Calling all CoH players (and developers!) - I want to talk with you about CoH's closure.

Greetings CoH forums,
My name is Jamie, I'm a freelance writer for a number of videogame outlets (PCPP Magazine, VG247 etc), and I'd love to talk with you.

Late last year a game by the name of Star Wars Galaxies (Article) closed its doors. Sadly I was too late to jump aboard and experience the closing weeks, but I was lucky enough to be able to talk to players, both past and present, and find out just what the SWG experience was like. An obituary to a deceased game, if you will.

Well, not twelve months later and I'm feeling in a familiar position: there's another MMO closing down. Yet this time around, things feel different. There's more of a ruckus from players to keep it alive, more of a wider outpouring of sadness at its closure. And, undoubtedly, stories that are worth telling.

Stories I want to tell.

While the article I am writing is yet to be picked up by any outlets, I am in continual talks with finding it a home, and will be able to share that information at a later date. So, what do I need from you?

I'll admit, I'm new to CoH. I dabbled with it a little around launch and never returned. That is, until now: I was lucky enough to create a new account just before account creation was closed down, and I'm ready and willing to come along for the ride that is City of Heroes' closure.


And that's where you all come in: I want to talk to you. I want to know what it was like before launch - the anticipation, the excitement. What it was like in the early days, or years. How the game felt. Memorable moments. Why you played CoH, and why you still do today.

With my new character, I'd also like to play with you all too. I want more than just recounting of stories to make up the entirety of this article. I want to experience it with you: I want to wander the streets with you, be taken to your favourite spots, and see how those places change as things wrap up, and hear about what they were like before.

I'm also planning on being there at the finale too, seeing how everyone bids farewell.


I'm a little unfamiliar as to whether any developers frequent these forums too, but just in case, I'd love to talk to you too. We often hear about the player experience when an MMO shuts its doors: I'd love to hear from the other side too.

If anyone has any interest in contributing to a piece which will hopefully bring this story to a large group of people, feel free to reply, PM, or email me at Dalzell . Jamie @ gmail . com. - and I'll get back to you with some initial questions. then we can progress from there

I look forward to talking with you all!


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Web: http://www.ponderingthepixels.com
Email: Dalzell . Jamie @ gmail . com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/sir_jd

This is an appropriate section to post this. As for playing with people, just jump in both feet with folks on the Virtue server. It has the most survivors. I think you will find it easy to get a group.

The reason this closure is different is because there doesn't seem to be a good reason for it happening. By all accounts by the developers, the game was doing well. They were working full steam on getting the Issue 24 content update finished, which probably would have been released last month had NCSoft not shut them down. They also had Issues 25 through 27 in the pipeline at various stages of development, with I25 obviously going to be a big one. NCSoft hasn't said the game wasn't profitable either, only citing 'restructuring' as the reason for killing both the game and Paragon Studios so suddenly.

Then there's NCSoft's history and reputation of having a...cavalier attitude towards titles in their stable that didn't perform well in Asia even if they were solid in the West. With the memory of the closures of Auto Assault, Exteel and Tabula Rasa followed by NCSoft sitting on those IPs instead of selling them off to possibly allow the games to keep running, is it any wonder that CoH players view NCSoft's recent press release that they've "exhausted all options" (after only a couple weeks) to sell CoH or keeping it running with extreme skepticism?

There are too many unanswered questions, too many things that don't add up. All signs point to the conclusion that CoH wasn't closed because of anything it or it's developers did or didn't do.

The fact that a milestone of a game with eight years of success in the past and plenty to look forward to, with a thriving, enthusiastic community that's been cited as having one of the best relationships with their development team in the industry, can be shut down through no fault of its own for no good reason, despite the tremendous efforts by so many to save it, is practically criminal.



.

The update about to be released - Issue 24 - was looking to be one of the best updates ever to the game, including a lot of long-awaited improvements to old features and new content. I was more interested in this next issue than about any previous issue I can think of.

The financial backers of the game - NCsoft, Nexon, whoever - are clearly completely divorced from what matters to the developers and players of the game. It shows in their timing. Couldn't they have permitted the game to continue one more month, to allow the issue to publish, before putting the game into close-down? Couldn't they have more honestly looked for a buyer for the game? (Surely there IS a buyer, as the game is profitable.) It doesn't look like the financial backers feel they have ANY obligation toward their gaming customers.

I think a significant angle for any SAVE CoH story is how the industry needs to get games back into the hands of smaller companies, who can enjoy - and live off of - the smaller profits from smaller markets. This will produce better work, keep the trust and contentment of players, and also keep the developers employed.

Someone needs to be permitted to buy CoH. To me, that's a basic obligation on the part of NCsoft to their customers.

Could not have been said better.

Hello, sir!

Firstly, let this be a huge thank you for this upcoming coverage. I'm Rien, (GreatRock on the forums :P) and I play on Virtue, and I'm one of the coordinators for the SaveCoH effort.

Secondly, get in contact with TonyV. He's running this whole shebang, and he has access to nearly all of the information.

Thirdly, get on Virtue. I'd be more than happy to show you around, detail what has changed, and even get you in touch with a few of the couples. (Several people have been married in-game. Even more people met in-game and ended up together.) To me, Virtue seems like the best server to hang around in, mostly because of the AP33 zone. Of course, I am biased. Virtue is my home, and I jump at the opportunity to bring people in.

Finally, make sure you ask in-game. A LOT of people don't use the forums. Try the Titan Network forums, too. (http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php) A lot of players use the Titan Network for news and information on the SaveCoH efforts.

