houtex
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Posts
1500 -
Joined
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Quote:I am... quite humbled. Thank you, I'm glad you think well of it, means a lot. I hope it makes TPTB take a second look at things, myself. But I'm also a realist... more on this below.Originally Posted by Rejuvenatrix
houtex....I salute you. Your letter made me cry. If we all can send in letters, half as good as yours, our point will get across, loud and clear. NC Soft needs to understand that this community of gamers is different than the others. Nasty, poorly worded letters will get us nowhere. No one hears the person who is loud, and says nothing of value, but everyone hears those who are vocal, and offer a positive message. Again, houtex, I salute you. An inspiring letter. And to Tony V...you, sir, get a standing ovation from me, and all my alts. We are lucky to have you!
But again, sincerely and humbly, thank you very much.
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Quote:Originally Posted by DarkGob
No, but it is easier and requires substantially less effort, which makes it easier for rude people and trolls in general to send their less-than-helpful messages. And like Tony said, these e-mail addresses were not made publicly available...until now.
This worries me for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that it shows how desperate the Save CoH movement has gotten, which isn't a good sign at all.Quote:Originally Posted by Fista
I think the issue is to chose from the things that CAN have positive out comes verses those that CAN'T.
I believe this e-mail option to be a serious misstep. Not dooming us but certainly not helping.Quote:Originally Posted by Angry_Citizen
I agree, it is jumping the gun way too soon.Guys and gals, the box has been opened, indeed. And as has been said, the fix, if there is any to this, is what I said in my message, which is, I hope to outnumber, or perhaps outflank, the rabble-rabble of the angry idiots (yes, I'm calling them that) who would verbally beat the living **** out of any of the CEOs.Quote:Originally Posted by DarkGob
This. Pretty much opening Pandora's Box.
THAT is the one and only reason I even fired one off. To try to tip the balance from the dumb *****. It may be a futile effort, but once the damage was done, I had to do my part *immediately* so the better message that I hope my letter is wouldn't be lumped into the 'forget that noise' bin of their mail servers. Time was absolutely of the essence in this.
Even then, however, the, oh, 3 or 4 hours maybe? It was perhaps too late to avoid the auto-pruning of anything Co* related. I can only hope at this point.. hey, there's a Pandora's Box reference for ya.
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And having said THAT... it may be a moot point anyway. One, it could be they'll just ask the email people to give them a new address, shoot it to the important people, and then box the others for now, just dumping everything into a spare server or such to weed out any important emails and junk the rest.
Secondly, they may get a ton of junk mail anyway, and can weed it out themselves very quickly. I know I can with my email. Move the ones I wanna keep into a folder, destroy the rest. Tada.
So they may not even open One. Single. Email. from us.
Regardless, it felt... and now, especially, still does... feel like the right thing is to do something to balance out any bozos who would say the dumbest of things that would do nothing but confirm their decision being right, we players are just pining for the game.
I am not. I can, in fact, live my life without it. I will not be happy about losing the game, but... I'm going to get on with my life because that's what I should do.
I'd just rather it didn't get destroyed and lost like so many other fantastic works of art have in the past, and dishonor/disappoint/disillusion the people who made it:
The Producers, The Publishers, The Devs, the Mods, and Us.
And if they can somehow get some... or all... of Paragon Studios to survive, keep their jobs, keep the game going, and they can keep the game profitable? Bonus. Way the hell awesome bonus.
#SaveCoH
#AP33Forever
Pinnacle Represent!
Mike
/Soapbox -
First: Funny how some of the posts are sparring about one liners... *rolleyes*
Now then...
>Cross posted from Titan<
I waffled a little on this. I truly did. On the one hand, sure, it's rude, and they'll be getting a ton of crap from some seriously angry people, and that is the damn shame of it all right there.
And as such I on the face of it wanted no part of it. Because I don't want to be part of those who would threaten and shout at the people who did, in fact, keep this game going for 8 years. Let us not forget that.
And I thought... I had other things to do... still do, they're delayed now... but I thought... and decided... if I don't do it now, I won't get an opportunity later.
So I sent a letter to the three of them. It took me an hour to write, and I'm sure it's completely inadequate and wrong of me to have done so. But I did it anyway, because time is short, they're not talking, so I'm going to speak up, and directly. Frack it.
