Treees
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Posts
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Joined
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Alright, I integrated all the information.
Here's stuff I'm going to add next round:
Quote:Into Misc: Lore AMAOriginally Posted by TonyV
Cross-posted at the Titan Network forums
(Note: The following is representative of our efforts at the Titan Network to Save Paragon City!. My intention is not to tread on or speak for any individual or group who is spearheading separate efforts, but I really feel this is helpful for those who are following our campaign and I'm posting it here for visibility. If you want to join, please visit the Save Paragon City! forum at the Titan Network site.)
Hey all, I wanted to expound on our message that we want to convey to various audiences. When you're discussing what we're doing with press, notable personalities, or communicating directly with NCsoft, other players, or just your friends and family, keep the following guidelines in mind. Hopefully it will help put into words and give you ideas of how to express what you're thinking, feeling, and doing in a way that allows us to speak as a community. (Though you are very welcome to add your own thoughts and ideas; after all, we want your message to be personal and accessible, not just a form letter!)
Slogans (or, Our Message in a Nutshell)
I've been using two primary slogans for our effort. The first is intended as a tagline to catch people's interest quickly...
Link to coffee talk summary:Quote:Originally Posted by Positron
Hey everyone,
I know you guys have a ton of questions about what the planned future of the game was, and me and the rest of the designers are anxious to get that information to you.
One thing we all realized is that finding a job is hard work, most of us have spent our days following up leads and getting our LinkedIn pages in order. A couple Job Faires this week have also consumed up the time we would have set aside to answer your questions for a day.
After talking with John, Sean, Tim, Jeff, and Ryan we're thinking sometime mid-next week (Sept. 12) would be the earliest we could coordinate. We will of course keep you apprised of the situation.
Our answers SHOULD be considered canon when concerning anything to do with Issue 24 and previous. Anything after that is speculative and should be treated as such. We'll note in the answer if it's anything different...
Quote:Originally Posted by Obsidius
Quick notes (view the recording of today's TwitchTV stream here):- This may be the last livestream (maybe not, who knows?)
- <Zwill gets a little verklempt on the coffee talk>
- Trying to enable VIP for ALL players & Double XP on ALL servers, as well as "as many holiday events as possible" (probably just one at a time, lamentably)...
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Quote:Do you know which numbers go to which places specifically? I'll figure out if we can get correct numbers. I heard the same deal about the directory but I don't know which number that is...Originally Posted by ElectroSolar
I agree. However, with the phone numbers posted, I recommend NOT calling. Two of them are numbers to report billing/credit card fraud and the other requires accessing their company directory by name. Neither "Taek Kim" nor "Jin Kim" are listed in the directory. Good luck with the phone calls. I recommend writing them - by hand, in ink, and on paper. A note like that shows that it was important enough to write it out by hand. (Same thing applies to "thank you" notes after a job interview, which is where I got the idea.)
You can also send a very quick message to NCSoft at http://global.ncsoft.com/global/support/request.aspx.
Global name: @shapeshifter. Join me in team!!
Alright, here's some more updates that I got from PMs:
Offsite coverage
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...osed-by-ncsoft
City of Heroes and developer Paragon Studios to be closed by NCsoft
By Robert Purchese Published 3 September, 2012
CNN coverage, needs responses to be officially published
City of Heroes Gamers Fight to Save Their World
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-837330
Offsite communities
Server FB Group: (Infinity) https://www.facebook.com/groups/extraordinarygamers
"There is a facebook page made for the defiant server. It's called: Defiant events."
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1194227840716426/ -
Alright, I got some homework done so it's time to come back to working on this. I'll integrate it later but here's some updates (I'll link to this in the changelog until I format it)
Cryptic/PW involvement debunked:
http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/sh...1&postcount=93
Quote:CNN iReport: City of Heroes Gamers Fight to Save Their WorldHi Captains,
I'm still at PAX, actually on the floor as I write this, but I had to stop by to check in on this thread with a few comments.
