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Community => Task Force Hail Mary => Topic started by: Victoria Victrix on November 26, 2012, 06:30:02 AM

Title: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on November 26, 2012, 06:30:02 AM
Today a 31 page pitch package aimed at persuading Disney Interactive to acquire City of Heroes arrived for both the CEO of Disney Productions and the CEO of Disney Interactive via Express Mail.

Ammon, Rae, Quinch and I--Internet Marketing Specialist, UK Journalist, Senior IT Tech and writer--put together a 31 page pitch package aimed specifically at Disney, to attempt to persuade the Mouse that picking up City of Heroes is in their best interest as well as ours.  We had the advice and oversight of two senior members of the former Paragon Studios team--mostly to tell us what we could and could not say.  Should there be an answer, it should be directed to Brian Clayton, the Paragon Studios manager, since we specified that we four had no power to do anything, and he is the man with all the answers.

Now it's your turn.

We have to impress the 900 lb gorilla--The Mouse himself--that buying the City is going to be good for them. We have to show them that we are loyal, passionate, dedicated, and mature. And we have money to spend. Remember, these are executives who are not impressed if genuine movie stars approach them with a pitch for something less than amazing.

We have to show the Mouse that in the right hands, City of Heroes can become the crown jewel among their electronic games.

We need you to write, avalanche with cards, letters, screenshots. We need a letter writing campaign that is ten, twenty, a hundred times bigger than the one we fired at NCSoft.

Go big, or go home, right? We have to go big.



Senior VP, Disney Interactive Media Group
Jim Pitaro
SaveCoH
500 S. Buena Vista St.
Burbank, CA 91521

Chairman of the Board of Directors
John Pepper Jr.
SaveCoH
500 S. Buena Vista St.
Burbank, CA 91521

CEO Walt Disney Company
Robert A. Iger,
SaveCoH
500 S. Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521

CEO Disney Interactive
John Pleasants
SaveCoH
500 South Buena Vista Street,
Burbank, CA 91521-8139

We are asking you to put "SaveCoH" in the address, because we want the mail clerks to be able to sort out our letters quickly.  We want them to see the ever-increasing pile, but in a way that helps the clerks do their jobs too.

Remember, these are people that get thousands of emails and letters. We have to impress them. We have to show them the City is something special. Write letters, recruit your friends, your relatives, anyone who might be sympathetic. Write as if this is our only chance. And good luck to all of us.


But don't think that we're done if nothing happens.  Should we not hit the mark here, we've only started, and we have a second target in our sights.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Undercat on November 26, 2012, 06:32:59 AM
*warming up word processor now*
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Elfin on November 26, 2012, 06:42:00 AM
Okay not sure what to say. Should each letter be unique?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on November 26, 2012, 06:47:47 AM
Okay not sure what to say. Should each letter be unique?

Above all avoid ANYTHING that looks like a form letter.  Each of these men has a specific role in the company.  Tailor your letters to that role.

Iger is the head of the company.  What does HE want?  Possibly he wants to drive adults (who hold the wallets) to the Disney site?

Pepper and Pleasants are Disney Interactive.  What do THEY want?  Disney has no game to fill the teen-to-adult demographic.  Disney has no game the whole family can play.  Emphasize our community.  Relate it all to you, and how you are then likely to spend money at the Mouse Lair.

The Chairman of the Board wants to hear how this will affect the stock price.  Point out the positive buzz this would generate, and that taking on something relatively small after the Lucas purchase shows Disney is still attending to the details.

"Gee I'd love to see some Portal Mishes with Kingdom Hearts characters!"

"It would be great to have alternate universe mishes with Spiderman, or with the Jedi!"

"I'd love to see some kid-specific content I could play with my 5 year old on my lap!"

Be creative, and above all, always relate it back to yourself and your story.  Disney markets itself to family.  We need to bring them the whole family.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: eviella on November 26, 2012, 06:50:59 AM
Notified friends in channels in game:  Check.

Posted to the mailing list set up for friends from said channels: Check.

Will grab some cards to send tomorrow; but I've started to get the word out.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Creepy Candy on November 26, 2012, 06:54:08 AM
Wooooooooooooooo!  Thank you for this!  I think it would be a good idea for everyone who can afford the $15 to buy one of the AP33 T-Shirts and not only wear it proudly around your town, but to take a picture of yourself wearing it and include that in your letters.  Peace, Creepy.  xox and PG-13 bad-touches.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/IKtheTrollTees  (( can I post that here?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: pogoman on November 26, 2012, 06:54:47 AM
Preparing a letter and spreading the word!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on November 26, 2012, 06:58:58 AM
Wow.  You weren't kidding when you said it was a long shot.

Welp you can count on letters from at least me and my eleven year old.

I'd honestly rather see Disney own it and trust them more than any other company I can think of, but I worry with the Marvel MMO coming out, they might feel like this base is covered.  I can see pitching to them how interesting City of Heroes movies could be, though, and there could be tons of merchandising to be had in addition to the Marvel stuff.  This is a very different sort of MMO as well.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on November 26, 2012, 07:03:42 AM
Wow.  You weren't kidding when you said it was a long shot.

Welp you can count on letters from at least me and my eleven year old.

I'd honestly rather see Disney own it and trust them more than any other company I can think of, but I worry with the Marvel MMO coming out, they might feel like this base is covered.  I can see pitching to them how interesting City of Heroes movies could be, though, and there could be tons of merchandising to be had in addition to the Marvel stuff.  This is a very different sort of MMO as well.

We covered the Marvel games (there are two) in the pitch package.  Marvel Heroes is based on the Diablo engine and is geared more towards solo and PvP.  Marvel Arena features players pitting signature Marvel heroes against each other, Arcade style.  Neither covers the family-friendly, community-building game the way City does.  Neither will offer the rich character generator, nor the base builder. 

31 pages.  I really think we thought of every single objection and gave good arguments against them.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: TonyV on November 26, 2012, 07:04:57 AM
I'd honestly rather see Disney own it and trust them more than any other company I can think of, but I worry with the Marvel MMO coming out, they might feel like this base is covered.

It would be just another universe that they own, kind of like how DC, Vertigo, Impact, WildStorm, and a bunch of other companies are all part of the same conglomerate, though they span a bunch of vastly different universes.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Jetfire99 on November 26, 2012, 07:11:02 AM
I shall drive into the depths of Telnet to mushes where I know other players are. I will do what I can I will attempt to get my own letters in. I may need an editor however. D: Anyway this is more than I expected.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on November 26, 2012, 07:12:36 AM
We covered the Marvel games (there are two) in the pitch package.  Marvel Heroes is based on the Diablo engine and is geared more towards solo and PvP.  Marvel Arena features players pitting signature Marvel heroes against each other, Arcade style.  Neither covers the family-friendly, community-building game the way City does.  Neither will offer the rich character generator, nor the base builder. 

31 pages.  I really think we thought of every single objection and gave good arguments against them.

Excellent!

It would be just another universe that they own, kind of like how DC, Vertigo, Impact, WildStorm, and a bunch of other companies are all part of the same conglomerate, though they span a bunch of vastly different universes.

This is true.  And I can see them making some really popular movies out of CoH, too.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Leandro on November 26, 2012, 07:16:57 AM
Published at http://www.savecoh.com/

If you want to share a link not to the forums for some reason, use http://www.savecoh.com/2012/11/call-to-action-team-wildcard-needs-you.html
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: TimtheEnchanter on November 26, 2012, 07:18:58 AM
We are asking you to put "SaveCoH" in the address, because we want the mail clerks to be able to sort out our letters quickly.  We want them to see the ever-increasing pile, but in a way that helps the clerks do their jobs too.

Gawd, I should've mass-produced SaveCoH envelope stickers.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on November 26, 2012, 07:21:13 AM
Gawd, I should've mass-produced SaveCoH envelope stickers.

You could put up a template that people can print at home....

For that matter, you could put up an envelope template people can print.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: LuchRi on November 26, 2012, 07:25:00 AM
Can you say Back Ally Brawler teaming up with Sora and Riku?

... I am such a nerd. Ok ok getting to work
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: TigerKnight on November 26, 2012, 07:27:07 AM
Watching the comic con vid of their presentation of the Marvel MMO made me wish I was in the audience. Why? Cause at one point they showed a guy on screen and the presenter said "No one wants to play this guy. Fookin fork man." Cause I would have been the one guy in the audience that would have said "I do"

Honestly the Marvel MMO is NOT City of Heroes. It isn't even in the same ballpark. I foresee Marvel's MMO coming out big but struggling like mad within 6 months in. It's a game you will play to play as your favorite characters but once that is done, you will have very little reason to keep going. Also, to point out to those who may have simply forgotten that Champions Online WAS supposed to be Marvel's MMO until it got nixed because of what microsoft called "an inability to compete" with the current MMO marketplace. Hence the rename to Champions Online.

Our game did not only compete in that marketplace, it was on top of the G*d damn food chain for EIGHT YEARS.

Let's not let our interpretation that because of Marvel's MMO project that they would have no interest in acquiring a game that can and still remain one of the BEST Superhero MMOs out there.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some letters I need to write. TY Team Wildcard for putting this together for us.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Golden Girl on November 26, 2012, 07:27:42 AM
It would be just another universe that they own, kind of like how DC, Vertigo, Impact, WildStorm, and a bunch of other companies are all part of the same conglomerate, though they span a bunch of vastly different universes.

As another example, if Disney was offered the Star Trek franchise, they wouldn't turn it down :P
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: LuchRi on November 26, 2012, 07:29:13 AM
Wow that was a REALLY toned-down deadpool. Also epic!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Xieveral on November 26, 2012, 07:31:08 AM
Can you say Back Ally Brawler teaming up with Sora and Riku?

... I am such a nerd. Ok ok getting to work

I like Kingdom Hearts but I don't want KH in my CoH :<

Awesome as it would be to have heartless Arachnos running about
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on November 26, 2012, 07:33:08 AM
I will write my letters in the morning when my brain is fully functional again, and my kiddo will get started on hers after school tomorrow (she's actually a very good writer for her age).  Would it be helpful for her to include copies of stories she's written about her character (This is how she's dealt with the shutdown.  She figures if she can't play her character anymore, she can still write about her.)?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on November 26, 2012, 07:34:23 AM
I like Kingdom Hearts but I don't want KH in my CoH :<

Awesome as it would be to have heartless Arachnos running about

I don't really want Jedi in my CoH, but I will deal with it if it lets us keep the game, and provides the posibility of CoH2.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: TimtheEnchanter on November 26, 2012, 07:36:12 AM
^This.

I'm a big fan of uniformity in cases like this, and if the big enchiladas at Disney see the same envelope design over and over, it'll stand out more.

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-KpyOB2AnYig/UF4bk2BzZII/AAAAAAAACCk/BVj8fT-yQl8/SaveCOH_Blue_leaderboard.jpg)

Anyone know who made this? I kinda like it, just needs to be a higher dpi.

If not, I'll try and whip up something tomorrow. Can't believe with all the other logos that got done there was never really one made for the movement itself. *facepalm*
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Golden Girl on November 26, 2012, 07:36:29 AM
I don't really want Jedi in my CoH

After the Mecha Armor set, it was too late :P
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on November 26, 2012, 07:37:46 AM
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-KpyOB2AnYig/UF4bk2BzZII/AAAAAAAACCk/BVj8fT-yQl8/SaveCOH_Blue_leaderboard.jpg)

Anyone know who made this? I kinda like it, just needs to be a higher dpi.

