quiggles - troller
Psygon - defender

Others:
Cambo - defender
Jimmy-Lee - scrapper
Bananas - scrapper
New Dawn - blaster
ATOFelix - dominator
Primary - brute
Identity - scrapper
Target - blaster
Riff
Khaten
Mereman
Carrot Top
Generic023
Ambition
GullyRX
ExtraGonk
Alexander Hamilton

More trollers/doms and tanks/brutes would be best please! We can also use another team leader or two if anyone fancies it.

Hey everyone - just thought I'd mention, it looks like Defiant (and likely Union) will be throwing a Hami Raid next Friday, the 25th. Hop along here for more info:

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...=1#post3493009