First and foremost, our (PWE and Cryptic) thoughts go out to the entire team at Paragon and everyone who is/ was involved with CoH/ CoV. We really wish the best for the team and hope to see their work again on other projects very, very soon. Much of the Cryptic team was actually involved with the project originally; we are all truly and deeply saddened to hear this news.
Second, the rumor that we were involved in anyway in this decision is just insane. I'm not sure where the rumor originated from but I can confirm that it completely false. Hope that clears that up.
Cheers,
Brandon =/\=
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-8373...feeds%2Flatest
A rather negative article but it has a lot of quantitative information (good research, not that optimistic :P) It has graphs though, which is REALLY nice for looking at quantificationQuote:Originally Posted by Obsidian_Light
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-8373...feeds%2Flatest
It's not reported on by a CNN reporter, but if we get enough likes/recommends, etc. It could POTENTIALLY get looked at by producers.
Edit because my brain is all over the place with all this sharing and information hunting: This puts the Community's activism into the light, in a positive manner. This is exactly what we want.
http://unsubject.wordpress.com/2012/...e-world-event/
BaB comes back with more information from Cryptic:
(I'm not for certain I added this one yet)Quote:Originally Posted by Tic-Toc
Cross-post:
Ironically, Champions Online celebrated its 3rd year anniversary today and we had a quick company-wide meeting that where last Friday's bombshell about City of Heroes/Paragon came up.
During Q&A time with Jack, I pont-blank asked him if there was any truth to the rumors about expired licensing agreement with Cryptic's COH engine. He was taken aback about this, unaware of such rumors going around. His response was that NCSoft has the license to use the CoH engine "in perpituity" for both "City of Heroes/City of Villains" as well as a 2nd game.
I asked him if there was going to be any official response to this rumor concerning Cryptic/PWE and it's not something we plan on doing. We obviously can't be aware of or comment on every rumor floating around on the internet he wasn't sure of what they could say about this particular scenario if they wanted to.
So whatever reasons NCSoft had for shuttering Paragon, it had absolutely nothing to do with the IP, which they own, or the engine, which they had a license to use indefinitely.
That's about all I can do to quell this rumor. Take it as you will.
Again, thoughts go out to all my friends, former co-workers, and recent friendly rivals who've been released into the wild. I hope to see many of them here in the halls of Cryptic very soon. :P
Non-Gaming News Coverage!
Can Social Media Make A Real Difference? City Of Heroes Players Hope So
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/09...ing-shut-down/
Nexon contact thread:
CoH thread on Star Trek Online forumsQuote:Originally Posted by William_Valence
A thought occurs. Nexon is now the largest shareholder. That might mean they have some pull in these decisions. They may well have been a contributing factor to the shut down decision, but they might be usefull in attempts to get NCsoft to sell.
(213) 858-5930137 North Larchmont Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90004
http://www.nexon.net/corporate/business-opportunities/
Are the different contacts I could find for the company.
The goal in contacting them is to convince them that NCsoft selling the IP would be more valuable than just sitting on it. Selling gets them revenue they would not get from a shelved title, as well as goodwill for supporting their most active and dedicated NA/EU community even if it means they are going separate ways.
If we can get them to apply pressure from within that could be a big help.
My Idea for the approach:
1. Burning the game to the ground burns the community. It gets them no revenue, and hurts the relationship between NCsoft and the players
2. CoH is a unique game that attracts a non-standard market. A market that NCsoft no longer targets thanks to the termination of the CoH title. Selling the game does not create unwanted competition
3. Selling the game would be a new move for NCsoft. Nexon could show themselves as leaders focused on the players. The Goodwill and press they'd get would be worth more than the money from the sale.
4. But there'd still be money from a sale. It would help pad NCsoft's numbers and make Nexon look even better with a jump in income right after their becoming the largest shareholder.