If not, I'll try and whip up something tomorrow. Can't believe with all the other logos that got done there was never really one made for the movement itself. *facepalm*

What about the one on the patches?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: NecrotechMaster on November 26, 2012, 07:40:40 AM
i dont know how i feel about disney taking it over, yes i agree they are more family friendly/kid focused, but idk

i think it would break coh for me if i started seeing disney or star wars characters in coh (well star wars characters semi invaded when they gave us the mecha armor, with the weapons which looked like 85% lightsaber lol)

the way i could see this being good is there would be a LOT less restrictions on copyright stuff, since many things people were copying in the first place are also now owned by disney (ie star wars like above, and DC comic characters) as well as having an actual marketing potential

really mixed feelings on it, as i could see both the good and bad outcomes, although the ultimate thing is i would rather see the game stay alive, even if it must be owned by disney
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: TimtheEnchanter on November 26, 2012, 07:40:53 AM
What about the one on the patches?

It belongs to EspionageDB7 and it was only authorized for the patches. And I haven't been able to get ahold of Esp recently. :(
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on November 26, 2012, 07:44:15 AM
I want to think that some logos for free use were posted on the Save CoH facebook page early on.  Trying to sift through it now.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: mikoroshi on November 26, 2012, 07:46:03 AM
Is there any way we can see the pitch?

Not to copy from, but so we have an idea of what the message was, so we can tailor our own to be at least consistent with one another.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on November 26, 2012, 07:48:57 AM
I found some of the logos, but they are tiny.  However, I'm pretty sure I can live trace them in Illustrator and increase the resolution.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: BigAngry on November 26, 2012, 07:56:08 AM
Generally, hand-written letters have a more personal feel to them than typewritten ones. If you've got legible handwriting, it's likely the better way to go.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rejuvenatrix on November 26, 2012, 08:13:08 AM
Thank you, Team Wild Card!  And thanks to you, Mercedes Lackey, for posting this before I have to go to work, so I don't have to wonder about it all day :)  I have already copied your post and forwarded it to all my SG/chat channel friends, and will be writing my letters tomorrow night.  I have to admit, when I first heard "Disney", I thought "what the heck?", but then I thought about it for a few minutes, and then thought "why the heck not?"   Many of us love this game because it is more family friendly than most games, and Disney would ensure it stayed that way.  People, don't go worrying about Jedi showing up in CoH.  They have SWOTOR for that.  As for Marvel characters showing up, it could be pretty awesome to have a new issue come out, with some SSA's with Marvel characters.  I say, let's not worry about that. Let's just get someone reputable to buy our beloved game.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on November 26, 2012, 08:32:28 AM
I found some of the logos, but they are tiny.  However, I'm pretty sure I can live trace them in Illustrator and increase the resolution.

Bah.  Can't get it to look good.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Jetfire99 on November 26, 2012, 08:35:36 AM
Generally, hand-written letters have a more personal feel to them than typewritten ones. If you've got legible handwriting, it's likely the better way to go.

That's a problem for me my handwriting is terrible so its typed for me.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: unladenswallow on November 26, 2012, 08:42:19 AM
i dont know how i feel about disney taking it over, yes i agree they are more family friendly/kid focused, but idk

i think it would break coh for me if i started seeing disney or star wars characters in coh (well star wars characters semi invaded when they gave us the mecha armor, with the weapons which looked like 85% lightsaber lol)

the way i could see this being good is there would be a LOT less restrictions on copyright stuff, since many things people were copying in the first place are also now owned by disney (ie star wars like above, and DC comic characters) as well as having an actual marketing potential

really mixed feelings on it, as i could see both the good and bad outcomes, although the ultimate thing is i would rather see the game stay alive, even if it must be owned by disney

I'm pretty much on the same page as Necro. Disney has proven that they are the media masters and they are absolutely huge. While providing for some really great things some of which Necro pointed out it may not be as good as COH being owned by a gaming company that feels the same way we do about it. I think it's a good idea but I'd be willing to bet that if they did get COH they would want to do a major retooling or "Disneyfication" of it. It maybe an absolutely awesome thing or it may ruin the game for most of us. I would think that if a Western gaming company bought COH it would be far less likely that the game would be ruined through a retooling or other changes but the flip side of this coin is that they also don't have the potential success range that Disney is able to offer. Given our options though I think it's worth the risk.

Disney does have at least one MMO that I'm aware of, "Pirates of the Caribbean Online". At the insistent urging of a friend I tried it when it first came out several years ago and didn't like it much but could see how it could have some appeal to some gamers and to fans of the movie. It's ratings aren't that bad and it is touted as a very family friendly game.

http://piratesonline.go.com/welcome
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on November 26, 2012, 08:57:37 AM
It belongs to EspionageDB7 and it was only authorized for the patches. And I haven't been able to get ahold of Esp recently. :(

It says on his deviant art site that the logo can be used for whatever with Save CoH. He wrote it in the comments.

http://espionagedb7.deviantart.com/art/Request-Atlas-Park-33-326734331 (http://espionagedb7.deviantart.com/art/Request-Atlas-Park-33-326734331)

Quote
~EspionageDB7 Sep 16, 2012  Hobbyist General Artist
Well I personally am not selling it into shirts or patches and stuff. But I made this for the CoH community. So you have 100% permission from me to do with this as you please. Do whatever you want - you can use Cafepress to make shirt designs of it if you'd like or there's this website: [link] that you can use to make it into a patch if you'd like.

Post it, use it, edit it, whatever - you got my permission to do as you please. :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on November 26, 2012, 09:05:24 AM
Trust me, we sympathize with those of you who are nervous about the Mouse. 

However, under Eisner and Iger the Mouse has a pretty good history of taking studios that know what they are doing and leaving them alone.  Pixar, for instance.  IF they did anything with cross-marketing, I would expect weekly updates of the theater marquees and billboards in game, and MAYBE Portal mishes across universes, or something like an SSA.  Those you could take or leave, and they'd have no particular relevance to the CoH lore.

This is a very, very long shot.  We figured we would aim at the top, with the firm that literally can make an offer no one can refuse, and who could easily put our beloved devs back together.  And all with no worries, since they're in the same state.  After that, we aim our sights a little lower. 

Be sincere.  Be passionate.  Keep hitting home that CoH was the best selling superhero MMORPG for all eight years of its life.  And keep making the point that if Disney saves it, Disney has us for life.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Tiberian Fiend on November 26, 2012, 09:13:38 AM
How does this fix the problem of being unable to pitch something we don't own?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on November 26, 2012, 09:19:44 AM
How does this fix the problem of being unable to pitch something we don't own?

Fan groups have always been able to pitch something that is being canceled to another venue.  The difference between us and "just another fan group" is that we have two of the Paragon Studios seniors there to set the hook if they bite.  THEY know who at NCSoft to contact and negotiate with.  THEY can put the studio back together.  Consider this the equivalent to the Browncoats having Joss Whedon on speed-dial as they pitch another Firefly movie or series to someone other than Fox.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: TSH67 on November 26, 2012, 09:37:02 AM
OK, I've shadowed these forums enough the past few years as I've kept my eye on the community. Time to get involved.

I won't be writing a letter during the last few days of the game, but I will be drafting one in my head, and tightening it up to something worth sending in the days following it. I think Disney is a long-shot, but then if they can drop $4 bills on the SW IP, I figure it's not a question of 'can they' but rather 'will they'. I've been told I can write well- it's time to bust that out as seriously as I can.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ammon on November 26, 2012, 09:51:42 AM
How does this fix the problem of being unable to pitch something we don't own?
Because we are not selling the game.

We are selling the idea of them buying the game from those that own it.

I noticed a few saying they were not sure what to write, well, here's a few points you might want to think about for ideas, if it helps:

1. Tell them not only how much you love the game, but also how much you have spent on it over the years, including each month of subscription, plus the extra packs and points many of you will have bought, and tell them how much longer you'd like to keep subscribing and paying. :)

2. Tell them why CoH is a game anyone, but especially Disney should be proud to own, and don't be afraid to mention how cool it would be if you could buy iconic Marvel costume pieces at last because an owner now didn't have to worry about legal issues of ownership.

3. How about mentioning how diverse and unique the game is.  That you can create any character from virtually any genre, so you could make characters that paid homage to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Storm of the X-Men, The agent from the Hitman games, Robin Hood, Rambo, Van Helsing, and The Terminator, and put them all in a team together playing in the style of any of those genres, or others.

4. Tell them how many hours you've played for, or what average hours a week you spend in game.  Disney, like most companies spend a fortune to put advertising in front of your eyes for just seconds, and here's something they could have your attention on for hours a week, where we'd be quite happy to see some Disney movie posters at the cinemas, etc.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Steele Magnolia on November 26, 2012, 09:59:08 AM
I'm in. I'll pass the word to my friends and family who play and get them to write as well. We're a multigenerational bunch ranging from 16 to 66 years old (seriously, I got my mother to play and she cried over the announcement). Disney will be hearing from my husband, my brother, my mother, my best friend, my goddaughter, and me.

I'll also pass the word over globals in server broadcast until the very end.

We are heroes and this is what we do.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Shadowhawke on November 26, 2012, 10:05:56 AM
  IF they did anything with cross-marketing, I would expect weekly updates of the theater marquees and billboards in game, and MAYBE Portal mishes across universes, or something like an SSA.  Those you could take or leave, and they'd have no particular relevance to the CoH lore.


And this has already occurred in games in general; it's something I could live with if it meant CoH stayed alive. If I had to rampage one of my red-siders through Cap Au and see a Star Wars billboard on a theater sign in lights, I could live with that. It might even be kind of cool.

As far as cross-universe Portal missions, it's really not that far out of bounds for CoH anyway. You're talking about a MMO that loaded down heavy with pop culture references, even among its peers in the industry. Something like Portal, which goes to enough crazy places as it is, conceptually I don't see this as a big deal.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on November 26, 2012, 10:12:49 AM

And this has already occurred in games in general; it's something I could live with if it meant CoH stayed alive. If I had to rampage one of my red-siders through Cap Au and see a Star Wars billboard on a theater sign in lights, I could live with that. It might even be kind of cool.


IF this came about, I can even see the billboards as not directly referencing a movie, but the iconic characters in it.  Say "Tow-Mater's Roadside Assistance" or "Cruella DeVille's Puppy-sitting Service."  Think what a gas it would be for the Disney artists to design those!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rae on November 26, 2012, 10:23:43 AM
No matter what happens, the Save/Buy COH campaign now has a beautifully written sales pitch, with some very pertinent facts and figures, case studies and information, which can be busted out quickly to any interested parties.

We know it's a million-to-one-shot, but even if Disney aren't interested, the document is something that can be tweaked, re-written and re-angled. If there's a studio or group out there who've been looking into COH and wanted a bit more info about the game, the type of people who play it, and if it's something they should be interested in considering, it's ready and waiting.

The package itself can only be an asset to the campaign whatever happens with Disney.

