Am I the only one not upset?
The biggest effect this had on me was surprise. I did not see this coming because Paragon Studios did not see it coming. You expect that the development team have at least some idea about how their game is doing, and they spent the whole week prior to that announcement grinning ear to ear and dropping hints of the cool stuff they had planned for us. Oh, and by the way, the game is shutting down. The who of the what now? It simply came out of nowhere.
As for gameplay, I like City of Heres' the best of any MMO save for those "action" ones. City of Heroes has something pretty much no other MMO does, and that's "feedback." You whack someone with a giant sword and you FEEL the force behind it. Between sound effects, visual effects, screen shake and animation speed, there really was a sense of contact in City of Heroes. The same isn't true for any other MMO I'm aware of. I'm not even sure if other MMOs give their critters reel-back animations.
WoW is probably the worst about "feedback." It plays like an RTS - you basically loop a short, spastic animation and numbers show up over your enemy. It doesn't feel like you're fighting, it feels like you're swatting the air while your enemy's health is draining. It's astounding to me why every MMO out there insists on having attack animations that last no more than a quarter second and have to be done while moving. It just looks so bad.
Honestly, I see City of Heroes as very much the only game out there that puts an emphasis on what looks cool to do at the expense of what you CAN do. An that's a major reason why I'm here eight years down the line.
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
|
I think much of the upset is caused by the way the closure was handled. If NCSoft had come out and said "Guys, the game is losing money, we have to shut it down, we'll wind it down over 6 months" sure there'd have been sadness but a lot less anger. To sack all the devs with no notice and only give a 3 month sunset while the game seems to be still profitable is what caused the anger.
I am upset in that the game was improving and getting updated over the last few issues and I was looking forward to the upcoming issues. I wasn't playing as much as I have in the past but still often enough to justify the sub. |
Instead, there was no warning at all. On August 21st, they released a brand-new power set, and people paid money to snap it up. On Wednesday the 29th was the usual coffee talk, full of excitement about the update. On Thursday the 30th they patched the I24 Beta. On the morning of Friday the 31st, the devs posted more pictures of the new I24 costume sets. On Friday afternoon, NC Soft put them all out of work, and said to us "The game you love will disappear forever in three months and you'll never ever be able to play it again."
THAT'S what made it sting so badly. Before that fateful Friday afternoon, there wasn't even a hint that this would happen, not for the players or the devs. In the span of minutes, we (players and devs alike) went from "having a bright future that promised years of updates and fun to come" to "game over, get out."
I don't think the closing would have garnered the reaction it did if NC Soft hadn't handled it so badly.
The OP was suffering some of the classic Freedom problems, a change of server would have fixed them. |
This is not something I want shut down. I had a lot of friends who vanished like smoke from the game post-announcement.
My two biggest issues are how the PS issue was handled, and the abject lack of communication between NCSoft and PS (and very likely NCSoft NC).
I love the game. I play on victory and have a blast, with groups between 2-8. Farm, no farm, who cares. It is about having fun, and for me, communicating and bonding with others. Nowhere else will you have the breadth of friendships form than in this game. Ages 10-70 (not joking), lawyers to grade school students, you never know who you might make friends with. And the community is just night and day when compared to other communities as far as generosity and maturity.
-------
Hew in drag baby
I was taken aback by the announced closing, it was too sudden. I think I will really miss it, an the OP will too when that day comes where you cant actually log in. Thats when it will hurt worse. But hopefully we all will have something else by that time to ease the pain.
For me it wont be a new MMO. I am looking at a new bicycle. I was in a crash 2 months ago and broke my collarbone and had to have surgery to repair it. I am nearly ready to return to riding, and hopefully the new bike will give me some joy.
-Largo
Founder of A.G.O.N.Y. Supergroup on Victory
Member of Thought Sanctum VG on Victory
Member of St0rm Batallion SG on Guardian
I was taken aback by the announced closing, it was too sudden. I think I will really miss it, an the OP will too when that day comes where you cant actually log in. Thats when it will hurt worse. But hopefully we all will have something else by that time to ease the pain.
For me it wont be a new MMO. I am looking at a new bicycle. I was in a crash 2 months ago and broke my collarbone and had to have surgery to repair it. I am nearly ready to return to riding, and hopefully the new bike will give me some joy. |
If this gentleman has another bicycle accident, it will pretty much be all your fault.
Don't let that happen. Save City of Heroes
Sincerely,
Cap
@Captain-Electric � Detective Marvel � The Sapien Spider � Moravec Man � The Old Norseman
Dark-Eyes � Doctor Serpentine � Stonecaster � Skymaiden � The Blue Jaguar
Guide to Altitis � A Comic for New Players � The Lore Project � Intro to extraterrestrials in CoH
THAT'S what made it sting so badly. Before that fateful Friday afternoon, there wasn't even a hint that this would happen, not for the players or the devs. In the span of minutes, we (players and devs alike) went from "having a bright future that promised years of updates and fun to come" to "game over, get out." |
I'm used to death. I don't think I'll ever get used to being shivved.
