Announcing Our European Community Coordinator
By
2wierd,
Posted on: 2004-11-12 11:04 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Hey everyone, and thanks for the introduction, CuppaJo. It's great to be here - with my very own red name and everything 
Just so you all know, I'm going to be handling the English-speaking City of Heroes community in Europe. We're currently hiring Community Coordinators to cover other European languages - if you're interested, click here for details.
So, if you have any questions about CoH Europe, ask away and I'll do my best to answer them...
Cheers,
Bridger
I don't really have any questions, I'd just like to give a big welcome to you, Bridger. Welcome!
I hope your stay is enjoyable.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure. --- Thomas Jefferson
Formerly known as YFNDBA
Heya Bridger!
I've a question: Will those of us in Europe who are playing on US servers ever be able to switch our characters over to a European server? Will we have to buy the European version of the game to do this?
Thanks in advance and good luck!
"Bridger" eh? Nice name. Welcome! 
You want me to write you a background too? 
Welcome Bridger. Must say, you picked an auspicious day to start. Try not to drown in all the Marvel posts.
Well, I'm from the US, but since no one has posted yet, I might as well start things off with a very popular question:
Any comment to the rumors that the 5th Column are being dumped due to German laws regarding Nazi representation?
Again, welcome to the boards
qustion of can you play on all the severs whit one game anf if not can you get your chers from the USA verison to ther EUR verison at free?
jack
First of all, gratz to Bridgers on the position.
Now for some questions:
How do you intend to launch CoH in Europe? Starting with a beta/test or just plunk down some live servers and go from there?
What do you see as the main differences between a US community and a Euro community?
What differences, if any, have been planned?
Will there be a Euro specific test server?
Will the Euro release be compatible with the US servers (and the other way around)?
Will any changes to the Euro version compared to the US be handled by Cryptic or a different dev team?
Will paying for the US version grant access to the Euro version (and the other way around)?
I realise that you may not have all the answers now, but I hope you'll answer as much as you can.
Welcome to Paragon City Bridger. Just remember, the bathroom doors are locked, but sometimes you can hear the toilet flush anyway, so be very careful.
Quick questions:
When can we expect to see CoH launching in Europe?
How many servers do you anticipate having?
and the obligatory, will we be able to transfer our characters from US servers to European servers?
Welcome to Paragon City, Brdger
Mystagogue
36 Mind/Empathy Controller
Boycotting Marvel Products.
Welcome aboard.
Welcome Bridger! It's nice to have you on the team. No questions here, just a heartfelt welcome to this community. Hope you enjoy your stay! Don't work to hard now. 
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and the obligatory, will we be able to transfer our characters from US servers to European servers?
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For all of us who have made US:ian (and Canadian, and Australian, and....) friends, will we be able to play on both American and European servers?
Will we be forced to migrate?
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Heya Bridger!
I've a question: Will those of us in Europe who are playing on US servers ever be able to switch our characters over to a European server? Will we have to buy the European version of the game to do this?
Thanks in advance and good luck!
[/ QUOTE ]
What the Sponge said.. err, asked.. ^^
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Hey everyone, and thanks for the introduction, CuppaJo. It's great to be here - with my very own red name and everything
Just so you all know, I'm going to be handling the English-speaking City of Heroes community in Europe. We're currently hiring Community Coordinators to cover other European languages - if you're interested, click here for details.
So, if you have any questions about CoH Europe, ask away and I'll do my best to answer them...
Cheers,
Bridger
[/ QUOTE ]
One post? What a newb!
j/k :P
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Will those of us in Europe who are playing on US servers ever be able to switch our characters over to a European server? Will we have to buy the European version of the game to do this?
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NCSoft have answered this one already in the FAQ. They say:
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When the European version of City of Heroes is released in 2005, players who wish to use the European servers will need to purchase a European version of the game. Those with North American versions of City of Heroes will not be able to access the European servers, but will be able to continue playing on the North American servers as usual.
[/ QUOTE ]
SO basically, no we can't, unless we want to buy the game again.
I would like to comment on this policy.
It is bad. Bad bad BAD.