But I think if we make enough noise, I think we will get their attention. And they may look at it, and consider it. Which is more than will happen if we hadn't written it, hadn't got it sent, and hadn't asked them for help, and had the backing from a bunch of wonderful people.

And really, the only thing you have to lose is the price of a couple stamps, and a few bits of paper. So..hell, why not?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on November 26, 2012, 10:26:00 AM
I will write my letters in the morning when my brain is fully functional again, and my kiddo will get started on hers after school tomorrow (she's actually a very good writer for her age).  Would it be helpful for her to include copies of stories she's written about her character (This is how she's dealt with the shutdown.  She figures if she can't play her character anymore, she can still write about her.)?

ANYTHING that shows creativity and makes the letter personal is a plus.  Let her plead that she wants to be able to PLAY her characters again, not just write about them.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on November 26, 2012, 10:30:45 AM
Yup. Went there.

(https://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h196/Liliana_Warsaw/disneycoh.jpg)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on November 26, 2012, 10:33:33 AM

And really, the only thing you have to lose is the price of a couple stamps, and a few bits of paper. So..hell, why not?

Just FYI, I'm in it for too-many-hours of writing the package (when I could have been playing the last days and /demorecording my girls), printing, realizing I forgot to delete one of the comments (ARG!), printing again, plus $54 of Express Mail postage.  All because, you know, it might work.

And Lily?  From your 'puter to God's ear....

Also, remember this?

Senior VP, Global Production, Disney Interactive Media Group
Jean-Marcel Nicolai
SaveCoH
500 S. Buena Vista St.
Burbank, CA 91521

Notice what he's in charge of?  GLOBAL PRODUCTION for Disney Interactive.  All you Brits, Germans, French---remember you used to have DEDICATED SERVERS?  Start writing!  Get your family and friends to write!  Show Disney this is a GLOBAL market! 
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Knightslayer on November 26, 2012, 10:44:57 AM
I copied the post over to the HTL forums.
Now to write my own letters... x.x
Here's to hoping they will be persuaded to acquire the game!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ice Trix on November 26, 2012, 11:25:27 AM
I'm not sure what I think about Disney running it either but its way better than losing the city.

I am also sure going to support any and every effort you guys (team wildcard, Titan team, Victoria V) are making. And thanks for trying and working so hard :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Cinnder on November 26, 2012, 11:26:16 AM
I have some concerns about the possibility of mixing universes, mainly because I think one of the strengths of CoH has been that it was always independent and never beholden to an external IP, which also encouraged players to create their own original characters.  But that's pretty much my only concern, and that can all be worked out later.  One of the advantages of having a game set in the modern world is that references like posters for Disney films at a cinema in Paragon City don't break the suspension of disbelief.

To me, the best news here is that -- once they decide they want one -- Disney knows how to take care of an IP.  And they understand the value of preserving a fictional world.  Their parks are more than just a collection of rides; the look and feel of everything is engineered to be part of the experience, and every interaction between staff and customer is important.  I'd think folks like this would understand that CoH is more than just a collection of missions -- putting value on the world, the story, and especially the players.

I'll be sending my letters from the UK this week.  My partner just informed me she and our daughter will be writing as well.  I expect theirs will be something to the effect of, "Please buy this game so he will SHUT UP about how nothing else is as good as CoH."
 :)

Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: caine6900 on November 26, 2012, 11:40:06 AM
Sounds good Just need to get stamps and get this written and sent. This is such a good idea.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: djonehitwonder on November 26, 2012, 12:16:33 PM
For a possible unifying image, what about the one all over Facebook?

(https://images.weserv.nl/?url=rewondered.com%2Fimages%2Fsavecohribbon.jpg)

It was made by Brian Buchanan and he said anyone is free to use it.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Palladiamors on November 26, 2012, 12:31:13 PM
I'll write them a mini-novel if you want.  Hell, I'll write a cross over between a Disney world and City of Heroes.  Whatever it takes to get the point across that it has potential.  Actually that wouldn't even be hard,  considering the whole alternate dimension and time travel aspect of CoH,  and the fact that a number of Disney villains have been powerful magic users in their own right.

BUT,  and I am sure this is something that you're taking into account,  this has to go beyond just the Save CoH and Official Boards.  Its late in the game,  and a lot of people have given up.  You're going to have to pitch this everywhere you can,  to anyone who might have strayed and to anyone who might have a sympathetic ear.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Kaos Arcanna on November 26, 2012, 12:39:15 PM
Did the pitch mention the possibility of using the COH characters in things OTHER than the game?

Imagine a Pixar-style version of City of Heroes movie ... or a television series set in the past with Lil Liberty and her Grampa Statesman taking on evil
Uncle Recluse with Lil Liberty trying to make him see the light.

"Aw, Unca Stefan ... you really DON'T wanna blow up Terra Volta, do you?" *Big OL' Puppy eyes.*

 :)

But seriously, I do hope the potential of the characters in other venues was listed as part of the pitch...
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: tsalaroth on November 26, 2012, 12:42:36 PM
VicVic, not sure if you remember me or the old SG I used to be a part of, but we did some stuff with you guys a while back.  I haven't played CoH in over a year and I was still saddened with the announcement of it closing.  That said, I'm going to write letters and I'm passing this along to other friends who have played as well.

I suppose we expected to be able to come back some day, and we'd like to preserve that possibility.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: OzonePrime on November 26, 2012, 12:53:34 PM
On it! Posting to friends, Sg members, family, anyone!
Letters written and sent this afternoon!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: JWBullfrog on November 26, 2012, 01:01:25 PM
I'm not sure what I think about Disney running it either but its way better than losing the city.

I am also sure going to support any and every effort you guys (team wildcard, Titan team, Victoria V) are making. And thanks for trying and working so hard :)

One of the benefits of Disney is that they are traditionally very good stewards of the properties they obtain. Sure they are a monolithic corporate juggernaut but, very few franchises have suffered from association with them.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: JWBullfrog on November 26, 2012, 01:04:09 PM
Did the pitch mention the possibility of using the COH characters in things OTHER than the game?

Imagine a Pixar-style version of City of Heroes movie ... or a television series set in the past with Lil Liberty and her Grampa Statesman taking on evil
Uncle Recluse with Lil Liberty trying to make him see the light.

"Aw, Unca Stefan ... you really DON'T wanna blow up Terra Volta, do you?" *Big OL' Puppy eyes.*

 :)

But seriously, I do hope the potential of the characters in other venues was listed as part of the pitch...

 
An Incredibles/ CoH crossover?   Sure, I'd pay to see it.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rae on November 26, 2012, 01:05:32 PM
BUT,  and I am sure this is something that you're taking into account,  this has to go beyond just the Save CoH and Official Boards.  Its late in the game,  and a lot of people have given up.  You're going to have to pitch this everywhere you can,  to anyone who might have strayed and to anyone who might have a sympathetic ear.

As a big thank you for all their support, we gave Starburst and Massively the press release for this project on Friday, and hopefully they will have something published soon.

I'll be sending out a press release to every gaming website/magazine/blog I've been able to get contact details on tomorrow afternoon.  I just wanted Disney to have the chance for a pair of eyes to get on the package, rather than have someone read about it in the press and go 'uh..whut?'

To that end, if you're a blogger, writer, journalist etc., and you want a copy of the release, drop me a PM :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Technerdoc on November 26, 2012, 01:06:53 PM
Please switch the light on over my head: Didn't they have just bought Marvel? So what do they want with City of Heroes? Is there really a chance?  ???

Hmm... I want a City of Heroes Cartoon...  :P
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Fansy on November 26, 2012, 01:19:29 PM
Hail Heroteers!

I have not only lent a helping hand, eye, and resolution but now adorn a pair of Mouse Ears (borrowed from my Grandpa's stash when we went there last!) You always bring out the best in me and surprise me with the new angles, so Mercerdes this bard has sung a song of the most beautiful kind which was sealed, signed, and delivered to the Mouse addresses. I've sent publishers, article writers, and Internet Celebs alike all the information and contacts for Disney. Maybe they'll chip in and help the cause by sending their own letters to whom it may concern!

You've given the direction and I followed!

Fancy be the Wilds,
Fansy
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Artillerie on November 26, 2012, 01:20:51 PM
Thanks so much for the hard work you have put in Team Wildcard. I'm going out now to buy stamps - UK here so don't have any lying around. Will also put the word around as much as i can.

Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: therain93 on November 26, 2012, 01:32:06 PM
I don't really want Jedi in my CoH, but I will deal with it if it lets us keep the game, and provides the posibility of CoH2.

Considering the ability to emulate jedi as well as pretty much make Darth Maul already (staff, wp, electric mastery brute dressed up), meh ( ' ;  Same goes for the Marvel characters, which alone could be huge if the restriction on that IP were lifted.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: HEATSTROKE on November 26, 2012, 01:47:03 PM
 I would like to point out that a major selling point connected to the article that VV gave to Korea is that our American market is graying. Why is this important to Disney? We are the people who grew up with Disney and we are the ones who will be spending the MONEY with Disney.. Those kids dont have jobs.. those younger people tend not to have amassed as much disposable income..

I am already a consumer with a two year old son. Disney saves CoH ?? where do you think Im going to spend my money ??

Maybe not as blunt as that.. but thats the general gist..

Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Turjan on November 26, 2012, 01:56:23 PM
An inspired notion indeed! :)

I remember Mentalshock's thread suggesting this idea at the end of October, and thinking "it would take some crazy creative minds to put that kind of pitch together!"

Fortunately Titan Network is fuller with crazy creative minds than a Crey laboratory run by Vernon Von Grun ;D

Disney has always been the custodian of dreams, so if there's one group I'd expect to be able to take CoH and keep that dream safe, it's Disney. There's also a hidden plus here in that there's only really been 4 Superhero "names" in online games - Marvel, DC, Champions, and CoH. By acquiring CoH on top of Marvel, Disney would own half of the entire currently active western online superhero culture...that's pretty tasty I'd say.

I'd also like to add this little thought that popped into my head ;)

(https://i.imgur.com/P3rpH.jpg)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rae on November 26, 2012, 02:03:44 PM
I love you guys SO much right now, I can't begin to tell you.  :'(
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: eabrace on November 26, 2012, 02:07:11 PM
Conspiracy Theory:

Black Pebble has been manipulating us from the shadows in order to bring this about all along.

(https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/eabrace/titan/th_ParagonHalloween.jpg) (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/eabrace/titan/ParagonHalloween.jpg)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Pyro Embryo on November 26, 2012, 02:07:34 PM
I think writing letters is the least we could do. We did a capes/masks project that we sent to NCSoft. Why shouldn't we do as much if not more for for Disney? Heck, why not go out and get Micky and Minny dolls and dress them up as heroes with capes and costumes and send them? They want us to express that we have money to spend, let's spend it! ROLL THE DICE!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: QuantumHero on November 26, 2012, 02:08:48 PM
Um between when I started typing this last night and when I woke up this morning there were 42 other replies so if this has been covered sorry.

Two other thoughts occur to me.  Disney owns marvel but universal owns the perpetual theme park rights to marvel I think I remember it being west of the Mississippi....rights that were exchanged before Disney aquired Marvel.

What does this mean for us?  Disney has no super heroes to promote at Disney World, Universal does, and uses them on Super Hero Island which is composed of Marvel IP.

