Discussion: NCsoft Acquires City of Heroes!
By
AaronH,
Posted on: 2007-11-06 13:55 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion
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but I'm glad to see all the whiney cheapskates with their 'warped sense of entitlement" brings out the honest aggression in the decent folks
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Wow. So since my opinion differs from your own I'm whiney, warped, cheap and indecent. I don't want anything much, I just don't want everyone to have what was paid for completely. Show me that since I gave the most as a customer I get some consideration. Go ahead and have both games available, but leave them with 8 character slots. They didn't pay for that. No doubt further name calling will proceed due to my warped sense of entitlement.
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Why the heck does it matter if some people get a few extra character slots? How does that hurt you? You bought the game and enjoyed it, and they are changing their price structure now.
The GvE edition costs around $30-40 in the store. By virtue of having bought both games at launch I paid $100. Do I feel "screwed" out of $60-70. No. I don't feel entitled to anything other than the two free months and the three years of fun I've had. I just don't see where this sense of entitlement comes from.
Heck, at least Greyed wants something. You just don't want somebody else to have something because they're getting for free what you had to pay for. That's just....
I don't have an word for it that wouldn't run afoul of the forum rules. So I'll just say that it's unreasonable.
The City of Heroes Community is a special one and I will always look fondly on my times arguing, discussing and playing with you all. Thanks and thanks to the developers for a special experience.
Rambling comments follow:
1. The only thing that is keeping me from opening a second account with twelve character slots and all the fun toys I can buy is vet rewards. If there was a system in place where I could get my current earned vet rewards on a second account, I'd do it. This would be an awesome thank you (?) or even just a thing. (Note to those of you whining, get over it. Markets change, this is a neat bonus for new people, its not a present for you, other than being able to more easily share a game you enjoy enough to spend money buying it twice.)
B) I don't know if this is a good thing, but I'm willing to wait and see, just like all the other changes. Yeah, there are some things I'd love to see come out of it, like some love for bases (the 20 k prestige per member is a boon to small, struggling SGs trying to make it over that first big hump in building to get teleporters in. I have three SGs at that point I'm involved in.) costume bits that I never have enough of, power customization(I know, I know... please?)
There are also things I'd hate to see come out of it - the lewt system is very close to the edge of my tolerance. I'd rather it didn't get any worse. (Though Thank god for Mid's) I'm praying that PvP doesn't get any more intrusive (Why yes, I do resent having to tell the Warburg liason to bite me instead of getting a real mission.)
But over all, its their game, I'm here for the ride.
III- I'm horrified that you don't need my resume for the Mountain View staff. C'mon, I thought Chemical Engineers could do anything! I want to be on the east coast with my next move, but ... damn... the opportunity looks fun. I hope the CoH fanbase can step up and get some good people, who love the game, involved. I wish I could be there.
Altoholism isn't a problem, its a calling.
60+ characters, 5 years, 3 50's.
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but I'm glad to see all the whiney cheapskates with their 'warped sense of entitlement" brings out the honest aggression in the decent folks
=]
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Wow. So since my opinion differs from your own I'm whiney, warped, cheap and indecent. I don't want anything much, I just don't want everyone to have what was paid for completely. Show me that since I gave the most as a customer I get some consideration. Go ahead and have both games available, but leave them with 8 character slots. They didn't pay for that. No doubt further name calling will proceed due to my warped sense of entitlement.
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so what you are saying is if someone buys a playstation at launch they should be compensated when prices start falling? after all they are getting what you got for much less
First of all (and any forum being what it is, I know this will miss some of us) try to read my entire post before assuming I am crying DOOOOOOOM or speaking negatively about this management change.
Folks, this all sounds good on what is being said, but be careful on what is not being said.
Bigger Issue Updates: This would be great, and I feel itll happen for the first couple of Issues as they make sure players are comfortable with the transition, but I dont expect it to last. I expect the Free Updates to continue, but I also expect that a lot of the changes we have come to like: multiple powersets, new zones, et cetera, are going to eventually move to a pay-for expansion or (as EQ2 called it) Adventure Pack kind of deal; and the Free Updates might not be as awe inspiring as people are right now expecting. The reason being: unless NCSoft sees enough of an influx of steady, new subscribers, such things (including the expanded staff) have to be paid for somehow. And unlike a privately owned company (like Cryptic) NCSoft has shareholders and investors to answer to on a public scale.
