Thank You Paragon Studios

If you know me, chances are, you also know that this is the first time I am posting a thread like this. You'd also know that CoH is the one and only MMO game that I've actually subscribed to, and that I generally try to avoid MMO games...but not CoH. I simply felt responsible to say a big thank you to Paragon Studios for everything they've done to make this game the great game that we love and adore so much, after so long.

So thank you, Paragon Studios! A few weeks ago, I was on the very edge of taking a break from City of Heroes: A game that I've been subscribed to for over 4 years now. I was so bored of the same old content that leveling characters became a routine chore. I could do most of the missions with my eyes closed, and building characters with efficiency was turning into basic math problems.

That is until GR went live.

Even though I was invited to Closed Beta, I purposefully decided to not take part in it. I did not wish to spoil the new content for myself, and I wanted to experience GR the way it was truly meant to be experienced, with all of its glory. I had high expectations. I was expecting GR to refresh CoH for me and breath a new life into this game that I love.

I'm glad I had high expectations.

During the beta testing, I kept hearing people say about how "unfinished" GR is; about how "they" are nerfing everything and how GR is a waste of $30. None of that changed my hopes. I still expected a lot from what was to come. I just, deep down, knew I wouldn't be let down. Very rarely have I ever been truly disappointed by an update to the game, and I was very sure that GR would not change that.

And that is when, with my limited income, I bought GR, and logged into Praetoria for the first time on Monday.

Over the past 3 to 4 days, I have been running solo missions in Praetoria on my Kinetics Melee/Energy Aura Brute. I made a Loyalist character. She was a PPD detective with a power armor. I had fun with her concept. I finished the tutorial, and I began my journey through Praetoria, knowing this character should ultimately become a Vigilante hero.

For the first time in almost 3 years, I no longer cared about XP. I no longer looked at my XP bar every 2 minutes to see how much progress is left till the next power. I didn't look at how far I am from Stamina. I didn't worry about whether or not I have unlocked the Fitness pool or not. I didn't care about my damage output, nor did I care about how efficient I was at fighting or how much debt I had.

Why you ask?

Because I was having FUN. Because I was so immersed in the brilliance of the story arcs in Praetoria, that I just didn't even think about all those things. For the first time in 3 years, I felt like a newb!!! And that was a darn good feeling! Never in the history of CoH, have I been so immersed in a mission. Never have I played a mission that would make the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Never have I felt so epic, so powerful, and so important in the world of a video game; especially a world full of other, equally important players.

Many times, I had to stop and think about my choices. Many times I felt a true emotional connections with my NPC companions. Many times, I was left unsure of whether or not I was really doing the "right thing". So much that eventually, my Responsibility Loyalist character finally abandoned her vision of a perfect future and joined the Resistance right at the very end of this absolutely brilliant story. Even I was surprised, as I was so determined that my character should remain a Loyalist.

So thank you, Paragon Studios. Thank you for this absolutely fantastic new update to GR, and thank you for doing all the things that I personally never thought would be possible with CoH. I cannot wait to see what else you have in store for us, and I truly think CoH can only get better from here on.

In War Witch's repeated words, you guys have truly "set the bar high".

Thank you!

Bright Shadow

Here, Here!

100% completely agree with you!

I did the beta testing for GR, and was immediately shocked at how much different this new expansion could take a character.

I'm a big 'stories' guy. Aside from classic literature, as well as older Stephen King novels (The Dark Tower line, to mention). To seen the attention to detail they did, as well as the new mechanics of the storylines (mass ambushes, in-instanced choices, text choice options, disappearing contacts when 'defeated', etc.), I was immediately enthused by their efforts.

As such, I think you comments are dead on!

Thanks Devs!

Agreed with your post. I'm almost tempted to turn off gaining Exp so that I can stay in Praetoria for as long as possible.

This has completely refreshed that "I haven't injected City of Heroes into my veins in a whole 30 minutes" feeling I... actually never had.

So happy with Going Rogue. Incredible.

I completely agree with this as well. I haven't posted on the forum here in a couple of years, at least. I've never stopped playing completely but it's been a long while since I tried to squeeze in a little COH time whenever I could. But I'm very impressed by Going Rogue and it has really rejuvenated my love for the game.