So should this aspect be emphasized to Disney?  Is there another Disney head we should add to the list?  Should we also be approaching Universal if Disney fails or even at the same time (a bidding war between the two does not seem useful)?

I know Disney tried a pretty ill-conceived use of heroes in one of the communicores fairly recently(yes I know they renamed them years ago I don't remember the new name and my family still calls them communicores) focused on health and fitness in a rather negative way toward obesity and there was a backlash.  We are offering them real family friendly heroes that could be used in something functional ;)

Overall this is a fantastic and amazing idea and I am doing what I can to raise awareness and hope.

"We are Heroes and THIS is what we do, We fight for our world in the blue" from my song
and I guess this is the new one...lol
 "Who's the leader of the band that fights for you and me C.i.t.y.o.f.h.e.r.o.s."
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: MajorDurand on November 26, 2012, 02:11:22 PM
Count me in! I grew up with Disney; from the original Mickey Mouse Club (Yes, I am THAT old. LOL) to the Wonderful World of Color all the way up to the more recent offerings like the Incredibles. I'll be working on my own letters with that in mind and have already passed this info on to others .

Thanks for the hard work, Wild Cards! I'll do my bit. /em militarysalute
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Hakkusshon on November 26, 2012, 02:16:55 PM
If Disney saves CoH, I don't care how much the fans and critics hate the new Star Wars movies. I'll buy two tickets to each movie... ever week it's showing. If Disney saves CoH, I'll stop complaining about how the Blu-Ray Complete Saga doesn't have the completed scenes that were in other DVDs. If Disney saves CoH, I'll relax my restriction on my children from seeing any Disney Princess stuff until they're 6... to 5 (I'm going to read the original Hans Christian Anderson to them first). If Disney saves CoH, I'll only watch Dreamworks movies at matinee or bargain ticket prices. If Disney saves CoH...
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Defcon Kid on November 26, 2012, 02:33:16 PM
Soo.... this is what Stage Two is? Not impressed tbh... already hundreds if not thousands of letters, posts and e-mails have been sent everywhere since 1st September, with no reaction at all... what makes you think there might be something different this time? I do really hope so, I'll spread word in my FB groups and global friends anyway.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Surelle on November 26, 2012, 02:40:32 PM
Conspiracy Theory:

Black Pebble has been manipulating us from the shadows in order to bring this about all along.

(https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/eabrace/titan/th_ParagonHalloween.jpg) (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y38/eabrace/titan/ParagonHalloween.jpg)

Haha!  Now that gave me the first belly laugh of the morning, so thank you very much for that!

And thanks to the entirety of Team Wildcard;  today is my day off so it's perfect timing for typing up those letters and mailing them off.

And even if this doesn't help, I'm very glad to hear that we're going to keep targeting others (another Valve pitch if they haven't been shunned by NCSoft too badly?) and will have the incredible documentation to do it with already in hand, with minor tweaking.

And if nothing else, remember that those two Paragon Studios management personnel (Brian and maybe Melissa or Matt?) will have our relentless determination to take to heart, that the last ten years of their lives were not all for naught.  As hard as this has hit us, it has hit them so much harder.  And this is also one more hug for them. 
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Segev on November 26, 2012, 02:52:02 PM
To all worried about seeing XYZ Disney Product in CoH, remember that any crossover stuff is more likely to be CoH stuff in other Disney properties, not Disney properties showing up in CoH. Aladdin didn't have ABC advertisements hidden throughout, and the Incredibles didn't feature 101 Dalmations. Disney tends to reserve crossovers for commercials on the Disney Channel, for fun skit things like the House of Mouse, and for crossover-dedicated spaces like Kingdom Hearts. They don't inject Disney IP into everything they own.

In the old wedding saying: you're not losing CoH to dilution with other IP; you're gaining other IP spaces in which to see CoH.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rae on November 26, 2012, 02:55:37 PM
Soo.... this is what Stage Two is? Not impressed tbh... already hundreds if not thousands of letters, posts and e-mails have been sent everywhere since 1st September, with no reaction at all... what makes you think there might be something different this time? I do really hope so, I'll spread word in my FB groups and global friends anyway.

To my knowledge, the only Titan-backed campaign was letters to NC Soft asking them not to close the game, who did, eventually respond, to tell us to go away.
This is the first co-ordinated attempt to contact one business and ask them to try to buy the game/IP from NC Soft - something which hasn't been tried before.

Obviously, we know that asking someone to buy COH doesn't guarantee that they will, but if we can back up the pitch that was sent to them - a hefty 31 pages saying how great the game is, how it's helped people, and why they should buy it - with proof that enough people WANT it saved, want to keep playing and would support Disney in doing so, in theory they will at least sit up and take notice of what we've sent them.

If they take notice, they may consider buying it.

If they consider buying it, they may actually end up buying it. Is it a tiny, tiny, tiny chance? Yes. Of course it is.

Is a tiny, tiny, tiny chance better than no chance at all?

I think so.

Honestly, what's the worst that can happen? They can turn around, thank us for their interest but say it's not for them. They can ignore us. Either way, we won't be in a position that's any worse than the one we're in now. (Well, except for Team Wildcard, who are probably down a few braincells, and VV who is down at least $50 for postage and paper and ink..)

AND we've got a super-awesome sales pitch that we can send to other studios/businesses if Disney aren't interested.

AND a second and possibly-third studio we can approach, later down the road.

But of course, if you have other ideas on things we could be doing, we'd love to hear them - all contributions are gratefully received :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Blitzwing on November 26, 2012, 03:16:23 PM
It's a really good idea, as far as I'm concerned!  :]


I feel I should point out, though, that Disney -did-, according to the vast majority of fans, drop the ball HARD with the Power Rangers franchise; they had it from Wild Force through R.P.M.[and an ill-conceived 'redux' of MMPR in 2010] with only SPD, Dino Thunder, and R.P.M. really standing out[Saban has since retaken ownership back, and is preparing to launch MegaForce after the success of Samurai/SuperSamurai].

CoH -could- be sold as another chance to get superheroes 'right', Marvel nowithstanding....  :]
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rienuaa on November 26, 2012, 03:16:52 PM
On it.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Omega Mark V on November 26, 2012, 03:27:57 PM
Umm, I know it's a long shot, and I'm all for CoH being revived in any fashion... But would Disney even give the icons of Paragon City and the Rouge Isles a bat of an eye when they already house Marvel?

Sure, I'd love to see Paragon City and Marvel under the same banner, or even a crossover, but I'm just not sure... Just my 2 cents.

Nonetheless, I'm here to help with this Call to Action.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Wolfram on November 26, 2012, 03:34:30 PM
Time to get my typin' fingers on.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on November 26, 2012, 03:37:49 PM
Yup. Went there.

(https://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h196/Liliana_Warsaw/disneycoh.jpg)

I'm disappointed it took this long.  :roll:
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on November 26, 2012, 03:41:24 PM
I'm disappointed it took this long.  :roll:

Well it did take me three hours to make... I was kinda worried someone would beat me to it.  ;D
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Arctic Force. on November 26, 2012, 03:57:22 PM
Thank you for this opportunity Team Wildcard, my daughters and I are all writing letters now and will get them into the mail today.  But does this mean Ghost Widow could be a Disney's First Villain Princess? O.o
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Beodren on November 26, 2012, 04:01:57 PM
Okay, few words from me here.

First- Atlantic makes sending letters a bit harder for me poor european, can I target any emails?
Second- I am afraid that Star Wars investition might have taken a toll on disney willingness for futher investtitions at the moment, after all, they have put really big money on the table... and I know Valve responded to fact we have sent quite a lot of emails to them. Is there an update concerning hipotethical price at the second selling?
Third- Marvel probably won't be interested, as there is collosal amount of backstory in CoX colliding with Marvelverse. But Deadpool tf is something my brains deems dream come true.
Fourth- I am tad worried, there may be a lot of editing in Villain arcs, and overall on redside. Quite a bit of content there is something I would consider rough. I am more than willing to support effort now though, worries may be resolved later.

Anything more beside letters normal user can do?

Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Flafty on November 26, 2012, 04:06:29 PM
Letters sent, fingers crossed.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: cygnata on November 26, 2012, 04:20:26 PM
Though Disney may also crack down on what can be said in channel, to make sure everything stays "kid friendly." Wouldn't be the first time.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Jordan_Lee on November 26, 2012, 04:20:51 PM
Do we have a deadline for this? I work phenomenally with a deadline, without I procrastinate, I start up CoH and lose track of time and then go 'Well, tomorrow I'll do it...'

Also I recently put to rest my printer and dread the thought of actually writing a letter.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on November 26, 2012, 04:22:32 PM
First- Atlantic makes sending letters a bit harder for me poor european, can I target any emails?

This one's a bit fuzzy - the best we have available {that we can share openly, email bombing Disney head honchos, even in good intentions, would horrendously backfire on us} is the company contact form (http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/contact-us/corporate-communications). Other than that, get involved socially - we're expecting first-strike coverage from Starburst and Massively, followed by contacting other blogs. Spreading the news via comments, Twitter, forums you frequent, anyone you can reach, basically, would be of immense help.

Quote
Second- I am afraid that Star Wars investition might have taken a toll on disney willingness for futher investtitions at the moment, after all, they have put really big money on the table... and I know Valve responded to fact we have sent quite a lot of emails to them. Is there an update concerning hipotethical price at the second selling?

Keep in mind that the SW purchase was a massive investment, while CoH is a much smaller and safer business move. Buying CoH might therefore help them show confidence that they can take something as huge as Star Wars in stride and keep moving like it's business as usual. As for how much NCsoft would ask for the game once it's shut down, we don't know - hell, we don't even know if they still want to sell - but if Disney decides it's worth their time, we could liken the situation to a showdown between a schoolyard bully and a PO'd Bruce Banner.

Quote
Third- Marvel probably won't be interested, as there is collosal amount of backstory in CoX colliding with Marvelverse. But Deadpool tf is something my brains deems dream come true.

That's actually a plus - it's a whole different universe. You've got the opportunity for crossovers, but there's no inherent intersection between the two. It's win-win.

Quote
Fourth- I am tad worried, there may be a lot of editing in Villain arcs, and overall on redside. Quite a bit of content there is something I would consider rough. I am more than willing to support effort now though, worries may be resolved later.

We'll burn that bridge when we cross it - not to mention Praetoria is much worse, but we also covered that bit in the pitch. Keep in mind that not everything Disney owns is necessarily "childified" - for example, did you know that Kill Bill was made while Disney owned Miramax?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on November 26, 2012, 04:24:30 PM
Do we have a deadline for this? I work phenomenally with a deadline, without I procrastinate, I start up CoH and lose track of time and then go 'Well, tomorrow I'll do it...'

Also I recently put to rest my printer and dread the thought of actually writing a letter.

How about "before the day is out"? A little arbitrary, but basically, the sooner, the better.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Altoholic Monkey on November 26, 2012, 04:48:04 PM
Okay, few words from me here.

