For all the Torchbearers - Keep the Flame

(This was originally posted on the Titan Boards, but I thought I'd cross-post it over here.)

There has been discussion in a few threads of what to do when the servers go dark. One of the points mentioned was the possibility of reviving the game later. Other games have been brought back after all.

And even though NCSoft has been loathe to release IPs in the past doesn't mean we can't convince them that it's worth it. If for no other reason than we can and will give them an astoundingly large black eye in terms of their overall image and public relations. We're just beginning now to use scathing satire and comedy as well as the social tools that NCSoft has unwittingly handed over to us to beat them over the head. (NCSoft the Game Killer, NCSoft MMOkiller, NCSoftcore for their B&S "replacement" etc)

One observation is that in an upcoming financial quarter, after NCSoft has gained whatever tax write-off or benefit it's going to get from the closure, we might be in a better position to pry the IP from them and get it into the hands of a publisher who will resurrect it.

The servers WILL close on Nov 30th regardless. That HAS to happen, because I think no matter what happens, we no longer want this game tied to NCSoft regardless.

It's what happens after that point that will test us as a community.

Which brings me to this post. I want to talk about the long road ahead.

I was not there during the developing years of the early 2000's before the game launched - but plenty of people were. Think on this: Surely the community can stay focused and interested NOW like it was back then? However long it takes, from months to years, we know Paragon City is our home. And we can stay and work to revive it. How many years did the community grow and remain patient and enthusiastic before even the first of the early betas of the game were playable?

Again - I was not there. Despite that, I've heard the stories of a guy named Coyote who was so helpful and beloved by the community that when he passed away unexpectedly after only getting to play in the early Beta of the game, the devs put a tribute character to him named Kiyote in the original tutorial. (And if you know where to look, he's still in the new tutorial).

Remember Coyote, and remember that if the community had the devotion to wait for the original game to launch, then we can stay together and work towards it's resurrection. In whatever form that may take.

I think of all the torchbearers lining the steps of Atlas Park 33 and I am struck by the thought -

We are the torchbearers who have been given the task to keep the flame alive. And we have a responsibility to the community and to each other to keep the faith and keep our resolve. We look to our heroes for inspiration, and find them within ourselves, and realize WE are heroes, and this is what we do!

Which reminded me of something I read before long ago and seems profoundly apt now - so If I may borrow some of the words of Archduke Norris:

Keep the Flame

For those who came before us and passed it on to us
For those who live with us today...
For those that come after us,
Keep the Flame.

The Flame is you and me everyone we have ever known.
The Flame is those who came before us... and left for us what they learned
The Flame is the promise of those who will come after us and profit or suffer by what we've done.
The Flame is truth.
The Flame is honor.
The Flame is duty.
The Flame is selfless devotion to others.
The Flame is mothers and fathers, husbands, wives and children, teachers and students.
The Flame is relationships.
The Flame is Love.
Our love for each other, our past, and our future is the tiny spark of the Flame that lives in all of us.
The Flame is death, and the knowledge that there is something greater that waits for us on the other side of death.
The Flame is courage, faith and commitment, even though we will die.
The Flame is the pyre on which all fear dies and is consumed for all eternity.
The Flame is within us as we are within the Flame.

The Flame is not a burden to be lifted lightly.
The Flame can burn and hurt and frighten,
Because it is nothing but the pure immanent force that drives this universe,
Beautiful and terrible to behold.
But although the Flame can kill you,
If you do not have the Flame you are dead already, and none can save you.

The Flame will change you, purify you, burn away what is unworthy in you,
Leaving only the best in you, what is eternal, stainless and unbending.
And once it has exposed those things, it will burnish them until you gleam in the light of that Flame,
A beacon, a guide in the dark knight of the soul for all who need it.
And if you die keeping this Flame you will never die.
You will live on, forever, in the hearts of all who have seen you.

For those who have never seen it,
Keep the Flame.
For those who would never see it were it not for us,
For those who have seen it but do not believe,
For those who have seen only fraudulent imitations which led them to scorn it,
For the countless souls who were defeated by their dreams,
And for those who do not yet know how to dream...
Keep the Flame

When it is dark,
Keep the Flame.
When you are weak,
Keep the Flame.
When you are afraid,
Keep the Flame.
No matter how much it hurts,
Keep the Flame.
With your last gram of strength,
Keep the Flame.
When those around you scorn you,
Keep the Flame.
Although it may kill you,
Keep the Flame.
Even if you are the only one,
Especially if you are the only one,
Keep the Flame.
Because you are not the only one -- you will never be the only one,
But the Flame that you hold will shine out to those others who also thought they were alone,
And encourage them to hold theirs stronger and higher,
And together you will save those whose Flames have gone out.

Because we belong to each other...
Keep the Flame.

To be honest, though, if NCSoft isn't going to sell the IP in the thick of our campaign, with their public "black eye" being the freshest and darkest it will ever be again, and with Paragon Studios still having been together enough to have taken the helm again, then they aren't going to sell it later.

PS is disbanding/has been for a while now, so we're already at "a pale shadow of what once was" development-wise even if someone small and new rezzes it later. We have a better chance at the public at large attempting reverse engineering. It will leave CoH in about the same state as the "pale shadow" thing anyway, and it's a lot more likely to happen eventually.

Sorry, but I think all our fight is really about now is "going down fighting." We're flipping NCSoft the bird one last time, and educating players about any new releases like Blade & Soul and Wildstar that NCSoft tries to foister off onto an unsuspecting public, so they know what a mess they'll be getting into and will instead just avoid NC products.

that hits it square on the head, as always. Thanks Chase