5. The community is making a very large stink about this. Contacting gaming sites, creating petitions, ect... This won't be a quiet end, and Nexon will have a large influence on whether the noise is cheering NCsoft/Nexon, or something a great deal less plesent.
http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/sh...71#post5564071
CoH Sit In
https://www.facebook.com/events/449644425079782/
Real World Hero
http://realworldhero.com/a-city-in-n...ity-of-heroes/
SOE rumor debunked twice. () E-mail:
Tweet:Quote:Originally Posted by SlickRiptide
I see a few responses along the lines of "they wouldn't want to queer the deal by telling the truth" so I wanted to be clear. The reason I don't just paste the email verbatim is that I nrver received explicit permission.
However, the relevant quote would be "Never been discussed never going to be discussed."
That IS verbatim. There was no question of hedging. In fact, I exchanged a few emails wiyh Mister Smedley and he was surprisingly forthcoming about his own experiences having to shut down Matrix Online and EQOA. He also expressed his great respect for both City of Heroes and Paragon Studios.
Bottom line: SOE is not in the picture. At all.
https://twitter.com/j_smedley/status/242813132425293824
Quote:John Smedley
@j_smedley
someone started a rumor we were buying City of Heroes. NO we are absolutely 100% not. That's a great game though. sorry to hear its fate
-----------
Also related: I'll work on the idea of a Google Docs or Wiki tomorrow most likely!
Thanks all! -
Quote:Originally Posted by Obsidian_Light
It could also be our downfall if we're not objective about what we're wanting. You don't bad-mouth people publicly, especially to reporters, because THEN it becomes set in stone, and our cause could get ugly quickly.
I guess this is where I take on a maternal role and reiterate everything our parents EVER told us with the one phrase we all got tired of hearing...
Think Before You Speak.
or my personal favorite (thanks to my father)
Don't write a check with your alligator mouth that your chicken ***(butt) can't cash.
OH wow this is actually pretty worrying...if CNN takes the spin against us.
(I'm imagingin what terrible news stations it could end up on besides CNN though, like a super anti-video game one. Imagine how bad that would be (or mabe good because it'd still get attention and a buncha people fighting them)) anyway I am being tangential.
Yes, emphasis on registering and pushing this into terrycloth where CNN will actually talk about it! When I first saw this I thought it was out and in their main publications thoroughly and surely but there's a process so don't forget!! -
Quote:sobbing a little bit @ this bc...puns....Originally Posted by LittleDavid
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEERE'S POSI!"
... though that might be Anti-Matter posing as him, come to think.
(anti-matter is one of my faves so this is also an adorable scenario) -
It's been posted on those websites:
http://kotaku.com/5939702/mmo-develo...by-end-of-year
http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/...-for-end-times
http://games.slashdot.org/story/12/0...aragon-studios
...Except for Ars Technica. Also, the content might not be what you're looking for 'cause they're just general closing news...but hm...I do support getting more news out to them ON topic -
Hey guys quick update
Since I have classes and homework and all of that crazy stuff again I may be updating this less often and be less participatory than usual
My question: should I set up a time every day where I update it or is sporadic ok? does the changelog help? this is a call for helping keep this organized 'casue with more info I'm worried about it getting inaccessible
I like formatting and think this is alright butttt I can't tell if it's good enough for others please let me know! that is a major thing along with information and i havent asked for it specifically yet so now is good i guess !
also i may export this to a wiki sometime. we'll see. i like keeping it ont he forums though cause it is alittle more accesible for many and includes more help from others ? -
Quote:ok this is really good and I will add it to the masterpost as possible other companies along with blizzard. i am all for these Contacting Corperate ideas because it's on the level ncsoft is on haha...Originally Posted by William_Valence
A thought occurs. Nexon is now the largest shareholder. That might mean they have some pull in these decisions. They may well have been a contributing factor to the shut down decision, but they might be usefull in attempts to get NCsoft to sell.
(213) 858-5930137 North Larchmont Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90004
http://www.nexon.net/corporate/business-opportunities/
Are the different contacts I could find for the company.
The goal in contacting them is to convince them that NCsoft selling the IP would be more valuable than just sitting on it. Selling gets them revenue they would not get from a shelved title, as well as goodwill for supporting their most active and dedicated NA/EU community even if it means they are going separate ways.