My Feelings on it: Ive been playing MMOs since 1998 and, outside of CoH to date, am used to the pay-to-add deal on extra content. I have no problem with that, and like in any game will buy-to-add what I feel is useful to me. I just foresee a bunch of angry playerbase when/IF this happens because they werent looking at the possibility and feel slighted.
More Marketing/Increased Player Base: Im all for more players. Just remember that more players mean more potential idiots, and not necessarily the same community we have come to know.
My Feelings on it: Hey, I played WoW for 18 months. I know how to /ignore idiots when needed. Just, again, I see a future outcry from certain factions of the playerbase should NCSoft prove successful in expanding the playerbase.
Development of PvP, Base Raids, Invention/Loot, et cetera: No doubt these aspects will be expanded as well, as it does expand to a broader range than the current CoH does.
My Feelings on it: I see this as a good thing. Im not much of a PvPer as far as that goes (example: love some of the WoW Battlegrounds, and liked the LoTRO Monster versus Player style of PvP, but am not a true PvPer), and feel the same about the Base Raiding, deeper Invention, et cetera. But, again, to expand the playerbase, the player content and multiple styles-of-play need to be expanded as well.
So, whether they expand PvP, Base Raids, Invention/Loot, or begin the pay-to-add Updates alongside the Free Issues, I dont have a personal issue with it.
My warning is, expect some business change within the next 12 months or so. View it as necessary if we are going to actually have a bigger staff, and an improved and expanded gaming experience. View it as a necessary evil to get all things we want into the game, and to gain it more exposure (unless NCSoft is in the practice of printing its own money, but I think Blizzard and the U.S. Government have the lock on that, lol). If the current business model was effective as a long-term growth strategy, Cryptic would not have had CoH Resource troubles as they had, even with slicing the revenue pie with NCSoft. So, yes, business changes are going to have to be made, I am certain. And Matt Positron Miller doesnt handle that aspect, lets not forget, that falls to the decisions of NCSoft Corporate and finances.
Because I would hate to see the forums in flames should the business model change slightly, and they feel slighted because they didnt realize the possible necessity of it when all the other cool things were hyped by NCSoft Corporate and its employees (new or otherwise) during the transition.
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First of all (and any forum being what it is, I know this will miss some of us) try to read my entire post before assuming I am crying DOOOOOOOM or speaking negatively about this management change.
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Likewise:
1. Why would Cryptic let go of possibly dozens of talented developers? Were they not so talented? Not so wanted? Was Cryptic that bad a place to work? Seems odd.
2. There is talk of a transition period. If just about every single person has jumped ship to NCSoft, what is there to transition? NCSoft was already part of every decision, so what is transitioning? I get the feeling that the real transition is yet to come. Where lots of new hires come in, get trained and up to speed, then one by one the old cryptic crowd stealths their way back to their old jobs/company.
I just don't get the whole EVERYBODY jumped ship. Maybe Cryptic would no longer have work for them? Get layed off or take the new job?
I find it hard to believe that Cryptic was so bad a place to work or that these employees were of so little consequence that they could jump ship or be let go en masse.
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First of all (and any forum being what it is, I know this will miss some of us) try to read my entire post before assuming I am crying DOOOOOOOM or speaking negatively about this management change.
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Likewise:
1. Why would Cryptic let go of possibly dozens of talented developers? Were they not so talented? Not so wanted? Was Cryptic that bad a place to work? Seems odd.
2. There is talk of a transition period. If just about every single person has jumped ship to NCSoft, what is there to transition? NCSoft was already part of every decision, so what is transitioning? I get the feeling that the real transition is yet to come. Where lots of new hires come in, get trained and up to speed, then one by one the old cryptic crowd stealths their way back to their old jobs/company.
I just don't get the whole EVERYBODY jumped ship. Maybe Cryptic would no longer have work for them? Get layed off or take the new job?
I find it hard to believe that Cryptic was so bad a place to work or that these employees were of so little consequence that they could jump ship or be let go en masse.