Here is what I sent them, for better or worse. And if you guys/gals have a problem with it, well... I'm sorry I disappointed in some way, but It Is Done.
Quote:MikeDear Sirs and Madam:
I am hoping that I may somehow get in before the deluge of emails that are probably coming your way. I am hopeful you will understand the passion for which some of the people who are going to email you, since your addresses have become public.
But it is my belief that not speaking now is a mistake. Time is short, and any effort needs to be swift, and as such, I am writing to you directly.
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The unexpected decision to close Paragon Studios and sunset City of Heroes was a shock two weeks ago. It still is. Many would (and have done so, sad to say) decry this decision, simply because their 'toy' is being taken away. I do not believe I am one of those people. I would not fight for just the game, that is self-serving of an individual at best, and is not the only reason why I'm writing you.
I personally can understand business decisions regarding product. If the product isn't selling, or more to the point, isn't generating profit, then it is something that cannot sustain itself, and it needs to be taken off the market. To read what I have, this was not the case for City of Heroes. There appear to be other titles in your library that would have been a better choice in this respect, to read the reports. This sows confusion among the customers.
Then there is this: That Blade and Soul is now being offered just after, and that Guild Wars 2 was released just before, the announcement of the closure of City of Heroes simply reeks of a push to get us to play something else in your library rather than carry on with our preferred game of choice. That there was also more content (and that content was to be, as is said in the community, "HUGE") on the cusp of being released 'Live' in City of Heroes just about drives the stake in on this theory.
Further, the complete silence about the closure from NCSoft, apart from Paragon Studios posting it on the main website for City of Heroes, and the following PR statement from your company just after.. more confusion. "Why is NCSoft treating us this way?" people are wondering, myself among them.
To be quite frank, your continued silence, and your corporate management of these three titles (as well as the five titles in five years being shut down, including City of Heroes) has many in the community of City of Heroes.. if not an extended community of MMOs.. asking these questions:
1) Why would anyone play anything to do with NCSoft if the end result is a 'lightswitch' end to the game, and not talk about why that is happening?
2) Why would anyone play antything that they can create characters in, make relationships in, only to have it killed unexpectedly by a board meeting?
As an example, Tablua Rasa was not 'making it'. It's closure was expected. There was no doubt. But City of Heroes? Nothing so far as can be seen proves it wasn't fine and profitable as it was. This closure puts confusion and doubt about all MMOs, and damages the reputation of the entire industry. In my opinion, NCSoft would be very ill advised, from that particular standpoint, to let City of Heroes or any other property be closed down, and not just for the well being of your company, but ALL of the online gaming industry.
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From a personal standpoint..
As long as this action continues to its inevitable conclusion, I have no choice but to do what I think is right for myself. Which is, namely, never play any MMO again. Never play anything where I might create something that is under the control of another entity. Because I will simply not pour any money or time into anything of this nature to have it ripped away unemotionally, unexpectedly. Not going to happen. It may extend to most of the online gaming industry, to be honest. And definitely, NCSoft's reputation is tarnished by the way this closure was/is being done, and as such.. I cannot support your company's efforts beyond November 30, 2012, I am sorry to have to say. Barring something saving City of Heroes and your company is widely known to have helped that cause, in which case.. perhaps I will try GW2 or Blood and Soul....
In City of Heroes, I made characters I care about. They are being taken away. This is not trivial. Without the work of Paragon Studios and your company, I would not have had that experience, nor that creativity.. that continues today. I make other characters still, more costumes..
But even that pales into the sudden requirement of the entirety of Paragon Studios being told to go work elsewhere, your profitable game, the hard work and effort into the art, the community they've helped generate.. all that means nothing anymore.. that had to hurt them worse than anything in the City of Heroes community can express. I do not know if you saw the news about the community buying the entire staff of Paragon a dinner, in a window of around 3 hours to generate the monies. I myself was unable to donate to that particular idea, as it was done and over before I could hit [Donate!], and hope (as do others) that there will be other opportunities to do similar acts for the fantastic people who made and worked on City of Heroes.
I do not believe there is any precedent in the history of MMOs or online gaming like it. This is how much we care about the fantastic people who made this work of art. This is part of what you are closing, a fantastic community of players, developers and moderators of the forums and the game, and the like of which one would be hard pressed to find elsewhere.
