Thank You for An Amazing Ride!

I haven't read the whole thread, nor do I really know what to say, but I did want to say something and this seemed as good a thread as any.

Thank you. Thank you to the devs and to the players.

I had never played an MMO prior to this game. I was strictly a console gamer, and a major one at that. I remember thinking that the idea of paying for the same game every month was ludicrous. My friend wound up getting me to try the game out on his beta account. I was hooked and a month after launch, I got my own account. I've been playing ever since. My console gaming has all but stopped at this point. In the end, I've saved far more money playing this game than buying new console games every week.

But monetary expenditures is not just what I'm thankful for. I just wanted to say, as a guy who's played far too many games from all sorts of genres, that this is the best game I have ever played. The best. There are many reasons, I suppose. The devs are always fun, and the community was a blast. I love superheroes, games and creating my own characters. This game fulfilled all my needs and then some.

I went to the last Player Summit. I had a good amount of fun. I even sat at the same table as Positron, and won some headphones! It was so strange and refreshing to be a part of such a great community, all based around an awesome game.

This, to me, is the end of an era. I realize that I was never one of the most active members of the fora, but I was always here. It really feels like the end of high school, with everyone saying their goodbye's and moving on to who knows where. As for me, I have no clue where I'll wind up. Maybe one of the other hero MMO's, maybe not. Probably not.

I could ramble on with favorite moments, screenshots and just general reminiscing, but I'll just stop and repeat my sentiment.

Thank you devs. Thank you for the best game I have ever played, and some of the best times I've had as a gamer. I will miss this game dearly. I will miss the community. I will miss it all.

Thank you devs. I really don't know what else to say.

Thanks for providing such amazing fun and immense amount of community for us for so long.

This game is one of the reasons I'm getting into game development. You're one of the reasons I'm going to focus on story and character development. Thank you, and everyone at Paragon, for all your hard work. You won't be forgotten either.

Thankyou and the rest of the team for such an amazing time these past 7 years, I didn't know any of you but you shall remain in my heart

All the best War Witch. Thanks for the ride. (Er...that came out wrong!)

(forgive me for the wall of text...)

It was June 25th, 2005 and I had just finished reading a review on Gamespot about this up and coming Super Hero MMORPG. Having had my heart recently broken with the demise of URU: Ages Beyond Myst Online, I decided to download it on a free trial basis, figuring what the hey, let's give it a whirl, if I don't like it I won't have to buy it. Game finishes installing, I log in and enter this magic room with a costume creator that had so many pieces (compared to my previous MMO experience) that I was both salivating and feeling quite dizzy at the time.

Now, curiously enough, 2005 was also the first year I decided to dye my hair blue and it was still blue when I was creating my ever first character. So I had part of a name but it was lacking something else (after all you can't go about fighting crime being just called blue, it lacks pizzazz, it lacks ooomph, it does not instil fear in hardened criminals and it does not command respect from fellow super heroes)... Being a child of 75 and having somewhat of a penchant for the cutest, kindest, furry rodent that is the rabbit, the next part of the name was obvious. I was like "Hold up shapeshifter! Your chinese star sign is Rabbit (2nd thoughts go "as opposed to the western one, which is Pisces, but then you wouldn't be able to breathe outside of water" (and 3rd thoughts go "well, that's rich, you're in a super hero game, going for mind control/empathy human rabbit mutant hybrid and you're worried you won't be able to justify not being able to breathe out of water"), but I digress)! That'll strike fear into the hearts and various body parts of criminals! Plus, who doesn't like cuddly wabbits! And that's how my main hero toon was born: Blue Rabbit.

Of course, at the time, there weren't absolutely any rabbit parts around (the tail, ears and whiskers came much, much later in the game life) so I had to make do with what I had... He didn't look very much like a Blue Rabbit but hey, I was just going to try out the game for a bit, it was not like I was going to keep playing it or anything... Ten minutes later, I had about 15 badges (Isolator being one of them and the rest being exploration ones) and I was like "Where's my credit card, this game is awesome and I want it now!". Thirty minutes later I also had Red Rabbit, Yellow Rabbit, Purple Rabbit and Grey Rabbit (with Black and White Rabbit planned for when I hit 50 and could finally get my hands on a WS and a PB). By this point, colours matched the archetype of the character (and yes, I realized Blue and Purple were mismatched as Blue is a controller and Purple is a defender).

Flash-forward through a lot of adventures, friends made and friends gone, laughter, blood, sweat, tears (and badges, lots and lots of badges!) and it was 2006. Villainhood loomed on the horizon and as much as Blue was me in the game, he needed an evil (well, naughtier) counterpart. Maroon Hare was born out of the colour of City of Villains for corrupters and he was joined by his league of ne'er-do-wells Black Hare, Purple Hare, Grey Hare and Green Hare (when the time came, and villain AT came out, Ultraviolet and Viridescent Hare joined them). Hare became their second name part because it's close enough to Rabbit (star sign wise) and naughty enough (remember the Hare and the Tortoise tale) to support their mischievous ways.