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Could be that the developers' are devoted to City of * [the game] more than Cryptic [the company]? *shrugs*. Just a thought.
I know that if I had poured three years of my heart and sould into a creative endevour, I would not be so quick to abandon it. Also, as others have stated, this is certainly due to the fact that Microsoft doesn't want the developer of one of thier games to contribute to the competition, and NCSoft feels likewise. This means there's no more conflict of interest, and more resources (time, money, manpower) for Co*. As others have said, and I agree with them, I don't think NCSoft would buy the game, open up a new studio, and keep the exact same development team, save one person, and look to hire a whole slew of new employees (I looked over the Power Developer job posting, myself... if only I were qualified *sigh*) if they were going to axe or fundamentally alter the game. I believe that they're looking to hire more developers simply because they now have the resources to hire more of them.
Overall, I think this will be a good thing. I'm open to the possibility that I could be wrong, but I hope that is not the case. The past cases a lot of people are citing, involving SOE, are different. In two of these cases, SOE has bought a floundering game, and in the case of Vanguard, on the brink of death.
For Vanguard, the game was already a terrible mess. SOE's involvment did nothing but give the game chance to be published, as word is Microsoft wanted to end it before it was released. SOE then consumed the game.
As I understand it, the fundamental chages for SWG were implemented at the behest of LucasArts, who thought thier game should be doing a helluva lot better than it was. The result was an abomination, for which both companies share the blame, if my understanding is correct.
I do not know enough about the Matrix Online to comment, but I do know it had a very, very small playerbase, much less than that of City of Heroes. I have heard that SOE had to buy the Matrix Online to get the lisence for the DC Comics MMO that they want to develop, but I do not know if there is any truth to that claim.
The fundamental difference here is that City of Heroes is not a dying game. It is doing rather well (WoW is an abberation, a fluke, and not something any MMO's subscriber base ought to be compared to). City of Heroes is NCSoft's most successful game in North America and Europe, with about 1.5x the North American and European subscribers of thier next most popular game, Lineage II, and ~110,000 or so more than Lineage. And I'm willing to bet dollars to donuts that the overwhelming majority of Co* players wouldn't touch Lineage or Lineage II with a fifteen foot pole.
I don't think we have much to worry about; I don't think NCSoft is that stupid. Afterall, they're not SOE. :P
Of course, there's the very real possibility I am completely wrong and we're all DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOM! ed.
Right, enough contributing, back to lurking, I now return you to your regular posters.
Virtue 50s:
Ice/Ice Blaster, Fire/Fire Dominator, Mind/Emp Controller, Shield/Axe Tanker, Spines/Regen Scrapper, Rad/Pain Corruptor, Petless Thugs/Traps MM(WHY!?), Widow
A zillion alts on Virtue and elsewhere.
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Edited to rub it in: Neologisms FTW!
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I love you. Are you married?
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Wow. So since my opinion differs from your own I'm whiney, warped, cheap and indecent. I don't want anything much, I just don't want everyone to have what was paid for completely. Show me that since I gave the most as a customer I get some consideration. Go ahead and have both games available, but leave them with 8 character slots. They didn't pay for that. No doubt further name calling will proceed due to my warped sense of entitlement.
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Yes your being whiny when you want compensation for this. Let me give you an example from EQ2. They charge for all their individual issues. Yet the latest one has a single price and gives access to every addon issue if you buy it.
For that matter I recieved EQ2 and all the suplements up to the last one out for free simply to try the game. That offer included the prepurchase goodies that came from buying each individual issue. All I had to do was subscribe if I wanted to keep it.
This kind of grandfatering is becoming more and more standard for games. So now if you own one you get access to both. That is good.
But it's MY sadistic mechanical monster and I'm here to make sure it knows it. - Girl Genius
List of Invention Guides
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you're kidding, right?
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Nope, this is failry standard practice in games actually. The core engine that CoH/V is built on was developed by Cryptic and remains theirs. The IP (which is the content of the game itself) is what NCSoft bought from Cryptic straight out. They likely just have a license agreement that is either a lump sum for use of the engine or a yearly fee. Any changes and enhancments that NCSoft NorCal makes to the engine are theirs alone. They probably also have the option to get updated core engine versions from Cryptic should they choose, though that would only be useful for a new game rather than to put into CoH/V.