I must say this: I would pay double the subscription fee... perhaps more... if it would have helped. As it was, once I subscribed all those years ago, I never stopped paying.. even if I wasn't playing for whatever personal reasons, the subscription kept on, waiting for my return, and return I did. Often. And with new ideas to try. The game still has so many years of play left for a lot of us, because we haven't done it all yet.
There is nothing like City of Heroes out there. Not. One. Thing.
Please, somehow, let this work of art be saved. Somewhere. In it's 'final form' if that is how it is to be, even, would be a better fate than burying this fantastic machine of creativity and expression. Do not let your hard work, Cryptic/Paragon Studios hard work, and frankly, all the players hard work in their characters be lost.
There simply has to be some way other than complete closure.
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There is one thing I'd like to say before I close.
I appreciate your part in allowing City of Heroes to be alive for the time it was. I am fully aware that without your help over the years, Paragon, and before it, Cryptic, would not have had City of Heroes see the light of day. We would not have had the expansions, the new content, get the opportunity to play the 'other side' in City of Villains, get to be in between a Hero and a Villain in Going Rogue, nor had the artistic abilities that are possible in the Mission Architect system.
We would not have gotten to know and discuss things with the Developers and Moderators. We would not have gotten to know and talk with people from all over the world.
So sincerely, and honestly:
Thank you for the grand ride. Thank you very much indeed. I truly wish it didn't have to end.
@houtex in City of Heroes
houtex in the City of Heroes Forums. -
Yepper, 8:30p CST, and the houtex avatar is there with his torch, along with y'all who are there now.
Awesome.
Mike -
Hush you. Let him enjoy his glorious battles in peace... and various body parts strewn about.
Mike
/And THIS marks my official **100 POST TO GO!!** mark! 9900 posts! -
I just wanted to say, Eco, that I know what you mean. 45 or not (as I will be Oct 16... damn... 45... wow, I made it this far.) I thought I could keep the stiff upper lip..
But I didn't. Not entirely: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=296544
This isn't to pump my own thread, though it's just I don't wanna type it all again...
This game, these people, all of it...
Yep. Best Game Evar.
Mike
/Imma keep on keepin' on though. Heck, I am restartin' my Total Dependent character, and I'mma get an 8th 50 outta this!
//"It ain't over till it's over!" - Yogi Berra. -
Just rename Atlas Park to Atlas Park 33 permanently and that will do nicely, I'd say.
The current one will be AP3333, but that's ok.
Mike
/Edit: I like the jacket idea too. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Bill Z Bubba
I'm still waiting for the night that I log in to see every NPC in the zone suddenly stop walking, slowly turn to face me, eyes glowing, screaming, "DIEDIEDIEDIE" as they con purple and attack.Hells yeah, he does. I, too, would love to see that... from above... hovering, and demorecording.Quote:Originally Posted by Kosmos
What? You want the entire city to turn into an ambush farm?
That would be FUN to see.
And an hour and a half later, all these fading citizens surrounding the triumphant BillZBubba... whereupon he looks about... and says...
"What... that was it?!"
At that moment, every single Hero and AV possible transport in, surrounding the cigar smokin' demon. Bill looks about... sighs mightily in exasperation... or is it contentment?... and gets to work.
<Fade to black just as he starts in, zooming out... end scene.>
Mike
/Yep. That'd be epic.
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Agreed, not diggin' CO.
STO... I have philosophical issues with... mainly lighting and how Starships should *really* work...
SWTOR... I... well, just not as interested in that as I might should kinda be... Meh.
And just to say it, DCUO is... interesting. Very pretty. I was able to make a 'brawl only' type character, which pleases me... but the wearing of items to power up and having them wear out makes me... well... not happy.
In case that matters.
Mike -
I think the greyscale idea is the one. I... may just do that anyway. As a 'black band on the arm' sort of thing.
Yeah. Like it a lot.
Mike -
So... I should do this using a special made character... which I'm thinkin' of calling "houcam" or possibly 'camtex'... where he is only slotted with Hover. And use keyboards. Makes sense. Likin' it!.
Mike
/And I'll probably make him look sorta like me. Why not?
//Then again, I might break the camera/game doin' that... Frack it. Doin' it.
///Thanks for the pointers peoples! -
I was unable to sneak in the donation before you wonderful people filled it up. I'll have to slot a Level 50 Run IO or two into my Sprint so I can get in faster next time.
Devs, Mods, you deserve it, and the quickness this got done shows that. Kudos, and enjoy!
