10 Years of CoH
I joined CoH on Feb 10, 2005 so I'm a noob compared to some of you I've played on and off sinse then, and I've always loved playing the game and chatting to other players. CoH has an excellent community.
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Contact me in-game: @CheeseSlicer
i remember hearing about a superhero MMO being in development around.... i don't know, 2001 i guess. At that point the website only had a few (very different from those in launch) enemy group descriptions and some info about different origins and how it would affect powers. Probably well before archetypes were in the works.
My only experience with MMOs in 2001 was friends who played Everquest/Evercrack, which had the usual MMO conventions on movement and interaction so i was dubious about how a superhero MMO would work. Also MUDs, MUCKs, and MUSHes, but those weren't exactly modern MMOs.
i used to look at the website every so often, but by 2002 or so i'd pretty much stopped paying attention to the site. When i heard about being released in 2004 i was surprised and somewhat excited. Some friends were playing it and i picked up a copy in early June 2004 to try it out. Hooked ever since.
Dr. Todt's theme.
i make stuff...
I didn't hear about COH until it was already in Beta, not long before the headstart, too late for me to join in. But on launch day, I called in sick to work, drove 30 miles to the nearest computer game store and bought it, came back and started playing.
In the last 7 years, I have been unsubscribed twice, both times because the credit card expired and I forgot to up date the information on my game account. So less than 24 hours total. I have not always played the game, due to computer issues and occasional feelings of being burned out, but it has always been on my computer, ready and waiting for me. And I always come back.
And I am still on the same computer. Added ram and upgraded the video card, but the rest has not changed. And I really want to change that to see the new stuff. Maybe next year.
Justice Blues, Tech/Tank, Inv/SS
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Fighting The Future Trilogy
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![](http://avatars.cohtitan.com/signatures/cgt/u900.png)
I got here two months after launch... been here ever since.
The hard things I can do--- The impossible just take a little bit longer.
If numbers are so much more important than a teammate who is fun to play with, forget about the game altogether and go play with a calculator instead. -Claws and Effect-
This game is the only reason I ever bought a computer. In Jun 2004, I came back from Iraq, and was walking through Best Buy with a friend of mine. We were getting something to help his kid. I saw City of Heroes, picked up the box and started reading. A super hero video game? Hell yeah!
I took the box over to the guy at the computers, told him I wanted to play this game, show me a computer that could do it. 2 hours later I was calling another friend to borrow there truck, because Best Buy either wouldn't deliver the computer, chair, and desk that I had just purchased, or they couldn't do it that day. Once I got home, I set up the desk (took an hour) set up my computer, and started it up. I was amazed at the loading screens, you know, the ones with the AT descriptions. Once it was all finished installing, I tried to sign in. Oh boy, a super hero game! The hell do you mean I need internet to play this? Time Warner Cable, I need internet. No, it can't wait till next week. Well how much extra to get somebody out here today? I don't care if the techs are supposed to get off in an hour, I need internet, ASAP. Yes, I'll pay the extra 40 dollars. Two hours later, I had blazing fast high speed internet. I logged in, picked my powers Claws/regen, duh. I'm a Wolvie fan boy) Got to the costume creator, and couldnt see anything except the silhouette of my toon. I just picked some random costume pieces and loaded in. The scenery was beautiful. All the costumes I saw were great. I even got a few compliments on mine. When I explained I couldn't see anything, I was told I needed a new video card. by this time it was already pretty late, so I just played. The next day, new video card, plus 100 dollars to get it installed right then. I loved it, and have been here ever since. I even managed to play while I was deployed. At the time, I hadn't even met my future wife. Now I have my account, my wife has hers, and my almost 6 year old girl has her own account to. |
Member of the Hyperion Force
Hmmm.
Early MMO attitude = "PAY for a game after I've bought it? And keep paying? That's stupid." So I didn't bother looking at any. Wife (at the time) seemed to want to play EQ, but after giving it a quick look, decided against it. (Think I still have that disk around, somewhere.)
Got into playing Silver Age Sentinels in a rotation of a few other RPGs with some friends (All Flesh Must Be Eaten, D&D, Shadowrun, etc.) The SAS game was put on hiatus... I believe when one of our group ran off to join the army. Probably a good thing - if that character (Tristat system) had kept getting developed, I'd probably have to roll a few hundred dice at a time to do much of anything.
After a bit, I wanted something "related to" that to keep playing that character in some form. Tried Freedom Force... which didn't quite do it for me, not for what I was looking for.
Ran across the COH Collectors DVD in Wal-mart. Still thought a monthly fee was a dumb idea, but hey, it had a free month, I can screw around with it.