Many companies just make and license game engines and never design a game around the engine. Others will put out a single game to showcase their engine in hopes of getting game studios to license their engine rather than have to create their own from scratch. Vanguard runs off the Unreal engine, many games came out based off the Quake and Halflife engines (or variants thereof), and the supposed in the works Firefly MMO is using the Multiverse engine. Other games/systems out there will use base engines that handle some core functionality but don't provide full game functionality, like the Havok phsyics engine that gets used in other engines and systems (like SecondLife which is still using Havok1 but testing for an upgrade to Havok4). In this day and age very few major games code entirely from scratch, most use a variety of software suites/engines as building blocks for their game. This helps in some ways since you don't need a math genius to develop your physics engine just to be able to make a game and can instead hire another level/class/graphcis designer.
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ok, now that i've had a chance to pour through all the announcements and info without a firewall in the way, i am really glad about the news. i was originally reading the announcement on my phone at work, and it gave me the impression that ncsoft purchased the entirety of cryptic outright. i gotta admit i had some qualms about that due to apparent intent and the serious conflicts it could create. so that's good, but i still can't find anything official by anyone stating what the agreement is or will be w/r/t ncsoft and our devs being allowed to continue to evolve the coh/v software. i'm (painfully?) aware of the idea of licensing game engines--speak of the devil i was just developing some new features in one a couple of weeks ago--but i still can't find anything about what the agreement is between ncsoft and cryptic regarding the software. my guess is that the original agreement had cryptic fully owning it, but i could easily see ncsoft preferring at this point to pay cryptic a one-time fee for the software in its current state in coh/v as opposed to some kind of licensing agreement that extends payments in some form into the future. and personally, i'd rather they did some kind of reasonable lump sum up front payment. not that cryptic doesn't deserve to be compensated more for what they've done, but it's obvious that they've made a good amount of money off of the software already. it's not a doomy issue by any stretch, but ongoing licensing fees or royalties being paid out by ncsoft could instead go towards ensuring the future success of the game. and i know that ncsoft isn't hurting for money either, but i guess i just see it as a better thing for cryptic to do for us. btw if anyone can find something official on whatever agreement is in place regarding the software i'd love to read it. i can't find anything.
I agree Frost. Its probably the project, not the workplace. I'd go for a job with something I love doing, even if it mean less money. Passion is sometimes more rewarding, albeit on the soul then the wallet most times 
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The past cases a lot of people are citing, involving SOE, are different. In two of these cases, SOE has bought a floundering game, and in the case of Vanguard, on the brink of death.
For Vanguard, the game was already a terrible mess. SOE's involvment did nothing but give the game chance to be published, as word is Microsoft wanted to end it before it was released. SOE then consumed the game.
As I understand it, the fundamental chages for SWG were implemented at the behest of LucasArts, who thought thier game should be doing a helluva lot better than it was. The result was an abomination, for which both companies share the blame, if my understanding is correct.
I do not know enough about the Matrix Online to comment, but I do know it had a very, very small playerbase, much less than that of City of Heroes. I have heard that SOE had to buy the Matrix Online to get the lisence for the DC Comics MMO that they want to develop, but I do not know if there is any truth to that claim.
The fundamental difference here is that City of Heroes is not a dying game. It is doing rather well (WoW is an abberation, a fluke, and not something any MMO's subscriber base ought to be compared to). City of Heroes is NCSoft's most successful game in North America and Europe, with about 1.5x the North American and European subscribers of thier next most popular game, Lineage II, and ~110,000 or so more than Lineage. And I'm willing to bet dollars to donuts that the overwhelming majority of Co* players wouldn't touch Lineage or Lineage II with a fifteen foot pole.
I don't think we have much to worry about; I don't think NCSoft is that stupid. Afterall, they're not SOE. :P
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Well, I never compared NCSoft to SOE. I can't see where any developer would be as stupid as to follow SOE's mistakes . . which even they admitted was a major blunder in regards to SWG.