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
I dont think that your the only one not upset. Its just that as far as I can tell everyone else who feels like you just shrugged and uninstalled the game on the 31st of august.
Will we succed? who knows. But we're the types who identify with the sort of creed our charecters espoused that we HAVE TO TRY. WIN LOOSE OR DRAW, WE WILL FIGHT. WE ARE HEROES This is what we DO |
American Valor
Sentinel of Liberty
Edit: And now it is.
![Big Grin](images/smilies/biggrin.gif)
by Star Ranger 4 WIN LOSE OR DRAW, WE WILL FIGHT. WE ARE HEROES This is what we DO! |
Decide that this will be another day in which you Walk The Talk.
![](http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w3/American_Valor/AV1banner.gif)
MA #14724 Operation: Discredit @American Valor
Sentinel Of Liberty SG
For a lot of the people upset, there are two factors.
The first factor is that you seem to assume that people would have had the same reaction no matter when CoH had shut down. Perhaps a few people would, but the problem here is that this shutdown is extremely dramatic. Server populations had been relatively stable for a very long time. Revenue was on a very gradual decline. There were active plans from the dev team for easily a year into the future. A lot of the reaction you're seeing is because the shutdown was not clearly signaled at all. If the game had gone into a visible maintenance mode spiral, far fewer people would be as emotional about it.
The other factor is that CoH is the MMO that a lot of people who don't otherwise play MMOs actually play. That means its the only similar time sink that they indulge in, and when its gone, many of them do not expect to be able to replace it. Some folks spend 2-4 hours a day on this one thing, and have been doing it for 4-8 years. That's a big chunk of a person's time to suddenly have become a vacuum.
Then you consider that, for those same people, most of them weren't just spending all that time grinding in some AE mission. They were teaming, chatting, participating in forums, participating in the community, forming events, leading SGs, etc. It was a hobby and a social experience that will now end, or at a minimum be forced to dramatically change.
I think it's pretty clear you no longer had an investment in this game. The people who are upset still did, and got no graceful wind-down so that their expectations could adjust.
Blue
American Steele: 50 BS/Inv
Nightfall: 50 DDD
Sable Slayer: 50 DM/Rgn
Fortune's Shadow: 50 Dark/Psi
WinterStrike: 47 Ice/Dev
Quantum Well: 43 Inv/EM
Twilit Destiny: 43 MA/DA
Red
Shadowslip: 50 DDC
Final Rest: 50 MA/Rgn
Abyssal Frost: 50 Ice/Dark
Golden Ember: 50 SM/FA
I was upset at first, and am still annoyed that the forums will vanish, but I'm at peace with the game shutting down now. If they save it, that's great, but on the gaming side of things I've pretty much moved on.
And I think if they *do* save it in some fashion that there may already be some irreparable damage done to the population by the announced shutdown. |
Pretty much this for me.
I was 'crushed' and upset when I read the announcement of CoH closing but by the next day or two I was 'over it'.
Maybe it's burn out or whatever but...even if CoH somehow stays alive, I probably won't be coming back. Other things to do, I've "moved on"...
*shrugs* We'll see...
It just stinks that the devs/Paragon Studios got the shaft like they did...
Edit:
Which is why I really don't login to play CoH now...only really login on Mon. nights for RHW runs but...I don't think that will be lasting since only ~10 people showed up last time :|
Leader of The LEGION/Fallen LEGION on the Liberty server!
SSBB FC: 2062-8881-3944
MKW FC: 4167-4891-5991
Bingo.
I'm used to death. I don't think I'll ever get used to being shivved. |
And they are good folks. I continued to believe that even as I killed my sub. I'm back for them and for the folks here on the forums.
If the game gets saved, I'll be back again.
But upset? Sad? Nah, just ticked off. Things die but as Venture so perfectly put it, the way something dies affects the living.
Be well, people of CoH.
![](http://pages.suddenlink.net/dmweb/sig1.jpg)
"Not upset but shocked" - lump me in that group.
I'm slowly realising I grew bored of MMOs about 3 years ago, but just felt so comfortable in CoH with my little group of friends I kept to these habits.
Everytime I try a MMO since 2009 or so, I log in, play for maybe a hour or two, log out, never log back in. There's just something missing, I just can't get immersed in these kinds of games anymore.
Inevitably, we all grow up. Not to say MMOs are childish, that would be silly; but, for example, when I started playing Warcraft 2, EQ and T4C, I was in my early twenties, and I could relate to most other players, as they were probably in the same age group. Now, at thirty-...something, the average MMO player age hasn't changed too much, and most people I meet are young enough to be my kids. This makes it much harder to connect with them, to develop meaningful friendships.