To the people who beat me to the punch... you SUCK for makin' me look bad, but that pales in great numbers of magnatude in your pure AWESOME. Well done, folks, well done indeed.
Mike -
I... simply can't agree with that, QS. A positive effort may in fact be slapping NCSoft back in the face, you ask me.
I'm not one for [Vengeance], but if THIS is what they do... then they are quite simply asking for a little retribution. They think we are stupid MMO players who will sub up for anything for a 'fix'. Not this guy.
Seesm to me to be a transparent ploy to get us to move. Screw that. I have already made my decision regarding all MMOs from here on out based on this one action: I'm not spending thousands of hours and dollars on something **I** create(+), only to be told "oh well, it's gonna die. All of it." due to some corporate stupidity.
Fool me once, people. THAT is the lesson I've learned from this.
So no, I'm not down with just focusing on positive efforts given this news. I think a teensy bit negative might just fit the bill. Making them look bad in all quarters of the globe might just be the thing they need to make a better decision than just RageQuit like they have...
They can prevent it... and that's why the positive stuff has to happen MORE than the negative... but bad press is bad press. No company wants it, and they don't want more than they plan for when they make these decisions.
Game on, NCSoft.
Mike
/(+) - This is, of course, due in large part by what Cryptic/Paragon Studios did... without their 'language', I had not the 'voice' to create.
//two wrongs, sure, whatever. Can't probably save the studio, but MY STUFF is being removed. This is unacceptable as long as I was paying for it, and that is... well, that.
///Reminded of the sensation of pounding on a brick wall... my fists hurt a little now...
////... sounds so 'me me me'... Sigh... maybe it is.
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Two reasons I didn't comment there are...
1) At the time, I didn't have anything on my brain that wasn't self serving. Which may or may not be fine in some circles, but struck me as a "me me me" thing, and I'd rather not put something like that up. I'mma work on something to put up though, watch..
2) I don't have whatever credentials they want, and I, well, was running out of time to figure it out with Wordpress.
All this social online mumbojumbo account silliness is... well... I don't do it, so I'm new to it.
Sigh... I'm gonna have to really start using Da DEBIL!... er, Facebook, aren't I?
Mike
/Well... I can think of worse reasons. Oh, I have one, I just use it to see the Pictures of my Nieces and Nephews, that's it. -
It's a pretty good discussion. It tells a very good tale. Not real happy about the endgame of it, as they're deciding it's done, but praise it very much for being the unique, special thing it is. They do mention the idea of another company keeping it going, but... if it is static, they think it won't last long. I... disagree, but what do I know.
Overall, very good, I think. But mostly an outsider's view, it sounded like.
Wondering what the two weeks thing is about... *TELL ME NAO!!!*.
Mike -
Michelle, if you ever do "I AM...", I volunteer for Brute duty.
Love these. Make them. Please?
Mike
/"not until you're 26"... hilarious!
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That is completely awesome. I was also having fun examining the various costumes they came up with.
You are teaching coolness defined, Mind... Well, that's what I think anyway.
I sincerely hope they can keep using this fantastic "tool" way after the class is done.
Mike -
You. Are. The.
MAN.
I... well, damn, I'm just elated to see this and that you are gonna let me USE it.
I gotta go get all my Mains in a screenie...
Ooh... No, I'll ask somewhere else. This is completely WIN!
Mike
/Saw the other thread, but this is... astonishingly simple to do. You, sir, are indeed a Wizard 50+3.
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Oh, goodness. These keep comin' up... Heh.
Go search for "Brawling Humiliator" and you'll get the idea.
Mike -
All I can say about this is...
+1
About sums it up, this article is exactly right, IMO. Well ok, mostly, I'm sure, in the long view of things, but for me... it's close enough to exactly to call it that.
Mike -
Quote:I just had to quote that, because that made me smile.. and understand greatly. I feel like that with Brawling Humiliator.Originally Posted by Mad Grim
That said, here are some of my crowning moments of awesome:
Shadow of Kronos (nin/time/mace MM), my main, inevitably has several. But I wish to talk only about the first and best. The first one happened... I want to say in the low 40's. Not to say he hadn't be awesome before, but nothing on this level. Nothing even close.