I never prophesized sweeping changes to CoH. My outlook is a slight change to the business model: Free Issues alongside pay-for-updates (be they $30 expansions or $10 "Adventure Packs") after the 6-12 month "coax the playerbase transition". Because I see it as fundamental to sustaining the game if they are truly going to maintain an expanded staff, increased marketing, faster content development, et cetera. That, or gain a sunstantial amount of consistent, paying, new subscribers. Which I'm not sure is going to happen in today's MMO market for a 3+ year old game. Especially in a fantasy-genre dominated matrket, with new choices in that regard already on the near horizon.
In that regard, I just warned people to consider that possibility instead of relying solely on the "glitz and glammor" that is being handed out by corporate (which is NCSoft, Forum Representatives, Developer Interviews, et cetera), so no one feels slighted at the end. I mean, come on . . . people are feeling slighted over the CoH or CoV give-away they are doing (I don't, but just look around). You just wait until a change (even the slight one I predict) in business happens and how people will outrage.
Like I said . . . if the current "give it all away for free 3x a year" model worked, then why did Cryptic constantly cite resource issues?
Obviously, it didn't work for consistent, sustained, long-term product growth.
As for the Cryptic/NCSoft/Microsoft CoX/MUO conflict of interest . . . unless there is an official press release or interview that stated that, I don't buy it. Microsoft knew Cryptic had CoX when they made the deal for them to develop MUO for the already signed deal with Marvel. NCSoft has known about MUO for how long? MUO is still how long away from launch? And obviously, CoX people weren't also working on MUO, as the CoX Devs are now at NCSoft.
So, the timing of this makes me seriously doubt it was any sort of "conflict of interest".
I'm either expecting to hear a buyout from Microsoft on Cryptic Studios announcement in the near future, or something else entirely. But a Conflict of Interest reason makes zero excuse for the timing.
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First of all (and any forum being what it is, I know this will miss some of us) try to read my entire post before assuming I am crying DOOOOOOOM or speaking negatively about this management change.
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Likewise:
1. Why would Cryptic let go of possibly dozens of talented developers? Were they not so talented? Not so wanted? Was Cryptic that bad a place to work? Seems odd.
2. There is talk of a transition period. If just about every single person has jumped ship to NCSoft, what is there to transition? NCSoft was already part of every decision, so what is transitioning? I get the feeling that the real transition is yet to come. Where lots of new hires come in, get trained and up to speed, then one by one the old cryptic crowd stealths their way back to their old jobs/company.
I just don't get the whole EVERYBODY jumped ship. Maybe Cryptic would no longer have work for them? Get layed off or take the new job?
I find it hard to believe that Cryptic was so bad a place to work or that these employees were of so little consequence that they could jump ship or be let go en masse.
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Did you read THIS?
I'd imagine that's how they all feel. I'm sure I would...
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All players with City of Heroes retail* accounts will now have access to City of Villains, and all City of Villains retail* accounts will now have access to City of Heroes. Players that didn't previously have access to "the other side" will find that they do now. Just log in to check it out!
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So I just bought both versions of the game...does this mean that I wasted my money and if I had waited a week, I could have paid half as much?
Fabulous! 
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Exactly. I am really pissed about this, there needs to be some form of compensation for those who did buy both games. Like maybe a free month or2 or something because this is totally unfair to those who spent their hard earned money on both games.
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The whole "Thank You" isn't going to happen until Issue 11 goes live, or even after that. So if you REALLY feel like complaining try not using CoV (or CoH depending on which one you just brought) and not using your bases until at least issue 11 is up and running. After you have done that, then maybe your complaints will have a little more weight, because, like everyone else mentioned. The reason most of us went and brought the game right away is because we wanted access to the new content RIGHT AWAY. The place I used to work I had to deal with everyone wanting somthing for nothing and unfortunetly because of corporate outlook they caved too often. I personally don't want to have to watch people all over these threads whining about spending a little money. If someone told you that world was going to end tomorrow would you walk back into McDonalds and say, "I want my money back for that double cheeseburger, the world is going to end tomorrow and I really wouldnt have brought it." So ill just sit right here ::loads flamethrower:: and wait for more people to complain.