Tried recreating my SAS character as best I could (which didn't quite get there until Tanks got Dark armor.) That would be Issue 3, Feb. 2005... Haven't left. Tried other games, found I hate losing a look because gear needs upgrading, or grinding to *buy* skills, or having "Fighting two enemies is suicidal" as a given, or *having* to have the "holy trinity" around to get anything done... ugh. Much nicer here.
I've been here since the prebeta forums as well. I used the name Druid back in those days, but changed to Montaugh during beta. I was playing jumpgate at the time and someone meantioned that CoH was being made. I joined the boards in the begining of october back in 2001 and have been here since then.
and for those that want to see what it was like back in the day.. Wayback machine go
That is just around launch of the website.. and man were we ravenous for information to be given to us in those days. Definately take a look under gameplay.. fame is interesting... and the download for the gameplay video works O.O grab it from ausgamer files haha omg..
This game is the only reason I ever bought a computer. In Jun 2004, I came back from Iraq, and was walking through Best Buy with a friend of mine. We were getting something to help his kid. I saw City of Heroes, picked up the box and started reading. A super hero video game? Hell yeah!
I took the box over to the guy at the computers, told him I wanted to play this game, show me a computer that could do it. 2 hours later I was calling another friend to borrow there truck, because Best Buy either wouldn't deliver the computer, chair, and desk that I had just purchased, or they couldn't do it that day. Once I got home, I set up the desk (took an hour) set up my computer, and started it up. I was amazed at the loading screens, you know, the ones with the AT descriptions. Once it was all finished installing, I tried to sign in. Oh boy, a super hero game! The hell do you mean I need internet to play this? Time Warner Cable, I need internet. No, it can't wait till next week. Well how much extra to get somebody out here today? I don't care if the techs are supposed to get off in an hour, I need internet, ASAP. Yes, I'll pay the extra 40 dollars. Two hours later, I had blazing fast high speed internet. I logged in, picked my powers Claws/regen, duh. I'm a Wolvie fan boy) Got to the costume creator, and couldnt see anything except the silhouette of my toon. I just picked some random costume pieces and loaded in. The scenery was beautiful. All the costumes I saw were great. I even got a few compliments on mine. When I explained I couldn't see anything, I was told I needed a new video card. by this time it was already pretty late, so I just played. The next day, new video card, plus 100 dollars to get it installed right then. I loved it, and have been here ever since. I even managed to play while I was deployed. At the time, I hadn't even met my future wife. Now I have my account, my wife has hers, and my almost 6 year old girl has her own account to. |
That is fantastic!!
![Smile](images/smilies/smile.gif)
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
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I first bought the game around the end of May in 2004. I think this was not long before I1 hit, because I remember seeing the screenshots of heroes battling the Kronos Titan and seeing "Warriors battling the Tsoo" on the paper map that came with the game, but I read it as "Warriors battling the T500" and assumed that was the name of the robot. Needless to say I've learned a lot since then.
@Demobot
Also on Steam
Just out of interest...how many other old timers are still kicking around?
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![Smile](images/smilies/smile.gif)
I had heard about the game around my join date. I had never played an MMO before & couldn't imagine paying 50 bucks for a game & then a monthly fee on top of that when there were so many awesome PC games out there that only required a one-time purchase.
But then I got into the beta.
Sure, why not? I mean, at least I'd get to try the game out a little to see what all this MMO nonsense was about. Then when the beta was over, I'd uninstall the client & move on with my life without having spent a dime.
7+ years later, I'm still here.
Folks who preordered the game got a 2 (or was it 3?) day head start over those who didn't & I remember those 2 days between the beta shutting down & the game going live as 2 of the most painful days of my life. I've never done [illegal] drugs of any kind but I can only imagine that's what a heroin addict goes through when forced to quit cold-turkey.
![Stick Out Tongue](images/smilies/tongue.gif)
@Spawn of Santa
SoS thuggin' bio
The Gang's All Here
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The pre-beta forums opened in September 2001. I've been following this game ever since. Through pre-release, betas, expansions, multiple accounts, and now free to play. 10 years of my life. I was 15 then. I'm 25 now. I've basically grown up with this game.
It's weird in a way. I was on my way to sign up to another MMORPG's website but decided to have a quick look at COH first. That quick look turned into a decade. I regret nothing. This has been, and continues to be, an awesome IP and equally awesome game. Just out of interest...how many other old timers are still kicking around? |
Cal
Started playing 3 days before issue 4 went live. Been here ever since!
Went to wally world to pick up UO at a friends request. Saw Statesman in the corner of my eye and picked up the box. The picture inside with the Hero flying high above a city... SOLD!