It's not only a lot of shiny, it's very immersive. But I'm not only running Praetorians. I'm revisiting a lot of my old characters both blue-side and red-side, dusting them off and remembering why I have spent so many hours over the years playing this game. So I will add a big thank-you as well to the devs for their efforts. I can't wait to see what comes next!

Agreeing with you, OP. I wanted to thank these guys after I completed my first alignment choice and switch (two characters, one from Paragonia). The end of that chain was so meaningful and compelling that my mouth sorta hung open during the last ten minutes of it.

This is still one of my favorite game making studios out there, because they're a rare breed who works for the fun of the game and not for massive cash appeal. I love when I feel like I'm playing a game made by a gamer, and that's not nearly as common today as it was fifteen, twenty years ago.

Really, thanks guys. You also charged too little. I would've paid twice the Going Rogue preorder if I knew how awesome it was going to be. (Though I did throw you some extra cash with a namechange and a booster pack )

Just stopping by to agree with the OP. I've only played a couple of hours post-GR, but what I've seen so far is amazing. Praetoria looks fantastic, and I love the branching dialogue trees, which made the "Get Flowers for Cleopatra" mission for Praetor White so much fun. I also loved to see my objection to Reese about being in the Powers Division come back up when I came into Nova Praetoria. I'll admit I'm only Level 4, but figuring out this new character and what she would or wouldn't do is a ton of fun. I will take forever to level her, just because I keep reading every bit of dialogue I can find!

My Level 50, Feride, is working to become a Vigilante, which is an interesting and mildly disturbing process, I've discovered. It really makes me examine this character who's been around almost five years now. She has become like a new person, who I'm trying to feel out, just because the moral options are taking me so far out of my comfort zone. And I love it!

I can't wait to finally get back to the game this week and see what else I can find to do.

I'm really hoping future issues will update old CoH and CoV missions to the quality of Preatoria missions.

I'll add to the praise.

GR pretty much ruined my week last week. Every friggin' spare minute was spent playing. I found there wasn't enough time to do all the things I wanted to do.

I'm playing different too. Never been interested in "the story" in this game....but I've now started reading all the dialog stuff. I'll even stop to read NPC dialog in my chat box if they run away before I can finish reading what they say.

The changes are all over the place. So cool to run through Talos and see Masterminds and Brutes there with me.

Big thumbs up to PS....you're killing my summer tan...but thanks regardless.

I agree with the OP overall, but I'm still struggling without Stamina and so I can't wait for that.

Lewis

Just wanted to chime in with OP. Great product! Nice work!

While I want to join the festivities of glee and joy, I want to go in another direction. I enjoy content and combat in this game a lot, but for me the driving force behind my enthusiasm has always been characters. If I can make a good character with a nice costume, appropriate powers and a cool name, that can last me through a lot of content, be it new or old, good or bad.

Praetoria, the new costumes, the new powersets and the act of AT proliferation gave me the excuse to create four brand new characters, each with his or her own unique storyline and each with is or her own cool costume. What I did was the following:

I was finally able to make the Axe/Shield hero who is not a Tanker a reality via the medium of Brute. That's one new character.

I was finally able to put into practice a recent concept that I just didn't have convincing powersets to use for, via the medium of Kinetic Melee. That's two.

I came up with a brand new character inspired in whole by the Clockwork costume pieces combined with an old secondary helmet I've used for another character. That's three.

I made a brand new character based on a random joke by someone in a global channel somewhere and put that into practice via the medium of Clockwork and Alpha costume pieces. That's four.

And even now I'm entertaining the thought of bringing in a very old character I never actually made into the game, just because I can. And if I do, I'll have to make at least two or three more with him, being that he's a leader.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

i don't really have much to add, but i just have to chime in that i completely agree with the OP.

Going Rogue is amazing and well worth the wait. I fully believe that the design and impact it brings to the Superhero MMO genre easily deserves to stand alongside CoH and CoV.

it's hard to put into words, but GR is simply the most immersive and challenging (both game and story wise) CoH has ever been for me.

kudos, devs! well done, Paragon Studios! i hope to enjoy your fine games for years to come!

Just adding my agreement to the OP's sentiments. Also the tip missions are funtastic!

Once I saw the "Nemesis Meme" tip mission, I changed my sub to every 6 months.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deus_Otiosus This entire post should receive some kind of award for being both hysterical and fantastic. Well done.

Well said. Completely agree with the OP.