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CrmsnConundrum 50 invul/SS tank - "I love stomp!"
Jimmy Buff-it 50 emp/rad defender - "Waste them away again!"
Faded Glory 50 ill/rad troller - "Only believe half of what you see"
People complaining because they are getting something for nothing is what confuses me 
THANK YOU COH/COV for all the good you have done for us! With out you guys we wouldnt have this game to play!
And I for one am here for the long haul! 
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First of all (and any forum being what it is, I know this will miss some of us) try to read my entire post before assuming I am crying DOOOOOOOM or speaking negatively about this management change.
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Likewise:
1. Why would Cryptic let go of possibly dozens of talented developers? Were they not so talented? Not so wanted? Was Cryptic that bad a place to work? Seems odd.
2. There is talk of a transition period. If just about every single person has jumped ship to NCSoft, what is there to transition? NCSoft was already part of every decision, so what is transitioning? I get the feeling that the real transition is yet to come. Where lots of new hires come in, get trained and up to speed, then one by one the old cryptic crowd stealths their way back to their old jobs/company.
I just don't get the whole EVERYBODY jumped ship. Maybe Cryptic would no longer have work for them? Get layed off or take the new job?
I find it hard to believe that Cryptic was so bad a place to work or that these employees were of so little consequence that they could jump ship or be let go en masse.
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They're transitioning to a new office. They'll be doubling or trippling the staff on the CoH Dev team. When you add new people, you have to train them and get them up to speed. I think you're being parnoid about people going back to Cryptic. They already have a seperate development team working on MUO. I doubt they have vacant jobs for the CoH team to go back to.
As for why Cryptic would let them go? Money. The sale of the CoH IP to NCSoft was probably contingent on the majority of the development team coming along with it. Money talks.
Heroes
Dysmal
Lumynous
Sam Steele
Pluck
Wile
Slagheap
Pressure Wave
Rhiannon Bel
Verified
Stellaric
Syd Mallorn
Villains
Jotunheim Skald
Saer Maen
Jen Corbae
Illuminance
Venator Arawn
Taiga Dryad
Tarranos
plus, the CoH dev team doesn't necessarily know anything about the other projects that Cryptic has going. Getting them up to speed on stuff would be like training new employees. It makes the most sense for everyone to keep the CoH devs with the project and have them move to NCSoft.
Level 50 is a journey, not a destination.
▲Scrapper Issues List - Going Rogue Edition▲
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Edited to rub it in: Neologisms FTW!
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I love you. Are you married?
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* KIDDING! Please, no flowers, valentines, or chocolates. OK, maybe chocolates*.
* Kidding again. I'm diabetic*.
* Wish I was kidding this time.
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so what you are saying is if someone buys a playstation at launch they should be compensated when prices start falling? after all they are getting what you got for much less
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No, what Im saying is I dont want someone getting the EXACT thing I paid for free. I dont want compensation. Hear me out again, I dont mind the game and SOME of its features being available, just not the extra character Slots that were paid for. Playstation may go for cheaper after release, but often that promotion is missing something the people who paid full charge got. Maybe the game that came with it, maybe one controller less and so forth. Not a huge sacrifice
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Yes your being whiny when you want compensation for this. Let me give you an example from EQ2. They charge for all their individual issues. Yet the latest one has a single price and gives access to every addon issue if you buy it.
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Not compensation, again I just dont want EVERYTHING I did pay for to be absolutely free to everyone. I understand this may be the business practice other companies use, but Im not playing the games of other companies. I am expressing an opinion that I am now gathering goes against popular opinion. Fine, I respect your views and understand them but I disagree. I am not insulting anyone maintaining the move, so why should I have to hear over and over again the insults of Im Cheap, I have an overflated sense of entitlement, Im a whiner and so forth. If you will just accept anything in life you may disagree with and not speak on the matter thats fine. I dont feel that way. Please can we just keep it civil. I have money, Id buy another box set or special deluxe set. Im not whining when I express an opinion in a thoughtful manner without resorting to name-calling. And overflated sense of entitlement? Its not wrong to be concerned about others getting a pass and gaining the EXACT thing you paid additionally for. I have no problem debating this, I appreciate the offering of evidence on the practices of other game titles, thats a positive way to argue. Name-calling can go both ways and as folks can see in my posts I have returned in kind.