First- Atlantic makes sending letters a bit harder for me poor european, can I target any emails

I live in Los Angeles which means anything I mail will get to Burbank in a day. Because burbank is in the Los Angeles County area. So if any folks outside the US want me to print out their letters and mail them on their own behalf feel free to send me a PM here or email me at Altoholic DOT Monkey AT gmail.com
I'm on Facebook as Alty Mo and Twitter as well.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: chasearcanum on November 26, 2012, 04:51:15 PM
Great work, team Wildcard.  We'll be sending letters ASAP.

Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on November 26, 2012, 04:52:06 PM
I live in Los Angeles which means anything I mail will get to Burbank in a day. I because burbank is in the Los Angeles County area. So if any folks outside the US want me to print out their letters and mail them in their behalf feel free to send me a PM here or email me at Altoholic DOT Monkey AT gmail.com
I'm on Facebook as Alty Mo and Twitter as well.

Hey I think Tim the Enchanter wanted a higher ppi version of that logo you made for save CoH. We were talking about it early on in the thread.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Blast Lord on November 26, 2012, 04:53:45 PM
I definaly hope Disney buys City of Heroes MMO game which it would definaly be a upward chance to save City of Heroes
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Zachary on November 26, 2012, 04:55:09 PM
I made nice postcards with my SG members  :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Altoholic Monkey on November 26, 2012, 05:03:46 PM
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-KpyOB2AnYig/UF4bk2BzZII/AAAAAAAACCk/BVj8fT-yQl8/SaveCOH_Blue_leaderboard.jpg)

Anyone know who made this? I kinda like it, just needs to be a higher dpi.

If not, I'll try and whip up something tomorrow. Can't believe with all the other logos that got done there was never really one made for the movement itself. *facepalm*

I made it. I have several versions and its vector art. Let me know what you need. Most of the ones created are for the Web.

EDIT: Also there's a thread in this section with different versions of this banner. Even one for villains.
http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,4898.msg52558.html#msg52558
http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,4898.msg53317.html#msg53317

You can download the various versions from here: http://www.repeat-offenders.net/savecoh/I will make a 300ppi version when I get home of both versions one for Heroes and Villains. I'll upload it to the RO directory listed above.

Please let me know if any other sizes are needed. (Half page, postcard..etc)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: V-Mink on November 26, 2012, 05:06:01 PM
We'll burn that bridge when we cross it - not to mention Praetoria is much worse, but we also covered that bit in the pitch. Keep in mind that not everything Disney owns is necessarily "childified" - for example, did you know that Kill Bill was made while Disney owned Miramax?
It's also worth pointing out that both Treasure Planet and Atlantis got fairly dark in places.  Family-friendly, but still fairly dark -- Lt. Archer falling into a black hole, that really creepy spider-like bosun, more than a few on-screen-if-not-quite-center-screen deaths....  Many of the arcs redside would fit right in with only a modicum of editing.  Honestly, the things off the top of my head that would be frowned on by the Mouse would be Silver Mantis ('nuff said,) the Dark Astoria arcs, and a couple of the redside arcs.  Some of the Praetorian arcs may be a bit too greyside/ambiguous (which is kind of the point) so I'm not sure which direction Disney would go with that; though.

(Ms. Liberty as a Disney Princess?  Some of the more recent ones have been fairly good role models (Kida, Mulan.)  Ms Liberty could make a good addition.  And Ghost Widow would probably double the combined competence of the Disney villainesses gallery.)

I imagine for a lot of people, it's a matter of making a deal with the devil.  (And we all know how well that went over for Peter Parker and the audience.)  And I can't blame them.  A lot of us grew up with Disney and saw them steamroll through the media industry in ways that made EA look like Sesame Street.  And I'll still be looking at Disney with a jaundiced, wary eye.  But... there are much worse things that could happen to the CoH IP than it falling into the white-gloved clutches of the Mouse.

It's a long shot.  Disney's involvement with Marvel makes this thorny, and CoH's history with Marvel is itself a bit storied; that'll make this almost Jayne-level "interesting."  But, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Edit: Fixed formatting tags. --TV
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rotten Luck on November 26, 2012, 05:20:31 PM
Disney does dark sometimes.  Bambi's Mom, Hell lets look at Scar he Killed his own brother ran the land into the ground and framed his nephew (not to mention had a very Nazi style scene).  Tried to kill Simba more then once.

Yeah Disney does Dark.  Hell can you Imagine Ghost Widow and Maleficent!  I don't know if I should shiver with dread or awl.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rae on November 26, 2012, 05:29:10 PM
That scene in Pirates of the Caribbean 3? When they're hanging like..a billion pirates, including a little kid, in about 30 seconds?  I think more people die in that scene than they do in about a dozen horror flicks.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Mindscythe on November 26, 2012, 05:43:28 PM
I too am unsure if this has already been addressed or not, but something popped to mind as I was sifting the thread thus far:  One positive point to mention in the letters would be about using the IP outside of the MMO. Any company that purchases the CoH IP has a decade of story and in-game history to work with. If they own the IP, all of that would be available for flash games, cartoons, comic books, action figures, board games, novelization, and countless other avenues of merchandising.

Purchasing the IP would provide a ready-made universe (like they got by purchasing Lucasfilms), and any cross-promotion done via other media would likely A) net them money and B) serve to drive a larger population to the MMO. With the success of the Marvel & DC superhero films, this seems like it would be an easy sell, even given an original mythos/universe.

I'll have my letters out this week, although I'm discovering how hard it is to type with my fingers crossed. -Mindscythe
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: TimtheEnchanter on November 26, 2012, 05:44:30 PM
Disney does dark sometimes.  Bambi's Mom, Hell lets look at Scar he Killed his own brother ran the land into the ground and framed his nephew (not to mention had a very Nazi style scene).  Tried to kill Simba more then once.

Yeah Disney does Dark.  Hell can you Imagine Ghost Widow and Maleficent!  I don't know if I should shiver with dread or awl.

Gargoyles. On par with, or even darker than Batman the Animated Series.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Shadowhawke on November 26, 2012, 05:53:09 PM

Keep in mind that the SW purchase was a massive investment, while CoH is a much smaller and safer business move. Buying CoH might therefore help them show confidence that they can take something as huge as Star Wars in stride and keep moving like it's business as usual. As for how much NCsoft would ask for the game once it's shut down, we don't know - hell, we don't even know if they still want to sell - but if Disney decides it's worth their time, we could liken the situation to a showdown between a schoolyard bully and a PO'd Bruce Banner.



Given the revenue hits NC took after announcement of the closure, Disney would more than come to the table as the heavyweight negotiator. If their people seriously considered this proposal, then they'd also smell the blood in the water, and could give NC an offer they can't refuse.

Someone also brought up a point today that Disney already has a superhero IP and CoH is just not as recognizable as others out there. True, but we're talking Disney here, who would have the marketing means to MAKE Statesman as recognizable as Captain America, if they wanted to. Even if this is a long-shot, this is the company that could really make the IP visible on the common public radar.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Shadowhawke on November 26, 2012, 05:56:43 PM
I too am unsure if this has already been addressed or not, but something popped to mind as I was sifting the thread thus far:  One positive point to mention in the letters would be about using the IP outside of the MMO. Any company that purchases the CoH IP has a decade of story and in-game history to work with. If they own the IP, all of that would be available for flash games, cartoons, comic books, action figures, board games, novelization, and countless other avenues of merchandising.

Purchasing the IP would provide a ready-made universe (like they got by purchasing Lucasfilms), and any cross-promotion done via other media would likely A) net them money and B) serve to drive a larger population to the MMO. With the success of the Marvel & DC superhero films, this seems like it would be an easy sell, even given an original mythos/universe.


My thinking exactly. The heavy work has already been done. The one thing that's always struck me about CoH lore is that Paragon created a super-powered pantheon that has depth and story like Marvel or DC. It's just not as old and ingrained into the public psyche yet, but that can change. All the other heroic IPs started out small too.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: The Skippylabs on November 26, 2012, 06:07:10 PM
Absolutly in love with this idea. When I stopped to think about who best symbolizes 'family entertainment', Hasboro, Milton-Bradley and Disney come to mind. What better buyer could we come up with other than Walt Disney's legacy? I'll get on my letter writing after I post this.

BTW, has anyone thought of offering Disney reps to come down and play a little CoH BEFORE it closes? Give them a taste of the product and the community while they still can. Nothing better to a prospective customer than to 'kick the tires' first.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on November 26, 2012, 06:13:19 PM
It would probably a good thing to mention - we still have a small pool of loaner accounts ready to be used and a lot of claims we make about CoH really need to be seen to be believed.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rotten Luck on November 26, 2012, 06:15:28 PM
I doubt we have the time to get them to notice before the 30th. 

But if anyone has the funds to relaunch CoH it's Disney.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on November 26, 2012, 06:19:06 PM
Quote
But if anyone has the funds to relaunch CoH it's Disney.

That's pretty much why they were our go-to company. And it's not just the funds either - given Disney's not so much pervasive as enveloping coverage of entertainment media, I'm sure even NCsoft would be very, very eager not to get on their bad side. Market share, after all, hath its privileges.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Andy on November 26, 2012, 06:19:26 PM
Thank you, Team Wildcard! I'll be writing up my letters and mailing them this week. I appreciate the hard work and positive spirit from this community. You guys rock!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on November 26, 2012, 06:22:58 PM
Thank you!

Oh, and welcome to the forums too!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: DrakeGrimm on November 26, 2012, 06:24:17 PM
This time of year is horrible for us retail workers, free-time-wise. I will do everything I can to try to contribute to this project, but if I'm not able to get my letters out, I want you to know I support this Hail Mary pass with every last fiber of my soul.


Would I be leery of the Mouse owning my beloved City? Yes.
Would I be -less- leery than if NCSoft continued to run it? YES.

So the Mouse gets my vote, people. And if they agree to this? A whole crapton of my money.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ironwolf on November 26, 2012, 06:32:13 PM
Thank you for the time and effort to make this pitch.

I have thouhgt for a very long time about what this could be given the power of advertising of a Disney or Valve. Do you have any idea how many hits a day it would garner just being listed on Disney's page?

Add in the free to play, family friendly game and community and Disney has a winner here. If this happened my grand daughter and I would be very happy :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Thrillseeker on November 26, 2012, 06:34:16 PM
Okay, letters written. My wife and I wrote them as a couple. They will go into the mail today.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lithy on November 26, 2012, 06:36:12 PM
First batch of letters written, on the way to the post office in 10 mins or so. Info has been crossposted to our SG's forum (and even though many have moved on to other games, they still check the forums.)

My closing paragraph:

If Disney were to rescue City of Heroes from oblivion, there are at least three subscriptions in this household, just waiting to send money. I would be able to keep my promise to my granddaughter for her own account.  And isn't that what Disney is all about? Making childrens' dreams come true.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ammon on November 26, 2012, 06:37:00 PM
First- Atlantic makes sending letters a bit harder for me poor european, can I target any emails?
You can, but don't make the mistake of thinking it is the same.

The whole point here is showing commitment.  Anyone can spend 2 seconds to click a petition, or 30 seconds to write a post, or a minute to write an email.  Sending the mails, in the post, is different, and just as important and meaningful as sending that carefully crafted 31 page pitch document.  It shows that someone was committed enough to commit it to paper, invest in envelope and stamps, and put it into the mail.  In other words, it shows that you are serious about wanting to continue to be a consumer of CoH.  It shows that CoH has a large, passionate, eager market just begging to be served.

