From beta to I24, it's been a pleasure. Thank you, Paragon City.

Eight years is a long time to play a game in a community; if you join and stay that long, it becomes less a source of entertainment than it does something like family. You can squabble with others, examine problems, form relationships and overcome challenges you never thought you could. To everyone who played City of Heroes, and to those who were involved in the creation and ongoing development of such a product, thank you.

City of Heroes wasn't about having superpowers, but about actually being a hero - as much as you could, at any rate. One thing that I learned in these 8 years was that the game attracted the best of gamers and non-gamers alike. People who were friendly, compassionate, patient, kind, and eager to help. It was an inspiring difference that proved a stark contrast to other games where everyone except a select few were out for themselves - even the "celebrities" on a server were approachable and eager to join in helping someone new.

It's a rare game that inspires heroes to come to low level zones simply to take care of high level ambushes or giant monster threats. I can remember racing against other heroes to Steel Canyon in order to safely remove high level ambushes, or being defeated multiple times in order to lead dangerous mobs out of low level areas.

For 8 years I felt that I really "lived" in Paragon City (despite Paladin never being featured in the comic unlike some certain celebrities of Virtue - Hi Xanatos!). It was a part of my daily life growing up, and I would always park my character in his post at Steel Canyon next to Positron to keep watch before logging off. It's a strange feeling to think that a community you interacted with for eight years is going away, particularly when all signs pointed to it being in wonderful health. But its removal doesn't change the wonderful experiences that were had, or the friends that were made. Or the genuine interactions with the wonderful development and support team.

As silly as it may sound, I expect that I will look back on my memories of Paragon City and fondly remember it as one might remember a physical place, like a place spent in the summer growing up.

Thank you, everyone, for making Paragon City a "real" place. For populating it with the heroes and kind souls this world needs, for building somewhere that can house its heroes, and for providing years of memories and experiences that won't be forgotten. Interacting with you all has made me a better person, and I hope that you can say the same. And when the servers finally do come down, I hope that we can bring that heroic nature that was on full display in Paragon City out into the physical, real world.

Paladin will eternally be at his post in Steel Canyon, but the strengths and hopes that this community has taught me through him duringt these eight years goes with his player for the rest of his life.

Sincerely,
Daniel "Paladin" Castle.

Well said! God darn it, I'm going to miss this community.

I was expecting a lot more warning. I mean Virtue still gets 2 or 3 Atlas Parks.

Been a long time coming from the Beta and the 3 day head start.

Still here, even after all this time!

It's been a great run, I'll really miss Paragon City and all it's citizens. Thanks for the epic heroing! From the end of beta to the end of the line ... happy heroing folks!

I've played video games for decades (since Pong) but CoX has been my favorite by far. My sweetie had never played before we met, but I introduced her to video gaming via CoH and she quickly became a prime player, she knows more about it than me! It has been a major part of our relationship, though not the most important part, and it will be difficult to replace.

Came here right after launch a couple of months before Issue 1. This was time well spent.

It has been an honor and a pleasure. I am thoroughly impressed with the Dev Community team and the hard work that they have put in to make this more than just a game. I'll miss Paragon.