Dont think Im deluded. I know quite well this move will be made and there is nothing I can do to stop it from going through in the form I disagree with. But I think its stupid of me to let it pass without saying something when I feel so strongly about it.
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Geez at the folks still looking for reasons to be grumpy.
You roll the dice, and you take your chances. If you want to wait a year or two before buying some City-related product against the possibility that it might be offered for free later, then by all means do so. If you'd rather pay for the opportunity to actually play with that product during those one or two years, then go right ahead.
I bought Heroes and Villains separately, and I have no regrets, nor envy toward those who benefit from this present. I've been able to use my 12 character slots, base access, costume bits, and vil archetypes for ages compared to someone who didn't have both games activated. Opening it up a little more after this much time makes perfect sense.
Please try MA arc ID 351455, "Shard Stories: Scavenger's Hunt." Originally created for the Dr. Aeon contest, it explores the wild potential of one of the City's most concept-rich but content-poor settings: the Shadow Shard.
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No, what Im saying is I dont want someone getting the EXACT thing I paid for free. I dont want compensation. Hear me out again, I dont mind the game and SOME of its features being available, just not the extra character Slots that were paid for.
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Ah c'mon, be reasonable. The value of goods and services decreases with time. Years ago, I paid hundreds of dollars for new wireless phones that are in every way inferior to the models that are practically given away in every cheapo mall kiosk. Things for which people paid at one time are routinely given away as sign-up incentives. Last week I walked into a fast-food restaurant and had to pay full price for two cheeseburgers. This week they've got this buy-one-get-one-free thing going, and thousands of people are walking away eating stuff for which I paid a higher price. I'm OWED!
I kid. But seriously, did you use your four additional slots per server during that time? I did. Heck, the three biggest reasons I bought Villains had nothing to do with playing Villain characters; I wanted base teleporter access, more costume options, and four more character slots per server! If you've spent nearly as many hundreds of hours as I have in the last two years using characters who occupy those slots, then they've been well worth the price. Meanwhile, someone without Vils is finally getting them a couple of years later for no fee. So?
The video card I have in my City PC can be purchased now for about $300 less than I paid for it at the time, but I'm not protesting the manufacturer to compensate me for lowering the price of the product since then. It's certainly served me well. This is essentially the same situation, except the price of access has been lowered to zero. It doesn't hurt me at all for others to be granted those things, two years later. I can understand more if someone had bought Vils very recently instead of two years ago, but once again ... sometimes chance just works out that way. In the grand scheme of things, $40 or so isn't much of an injustice.
Please try MA arc ID 351455, "Shard Stories: Scavenger's Hunt." Originally created for the Dr. Aeon contest, it explores the wild potential of one of the City's most concept-rich but content-poor settings: the Shadow Shard.
I am generally pleased with the announcement; ESPECIALLY if it means that even 1/4 of the humour that exists in NCSoft's "Dungeon Runners" finds its way to CoX. This franchise has taken itself way too seriously for far too long.
Its true, $40 dollars isn't so much even if you did it for several accounts. Its not about the money. Its more about if they want to give back and thank the customers, thank me in a way that does something for me. Give back to the customer base that gave most. This thank you does absolutely nothing for me. So be it though, I will accept it and move on. I would have left it at what i said awhile ago, I just got upset of the constant insults of me being cheap or whining is all.
Are DEV's leaving?
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Are DEV's leaving?
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Just Jack, ie statesman.
But it's MY sadistic mechanical monster and I'm here to make sure it knows it. - Girl Genius
List of Invention Guides
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but I'm glad to see all the whiney cheapskates with their 'warped sense of entitlement" brings out the honest aggression in the decent folks
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Wow. So since my opinion differs from your own I'm whiney, warped, cheap and indecent. I don't want anything much, I just don't want everyone to have what was paid for completely. Show me that since I gave the most as a customer I get some consideration. Go ahead and have both games available, but leave them with 8 character slots. They didn't pay for that. No doubt further name calling will proceed due to my warped sense of entitlement.