Goodbye to my 2nd life

So I really don't want to post this but feel like I should.

This game has brought me so much and has helped to shape the last 8 years of my life in such a way that it's hard to say goodbye. Hard to say goodbye to my friends here, the devs, say goodbye to my character that I have put so much time in and feels like a geographical piece of land is falling into the ocean.

I started playing this game in beta around 2004 because I wanted to spend time with my real life brother, I had moved to Georgia at the time and all my family was in Florida. I had never played a MMO as the thought of paying for a game monthly was a bit lost to me. I even teased my brother for being a 'geek' or 'nerd' at the time for it. After it went live and we were 2 months in, my brother left the game as he couldn't afford it. I continued on.

I started developing a love for the game and the character he and I had created and quickly filled my friends list in Justice with tons of really cool and fun people. Then I became invested in more ways than I could have known at the time. I started collecting art of my main. I now have over 1000 pieces of art and if I could afford it, would still be building it.

I went through all the changes in game with a smile and carried on with my elec/elec/elec blaster. Working in GA and mostly living alone. All I did was play the game when I got home from work. In 2005 during the Christmas holidays, I was told I had cancer of the lungs and wouldn't have long to live. The Justice community as a whole gathered around me and supported me in a thread topic here on the forums, they helped me through what is definitely one of the hardest times of my life. I even had CuppaJo sending me encouraging PM's which helped me. It ended up being a viral infection but that isn't really the point. The game became that much more important to me.

I don't know for sure but it was around this time that the Nemesis Staff was out and it became a huge part of my main character so much so that BABS went to bat to have it entered as a vet reward. I still like to think that was my stamp on the game

I met Sassy just after the cancer scare in game. We were friends for a long time just goofing off with our characters and have since fallen in love. I moved all the way to California to be with her and now have my chosen family which was something I had always dreamed of having.

I am also an assistant project manager for a company and moderate games forums. Soon to be a Community Manager which had been my goal ever since CuppaJo. ExLibris was a big part in influencing me to go this route. I didn't see this as an option back then but here I am lol.

Through all of this and in the past 8 years I have made Paragon my home, my 2nd home. I have dreamed big, lived large, got to fly, fallen in love. Had sooo many experiences that I will never forget and I have you all to thank for it. I truly have a lot of love for all the friends I have made here, the developers and community management for fostering and holding the space to make this game and community thrive the way it has.

Thank you, all of you and I hope our paths meet down the road.

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Thick and thin, brother.

Call down the lightning.

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The Alt Alphabet ~ OPC: Other People's Characters ~ Terrific Screenshots of Cool ~ Superhero Fiction

I know the feeling, man.

While I can't claim to have met my true love through CoH, it was there for me to briefly take my mind off of things while I was caring for my father who had terminal cancer. It was there for me through the good times and the bad, just a way to escape for a bit and play the hero or the villain. Somewhere along the eight+ years I've been here, it turned into something more.

They say that you always remember your first. I think I'll be remembering coH as both my first and my last, because I don't see any other MMO out there that could ever take the place of this one. I see no development team or community team that could replace those at Paragon Studios. And I see no community that could ever replace this one.

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Positron: "There are no bugs [in City of Heroes], just varying degrees of features."

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Thanks guys,

Sassy just corrected me. We had met before my cancer scare but fell in love just after.

Count me in for any farewell events.

Much Love all!

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TA said it right - CoH took my life in directions I never knew existed. I fell in love over the internet and refused to believe it! CoH was helping me limp through a dead marriage while I raised two beautiful girls, and TA became a great friend. Who knew you could fall in real love in these things? Srsly?

We went to the CoH M&G in 2007 (Dave & Busters) and peeps wanted to take pictures of us. .. Yeah .. you're all weird .. period.

Now I get to live with TA, my girls adore him, and we both work types of moderation (mine is more corporate) from home - so no shortage of time together.

Special shout out to Melissa WARWITCH! Bianco ... we had some awesome chats!

Thanks to all of you for an amazing community, a fun game and a tremendous opportunity to see how good people can be to each other.

In the end, I lose out on you guys, but I get to look across the room at my life partner. Not goodbye .. so long ...

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This is how it ends(jerk hackin, dupin)

this game is gone to the americans.

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[image]You CAN'T post images in sigs like they say you can in the forum FAQ.jpg[/image]

Someone said to me "It's just a game."

Is it? Something you dedicate years of your life to is 'just a game'? City of Heroes was, and always will be more than that. I met some amazing people here, who i'll be keeping in contact with. I've learned things that apply to RL situations (How to write stories, make interesting looking characters) and lots of other things.

So I agree with the thread title. This 'game' is like a 2nd life, and it'll be gut-wrenching to see it go, and all the awesome people with it.

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I was doing some playthroughs of City of Heroes. Now they will serve as memories of a better time ...

My daughter, now 16, is raving inarticulately in the kitchen .. "I GREW UP WITH THIS GAME! I'VE BEEN PLAYING THIS GAME SINCE I WAS 7!! WHAT IS THE DEAL?" ... she got to be in beta way back ... wait .. there's more .. "I LEARNED TO READ AND WRITE ON THIS GAME!" ... oh .. well THAT explains a lot!!

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so many memories

This ones for Mitrissa...

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Together, we had the best damn SG that ever existed. You know how to reach me.

Much love.

I feel like my cat died... *shares double chocolate cookies with everyone*

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"In a nutshell, if you have powers that aren't recharging, you're not trying hard enough." ~Enri

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August 31, 2012. A Day that will Live in Infamy. Or Information. Possibly Influence. Well, Inf, anyway. Thank you, Paragon Studios, for what you did, and the enjoyment and camaraderie you brought.
This is houtex, aka Mike, signing off the forums. G'night all. - 10/26/2012
Well... perhaps I was premature about that whole 'signing off' thing... - 11-9-2012

Just read the news on fark. Wanted to say goodbye one last time. Be well everyone.
-Dave

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Be well, people of CoH.

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The Alt Alphabet ~ OPC: Other People's Characters ~ Terrific Screenshots of Cool ~ Superhero Fiction

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The Alt Alphabet ~ OPC: Other People's Characters ~ Terrific Screenshots of Cool ~ Superhero Fiction

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The Alt Alphabet ~ OPC: Other People's Characters ~ Terrific Screenshots of Cool ~ Superhero Fiction

I know it's been several years since we saw the two of you at the last NorCal M&G, but I always loved your story and all your artwork, TA and Sassy.

Much love from the Wentworth Camp.

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Sultry Siren - The Cape Radio
Infinity - Sultry Siren, Mrs. Wentworth & more (5th Element, The Wentworth Country Club)Virtue - Lydia Chapman, Mrs. Wentworth, Anguisette., DJ Sultry Siren

WAAHH!! TA!!

*hugs*

Dammit. Going to miss you ya big lug.

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"If I fail, they write me off as another statistic. If I succeed, they pay me a million bucks to fly out to Hollywood and fart." --- George A. Romero
"If I had any dignity, that would have been humiliating" --- Adam Savage
Virtue Server: Kheprera, Malefic Elf, Lady Omen, Night Rune, La Muerte Roja, Scarab Lafayette, Serena Ravensong, Kyrse, and Arachnavoodoo among others.

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