If you have a real problem with postage, (and reading around I see that many of those letters already written today came from Europe), refer to Altaholic Monkey's very generous offer to print out your letter and post it for you (http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,6354.msg78748.html#msg78748).  But please, if you can, put in the investment yourself.  That international postage with its post marks is part of what shows Disney just how committed we are, how serious we are about being prepared to spend money, and how much they'd love to have us as their commited loyal customers.


Anything more beside letters normal user can do?
Oh, yes, there certainly is.  We are very much hoping that this story is going to be covered by various media.  We are obviously counting on the gamer sites being interested, but the sheer audacity and chutzpah of a passionate group of players walking up to the giant Mouse is possibly of wider interest too. 

In fact, that's a secondary part.  Even if Disney don't buy it, we are once again getting the idea that CoH is good enough for them to consider, that it is a product that represents a real investment opportunity.  If this doesn't get other parties thinking that maybe CoH is something they could pitch for I'll be quite surprised.

So, same drill as ever about the 'Thank The Media' and helping to spread the word of any and all coverage it gets.  Comments, likes, +1s and sharing of links always makes journo's and bloggers happy to have written about it.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Wyrm on November 26, 2012, 06:43:31 PM
I'm all over this.  My only problem will be keeping my letters to a readable length.

And if they want family-friendly and positive, well, I'll just include this at the bottom of the letter.  It's one of a few commissions I had done when I stopped being able to spend money directly on the game, and it's a married couple (Drs. Gen and Eric Hiro ;)) my wife and I played.

(https://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t84/unamuzd1/Cards/Sketch%20Commissions/Hirosresized2.jpg)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: JWBullfrog on November 26, 2012, 06:44:59 PM
That scene in Pirates of the Caribbean 3? When they're hanging like..a billion pirates, including a little kid, in about 30 seconds?  I think more people die in that scene than they do in about a dozen horror flicks.

In my letter I casually remark that CoH is just as family friendly as Star Wars or PoTC. In retrospect, we're more friendly than the pirates.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Minotaur on November 26, 2012, 06:49:29 PM
So we want to go from one Mickey mouse outfit to another :)

Too busy playing to draft anything up before the game stops, but will look into it after.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Talon Blue on November 26, 2012, 06:58:37 PM
But does this mean Ghost Widow could be a Disney's First Villain Princess? O.o

Wouldn't that be the first undead Disney Princess? ;)

I'll get going on a letter.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: JWBullfrog on November 26, 2012, 07:05:57 PM
Wouldn't that be the first undead Disney Princess? ;)

I'll get going on a letter.

And think of all of the little Goth girls out there that would latch on to that one...
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: therain93 on November 26, 2012, 07:10:53 PM
For those worried about the darkness, I think many of you are missing the exceptional "Once Upon A Time" series, which is now in its second season on ABC.  Betrayal, murder, hearts ripped out, the evil queen is maturely evil.  And everyone is motivated somehow by love....it really is an entertaining series (season 1 available on netflix streaming and hulu plus).
 
30+ pages for a business pitch is pretty good, considering it's not yours to literrally sell.  I hope Mickey is interested!
 
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: chasearcanum on November 26, 2012, 07:33:31 PM
Wouldn't that be the first undead Disney Princess? ;)

I'll get going on a letter.

I want a shot of the Atlas parks stairs filled with female CoH characters- dev and player made.

Caption something like "Could we be Disney Princesses?"
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Opal Aegis on November 26, 2012, 07:44:25 PM
Honestly, I had thought about this angle and it would be wonderful if Disney would pick our game up. There may be one slight obstacle though and that would be Disney's connection to Marvel. If we can convince Disney that our game and the Dev team would be an asset and not a copyright issue or a conflict of interest with Marvel then we may have a shot.
Here's hoping that the company that owns the place where dreams come true can keep ours alive
Opal Aegis
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: FlameBailador on November 26, 2012, 07:57:39 PM
I created my letter, but noticed that John Pepper Jr didn't have a company name he was affilliated with like the others, so I looked it up on Google.  It appears he stepped down as Chairman of the Board of Directors at the March annual meeting, and that Robert Iger now holds both CEO and Chairman titles.  Also, John Pleasants is now co-president of Disney Interactive (with James Pitaro).

Here are the links to the Board and Management lists on the Disney website:

     http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/about-disney/leadership/board-of-directors (http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/about-disney/leadership/board-of-directors)
     http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/about-disney/leadership/management (http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/about-disney/leadership/management)

With this information in mind, do we need to adjust who we're addressing our letters to?

Let us know ASAP!

-j
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Tannim222 on November 26, 2012, 08:04:48 PM
I have a sort-of-former-friend (long story no bad blood but he suffered a difficult loss and distance himself from everyone he knew during the time of the occurance until he feels over it enough to come around again), who works at Disney. Not at the park :p but with corporate. He heads teams at every corporate location. He knows a lot of the upper execs, and how the corporate culture operates (he an integral part of defining the corporate culture).

From our previous conversations regarding Disney and how it operates with purchasing and owning other entities, there are two things that really stand out to me with regards to the current attempt. One good, the other not. First the good: when Disney purchases an entity, they're really big on autonomy if the entity does well. They're execs don't like having to come in and take over. They work on integration of the entity with Disney on the very high end, and on some back end portions, but each entity has its own culture and method of operation. This is good becaus if Disney were to put PS back in order, once PS shows they can get things going well, execs would back off and let the devs do their thing. The "big Daddy" assistance would come in the form of providing the means by which to push the product further, so long as the studio shows itself capable.

The bad: Disney has a lot of moving parts. Thus, it takes a lot to make things happen, unless there's something substantial on the table worth making the behemoth jump and get to speed quickly, think Lucas Films / Arts. So when the OP says this effort won't work unless a ton of letters hit their offices, it's true. If we want Disney to take notice and make a substantial move by the end of December, we MUST make sure we've got their attention better than any customer base has gotten their attention before.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Hendrake on November 26, 2012, 08:41:16 PM
Think we could convince them to do Marvel themed expansion packs for CoH and tie them into the release of upcoming movies? :D

I'd totally be down with a Captain America Task Force.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Segev on November 26, 2012, 08:45:52 PM
In Paragon City, the Avengers is more in line with the Untouchables. Not because the content is any different, but because it's fictionalized reality rather than fantastic fiction.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: dwturducken on November 26, 2012, 08:50:17 PM
One of my Friday group's favorite things to do was "theme teams." We did one for each movie release (except Thor), and I know I saw several "tribute" toons running around each server I played on.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on November 26, 2012, 08:58:56 PM
Is it okay to send the same letter 4 times?  I pretty much covered all the bases in it.  I am going to hand write it out 4 times so it won't look like a form letter or anything.  I'm also going to post what I send up on my blog.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Surelle on November 26, 2012, 09:01:11 PM
Okay, done, signed, sealed, and sent!

*crosses fingers*

I'm just a little gamer girrrrrrl.....    Tellin' it to the worrrrrrld..... Hehe.

Now let's hope this does some good!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Copper Cockroach on November 26, 2012, 09:16:05 PM
(https://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa453/TonyV-CoH/City%20of%20Heroes/Save%20Paragon%20City/yuvkb.jpg)

"Wait a minute... is it okay for us to be dating, now that we're co-workers?"

"Who cares? Let's go kill some younglings or something."

"NOW you're talking!"

Edit: Rehosted image because the original image hosting site was causing page to experience very long delays in loading. --TV
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: TimtheEnchanter on November 26, 2012, 09:31:12 PM
Wouldn't that be the first undead Disney Princess? ;)

I'll get going on a letter.

No... just... no.

On the other hand, I bet you'd see more dudes in the princess autograph lines. :p
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: TimtheEnchanter on November 26, 2012, 09:56:41 PM
Wow, I hate to admit this. Vader and Widow.. they look good together.  :P

And, is there an outline for the proposal with the important key-points? Something we can show to the general gaming populous as a FAQ, so we can denounce a lot of the things they're worried about? They're going to eat each other alive on the official forums soon.

Doubt seems to be the overall vibe of the community outside of Titan at the moment. Hopefully it's possible to address some of their concerns without needing to write a tl;dr post.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: TimtheEnchanter on November 26, 2012, 10:45:26 PM
That scene in Pirates of the Caribbean 3? When they're hanging like..a billion pirates, including a little kid, in about 30 seconds?  I think more people die in that scene than they do in about a dozen horror flicks.

Heh, I heard Hoist the Colors High numerous times after Aug 30...
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: blackjak on November 26, 2012, 10:59:50 PM
Like I  said on the COH forums: I'm a bit bummed I wasn't right about George R.R. Martin and the wildcard mafia being involved.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Sensate on November 27, 2012, 12:02:22 AM
I have the snail mail addy's and am starting to compose letters for that... but any chance we can get email contacts? I think that would be faster and encourage more ppl to get involved for convenience sake...   Also , should we make these multi-page affairs or just what would fit on your avg post card???

Sensate.

Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ammon on November 27, 2012, 12:11:29 AM
I have the snail mail addy's and am starting to compose letters for that... but any chance we can get email contacts? I think that would be faster and encourage more ppl to get involved for convenience sake...   Also , should we make these multi-page affairs or just what would fit on your avg post card???
Its convenience and ease we are trying to avoid.  The entire point is to show we are prepared to go out of our way, that we are committing our hopes to paper, putting it in an envelope, affixing a stamp we paid for, and posting it.

People will send emails just to troll.  Hard copy has commitment.  The commitment is the whole point.  We are showing them we are a commited market begging to pay for CoH and that buying it is guaranteed to make its money back, plus every chance of doing more.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Roughtrade on November 27, 2012, 12:11:44 AM
Email might be 'instant' but it is also way to easy to just put the messages into a Spam Filter.

If you have an email address for them fine, I suppose.  Every bit helps and all.  But write a letter too anyways.  Physical Mail will have much more impact.  It might get mailmen delivering the letters talking.  It might get noticed by other people, talked about, pushed around in the social media. 

Email is far too easy to ignore.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Visual Fallacy on November 27, 2012, 12:16:11 AM
For anyone worried about Jedi's or other such characters invading Coh keep in mind that Coh has always run with servers that serve a particular kind of player, Virtue and it's role players for instance. There is no reason why one server can't become the jedi server where everyone with a mindset to play a jedi character can have fun with other such mindset characters, one server be more for Marvel type characters etc etc. Over the years we have made it work here with people finding servers that suit them with no interference from the game, I don't see why we couldn't do the same again with new material.

Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Roughtrade on November 27, 2012, 12:17:22 AM
I am uncertain if this is a valid point or not but....

If you want to impress on Disney how much City of Heroes is part of popular culture above and beyond our little MMO....


Big Bang Theory has a City of Heroes connection.

There is a CoH poster visible in the comic shop scenes.

"Captain Sweatpants" a reoccurring character in the comic shop, wears a shirt with Statesman's Star.

Howard had a statue of Ghost Widow on the shelf above his bed.  I do not know if it made the move to Bernadette's place with him.

I have seen a City of Villains box on their gaming shelf in scenes before, but in the Star Wars MMO episode they mentioned how they always play good guys so I do not know if it has been removed. 

