Galaxy City: Last Call

This is my farewell tribute in pictures to Galaxy City.

The first set is screens of Galaxy itself. A few weeks ago I went around the zone taking screenshots. Trying to get the best angles of iconic areas, plus ground level views of little nooks and crannies that were familiar.

Yes - I could still have taken screenshots of Galaxy after I-21 launch via the "echo" but there are certain things that will be different. BABs won't be there. And strangely, neither is the Gate to Perez! Just a blank wall. So I wanted to make sure I got these shots before the real Galaxy went away for good.

The last set is of the gathering in Gemini park right as the servers were about to close, the Cape was broadcasting live. Surprising how many people showed up at the last minute. (Ascendant was there!)

If you see your character in shot, feel free to point out where you are.

Goodbye Galaxy City. Things move on. But I always liked the somewhat quieter option to solo level some of my lowbie characters. And of course there was the RP history (which I was never really part of, but it should be mentioned.)




























































































I thought it ironically appropriate that the sky went to night time just before the servers quit on the old version of CoH for the last time.

I took a few screenshots myself of events through the day I was at. Enjoy!

http://bit.ly/owWIpB

Agh! I completely forgot to go last night!

Oh man, I missed Ascendant. Dammit. I had to leave to sleep. Stupid work thing.

Seriously though, that was one amazing trip down memory lane. Characters I haven't seen in years, good RP (the kind of stuff the base system killed), and lots of fun.

I was there with a bunch of other good folks. Not at the party, mind you, but in my usual spot.

I was Phyre Emblem. Center bottom in the red outfit and Valkyrie cape

I loved just wandering about, watching and listening to the rp,and sometimes interacting.

I also took screenies with a friend somewhere near the end, and got the Galaxy City badges on Mystik Paladin, my broadsword/dark scrapper. I'll put up the screenies later, and put them also in my DA acccount.

I showed up on my Warshade Miss Place, who I left parked next to Shadowstar (the Warshade contact). I wasn't there for the final hurrah though.

I am not in photos. But I was down the hill.

Calming a panicked Beastyle

First, I think this is an appropriate time to do something that people have asked me about for years. I’m giving up the (( )) in my posts. I used to post in-character a lot. A good many of us did. But I don’t post in-character these days. I don’t think anyone really does. So... no more (( )) from me.

Now, on to the real post...

I got stupidly sentimental during my short time in Gemini Park last night, to the point that I had tears in my eyes. I'm sorry I didn't stay around longer, but, as much as it was great to see the park full, it was hard to think that it will never happen again. Sure I can go to Gemini Park via Ouroboros any time, but events like tonight? Or the much wished-for-but-never-quite-happened Gemini Park Revival... Nope.

But I'll have the memories. The first time I logged on to Virtue (in July or Aug 2004) I created a character in Galaxy and wound up in Gemini Park. It was wondrous. I was amazed! The entire park was a sea of superheroes! Blue names for as far as the eye could see! I lurked for a month or so, drifting close enough to the Legion of Young Heroes, or the Dauntless Reverie to listen to their stories. Or Freedom Factor, or KGB Special Section 8. If it wasn’t for Gemini Park and the role-players there, I wouldn’t have played City of Heroes past the first year, because I wouldn’t have found out about role-play and the interactive fiction-writing and world-building we all do together.

I feel sorry for the players who started the game after City of Villains came out with its bases and killed the Gemini Park scene. There was some crazy stuff back then, and crazy characters like: Dueling Dervish, whose player eschewed travel powers for his natural origin character; Killer Whale, the fishy-eating, lovable orca-man; Cog Sprocket, the rogue Clockwork hero; Mrwrk the magical kitten who played at the feet of broodingly serious darkity-dark characters; Billy, the goat boy who was lonely for a mommy; Jessie, the near-powerless little orphan who lived in the underground home of the (possibly insane) Insectoid Knights, Shinsektor and Krickette; Swamp Bug, the giant water bug who talked with a gruff, halting voice, but whose philosophizing ran deeper than the river he swam in. There were so many stories going on. So many BIG stories. You can keep your Marvel and DC “events”. I’ll take the stories woven by Smersh and Red-eye, Pill Bug/Phantom Soldier, Troubadour, Vagabond Mage, Darkfang and Ravenbane, Vangelus, and so many others... stories rich and well-conceived, and yet flexible enough so that the other players who participated in them could actually have an effect on the outcome. And you cared about these characters and about their stories.

And there were many, many people I missed last night. I wish Maggie had made it back. I wish I had caught Ascendant when he was there. I wish Shae Firewarder (and oh, how I wish Creyon) could have been there. And Glory and Valor. And Lord Paladin. And Ms. Independence. Haley’s Comet. Tessarae.

I had intended on Roy Kirby (HEROID, my global and forum namesake character) to come by and spend some time catching up with old friends like Jake (Flea) and Parz and Reiki and Brian (Sea Hawk), but I just couldn’t do it. I got all choked up. It was the same, but it wasn’t. Don’t get me wrong – my short time spent in Gemini last night was great, and it was quite a reunion, even though some of family didn’t make it. But going back to the old home place for the last time is always hard. You realize that you’ll never have what you had back in the day. That you’ve moved on to other things, another (virtual, imaginary) life. Gemini Park was wonderufl last night, but it wasn’t quite... home anymore.

So, goodbye to Galaxy City. More to the point, goodbye to Gemini Park. It wasn’t a place. It was a moment in time. I’m glad I didn’t miss it.

Amazing to see that many people standing around waiting for meteors to start raining (which Beastyle said wasn't going to happen, unfortunatly). Seems I made it into one of those screenshots above as well (first one to be taken around BABs, I'm standing 'at ease' in the background on my very green Widow). Also got to meet and talk to both Mr and Mrs Wentworth about their Real World Hero drive. Unfortunatly, started to fall asleep at the board and logged out before the server went down.