All of them have detailed bios because I believe once they are put out there they become living things and deserve a life (or a semblance of one in the case of the undead, robotic or construct ones). All of them are labours of love and I can't see never getting to play with me them again as a good thing and that makes me sad (and damn these allergies and dust in the air, my eyes are watering again).

Maroon Hare became my villain badger and that makes two (and more than enough). Blue and Maroon sit at 1389 and 1388 badges respectively. I have long since come to the realization that I will never get those darn PvP badges because I hate the stuff and can't partake of it without my blood pressure raising to epic proportions and the red mist taking over my sight. Which is fine I guess (the not having the badges part, not the blood pressure red mist part). There are others that I won't ever get and that's ok too I guess...

So, before this gets any longer (and sorry for rambling) what I'm trying to say is:

Thanks for letting me be part of your journey, thanks for playing with me and letting me play with you, thanks for the great game, thanks for the good times, the bad times, the in between times, the innuendo, the carrots... but most of all, thanks for being my friends and letting me be yours.

To all Devs and Dev related personnel new and old, here and gone: Bridger, Rockjaw, Kerensky, Cuppa Jo, Avatea, Back Alley Brawler, Castle, J-Love (and others I cannot recall, sorry) I raise my psychic carrot in your honour and wish you all the best. Especially to the 80 of you who are now out of a job I wish you luck and happiness, may you find a new means of employment quickly (yes, even marketing, which I still think are the spawn of Satan droppings, but even they deserve a chance...)

To all my fellow players, badgers and otherwise: it has been an honour and a pleasure teaming with you (even though some of you rocked my nerves at some times). I couldn't have asked for a better community of players (Defiant foreverl!!!)

You can take my badges, my characters, my game but you won't ever take my memories or my friends: it's been a wild ride and if it had gone on, it would only get better and better. So, once more into the breach chaps, and until Nov. 30th, I will be doing it

For the carrots!

Always carrotly yours,
Blue Rabbit

A thousand thank yous is not enough.

War Witch:

Thank you for all the amazing work you did on zones. And everything else.

Thank you War Witch. And thank you to the entire staff at PS.

You guys & gals created a wonderful world, a place of safe haven for me, somewhere I could go to relax, hang out with other people like me, where it didn't matter what I look like or my status, a place where we are rewarded for having fun with one another and helping eachother.

I would come home from my boring/sad real life, then don my costume, and escape here and 'just be me' - super powers aside - I could really just relax and be myself.

This is a place that I could fit in. And not be afraid. I think this is why it hurts so much to hear the news.

I always dreamt (I've had dreams since I was a child) that I could fly, and that I had angel wings. You have no idea how awesome it felt to fly so freely like a bird, and then one day you gave us wings. I literally made a *squee* sound (happy noise) IRL.

All the things you have added have just made things better and better. You polished this work of art into an ever evolving masterpiece, and for that I thank you and all the PS staff.

Thank you for everything.

I am hopeful you get to create another world, and that someday we may get to play like carefree children again.

Thank you.
(I have to go again, I am blubbing up, again).

I can´t thanks you and the other Devs enough. You´ve created a fantastic game where our imaginations could run wild.

The entire COH community is without equal!

I´m really going to miss you.

Thanks

I've said a few things a lot over the years, regarding how utterly fantastic this game is - I've persuaded friends to play it, and spent an inordinate amount of time here since September 3 2005 (7186 hours on my main, according to a nurse named Marguerite that I just spoke to on Peregrine Island).

But one of the things that's always made this game great is the direct interaction between the developers and the players. And one thing illustrates that, for me, more than anything else:

Omega Sektor, Birmingham, UK, March 2008.

Melissa "War Witch" Bianco was over for the most insane weekend imaginable, and there was the MOTHER of all Easter Eggs added to the game afterwards.

My surname is that of the poor soldier in the Shadow Shard who is busy doing his exercises in the screenshot below.

That is ME. Added to the game. There because War Witch is one cool lady, and because the CoH devs are so open and generous and brilliant.



Thank you. Thank you all for allowing us to have this brilliant game, and this brilliant community.

Thank you for making ME a part of it. Thank you for letting me be a part of it.

Even after they switch the servers off, Shadowe will still be protecting Paragon City.

WW... I've nothing much to say that others haven't already said but this:

You're a diamond in the rough, my dear. Truly a gem.

And I will gladly take you to see any comedy you want. We can try and outdo each other in boisterousness and annoyingly loud laughter and it will be magic... like you and the rest at PS have made CoH.