When all my real-life friends in the UK start playing on the European servers, I will be tempted to switch, but there's no way I'm paying the upfront purchase price again to do so. I'm currently in a European based SG, but even if many of them switch to the European version, I won't. I will simply cancel my subscription altogether due to losing my favourite teammates.
I strongly encourage NCSoft to come up with an alternative option. I suggest at the very least being able to make a 1-time switch of our subscription to the European servers, but with NO extra cost*. We've paid for the game already. The European release won't give us anything new, it just gives us a different community to play with. I don't see the logic in making us pay that upfront fee again; it's just like saying that I would have to buy the game again if I wanted to play on Protector instead of Victory!
Welcome to the community Bridger, and let me be the first to say that if you can give as much to the community as CuppaJo does, we can be thankful. I would repectfully ask that this issue please be somewhere prominent on your list of priorites, because I think it will genuinely upset a lot of players.
*Any nominal increase in the subscription fee due to exchange rate differences would be acceptable.
Hi Bridger, good luck to you in your new position!
One question though, shouldn't your name be "Hero Two"?
Welcome! It'll be nice to have someone on the staff there who started as a player not a dev...you'll have more of a fresh look to bring to things!
Welcome!
It's obvious the rest of Cryptic loves working there, I hope you'll come to feel the same way soon (unless you already do :P).
Which magazines did you work for? The ones based in London, Bath or Macclesfield? (Please do not say the latter)
Hi,
Not a question more of a suggestion.
Watch yer back(side) down there in Brighton.
*hehe*
Good luck! That sounds like the European intro will be soon!
Still here, even after all this time!
How set in stone is this thing about not being able to play on other region's servers? Historically, this has worked very badly for games. Customers don't like it, as they like to play with other countries. It limits their choice, and often it means Euro servers get updated way behind the others for major publishes etc. Not many games have stuck to this policy after trying it, as it is just deeply unpopular.
I've heard some rumours this is due to the Euro servers having a European setting, which raises even more of a concern about the last point of being behind on publishes. You couldn't just use Paragon and pretend it's in England. It's far too American looking for that. There shouldn't really be a worry about European appeal... American settings sell just as well, if the story/gameplay is good.
I agree. I am responsible for two accounts in CoH (myself and my brother) and this would require us to buy the game TWO TIMES to get to European servers. That would make a total of FOUR CD-Keys bought, about £120 in total if not more! Let me pose to you a few questions on this.
1) WHY? What need is there for you to charge European customers more? Little do you realise, it's the European players who are already playing spreading the word about CoH around Europe. So why are they being punished for giving you their support like this just to play on home ground?
2) Is there any plans to scrap this idea? I hope so as, even if it results in a delay, theability to transfer characters accross from the US servers for free would give a massive boost not only to performance due to lower latency (if I was on a London-based server, I'd expect to go from 200-300ms to a mere 30-70ms making it far smoother), but boost popularity with the Euro servers making the game more successful as you already have a knowledgeable fanbase playing to help new people.
3) Even if we have to lose our characters, although not ideal, it would still be better than having to pay again.
4) Will the issues be released from 1 upwards again or straight into issue 2 (or 3 if need be). Or will it be a sign of Europe getting screwed like usual?
So far, Cryptic have madea good job of CoH, but this will be a massive mess up if this plan goes ahead. Please don't go through with it and tarnish the otherwise good reputation CoH is bringing you.
Frankie says it best.
Heroes!
Please join me in welcoming Bridger, who has recently joined NCsoft as our first European Community Coordinator. Bridger will be bringing you information about the CoH European launch, answering your questions, and eventually running the English version of the CoH Europe message board when it goes public. If you have questions about the European launch, feel free to start asking them, as Bridger will be following this thread over the weekend and will begin responding to questions Monday.
Before joining NCsoft, Bridger spent over a decade as a games journalist working for many of the UKs most successful games magazines and websites. Hes been an avid player of CoH since launch, and a comics fan since before he could read (he liked the pretty pictures, apparently).
We are excited to have him on board and are eagerly awaiting CoHs European launch.