Author Topic: To the Pain...  (Read 25063 times)

Atlantea

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 877
To the Pain...
« on: October 24, 2012, 10:10:53 AM »
Okay. We're obviously getting to the point where - as much as we'd like to remain polite and nice with NCSoft - it's just not going to work.

We're starting to go negative to give them a Public Relations black eye. Good. They have fully asked for this by their silence and they're going to get what's coming to them.

And the gloves will REALLY come off after Nov 30th.

To that end, here's a little bit of inspirational video to remind you that though we may be MOSTLY DEAD. We're still a little bit alive, even after November 30th. And our TRUE LOVE for the game will win through in the end.

This is also a statement of intent to NCSoft, should you be listening and watching. And should you STILL. NOT. GET IT. Even after all that's happened.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_keWS1i3RA


chasearcanum

  • Boss
  • ****
  • Posts: 125
Re: To the Pain...
« Reply #1 on: October 24, 2012, 01:04:06 PM »
/agreed

To the pain!


Kaiser Tarantula

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 580
  • @Nerva
Re: To the Pain...
« Reply #2 on: October 24, 2012, 04:45:25 PM »
Indeed.  I can respect the desire to stay civil about this, but so far, being polite hasn't worked.  We're on borrowed time here, and we need to let NCsoft know that they can't continue to ignore us without consequences.

For eight years, since April 28th of 2004, we've enjoyed the victories and defeats, the comraderies and alliances-of-necessity, the friendly rivalries and bitter arch-nemeses of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles.  We have lived, loved, laughed, shouted, sang and even died in this game.  There are children of veteran players who owe their childhood to this game.  There are many of us who owe their mental, if not physical, wellbeing and improvement to it as well.  I should know, I'm one of them.

On November 6th, 2007, we celebrated NCSoft's purchase of the CoH intellectual property, as it meant that our game would survive a while longer.  NCSoft's silence was not troubling for us, because Paragon Studios opened their minds and hearts to us in NCsoft's place and spoke openly to their fans.  We adored it - creating dev-activity trackers to watch for their every word.  They spoke and we listened, but more importantly, we spoke and they listened.  We had open communication with our developers and GM staff, something few MMOs could possibly claim.  I've played enough to know.

For nearly five years thereafter (the anniversary will be next month, the month in which the game will be closed if we can't find a way to save it) we've been more-or-less content.  The deafening silence left by NCsoft was filled with communication by and with our devs and staff at Paragon Studios.  Then came the August 31st closure announcement, with November 30th being the final day of operation.  All of the devs we've cherished, kicked out of their offices.  The staff we've come to trust and rely on, reduced to a skeleton crew.  The I24 update, which would have fixed nearly everything wrong with the game and added so much more content besides, languishes incomplete upon the Beta Server, never to know the touch of a developer ever again.

For nearly a month now, we've tried to remain relatively civil.  We've tried to impress upon NCsoft the vitality of the community and the viability of the game.  We've made overtures to purchase sufficient rights and permissions to run the game ourselves.  We've offered them alternatives to simply shutting down.  We've tried explaining to them that what they're doing is a terrible, horrible idea, and that they shouldn't do it.

We have barely more than a month left, assuming NCsoft doesn't change its mind and close early.  The iron, once hot, has begun to cool.  If we are to make a difference and actually save CoH, the time for kind words is past.  We must prove to NCsoft that the maddening silence to which we've been treated will not work.  We've tried communicating directly.  They haven't listened.  We've demonstrated shows of goodwill and good faith, only for our efforts to go nearly completely without reply.  It's time we started hitting them where it hurts; in the pocketbook.

There are people out there still unaware of what's going on here.  We need to make them aware.  We need to fill them with indignity at how we've been treated.  We need to scare them, and let them know that if NCsoft can do this to us, they could be next.  And with how deadly quiet NCsoft is, it could happen at any time to any one.  Like a ganking stalker on a cold night in Warburg, NCsoft could come out of nowhere and kill your game.  If CoH dies now, how long will it be before Guild Wars goes down?  Or Aion?  Or Lineage II?  Or maybe Trickster, or PangYa?  All of the players of these games are just as at-risk as we are, even if they just don't know it yet.

We've established that NCsoft has a history as a game-killer.  Auto Assault.  Tabula Rasa.  Exteel.  Dungeon Runners.  Dragonica.  Doesn't matter what sort of game you run, NCsoft is not afraid to cut you down, without warning.  Worse?  You can be assured that when you do get cut down, NCsoft wills squat on the carcass of your intellectual property rights like a bloated vulture, too engorged to fly, squalling at anyone who dares to try and take what's left of its prize.  When Auto Assault was shut down, NCsoft patently ignored any attempt to allow the game to continue under someone else.  They even sent gift-accounts for Tabula Rasa and City of Heroes to players.  How's that for irony?