If we can get them to apply pressure from within that could be a big help.
My Idea for the approach:
1. Burning the game to the ground burns the community. It gets them no revenue, and hurts the relationship between NCsoft and the players
2. CoH is a unique game that attracts a non-standard market. A market that NCsoft no longer targets thanks to the termination of the CoH title. Selling the game does not create unwanted competition
3. Selling the game would be a new move for NCsoft. Nexon could show themselves as leaders focused on the players. The Goodwill and press they'd get would be worth more than the money from the sale.
4. But there'd still be money from a sale. It would help pad NCsoft's numbers and make Nexon look even better with a jump in income right after their becoming the largest shareholder.
5. The community is making a very large stink about this. Contacting gaming sites, creating petitions, ect... This won't be a quiet end, and Nexon will have a large influence on whether the noise is cheering NCsoft/Nexon, or something a great deal less plesent. -
Quote:in response to both of you:Originally Posted by Chad Gulzow-Man
Double truth.
As for $20/mo sub fees, I would definitely pay an extra $5 on my primary account, but my secondary account has already been down since June for monetary reasons. (I was planning to renew as soon as I got a full time job again, though.)
yeah the price raise would have REALLY made people mad. the existence of the market and power sets that you have to purchase already have their daily rants. (i personally liked them 'cause we were getting more profit, but i also haven't had any financial trouble) (i see them more as a privilege) anyway, personal thoughts aside
tho... i think that would've been taken care of if they had went COH IS GOING TO SHUT DOWN BECAUSE IT'S NOT MAKING ENOUGH MONEY, WE HAVE TO RAISE THE PRICE OR ELSE WE HAVE TO LAY OFF THE ENTIRE STUDIO THIS IS A DESPERATE MEASURE and make it very, very obvious how desperate it was and how it wasn't "greedy corporate bs" (which is how people who rant daily about market are like) and this goes with the whole Panic thing that causes people to be amiable to the idea
i mean, if the game shut down cause not enough people were paying, that'd be a little more understandable than Hey guys money things happening bye game there's no chance to save it cause we did it already -
dang guys don't derail this thread to let's-attack-mishii come on. if she's for real and we do bad to her it's going to be real bad for us
yes, you guys may be frustrated at her but like. come on. be polite, we don't want any accidents to happen. calm down.
(i really doubt shes being cryptic btw, it seems to me to be language barrier thing) (i am chinese but I thought mishii was korean. not sure)
also let's get back on subject. where's the tweet that confirmed this? i wanted a double confirmation : ( -
Yes, Cryptic sold it to NCsoft. BaB (tic-toc) isn't aware of any term limits, so that part is still just a rumor. He said he'll be checking and get back to us as he currently works for Cryptic.
I dunno, I wouldn't go about boycotting them but we would need their cooperation if NCsoft tries selling the game. I've heard that Cryptic/PW still own the rights to the engine...?
I wouldn't want a big increase in CO though 'cause that'd just reinforce their positivity about CoH shutting down >:/ -
Quote:To add on - it's better if we make other people outside the company react than directly the company. They're gonna care a lot more about potential and current customers than they are our community. Yes, we want them to care, but we kinda have to push ourselves into their line of sight. I'm all for trying to contact them though, 'cause we need any exposure at all possible. (I hope this made sense)Originally Posted by Alexis_NA
Tony, sounds like you're in the bargaining phase of grief.
I doubt very much the outcome will be different whether or not we talk nicely about NCSoft. -
I know for sure that Cryptic/PW had nothing to do with shutting down the game, but is it true they still hold the licence? I've heard unanimous agreement about that and that would be a factor if the game gets sold...