Maestro Mavius - Infinity
Capt. Biohazrd - PCSAR
Talsor Tech - Talsorian Guard
Keep Calm & Chive On!
I remember reading about CoH before it came out, and being new to MMOs, was like, "Teams of heroes? In a city? How in the flying fudge will that work?" I didn't really get it at all.
But I like superheroes, and so my friend and I ran down to the game store and bought COH the day it came out. (I had to leave the box in my car so I didn't spend all afternoon pouring over the materials in the office.) I didn't even learn about the forums until later, as evidenced by my join date.
Then the magic happened. The AT descriptions while the game loaded! The charts in the manual! (Yeah, remember that?) The heroes in Atlas Park standing around Ms Liberty! It was amazing.
Seven and a half years later, I'm still here. I'm afraid to add up all that I've spent on this game, but in consideration, I've gotten more for my entertainment dollar here than anywhere else in my life. I even cancelled my cable because I'd rather play than watch TV.
Love this game.
--NT
They all laughed at me when I said I wanted to be a comedian.
But I showed them, and nobody's laughing at me now!
If I became a red name, I would be all "and what would you mere mortals like to entertain me with today, mu hu ha ha ha!" ~Arcanaville
Early MMO attitude = "PAY for a game after I've bought it? And keep paying? That's stupid."
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Then a co-worker ran across a magazine article or mention of City of Heroes and showed me the site. Seemed intriguing to us both, so we signed up on the forums. I mostly lurked, especially after the announcement that the game was being redesigned.
I don't remember if it was late 2001, or sometime in 2002, but I do recall it being in the early days of the forums.
I still didn't want to pay a monthly fee to play, but kept being intrigued by the concept of the game. I got into the beta and it hooked me so I decided I'd pay for a year and see how things went. My buddy got into Beta later and after launch we even got another co-worker to join us. Two others from work tried it but weren't as serious about it as we 3 were. They jumped ship quickly when another MMO launched in the fall of 2004.
I'm still here. My friend left after the multiple regen nerfs (Thanks Jack) and took the other with him to the 800 lb. gorilla of MMO's.
I've been trying to decide for close to a year if I was going to renew when my annual subscription came up due to changes in the direction the game was going. After participating in the I21 Beta, I've decided to renew for another year.
You're stuck with me.
EDIT: Adding to what Nuclear Toast said. I have no idea how much I've spent on the game or related activities. I've been to two NCSoft events in Austin, 4 CoH specific events in the Bay Area, annual subscriptions, purchasing each and every box set (except for the two elusive DVD Collectors Edition sets of CoH and CoV), a few boosters, a second account that is basically only activated on free weekends for SG invites with a few monthly subs by Time Card (currently subbed to purchase some items with points before going Premium), several purchases from the Wentworth's stores at the two HeroCon's and more that I'm probably forgetting. As far as I'm concerned, it's all been worth it. Especially when it involved time spent with friends I've made in the game.
If the game spit out 20 dollar bills people would complain that they weren't sequentially numbered. If they were sequentially numbered people would complain that they weren't random enough.
Black Pebble is my new hero.
I bought this game at a Wal-Mart some weeks or months before September 10, 2004. ( I didn't register for the forums until a year later.)
I had always been a fan of super-hero stuff and I had heard that Freedom Force was a pretty fun super-hero game. When I saw that City of Heroes box I thought it was a sequel to that game.
When I came home and read the materials more closely, I was upset that it did not have a single player portion. I didn't mind if it had online play but I wasn't interested in it too much. I was used to playing Civilization and Age of Empires that had both a single-player local game and a multi-player online game. I let it sit on my shelf for a few weeks.
When I finally got around to installing it, I saw that it required a monthly subscription of $15.00! What the hell?!?! I just paid 40 or 50 bucks and I have to keep on paying? Ridiculous! I almost returned the game right then and there. But I saw that it came with a free month so I figured I'd try it out and cancel before they charged my credit card at the end of the month. That was seven years ago. I never did cancel the account.
50s: Inv/SS PB Emp/Dark Grav/FF DM/Regen TA/A Sonic/Elec MA/Regen Fire/Kin Sonic/Rad Ice/Kin Crab Fire/Cold NW Merc/Dark Emp/Sonic Rad/Psy Emp/Ice WP/DB FA/SM
Overlord of Dream Team and Nightmare Squad
I'll be 40 next year and the first 10 years of CoX just flew by. I remember reading about it "Coming In A Few Years" in a gaming magazine many many moons ago and I followed it ever since. I may not post much, but I have been around a long time.