I, for one, am not about to let the vulture squat without a fight.  I have friends in a lot of other gaming communities.  I've been talking to them, telling them about the bad-faith activities of NCsoft, about their previous actions.  I'm not about to let this sit idle.  Already I've got people cancelling their subscriptions to Guild Wars 2.  I'm not anyone influential - I'm sure there's plenty of you that are a lot more capable of getting the message out than me.  But I don't care whether you're capable or not.  I don't care if you can only talk to one other person.  Do it.

Word of mouth made City of Heroes what it is.  It's what made it a success.  It's still our best weapon against CoH's closure.  We need to scrape off NCsoft's benign little facade and reveal the corporate monstrosity beneath.  We need to grab NCsoft by the wrist that it is holding behind its back and hold it up high, so that everyone can see the still-bloody knife it has clutched in its grip.  We need to point out the dying carcass of City of Heroes, and point to NCsoft's other games and scream, "THIS COULD BE YOU NEXT!"

We've shown them our hearts, and they've stomped on them.  It's high time we showed them our claws, and then used them to rip out their hearts!

Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!

(I decided to record audio of this.  This is my own, spoken voice, in a completely raw recording.  I've made no editing to this whatsoever - you're hearing it just as I spoke it.  Stutters and odd timings are either the faults of my own speech, or are because my only sound recording software only records sixty seconds at a time and I had to splice it all together.

If you think it's useful for anything, feel free to download and repost it.)

TimtheEnchanter

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,466
  • There are some who call me... Tim?
Re: To the Pain...
« Reply #3 on: October 24, 2012, 04:47:26 PM »
Fooey, when I clicked that link, I thought it was a new Save CoH vid.

Atlantea

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 877
Re: To the Pain...
« Reply #4 on: October 24, 2012, 04:59:54 PM »
Sorry.  I was doing viewing some random stuff on Youtube. And Westley's challenge to Humperdink came up -

(I was actually looking for the soundtrack to the film by Mark Knopler come to think of it - because I am thinking of doing my own video tribute and one of the songs "Guide My Sword" seems like a poignant heroic melody)

- and I immediately thought - I know EXACTLY who I'd say that to if given the opportunity!

So yeah. I will do all I can to encourage people not to buy games from NCSoft. I'm going to watch for upcoming studios with their own games and warn them not to have you publish their games. I will do my level best to make Blade and Soul into the joke that it should be. And make it so that no gamer will admit to playing it for fear of the stigma attached to it.

I may be one grain of sand. But I'm not the only one by far.

To the pain, NCSoft. TO THE PAIN.

Colette

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 466
Re: To the Pain...
« Reply #5 on: October 24, 2012, 05:15:36 PM »
Okay, somebody find out how to say, "we hate NCSoft!" in Korean. Shouldn't be too hard. We'll make it into a chant.

Terwyn

  • Plan Z: Business/Marketing Lead
  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 432
    • Missing Worlds
Re: To the Pain...
« Reply #6 on: October 24, 2012, 05:30:16 PM »
Hatred is still too strong a term in my eyes.

We do not wish to destroy NCSoft, though we will go to such lengths if we must.

The moment that NCSoft starts to be open and truthful with us, and fully so, we'll have taken the field of battle.

They are already on the defensive, and we've been laying siege to their walls ever since August.

We are willing to negotiate, and we will negotiate fairly.

Because they know that if they do not surrender to us, we will never relent.

They can't afford to wage war with us forever.
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction.
- Albert Einstein

http://missingworlds.wordpress.com

TimtheEnchanter

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,466
  • There are some who call me... Tim?
Re: To the Pain...
« Reply #7 on: October 24, 2012, 05:30:36 PM »
Booooooooo. Because you had loyalty in your hands, and you gave it up. City of Heroes lives. And you dump it for another. City of Heroes supported you, and you treated it like garbage. And that's what she is, the Queen of garbage. So bow down to her if you want, bow to her. Bow to the Queen of Greed, the Queen of Betrayal, the Queen of Perversion. Boo. Rubbish. Filth. Slime. Muck. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Atlantea

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 877
Re: To the Pain...
« Reply #8 on: October 24, 2012, 05:40:08 PM »
Booooooooo. Because you had loyalty in your hands, and you gave it up. City of Heroes lives. And you dump it for another. City of Heroes supported you, and you treated it like garbage. And that's what she is, the Queen of garbage. So bow down to her if you want, bow to her. Bow to the Queen of Greed, the Queen of Betrayal, the Queen of Perversion. Boo. Rubbish. Filth. Slime. Muck. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Oh well played, sir. Well played indeed!

eabrace

  • Titan Moderator
  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 4,291
Re: To the Pain...
« Reply #9 on: October 24, 2012, 05:46:58 PM »
Booooooooo. Because you had loyalty in your hands, and you gave it up. City of Heroes lives. And you dump it for another. City of Heroes supported you, and you treated it like garbage. And that's what she is, the Queen of garbage. So bow down to her if you want, bow to her. Bow to the Queen of Greed, the Queen of Betrayal, the Queen of Perversion. Boo. Rubbish. Filth. Slime. Muck. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Titan Twitter broadcasting at 5.000 mWh and growing.
Titan Facebook