Also, I've still heard ideas that there was a renewal upcoming. Is that debunked too...? -
My main worry about the IP business is NCsoft has been kinda bad about this before apparently (Dungeon Runner). I hope it's not because they're jerks but something else, something that CoH can overcome. It'd be understandable if they didn't relinquish it because there wasn't enough support or cough money backing it, but I really want to find out why and cross my fingers it's something that we can deal with ahhh
It's kinda hard to find the efforts people made and how NCsoft felt, the only thing I found was this one steam thread
http://forums.steampowered.com/forum....php?t=2575445
...but, I think it's defs worth looking into. History lessons! -
My question is why NCsoft didn't go for this plan. I'd be a little upset over a price raise but if the reason was to keep this game going, then I wouldn't be upset at all because wow I don't want it to die or get in trouble because ahhahfhsfd
Why didn't they give us that option??? : ( -
NCsoft has pulled some gross moves before so I don't think they're the friendliest as a corporation, so the general reaction is understandable. Personally, I'm pretty mad at them because of how drastic and radical their moves were. I also worry about what happens next because they've been real spiteful about things such as Dungeon Runner's case (holding onto IP etc. despite closing it).
Eugh. So yeah, I have some distaste for them. I'm honestly not for defending them as "good" because I'm pretty sure another company could have handled ownership of CoH better. I think protesting and tellin' 'em we're mad is fine as long as it's not threatening (I doubt anyone has done that but just in case!) We are mad, better be honest about it. ...Yeah, I'm biased...
What I will say that if we're nasty to them it's not gonna help them cooperate. Yes, being mad is part of it and will show something but we do want them to cooperate because they still have some holds on CoH and we would like them to cooperate... so yeah, we need them on our side 'cause they still have control.
I don't think boycotting or giving them a Bad Image is counterintuitive though, that's more likely to make them rethink than be even more spiteful, 'cause the public's involved and that'd be something they'd care more than getting revenge on us. I dunno though. -
Quote:Another problem with EVERYONE VIP MARKET IS NOW FREE is that if the game DOES get saved, it would really screw things up and new players would be So Mad they missed the opportunity, etc.Originally Posted by Ukaserex
Are you serious? We were notified on 8/31. The last day is Nov. 30.
That's three months. So, we got prep time.
You want VIP status? Non-VIP were too cheap or broke to support the game with a subscription and you think they're entitled to free VIP? Seriously?
If they gave them free VIP, then they'd have to refund every VIP that's paid for it - or it wouldn't be in the least bit fair. Of course, no one said life was fair.
I just wish NCSoft had a paid subscription from everyone who's stated that they should give free VIP to everyone, then maybe the game would have been profitable enough to keep.
I don't care to read/hear how free and premium players supported the game by spending money in the paragon market. If those same folks had been subbed, CoH might not have needed to switch to the hybrid model ( a desperation move) in the first place.
I have zero sympathy for free and premium players who whine about not having vip access -- (except those that just found the game in the past month. For those newer players, I have sympathy.)
To answer your question OP:
Quote:Originally Posted by Treees
Basics- City of Heroes and Paragon Studios were officially shut down by NCsoft on August 31st, 2012.
- The official date the servers close will be November 30th.
- There may be several reasons for the shut down, but details have still not been fully revealed.
- It was NCsoft's decision. "In a realignment of company focus and publishing support, NCsoft has made the decision to close Paragon Studios."
- Theory: CoH was not bringing in enough money.
- Theory: To compensate, closed Paragon Studios.
- Sub-Theory: City of Heroes takes the fall for the mistake of Aion. "NCSoft loses 6 million in quarter." http://bit.ly/TFiZdc
- Theory: "NCsoft is now going in outsource, and will be moving to certain new games with new technology that sadly CoH Engine cannot support."
- Theory: CoH needed a licensing renewal but Cryptic/Perfect World does not want to extend a competitor (as they own Champions Online). Debunked! The real issue is that Cryptic/PW still own the license to the CoH engine. Thus, in order to sell the game, they would have to approve.
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Hey guys, I've heard a buncha ideas go around about starting a private server. I've heard that there's a still-present Cease and Desist order (letter?) on making them. Apparently people have tried before but were arrested or whatnot for doing so.