One of the draws of MMOs, to me, have always been that it made me feel like I was part of something bigger, an entire virtual universe, an unknown world to explore, with different rules and logic. Now? I feel like I'm a stranger everywhere I go, and I feel like I see the code behind the game rather than the game itself. These are not bestial critters trying to rip my flesh open, these are mobs of the same level as my character, mobs who move and attack in a very specific way. This is not a sword and a shield, this is loot generated from a table according to the mobs' level. This isn't the most beautiful city of the land, this is a hub for quests and NPCs, who are in turn nothing but quest givers and captain expositions. And so on. The immersion is gone. The magic is gone.
People point at the industry, and perhaps it plays a part, but objectively, looking at older games, you can have that same disappointing outlook. A MMO is a bit like a magic show, it's fun to be impressed at first, and it's fun to figure out the tricks, but once you have done so... There's little left to do, save for following your friends jumping ship from new game to new game, hoping to recapture an experience that can only be experienced once.
Honestly, I see City of Heroes as very much the only game out there that puts an emphasis on what looks cool to do at the expense of what you CAN do. An that's a major reason why I'm here eight years down the line. |
Downside it's grindy and only available in Korea Japan and Chine I believe.
The animations though beautiful. Way better then even COXs
here's some game play footage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OO0RynzRCk skip to 1:27 for hammer time
![Smile](images/smilies/smile.gif)
That looks cheesy as hell.
Be well, people of CoH.
![](http://pages.suddenlink.net/dmweb/sig1.jpg)
So cheesy they have an MMO that isn't dying LOLOL and they have like 5 or 6 games using the animations. Must be doing something right.
|
Aion had some pretty impressive animations (also significantly more impressive than that hammer limply moving up and down) and still managed to fall way short of CoH's level of quality. IMHO obviously.
Thought for the day:
"Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment."
=][=
Upset? Yes. Going to lie on my back? No. There's still stuff to do to show support for the game, to make ammunition for the negotiators.
Like TF running. The first Positron's Ally event is tonight! Run the first TF, be Positron's ally!
Also consider sending NCsoft an e-mail urging them to sell the game if you haven't yet. They set up an e-mail just for us at COHSunset@ncsoft.com
Is it a black hole? I don't know! I sent one anyway.
Tell anyone who doesn't know about these. And the Titan Forum is also a good source of organization/stuff to do.
Culex's resistance guide
Wanna talk about cheesy how throwing a rock at someone here in COX they ducking behind a wall and still getting hit now that is pure cheese.
Anyway so long COX community who thinks they are better then everyone else have fun with your holier then thou attitude. I'm done here and with this game like it matters it will be in it's grave soon and no one wants to buy a 8 year old MMO with a 10 year old game engine. Just to obsolete.
You're being awfully defensive. Maybe you should go to their forums and talk about how great it is, eh?
Aion had some pretty impressive animations (also significantly more impressive than that hammer limply moving up and down) and still managed to fall way short of CoH's level of quality. IMHO obviously. |
Blue
American Steele: 50 BS/Inv
Nightfall: 50 DDD
Sable Slayer: 50 DM/Rgn
Fortune's Shadow: 50 Dark/Psi
WinterStrike: 47 Ice/Dev
Quantum Well: 43 Inv/EM
Twilit Destiny: 43 MA/DA
Red
Shadowslip: 50 DDC
Final Rest: 50 MA/Rgn
Abyssal Frost: 50 Ice/Dark
Golden Ember: 50 SM/FA
Be well, people of CoH.
![](http://pages.suddenlink.net/dmweb/sig1.jpg)
I moved past being surprised into being wistful. But never angry.
Surprised because I thought the game had a very, very dedicated base that, like Jack once said, would subscribe pretty much through anything.
Wistful because the last time I was subscribed, June / July, I recognized ones of people in my globals and had trouble getting together a single run through the new raid. I've had some amazing times here and enjoyed the community -- I'll miss that. But ... not enough to maintain my sub. Or, honestly, log in for some FTP action.
I am, however, pissed that there's a chance I won't get to see, let alone read about, The Sekrit.
... but, for example, when I started playing Warcraft 2, EQ and T4C,....
|
I stopped reading right there....
You played T4C too?!
![Big Grin](images/smilies/biggrin.gif)
That was my 'first' MMO heh....good times...
Leader of The LEGION/Fallen LEGION on the Liberty server!
SSBB FC: 2062-8881-3944
MKW FC: 4167-4891-5991
NCSoft didn't re-assign (or fire) people from the project in preparation of shutting the game down. Paragon Studios were, literally, still working on new content when the announcement was made.
So, yeah, I can see how that came as a shock and promoted a strong reaction. If NCSoft had just let the game bleed out, there probably wouldn't have been many left with the energy to fight the closure when it finally happened.
So, I suppose in that light we can be glad it happened the way it did.
Thought for the day:
"Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment."
=][=