Anyways, Big Bang Theory knows about CoH and I am hoping it gets some sort of mention before the season is out.  Maybe even this week.


the Up All Night show is supposed to be about guys who game at night isn't it?  Does anyone watch that show and has it mentioned super hero gaming?

Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Annihilius on November 27, 2012, 12:38:56 AM
Two letters down, going out tomorrow morning.

Let's hope to mouse is feeling a shopping spree. :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on November 27, 2012, 01:29:51 AM
And, is there an outline for the proposal with the important key-points? Something we can show to the general gaming populous as a FAQ, so we can denounce a lot of the things they're worried about? They're going to eat each other alive on the official forums soon.

There's no outline.

FIRST: one thing we did NOT address was Disney doing CoH themed movies or cartoons.  This was deliberate.  As the old saying goes "You don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs."  If the Mouse decides to pick up CoH, the Mouse has a million times more experience in picking out what properties have commercial film/video potential than we do.  Attempting to tell the Mouse what the Mouse already knows how to do would not win points.

SECOND: We covered the possible conflict with Marvel Games by pointing out that there is no conflict.  Both games are based on the Diablo engine which is optimized for PvP and solo.  Neither game allows players to construct their own characters.  Neither has the library of established content.  Neither allows players to create their own missions.

THIRD: There is nothing we can say when people are paranoid about the Mouse taking over except to point out that the Mouse tends to leave people who know what they are doing alone.

FOURTH: Can't post the pitch online.  There's some stuff in there that we are not allowed to reveal and were given access to only on the stipulation that we and Disney and no one else sees it.  There will be people who will still whine about that and insist it is their right to see it.  No, it's not, get over it.

FIFTH: We can pitch even though we do not own the game because we are pitching the IDEA of Disney acquiring the property, and not pitching the property itself.  We make it very clear at the start and end of the package that the person to contact is Brian Clayton.  The fact that we have no monetary interest in this might actually strengthen our pitch; we have nothing to gain, why are we doing this?  Because the property is just that good.

SIXTH: What we pitched was getting the whole deal: IP, game code, server code, customer account information (yes, including all your characters), and setting Paragon Studios back up.

We spent a LOT of time describing how and why City is unique, not only among superhero games but among MMORPGs in general.

The four of us, from four vastly different age/sex/demographic/experience sets, with the help of the two senior Paragon people, pummeled our brains to come up with every possibly objection Disney could have--and counter it--and every possible way Disney could make money and/or advertise from/within the game.  We pointed out how City could be a mini-Disney-vacation every night for families separated by great distance and constrained by budget.  We pointed out City players' loyalty.  We reiterated the PC versus mobile discussion I made with the Korean journalist.  We mentioned the Big Bang Theory connection.  We even pointed out the potential for game therapy for the autistic and disabled (the Mouse likes to look altruistic). 

Seriously; there is nothing that anyone has asked about here or said "did you...?" that we didn't cover plus a metric ton of stuff you haven't even thought about.  We spent a solid week on this, remember, doing almost nothing BUT think about it.

You need to not just write the initial letters, you need to keep writing letters.  Every time you think of one more way City could benefit Disney, write another letter or postcard. 

Not emails though.  Ammon made all the points about how emails are easily spam-filtered, where real letters show a commitment.  Unlike NCSoft, Disney isn't going to assign a clerk to toss every letter marked SaveCoH straight into a dumpster.  Disney is in the business of making money, and every letter we send raises the probability of making money from this a little more in their eyes.  They don't have a vendetta with Garriot, CoH serves their core market, and there is nothing standing in the way of persuading them this is something they need to look at seriously.





Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: dwturducken on November 27, 2012, 02:03:20 AM
Here's one I haven't seen asked, yet:
Should we be sending your agent or Jim Baen rolls of Tums? :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on November 27, 2012, 02:19:39 AM
Here's one I haven't seen asked, yet:
Should we be sending your agent or Jim Baen rolls of Tums? :)

Well Jim is dead, so you'd have to dissolve the Tums and pour them over his grave.

Actually, neither.  At the moment, what I am doing is not conflicting with anything; writing that damn pitch package used a whole different set of mental muscles than writing creatively.  I'm also learning some extremely useful skills from Ammon, Rae, and Brian.

And I think everyone understands how important CoH was to keeping me sane.  Keep author sane, so author writes good books....
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: DrakeGrimm on November 27, 2012, 02:22:10 AM
Well Jim is dead, so you'd have to dissolve the Tums and pour them over his grave.

Actually, neither.  At the moment, what I am doing is not conflicting with anything; writing that damn pitch package used a whole different set of mental muscles than writing creatively.  I'm also learning some extremely useful skills from Ammon, Rae, and Brian.

And I think everyone understands how important CoH was to keeping me sane.  Keep author sane, so author writes good books....

/me hugs VV
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: eabrace on November 27, 2012, 02:25:40 AM
Keep author sane, so author writes good books....
Sounds like the literary version of "Happy wife, happy life."
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: DrakeGrimm on November 27, 2012, 02:26:50 AM
Sounds like the literary version of "Happy wife, happy life."

Or "If momma ain't happy, ain't NOBODY happy." (yes, I'm aware it's grammatically incorrect.)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: dwturducken on November 27, 2012, 02:40:33 AM
Well Jim is dead, so you'd have to dissolve the Tums and pour them over his grave.

Sorry. I'd forgotten that. That sounds like something my wife, with her perpetual heartburn, would put in her will, though.

My letter is written to Mr. Nicolai, and I'll get the next one written, tomorrow. The game has helped us all, and you and the other Wildcards have outdone yourselves with this.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: saipaman on November 27, 2012, 02:43:58 AM
What I like best about this proposition is provides NCSoft with a face saving way out of bad situation.  If George Lucas could sell a massive money maker like Star Wars to Disney, NCSoft could easily sell a small time money maker like Cox to Disney.

The volume of publicity the sale would generate for NCSoft would definitely be worth far more to them than CoX.  'Doing deals with Disney' might well mean to some people that a company has 'arrived'.

If someone hasn't already done it, a picture of George Lucas with the captions - "I dont' often sell my IP.  But when I do, I sell it to Disney" would pretty much sum my point.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on November 27, 2012, 03:06:17 AM
Ironically, selling to Disney might be the one thing that can save NCSoft from having its stock nosedive further.  Heck, it might even make the stock recover.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: epawtows on November 27, 2012, 03:07:39 AM
Still not clear on a few things...the rumors are that, post-shutdown, NCSoft will be a lot more reasonable about selling the CoH IP, mostly for legal reasons (not that I am saying those reasons are reasonable, but there are other threads about that). 

Is the reason for pushing for Disney is because there seems little chance of any other entity (Valve, one of the other game companies, or a brand-new entity like Titan Studios on a Kickstarter) coming up with enough cash to interest them?    Disney is probably the only possible player who could "make them an offer they can't refuse", but does there seem to be any chance that ANYONE else can make an offer they would accept?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on November 27, 2012, 03:09:51 AM
It's more like because, even though they can doesn't mean that they will. NCsoft's leadership has been shown to act like petulant, spoiled and spiteful children before, the fact alone that they can sell CoH and it would benefit the company doesn't really guarantee anything.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Absolute on November 27, 2012, 03:12:13 AM
How much is postage and how cheap could it be? (Depending on area/connections/currency etc)

If people could write a letter from their computer, and email it to someone else to send (Or post it somewhere), you'd probably get 5x as many letters. I've got a lot of friends that started when they were 6 years old and aren't comfortable mailing letters yet. After that, I have even more lazy friends that could write a letter but will never leave their room to send it. I know sending an email isn't as meaningful, but the content will be just as good, and the large quantity would be nice.

I know one person volunteered to send it for others, but unsure if he's prepared to send hundreds if he gets them.

If someone could get something together for something like that, might be a huge turnout.

We could even go to the forums and get people to post their letters there.

Just an idea, albeit an expensive one.

Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on November 27, 2012, 03:20:50 AM
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Cold Bob on November 27, 2012, 03:43:28 AM
Will get right on this tomorrow morning, with four separate letters to the four addresses listed at the top of this thread.

That might be two hours of work, writing it all out carefully by hand (enclosing a typed "reproduction" of my handwritten letters) but this Call to Action is worth taking two hours out of my last week in Paragon City, and trying to make an impact...

Let's go, team!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ammon on November 27, 2012, 04:01:14 AM
How much is postage and how cheap could it be? (Depending on area/connections/currency etc)
Well, from the UK, the cost for all four was under half the price of one month's subscription that you can't pay to CoH anymore, so redirect that money to good use.

Seriously, this is why it is so important to post a hard copy.  If you can't spend a few bucks to save the game, how can Disney be expected to believe you are willing to pay for the game in other ways?  This is our chance to show, to prove, that CoH is still a good investment.  Anyone can say they care.  As the saying goes, it's time to put our money where our mouths are.  Talk is cheap ... a stamp ain't that much more, but at least it shows willing :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Surelle on November 27, 2012, 04:12:58 AM
What I really wonder though is this:  If supposedly NCSoft's selling price is going to drop quite a bit after CoH closes down, then why can't Brian Clayton and his original backers, or the original titan folks who made offers, or even Valve if they truly did offer to buy CoH originally, go back and make a second offer after CoH closes?

Why does someone totally new have to go in and make a pitch to buy it?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Kaiser Tarantula on November 27, 2012, 04:14:50 AM
My letters have been sent out.  I've been notifying unaware people on Beta server of the efforts here, to drum up more support.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Badaxe on November 27, 2012, 04:21:25 AM
Good move Mercedes, best to leave no stone unturned!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: HEATSTROKE on November 27, 2012, 05:03:43 AM
What I really wonder though is this:  If supposedly NCSoft's selling price is going to drop quite a bit after CoH closes down, then why can't Brian Clayton and his original backers, or the original titan folks who made offers, or even Valve if they truly did offer to buy CoH originally, go back and make a second offer after CoH closes?

Why does someone totally new have to go in and make a pitch to buy it?

Because more people interested in acquiring the IP is better for us, and more importantly having the money to HIRE as much of the original Paragon Studios staff as possible is key..

Also you need to market and promote the game AND also have the money to develop future projects ( CoH2)..

Disney has that money.. and they have the clout.. it cannot hurt in any way shape or form in Disney gets on board..
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on November 27, 2012, 05:14:24 AM
What I really wonder though is this:  If supposedly NCSoft's selling price is going to drop quite a bit after CoH closes down, then why can't Brian Clayton and his original backers, or the original titan folks who made offers, or even Valve if they truly did offer to buy CoH originally, go back and make a second offer after CoH closes?

Why does someone totally new have to go in and make a pitch to buy it?

I can't speak for Brian Clayton and his original backers.  But I can guess that it is possible they have lost interest or found some other project to invest in, or don't want to try and rebuild the whole system from scratch rather than simply taking it over from NCSoft.  Any or all of those is certainly possible.

I also can't speak for the original titan folks who made offers.

Valve was NEVER confirmed as making an offer.  That never went beyond rumor.

Given that, we opted to aim for the top first, rather than aiming for the bottom.  It's easier to work down, than up. 
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on November 27, 2012, 06:25:54 AM
Well mine and my daughter's letters are written, though hers will be color photocopied and then hand-drawn on as her eyes got huge when I told her we needed four copies.  ;D I expect to get them out on Wednesday after completing some art projects to include.