To put it in another perspective, Sister Flame has been truly playing this game for half her life. Not counting her moving a toon around at the age of 4, SF started "really" playing Cox at 5 1/2 years old and she will be 11 on a few months. I do find it cute when I tell her she got to grow up with CoX.
Heres to another 10.
The Elementals - Brother Frost and Sister Flame
Who Is Sister Flame?
Arc 118690 - Sibling Rivalry (Sister Flame) Tweaked 09/15/09
Hmmm.
Early MMO attitude = "PAY for a game after I've bought it? And keep paying? That's stupid." So I didn't bother looking at any. |
I didn't hear about CoH until a couple months before. I really didn't know much about the web when it came to haunting forums, betas, etc. At the very least, I have CoH to thank for introducing me to forum life, betas, leet-speak and other internet conventions. I had web access for years prior to CoH but really wasn't encouraged to become a part of it until this game came along. I still surprise myself how much I come back to this game.
I look forward to many more years here.
Started day 1 launch. Took a break because of ED and the GDN. That one guy who stayed with that other company royally p***** me off.
No one pays attention to me, cause I listen to the voices in my head.
January/February of 2004 for me. I only heard the buzz then. Still regret not getting involved in the community sooner.
There are no words for what this community, and the friends I have made here mean to me. Please know that I care for all of you, yes, even you. If you Twitter, I'm MrThan. If you're Unleashed, I'm dumps. I'll try and get registered on the Titan Forums as well. Peace, and thanks for the best nine years anyone could ever ask for.
Been playing since May 2004, and still having fun.
Psy-Kid, Vanguard, Paragon City Search and Rescue
www.pcsar.net
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I was on the the old boards when they first opened. I mean the old pre-beta boards. I however started paramedic school soon after. I was working at a media store when the game was released, and bought it two weeks later when I got paid. I did not reg for the new boards till the first of the Regen nerfs hit. I wanted to protest.
Since, I have only let my sub drop for a total of 3 months. I now plan to renew for a year as soon as I have the lump of cash.
Types of Swords
My Portfolio
I lurked on the old pre-beta boards (went by black n blue), and per-ordered the game through Amazon. When I realized it wouldn't ship until the same day I could go buy it in a store, I went to the local Wal-Mart and purchased a copy. I only got 2 days of the 3 day head start because of that!
I've taken breaks here and there, but because I pay annually my subscription has never lapsed. Since then I've celebrated my 15 year wedding anniversary, and the birth of both of my daugthers (now 6 and 1).
Make a man a fire and keep him warm for the day, SET a man on fire and keep him warm for the rest of his life.
Incarnates: K'lir(Fire/Dark Corr):Hot-House Flower(Plant/Fire Dom):Kinrad X(Kin/Rad Def):Itsy-Bitsy Spider(Crab):Two Ton Tony(Mace/WP Broot):Teeny Weeny Widow(Fortunata/Widow) : Zeroth Law (Ice/Fire Tank)
This game is the only reason I ever bought a computer. In Jun 2004, I came back from Iraq, and was walking through Best Buy with a friend of mine. We were getting something to help his kid. I saw City of Heroes, picked up the box and started reading. A super hero video game? Hell yeah!
I took the box over to the guy at the computers, told him I wanted to play this game, show me a computer that could do it. 2 hours later I was calling another friend to borrow there truck, because Best Buy either wouldn't deliver the computer, chair, and desk that I had just purchased, or they couldn't do it that day.
Once I got home, I set up the desk (took an hour) set up my computer, and started it up. I was amazed at the loading screens, you know, the ones with the AT descriptions.
Once it was all finished installing, I tried to sign in.
Oh boy, a super hero game!
The hell do you mean I need internet to play this?
Time Warner Cable, I need internet.
No, it can't wait till next week.
Well how much extra to get somebody out here today?
I don't care if the techs are supposed to get off in an hour, I need internet, ASAP.
Yes, I'll pay the extra 40 dollars.
Two hours later, I had blazing fast high speed internet.
I logged in, picked my powers Claws/regen, duh. I'm a Wolvie fan boy)
Got to the costume creator, and couldnt see anything except the silhouette of my toon. I just picked some random costume pieces and loaded in. The scenery was beautiful. All the costumes I saw were great. I even got a few compliments on mine. When I explained I couldn't see anything, I was told I needed a new video card. by this time it was already pretty late, so I just played.
The next day, new video card, plus 100 dollars to get it installed right then.
I loved it, and have been here ever since. I even managed to play while I was deployed. At the time, I hadn't even met my future wife. Now I have my account, my wife has hers, and my almost 6 year old girl has her own account to.
Willpower has more passive regen than Regen does. Who thought that was a good idea?
Can we get a fix for Energy Melee instead of more new sets?