Thank you again for this. It means a lot to every single one of us. We are all so close in this community, and I don't even feel sadness that the game is closing. I am angry that NCsoft did this to us, yes. But mostly I am just proud. I am just so damn proud I was a part of it. I am proud I could lead everyone to such an amazing place.

Thank you again.

Rien

Firstly, I'd just like to thank everyone who's replied and/or emailed - really appreciated!

Also a quick apology for starting the thread and disappearing on you all - have had some net connectivity issues since and have only just gotten back online!
I'll be working on email responses and some responses to the replies in the thread tomorrow - just wanted to drop in and let you all know I'm still here

And to anyone looking to email, don't feel too put-off by the thought of having to tell your entire story in a single email. Just a quick "I'm interested!" is all I need, and from there we can start with some basic questions and the like. Again, thanks to everyone who's getting involved

Regards,
Jamie

Hi Jamie, I'd be happy to talk with you in or out of game. The suggestion to contact TonyV over on Titan Network forums (as well as seeing what's there along with what's on these forums) is a good one.

Off hand, I don't recall the name of the thread(s) here for various CoH memories and what City of Heroes has meant to people in this community, but families, kids, parents, grandparents played CoH together. Others have written how playing CoH got them thru some difficult personal times. The "final reveal" thread has people talking about who they are and what they do (usually professionally) out-of-game.

To put this succinctly and this is purely my opinion, the City of Heroes community has been in a state of shock and grief since the announcement to "sunset" CoH by its publisher NCSoft. The shock is because there was no indication anything was amiss or that the game was anywhere near to closing. (Issue 24 in Beta and close to final release, new powersets and other items on the Paragon market advertised less than 10 days prior to the sunset notice, etc.) Grief of course due to the hours of time (read: years), creativity and money players put into this game and the forging of friendships and tightknit communities formed in our Super Groups.

To my layman's eyes (I'm not an MSW or psychologist) just about every player I've talked to in-game or seen here on the forums is exhibiting signs of Bereavement and Grieving truly analogous to losing a beloved family pet or even friend. The first couple of days people logged in as always but no one felt like doing missions (i.e. playing) much, instead we commiserated with one another on chat channels. Tears have been shed with many of the longest participants (middle aged gamers) finding themselves unable to even log in due to the unexpected pain at losing this beloved pastime. See also the Player Rally, where characters are still holding an /em (emote) holdtorch CandleLight Vigil on the steps of City Hall, Atlas Park, Instance 33 (as well as on other servers btw.)

While Virtue is a good/great server to start your interviews, many are still active especially evenings and weekends including Justice, Victory, Protector, and probably others. (My info is limited to the servers I'm active on or have chat channels to.)

Thanks for writing about this. I hope your article gets prominently published. Many if not most of us were truly astonished to discover not only that the prospect of losing CoH hurt, but the extent to which losing "just a game" could hurt. Which goes to show, the experience of playing CoH went far beyond simply playing a game.

Best wishes to you in this endeavor.

This is actually a similar idea to the Crowning Moment of Awesome thread I started, but with a wider topic range.

Feel free to use anything from there.

Jamie,

Head over to the Titan Network - look for threads started by Victoria Victrix. In non-digital life, she is Mercedes Lackey, a well-known sciencefiction/fantasy author, who is a very involved player of the game. She has collected a lot of the stories of what the game means to people and is a very good spokesperson for those of us trying to save it.

And I second/third/fourth (whatever) the suggestion that you talk to TonyV.

We do have some former developers active here from time to time, who aren't in on the sunset from that side of things, but may or may not be able to talk to you, depending on the terms of the NDA they must have had to sign.


linky http://www.cohtitan.com/

This is a network of fan-created support (wiki, forums, various performance tools) all created by fans.

I'd be happy to talk to you- in game, my global is @than'daal, or you can PM me here.

I'd love to show off some of my unique characters and chat about why this MMO has held my interest longer than any I've ever played, why the characters always felt more like My Characters, not somebody else's.

Thanks for your patience everyone! Email replies will be going out tonight, as well as a post over at the Titan forums to catch any members not on the official boards. From here on out I'll be playing fairly regularly - username should be gamesmad (I'm assuming they use your account username?) - so feel free to bug me at any time while I'm on.

Thanks for the information

In-game ID is @SirJD for anyone interested.

Heck. Just walk up to us ingame. Remember freems can't send tells, but can respond. Anyone on the steps of AP there are many people who would love to speak to you.

I'd certainly be interested in talking to you. If you have any heroes on Liberty or villains or Triumph, I'd love to have you along one evening as well. This was a unique game, and I'll enjoy sharing it with others as long as the servers are on.

Emails have now been sent out to most of those interested, and responses have been received as well (thanks to everyone who's been involved so far )

I'll be emailing those I've missed/replying to this thread tonight, as well as getting in some game time. Thanks again to everyone offering their time - community like this is what makes these stories.

Hey everyone!
I'm still around! Fast approaching deadlines for other work have kept me busier than I would have liked to be recently, but I'm once again scouring CoH each day, taking in the sights and sounds and thoughts of players. As far as I know I've responded to everyone's' emails, but if you're still in need of a reply, let me know!

On that note, I'll be playing tonight (Australian time), and every night from here 'till shut-down, so I'll be in need of any volunteers wanting to show me around the city, showing their favourite parts of town and recounting any favourite memories. AU time I'll be on in around 7 hours (Which would place it at 1AM Pacific Time), and my in-game name is @SirJD.

I look forward to seeing you all!

Regards,
Jamie