I know the feeling.
When The Matrix Online closed, it was explained why, and a cutoff date for subscribers was given; anyone who had an account in good standing (even if it's subscription had run out) could come back and play for free the last months of the game. They increased XP gain and in the last month gave players free abilities and upgrades to play any class they wanted. The last week they artificially leveled everyone from 50 (level cap) to 99, and then 101. And gave them dev powers and powers Neo had for the last three days. THAT was a sendoff.
When Star Wars Galaxies was going to close, they announced it ahead of time, and gave a cutoff date for subscribers; anyone still subscribed by the date could play the last months free, and would get the equivalent of Paragon Points to use on other SOE games. Those last months they turned off the instance timers, increased xp gain, let the devs finish the updates they'd been planning all year, and had the Galactic Civil War battles happen twice every hour (way more than normal), and had other events where players could fight Star Destroyers and other cool stuff. Another awesome send off. And again, they explained the reason why the game was being closed down.
City of Heroes; all we hear is the devs working on the next update, then out of the blue we are told the studio is closed and the game will close later in the year. No announcement of free VIP time, cutoff dates, explanations why, none of that.
I always talked bad about other MMO companies in comparison to how well this game was run, but 8 years of all that is worth nothing if they can't give the game a proper send off or an explanation to the game's players. The ball is in NCSoft's hands now; whether they get remembered for killing the game off in a bad way or giving the players closure after 8 years.
NCSoft has never been good at coordinating things at a corporate level.
It was a Friday at a end of a month. It was the "perfect" time to shut down the studio. However NCSoft itself didn't put out a press release, at least not one on their global web site, which latest news on the English version is from 2009 or the US one where the last announcement was GW2 going live. Paragon had to say something because the word would get out over the weekend and at least they tried to be the ones we heard it from first.
I expect to hear details this week or next, assuming the rumors of a Nov 30 shutdown is accurate.
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Tempus unum hominem manet
That is cool what The Matrix and Star Wars did before the shut down. My only other MMO I played extensively was a racing game called Motor City Online. They let us know when the final day was, gave players access to all cars regardless of level and unlocked all the tracks regardless of level. It was a blast. I so wish they had a least given us Issue 24 with a new name to reflect the end and other goodies till the lights go off.
Keeping it Brutal !!!!!!!!
The thing I liked best was the explanations given for both; MxO was losing money and had been for some time and had a very low subscriber base. SWG was a subscriber base issue but the main reason was the licensing of the Star Wars brand with EA and The Old Republic. Legally SOE had to shut the game down. The game closed just days prior to SWTOR's launch.
NCSoft has said...well, nothing so far as to why. That's what hurts.
Yesterday the bomb from hell was dropped on all of us loyal CoH players that effective immediately all activites on the game would stop, the staff was let go and the servers will go offline Nov 30th 2012. I was shocked and saddened and my heart broke in two as I read this news. Surely it must be some sick and twisted joke from someone who hacked the website. Alas, as the day grew longer I realized it was true, my favorite game in all my 41 years of playing games was coming to an end. Sadness turned to anger. Anger because we did not get closure and the proper time to say goodbye. I feel as if my best friend was just killed in a car wreck. Shocked and in dismay. Angry because they did not give us a proper goodbye. Angry because they could have at least gave us Issue 24 and renamed it to fit with the end. Angry because we as players feel cheated by the mighty dollar once again as NCSoft did this in a manner to make their 3rd quarter reports look better to their stockholders. I personally will NEVER buy an NCSoft product again due to their heartless nature. I have played many other MMO's that went offline for whatever reason and we were always given advance notice and they made the game fun till the lights went out but instead we are given a a you know what up the you know where with no lube what so ever. I can't speak for everyone but I know many must feel the same. See you all in game on Freedom till the end.
Keeping it Brutal !!!!!!!!