Population?

I've been gone for over two years. I have always been fond of the game and came back to find it nearly empty no matter where I go. Is this because of Champions Online? I've played that recently too, but quite frankly found it hard to really "Make" the class I really wanted; a defender equal. The grind in Champions is also a tad boring for me. I love the instances in CoH/CoV; I just wish the end game had more well....population and PvP potential.

Anyway...I've been away, so I have a lot of catching up before I'm critical of much...but people who play...well that's just the biggest reason I liked CoH.

I have to admit, I also came back from a 3 years long absence and noticed a massive drop in pop. I play on freedom which used to be full of people, crazy what 3 years can do. But honestly, after playing Vanguard Saga of heroes, Pirates of the Burning Seas, Bloodymare and more recently Aion, I have to admit CoX always had that thing with me that brings me back, no matter how empty the server is or how hard it is to find a team. Mind you, the architect option really kept me busy ever since I returned and I guess my love for the game has also returned in a grand way as I play CoX just like I used too when I first bought it, game is very different from the last time I remember and most issue I had back then with the game has been fixed and/or improved.

Welcome back!

There's a plethora of people on Freedom and Virtue, but it's possible to find people anywhere.

If you're like me, when I came back I didn't know about global channels right away. That's the easiest way to find teams. The second best is to use the /search to find and invite people to your own team.

There's a lot of options, but the worst one is standing in a zone broadcasting "lvl x lft"

Ok...ummm CoX? Is that the new term for CoH/CoV combined? I just started a new toon. Although I have two level 50s on Pinacle, I felt like an idiot to try and play them right away. I mean, if I did find a team they'd be pretty upset to find a lvl50 defender who had trouble remembering what key to press for simple replies.

I played when there were teleporters in the guilds/bases. I think I remember clubs around towns with teleportation capabilities too. However, that's about it for my knowledge. Global channels...hmm I'm guessing that's just the chat feature...perhaps a channel I need to join?

I played Warhammer Online for a while; but it died about a year after open for me. What a dissapointment. Aion...well it just wasn't the grind I wanted. I played DAoC for many years; loved it. For some reason, the team play in this game and the foes; despite my loathing of those idiotic cave maps, is the only game I can tolerate PvE over PvP. Most people aren't jerks and the game seems to really have a nice balance for team building.

I bought the rogue expansion and look forward in finding a good team to migrate into. I still feel like a total newb with all the new stuff in the system and the keyboard mapping I have long forgotten.

Is there cross server instancing now? I mean...if my old turf; Pinacle is dead during my play time should I consider moving my level 50s to another server, or start over on another server? I assume that the whole reason behind Global Channels has got to do with playing in instances with people not on your own server?? Otherwise seems kind of pointless...unless their recruiting you to come to their server.

Yes, there's fewer people playing CoH/CoV now than in the past. It may also be that players with active subscriptions play fewer hours per month as well, keeping the number of players at any given moment a little lower than before.

I'm surprised you haven't been heavily flamed, as that's the usual forum response to this question. Maybe it's early and your thread hasn't been discovered yet.

If you do get the usual six pages of posts telling you what an idiot you are for observing the obvious, please pay them no attention. I think there are actually fewer forum trolls than there used to be, but certain topics - like this one - bring them out of the woodwork.

Yeah I was surprised that my questions had not already been folded up in some derailed troll thread. However, there is still time for someone to try and rain on my parade. No concerns, still plenty of decent folks in CoX.

To be honest, when I came back to CoX, I didnt expect to see anyone, but I have to admit, even with a lower population, the game still has a sizable fan base.

Plus, NCsoft didnt sit there doing nothing, tons of material was added, tons of update and by god a new expansion, for a game that old, it must mean something.

Aion felt more dead then CoX feels right now, which is kind of sad considering one is barely a year old in NA while the other just reached its 6 years mark.

Edit: also to add to that, majopr graphic overall, which I believe is the best move an older mmo can possibly do. Something Blizzard seems to constantly forget ;op

Time to crack open some newbie guide on the material or interface that's matured since I was last in-game. Global Channels...hmmm.

The population is down a bit. NCSoft no longer releases the hard number of how many players there are, but they do release their quarterly earnings statements. As TonyV posted Here, they are about the same as they were in the first quarter of 2008. We have a new issue about to come out as well as the first major expansion since CoV came out in 2006. We should see an increase in population with both of them.

as per globals, i just checked the pinnacle forums, and apparently you should check out pinnbadges, they may be the channel you need. I dont have any characters there myself. yeah, the pop has dipped a little, the last few issues have been largely quality of life changes(check out the alternate animations for martial arts and super strength), and some have been hurting for missions, i'd expect things to pick up with gr. also there was free server transfers a while a go, so some people switched servers, from what i understand pvpers generally clustered towards freedom, so that may be affecting pinn's numbers too.

as for co..i like it myself, but it really did not do much to coh, if anything we have had a few threads (which may be indicative of nothing) where co's performance actually lead new people here, co is kind of hurting right now.

Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.

Another thing going on right now is the Closed Beta for Issue 17 on the Test Server. If it's anything like the last few CBs - lots of people who would regularly be on the Live Servers are actually over there, especially since one of the big things to come in Issue 17 is the new Ultra Mode, a kewl graphics update for those whose comps can support it.

Make sure you go check out the Going Rogue webpage:

http://goingrogue.na.cityofheroes.com/en/

As always, the Wiki is your friend (make sure you use the Wiki *not* the "Wikia", which is not updated and is the haven of bad stuff like adware)

http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Main_Page

Specifically the changes in each issue:

http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/gam...ssue_list.html

http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Issue

Stuff added in the past 2 years (since 2008?)

Multiple Builds
New powersets
Mission Architect
Merits
Levelling Pacts
New Hero TF & Villain SF
Dominator Revamp
POWER CUSTOMIZATION!


Soon to come in Issue 17 (April)

Ultra Mode
New Hero & Villain Story Arcs
Splitting the Positron TF into 2 TFs
Changes to emails (sending stuff to yourself)
Tons of Badges

Pinnacle does still have a decent-sized population, but your will need to get the mosr popular globals to help out - I thinks it's "PinnBadges", but check the server forum to be sure.

If you do decide to move your level 50s - you missed the recent free server transfers (which ran thru January & February, ending after Double XP the first weekend in March), but there is the paid option ($9.99) if you still want to move.

With Issue 17 about to drop next month and then GR towards the end of July, it's an exciting time to come back.

Welcome back!

Thanks for the information all!