Is this true? If it is, then that's another thing we have to worry about with NCsoft.... (Unless it was Paragon who did it, I'm really not sure and I don't have sources on me) Anyway, in the case that it is, don't forget about it
Again I'm not sure so any responses are appreciated especially with sources backing up
Thanks -
There's information on how to contact NCsoft and other associated companies here:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...373453#4373460
Here's a excerpt:
Quote:USA Telephone:
(512) 225-6359
(206) 588-7200
WRITE-IN CAMPAIGN: "Never give up - Never Surrender!"
In the US:
Mr. Taek Jin Kim, Chief Executive Officer
NCsoft Corporation
1501 4th Avenue, Suite 2050
Seattle, WA 98101
UNITED STATES
In Korea:
Mr. Taek Jin Kim, Chief Executive Officer
NCsoft Corporation
157-37 Samsung-dong
Kangnamu-gu, Seoul 135-090
KOREAQuote:USA Telephone:
(512) 225-6359
Address:
NCSoft (NA/EU)
6801 N. Capital of Texas Hwy, Bldg 1
Austin, TX 78731 -
Could we maybe get a second confirmation and I mean, we could still try and see if we can convince them to go for buying it... Please...
Also, do we have any clues on what the second company is? -
Quote:I added this information with the quote from Tic-Toc. And yeah, Tic-Toc is BAB, but he was confirmed to be so by Posi, so I can see the confusion.Originally Posted by elvnsword09
Hey all,
The Perfect World/Cryptic Studios rumor has been debunked by Posi...
http://boards.coh.com/showthread.php?t=295805
Tic-Toc is Posi...
It's in the basics and debunked! sections. (Debunked has the quotes.)
Here's how it goes in the basics:
Again, C/PW was not the cause of CoH to die, but if we want another company to buy it, it'd have to go through them too.Quote:Theory: CoH needed a licensing renewal but Cryptic/Perfect World does not want to extend a competitor (as they own Champions Online). Debunked! The real issue is that Cryptic/PW still own the license to the CoH engine. Thus, in order to sell the game, they would have to approve.
I'd love to see this happen. If anyone can get the contact information about SOE, I'll add it!Quote:Originally Posted by Premonitions
Should we start a petition or letter writing campaign to SOE since it was rumored they were trying to buy out CoH?
I've included quotes from TonyV and links to the Titan forums. I would've quoted more but I don't want to be too heavy on reposting what's there. The links are up under both posts' "Offsite" sections!Quote:Originally Posted by Opal Aegis
Here is what TonyV says may work (As well as other experts Petitions are all well and good but give them something physical to slog through, like 10,000 letters, and numbers become over whelming)
...(snipped) -
This is really cleverly subtle.
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Quote:Haha, I just changed the section name to Offsite Communities. Link non-Facebook sites too! I've already added a website. Going to add a Tumblr now. Keep it coming!Originally Posted by Alexis_NA
Some of us are allergic to Facebook.
Shall we create a G+ page, too? -
Basic Changelog (newest at top)
Quote:09/10/2012 - Wow, it's been a while. Added info to the changelog, and going to integrate it soon. Sorry about the delay. Also, will add info and coverage about the Unity Rally.
- http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...page=3#4383183
- Going to fix phone numbers listed for NCsoft. Added new offsite coverage and communities sent by PM. Post is here.
- SOE rumor double debunked. Will include e-mail content; here's the tweet.
- Information gathered here, will integrate soon.
- Includes debunking of PWE involvement, Nexon effort, various news articles and coverage, words from Paragon Staff and a few groups that have sprung up
- Began discussion about putting this in a public edit format IE Wiki/Google Docs
- Future changelog additions will be more detailed
- Changelog post added
- Added new sections, quotes and information
- Thread creation with the two main retroactive posts
-
This petition is a great resource as it really shows a lot of personal feelings and such. Also, numbers!
However, I honestly believe it won't be enough! Still, keep signing it! 10k+ people really makes an impression, and the stories are great. Also, it provides a lot of information and feelings about what's happening
But, we should also try other things. I've posted about many of them here. Bring it to real life: Send letters. Call companies. Go to their doorsteps.
I'm still really, really happy we made it past 10k in just three days! <3