Firstly, it was an Arachnos map. Funny how they seem to generate these amazing moments. Perhaps it is because they are one of the few really troublesome enemy groups. Like Malta, they can drain and mez you into a puddle. Unlike Malta, they pack tons of toxic and psychic damage as well.
I was on 0x8, my standard soloing setting at the time. I charge into the first group as normal, and everything is going well, as normal. Then, the Ninjas being insane (again, normal, but not to this extent), they agro'd another group.
Well, no problem! I jump into this fresh meat, the current group no where near done, and start taunting and debuffing them into mush. A few heals, and I was doing good again.
Then they agro'd another group.
Well now, this is becoming rather troublesome. I Chronoshift to fix my waning endurance, and get to work, the first group still mostly standing. I can handle this, I think.
Then another.
Well this is just getting absurd. My genin are dropping and without their buffs die upon summon. I manage to bring them in and buff them quick enough that they live. The Jounin, as usual, are untouched, and the Oni is holding his own. All that is left of the first group are the bosses and maybe some lts.
Then another group.
Just not my day, is it? Distortion field to slow their imminent attack, give me some time to kill off some more in my current groups. The genin that aggrivated them is long since dead and resummoned. I eat some more blues. My health is actually dropping, that never happens! I eat some purples and a green, feed another green to my weakening Oni, and resume debuffing the every growing number of enemies.
By this point I am ignoring everything that isn't a direct threat to me and my ninjas. Chat buzzing? No more chat. Ignoring the map, ignoring the cat trying to get some attention. All I see is endless arachnos. Endless targets.
More were agro'd, I'm sure. But this point any and all new groups made no real impact on the mass of foes before me.
Eventually, the dust settled, with me and my ninjas standing amidst a sea of broken and defeated Arachnos.
I checked the map the see where the hell I was, and found it completed. Every single foe between me and the other end of the map was dead. That's when this characters status as my main was solidified, and that is when I decided to run every mission like that.
Because damn, that was epic.
I've said it somewhere else... and it's late. So I'm lazy. But suffice it to say, there are two CMoA that come to mind because of him.
First: I soloed the Alpha Slot arc, no problem, evem Holtz and The Honoree went down with no real issue... with Brawl? Yep. That so wasn't it though. Neither was soloing the GW EB, which was in fact hard, and I felt quite the accomplishement for brawling her to defeat...
...nope, it was the final fight between BH and Chimera in The Imperial Sword arc that was it. Took me 40 minutes to play chess with him, but BH defeated Chimera after he'd busted up to the 50+3 EB that he wound up being... And yes, with Brawl. BH has nothing else.
It was... well... glorious.
The second time was just last night... when I decided to participate in PvP Monday Night Fights on Pinnacle in Warburg. I took BH there and... While all the other fights were over in a couple of minutes, BH had a 20 minute draw, a 10 minute loss, and, get this, a 15 minute *win*.
I took him there expecting to last a while, but lose every round. When he actually won.. well... my face hurt from all the grinning, because THAT was what made him my favorite character I've made of ALL TIME.
I do thank the fine participants who went up against BH, because, well... thems were some LONG fights. GF all!
I love BH, and I will be playing him when Nov 30 comes around until the servers go dark. He's just that much win IMO.
So... there ya go.
Mike -
I be tryin' to! Ooh, 117 now...
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... only 118 posts (I think... after this one... It was 120, then I posted something about BillZ somewhere... then this one is gonna pop in... so yeah, that should be right...)
...uh, ahem.
Only 118 posts to go. Then I'll be the equivalent of 'Made' in these here forums, yeah?
/Unless I'm Modded down...
//I am to be makin' that Title... and be misbehavin'.
///Not here, though, nosir, I'll be all square and shiny here.
////That's... actually doable!
/////Provided things stay up around here... *crosses fingers* -
Uh oh. BillZ is gonna go scrapper lock on someone now. NCSoft better look out...
Mike
/Go get 'em, Bill. -
.... and yet, with all those possibilities... I had to make a Brawl only Brute?
That must make me some sort of special kind of idiot, I would guess.
Mike
/That the game *let me do that*, and get him to 50 solo street sweeping, is testament, in my opinion, to the games veritable unique awesomeness.
//Yeah, I love talkin' about him. He's my absolute favorite, and no I WONT shut up, make me. -
I simply have to chime in here and say..
Seriously excellent stuff, Leandro! Well done!
;clap
oh, forget that noise...
;praise
Mike