Paragon Wiki admin
I was once being interviewed by Barbara Walters...In between two of the segments she asked me..."But what would you do if the doctor gave you only six months to live?" I said, "Type faster." - Isaac Asimov

Ammon

  • Team Wildcard
  • Boss
  • ****
  • Posts: 132
  • UK marketing guy and City of Heroes addict
Re: To the Pain...
« Reply #10 on: October 24, 2012, 05:51:35 PM »
The next Rally should be a thousand player characters costumed as Inigo Montoya, fencing sword in hand, with the caption:
"Hello.  My name is Inigo Montoya.  You killed my game.  Prepare to die!" XD

Atlantea

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 877
Re: To the Pain...
« Reply #11 on: October 24, 2012, 06:08:27 PM »
NCSoft: "We've exhausted all options..."

You keep using those words. I do not think they mean what you think they mean.


Knightslayer

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 477
    • Monster Game!
Re: To the Pain...
« Reply #12 on: October 24, 2012, 06:16:09 PM »
The next Rally should be a thousand player characters costumed as Inigo Montoya, fencing sword in hand, with the caption:
"Hello.  My name is Inigo Montoya.  You killed my game.  Prepare to die!" XD
That would actually be pretty epic! Someone would have to post screenies along with a list of costume pieces used.

Atlantea

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 877
Re: To the Pain...
« Reply #13 on: October 24, 2012, 06:25:26 PM »
That would actually be pretty epic! Someone would have to post screenies along with a list of costume pieces used.

You know what we need?

Precisely THIRTY-THREE Inigo Montoyas, and no more! To gather in AP 33. :D


Kaiser Tarantula

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 580
  • @Nerva
Re: To the Pain...
« Reply #14 on: October 24, 2012, 06:30:06 PM »
Just to point out one thing... Dragonica is *still* running. So, for a game that they have closed down, it seems to be an undead game.
Doing a bit more research, I've figured out the reason for this.

Apparently NCsoft only shut down the Korean release of the game.  It had no involvement with western releases.  The American release were published by THQ Ice, closed down, and then reopened by Gravity Interactive on Oct 28th of 2010.  Gravity Corporation then reopened the Korean servers on May 24 of this year under their own publishing house.

So yes, NCSoft is still guilty of trying to kill Dragonica (in Korea, no less!), but apparently Gravity either re-acquired the rights or was smart enough never to relinquish them to NCsoft in the first place, and was able to reopen the game under their own publishing houses.

I'll admit that I wasn't aware of these specifics when writing my original post.
« Last Edit: October 24, 2012, 09:29:01 PM by Kaiser Tarantula »

Flashtoo

  • Minion
  • **
  • Posts: 46
Re: To the Pain...
« Reply #15 on: October 24, 2012, 06:40:05 PM »
You know what we need?

Precisely THIRTY-THREE Inigo Montoyas, and no more! To gather in AP 33. :D

But we don't have his hair! We don't have that glorious hair!

Lily Barclay

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 407
Re: To the Pain...
« Reply #16 on: October 24, 2012, 07:22:18 PM »
NCSoft: "We've exhausted all options..."

You keep using those words. I do not think they mean what you think they mean.

LOL!  Awesome.

Mister Bison

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 686
  • *psychotic grin*
Re: To the Pain...
« Reply #17 on: October 24, 2012, 08:01:30 PM »
That "To the pain" description in the video (don't seem to have seen this film) makes me think of "I have no mouth, and I must scream".

I you wish to see a description of a horrific fate, watch a replay of the point & click from back then.

here is the most crusty moment of it
Yeeessss....

DrakeGrimm

  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 742
Re: To the Pain...
« Reply #18 on: October 24, 2012, 08:59:44 PM »
You haven't see "The Princess Bride"? Fix that. Now. >.>
We are the crazy ones, the mavericks, the dreamers, the forgotten sons. We color outside the lines for fun. We are the crazy ones! - "The Crazy Ones," Stellar Revival

"We put ourselves in "the attitude of heroes"--and we all became a little more heroic." - VV

eabrace

  • Titan Moderator
  • Elite Boss
  • *****
  • Posts: 4,291
Re: To the Pain...
« Reply #19 on: October 24, 2012, 09:13:52 PM »
You haven't see "The Princess Bride"? Fix that. Now. >.>
It would make this entire thread make more sense.
Titan Twitter broadcasting at 5.000 mWh and growing.
Titan Facebook

Paragon Wiki admin
I was once being interviewed by Barbara Walters...In between two of the segments she asked me..."But what would you do if the doctor gave you only six months to live?" I said, "Type faster." - Isaac Asimov