My son and I will miss all that YOU and your friends have created and, yes, I was probably shedding tears with you Friday when this happened.

From game design to artwork, you guys are/were the best in the business and will be missed by millions. Best game I've ever played...

From the bottom of my heart to the very depths of my virtual soul...

I salute you, PS.

Thank you so much for all your hard work and the great chats we had at Comic-con through the years!

It sounds like the studio was an amazing place to work, Thank you WW for your post I think all of us, will miss all of you.

Everyone is coping with this in their own way and, while I so greatly appreciate everything you guys have done, I'm overwhelmed with contempt for NCSoft more so. The suddenness of this and their way of handling it publicly with all the personable traits of a circular saw to the face just has me monumentally furious. My disbelief is in their actions, so much so that I simply can't sit and reminisce as if we all knew this months in advance.

I'm just flat out angry; Angry that they could do this to all of us, gamer and developer alike as if our personal and financial investment in the product and community was ultimately a waste. I never once played for free after Freedom launched. I subscribed for 6+ years and STILL bought things from the Market. I was doing so under the pretense that it's benefiting you guys at the studio and I hope it did... because I'd honestly rather pay you guys directly than to ever give NCSoft another dime.

I would hope there's a vast majority of us in the community that would also consent to never paying for another NCSoft published title again. I know I'm not and I mean it with every fiber of my being. (No offense to the people at ArenaNet who made a nice game in Guild Wars 2, but they signed a deal with the devil.)

It is sad to see you all at Paragon Studios go and I hope you all can transition to equally amazing positions at other development studios. Peace and long life to you, Melissa.

I hadn't logged in for about 4 years til last week, I'd absolutely loved CoX when I started back in 2005 (and even before then, playing on my brother's account). Although I'd moved on, I was always happy to see CoX still going and it always remained one of my firm favourite games (and kudos to whoever designed the peacebringer powers- the gfx is beautiful!). The number of friends I made over the years and the fun I had....

SW:G was my first MMO, and seeing that go was like seeing a mutant squirrel be put out of its misery. CoX was my second- and on hearing the news, I really did feel a sense of loss
Makes me regret I never went to any of the UK meetups. They sounded like a good laugh! Thanks to all you devs, you made a superb game. I'm going to go get some screenshots of villains being tornadoed and radiant striked....

All of you should be proud of your work. In a world where video games are dropping each and every week, I never thought that I would be playing one singular game for 8 years. An amazing feat really.

You created a world. The more I think about it, it is as real as Boston or Providence to me. I can visualize buildings, statues, parks, etc. I remember the feeling of completing an insane arc at 4am.

For those of you who have read Ready Player One, I guess we now know why the sixers needed to lose the quest, eh?

Lastly, THANK YOU!!!

PS: Maybe if you make an entire zone of pandas? J/k

Some of my fondest game studio life memories ever, Melissa, are sitting in your cube and doing jigsaw puzzles with you while we plan out what to do next and vent steam. Not to mention the way I felt when you and Matt and I played off each other in panels at conventions, we were in the zone and I felt great, even if Brian was shaking his head at our shenanigans. You're a class act, through and through.

For all this and more, thank you very much. Indeed.

Hey first post after red name! I feel special (i'll miss that as well lol).

Never having been too active on the forums, right now there's so much I want to say and so many people I'd like to say thank you to. However, I'm about to log on to the game as I intend to continue playing until the servers are shut down, and there are friends waiting and Rikti invaders to be pummeled. But as the forums may not be here for long I'll just say this in case they're already taken offline later tonight:

I first started playing City of Heroes at EU launch when a close friend of mine, Max aka. Baron Steel, invited me to join. This was shortly after my father had passed away from cancer, and the game and the friends I've met helped me wind down after a very stressful year and get some sense of normality back into my life.

City of Heroes/City of Villains has been a consolation in bad times and a absolute blast in good times. I could never have asked for a more enjoyable game or a better community, so thank you, developers past and present for your great work! And thank you to everyone I've met and teamed with!

Thanks Melissa... Thanks to all of you at Paragon Studios. It has been a great time... And I DO hope it still will remain as such. Maybe another company, that is not the Devil, will find a way to keep you guys running. I will not lose hope...

Anyway, my hope and prayers that all of you transition well over this.

FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEMM!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for all the hard work, War Witch.

I'll miss you too. We talked a few times in game a few years back.

--TWillard

I've just had a friend that I thought stopped playing years ago forward me the petition ... turns out his kids play it now. They weren't even a bottle of cheap wine in their father's kitchen back when we started playing .

Thanks for a great game and all the best.

You're Welcome and thank you for all the effort you put forth for us.

/salute