I downloaded the press release and sent it to a friend who runs a Disney blog/forum thing.  Not sure that anything will be done with it, but hey,worth a shot.  He's been asking me about the City of Heroes stuff since the beginning, and even wanted to give the game a try (though he couldn't thanks to account creation being locked out).
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rotten Luck on November 27, 2012, 07:20:15 AM
Lily I have a spare account he can use.  Inject some Paragon into his blood!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Opal Aegis on November 27, 2012, 07:45:52 AM
I like Kingdom Hearts but I don't want KH in my CoH :<

Awesome as it would be to have heartless Arachnos running about

I thought about that sort of crossover when i heard this pitch and my brain shorted for a second...just no....At least not in Paragon. Now the freedom phalanx helping Sora along...that would be cool (someone above mentioned such a team up)
Thinking back, Disney has done lots of superhero movies before the Marvel tie in so the interest in the whole Super Hero shebang is already deeply rooted. Having one or two of the Incredibles hero types *visit* Paragon would be interesting. One other thing to think about though is that Disney now owns Lucas arts as well...meaning they have a share in those MMO's as well...
I really really hope this goes through...they're usually pretty good about keeping the integrity of the companies and IP they acquire
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: TimtheEnchanter on November 27, 2012, 07:56:36 AM
Disney also seems to have quite the "try again" attitude even when it comes to IP's that aren't doing well. They may put it on the back burner for a couple years, but they usually come back to it and see if there's something new they can do with it.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: johnrobey on November 27, 2012, 08:05:22 AM
Thank you, VV, Ammon, Rae, Quinch, and the two senior members of the former Paragon Studios team!  Thank you to the Community here on Titan!  I've only just now read this thread, but I saw it was talked about on Justice United chat channel.  One of my SG's already had a forum link to this thread on it's guildportal.com site, and I've posted to another SG.  Remember to TALK THIS UP in-game when you're on, include it your SG MotD, etc.  I'll be contacting friends about this later today as well as writing my own letters.   Thanks again for this!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Tubbius on November 27, 2012, 11:47:07 AM
Before I begin, I will say that, due to work, I've not had time to read every last page of this thread.  However. . . .

If I may interject one quick notion, for all the players saying they don't want Star Wars/Marvel/Kingdom Hearts stuff mixed with City of Heroes, it is this:

Even if they own all of these franchises, this does not mean that they will ever mix any of their contents.

While there IS a shot online of Princess Leia standing with the Disney Princesses, that seems to be a publicity shot more than anything else.  To date, have we seen ANY attempt at mixing any of the three franchises they already have?

To state that they automatically would shove any or all of the above into the City of Heroes universe is worst case scenario, slippery stope style thinking: a logical fallacy.  It might happen as a one-in-a-million shot, but in all likelihood, it simply won't due to all the legal muck it would entail, as well as the potential mess and confusion it would engender among fans of any or all of the individual properties.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: pandora114 on November 27, 2012, 12:10:43 PM
I don't know if this was added to the pitch,  but The City of Heroes Community could open up a vast untapped Human Resources pool for  Disney. (Mission Architect successes S/A Dr Aeon come to mind)  ESPECIALLY with Disney owning the Marvel Franchise now,  we have a crazy amount of Comic Book canon knowledge and can possibly help Disney and Marvel out and/or create new stories as well... Untapped writers/screenplay authors yaddayadda yadda

That's just a thought.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Roughtrade on November 27, 2012, 03:17:10 PM
We would like to impress Disney with how much of a family friendly property CoH can be.  Several people have mentioned that their children are writing letters too.  Would it be out of order to consider making a blatant play for sympathy by asking to have their children send in artwork of their characters? 

If that idea is too unprofessional for the letters, maybe post them on Facebook?  Pinterest?  All of us coming to this thread here are on board.  We are the Choir.  We may have different ideas on how best to save CoH but we all want to save it.  We need other people to want to save CoH.

Someone mentioned doing artwork of the CoH characters as Disney Princesses.  I have no skill at drawing, but maybe it would be better to do the Disney Princesses as CoH characters?  I see a lot of stuff on FB and Pinterest with Disney Princess as goth characters, steam punk, even in DCU costumes.  Something that someone who is not reading these forums might see and think "These people sound fun and my daughter reads comic books.  Maybe she would like this game"

I dunno.  I'm just waking up and these were thoughts I had while scanning for new messages.  Maybe it's just not doable.  But I think that if we could find a way to get more people talking about CoH, tweeting, trending, blogging, whatever.  If we could capture more attention, it can only help.  Right?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Segev on November 27, 2012, 03:19:41 PM
I think that sending pictures just shows MORE dedication of the sort Team Wildcard wants to encourage with the snail mail letter campaign. That said, also posting them to social networking sites can only help. Use said sites to get others to join the letter-writing campaign, if you can!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: pogoman on November 27, 2012, 04:35:30 PM
Mailed my letters out this morning at the post office. :)
Sadly, my printer isn't the greatest for getting pics printed. So, no go on any cool pics I had.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Globetrotter on November 27, 2012, 04:44:23 PM
Thank you team Wildcard for all you do!

Since I loved the logo made by Lily and we still do havethe opportunity to use the character creator, I started to play a little using both of them, and came op with this:

(https://images.weserv.nl/?url=i46.tinypic.com%2F5ttp40.jpg)


It's supposed to be a freestlyle version of a Disney Princess.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on November 27, 2012, 04:45:00 PM
I'm still in the process of grabbing ultra mode screenies. Since I don't really have much to say that wasn't covered in the original pitch, I thought I'd hijack the DTP department's color printer and write out a description - whether it's character bios or some background on what they're depicting - on the back.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rae on November 27, 2012, 05:20:40 PM
I got ripped off. I helped with the pitch, and now I've just written letters as well ;)

SENT!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: ahmpizzedoff on November 27, 2012, 05:47:39 PM
 "We had the advice and oversight of two senior members of the former Paragon Studios team--mostly to tell us what we could and could not say."

I believe it would be in our best interests if you could advise us as to what we should/should not put in our letters. We don't want to muck up our chances by accidentally writing the wrong thing.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ammon on November 27, 2012, 06:14:26 PM
... advise us as to what we should/should not put in our letters. We don't want to muck up our chances by accidentally writing the wrong thing.
Don't worry.  Anything you know is likely to either be public record or comon knowledge, and safe to say.

Our sources were more making sure that we were not wildly off-base with some of the figures we'd put into the document, but that's a reason we can't publish the actual pitch as is ... it would be a little too close to confirmation of some figures.  There's actually very little that was in the pitch that hasn't come up on Titan at some point, and is thus okay to use.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: sorinkon on November 27, 2012, 06:37:18 PM
hey have you ever thought of going back to who used to own city of heroes (Cryptic)?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: DrakeGrimm on November 27, 2012, 06:37:56 PM
I believe that pitch has already been made and the answer was "no," but my information could be wrong.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: sorinkon on November 27, 2012, 06:39:29 PM
well that sucks i kinda hope if disney does take it over they wont  screw it up
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Blackbird71 on November 27, 2012, 07:05:15 PM
You know, Disney originally struck me as an odd choice for the game.

Then I remembered that I first picked up a copy of CoH after watching "The Incredibles." 

I loved the feel of the movie; it reminded me of the slightly goofy, old-style cheesy and tongue-in-cheek comic book characters of the past. The game let me live that out, and I've made many characters over the years modeled after that style.  After realizing this, Disney seems the perfect fit.

Even if Disney feels the need to put their own stamp on the game, and Mr. Incredible gets a statue in Atlas Park, while Frozone becomes a mission contact, I think I could live with that.   ;)

Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on November 27, 2012, 07:06:45 PM
I believe that pitch has already been made and the answer was "no," but my information could be wrong.

Well, they have a pretty good track record of keeping their franchises running smoothly. Yeah, they're a business and I don't agree with some of their practices, but so far they've kept their customers happy.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rotten Luck on November 27, 2012, 07:10:28 PM
One thing Disney is good at is...

Milking an IP for all it's worth!  Think about it they still advertise some of the old movies "Out of the Disney Vault" not to mention the toys and direct to DVD sequels.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ampithere on November 27, 2012, 07:13:47 PM
2018 - Disney opens Paragon City in Walt Disney World Orlando. A new theme park focused on super powered family fun!  :P

Seriously though, I really hope Disney buys the property. They are as close to an endless pool of money as it gets, so if anyone can pick up the pieces it's them.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on November 27, 2012, 07:15:38 PM
One thing Disney is good at is...

Milking an IP for all it's worth!  Think about it they still advertise some of the old movies "Out of the Disney Vault" not to mention the toys and direct to DVD sequels.

It would be a welcome change from NCsoft who barely remembered to feed the cow, let alone milk it.

Anyway, time to crash. See you all tomorrow.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: no hero on November 27, 2012, 08:13:31 PM
Done and Done. I had six greeting cards made and will ship them out one at a time every few days. Each envelope has a number of screenshots included along with a hand written note. Each one in a metallic gold on white velum with each piece of velum in a different shade or texture of white.

(https://i639.photobucket.com/albums/uu114/DarkLordOfTheDance/Disney1.jpg)

(https://i639.photobucket.com/albums/uu114/DarkLordOfTheDance/Disney2.jpg)

(https://i639.photobucket.com/albums/uu114/DarkLordOfTheDance/Disney3.jpg)

(https://i639.photobucket.com/albums/uu114/DarkLordOfTheDance/Disney4.jpg)

(https://i639.photobucket.com/albums/uu114/DarkLordOfTheDance/Disney5.jpg)

(https://i639.photobucket.com/albums/uu114/DarkLordOfTheDance/Disney6.jpg)

BTW: A special Thanks to Mr. Wentworth, since I stole his Mickey design.  :roll:

That sounded like a cute idea...
(https://images.weserv.nl/?url=wentworthsonline.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F11%2Fstatesmickey.png)

But I don't know if they're ready to see a mashup of CoH with the beloved ears yet.

Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Copper Cockroach on November 27, 2012, 08:17:51 PM
You know, Disney originally struck me as an odd choice for the game.

Then I remembered that I first picked up a copy of CoH after watching "The Incredibles." 

I loved the feel of the movie; it reminded me of the slightly goofy, old-style cheesy and tongue-in-cheek comic book characters of the past. The game let me live that out, and I've made many characters over the years modeled after that style.  After realizing this, Disney seems the perfect fit.

Even if Disney feels the need to put their own stamp on the game, and Mr. Incredible gets a statue in Atlas Park, while Frozone becomes a mission contact, I think I could live with that.   ;)

I just watched "The Incredibles" again recently, and I couldn't help noticing how much Municiberg (from the opening scene) and Metroville (from the climactic battle) look like Paragon City... or should I say, the way it would have looked in CoH2, if NCsoft had had the sense to back that project. Or maybe they just look similar because they're all computer-generated and I'm just imagining the resemblance. (I'm not suggesting there was any influence either way; "The Incredibles" came out around the time of CoH's launch and Paragon City's look was long since set.) At any rate it's very cool to see how Paragon City could look in digital "real life".

And a note to future devs, whether at Disney (or elsewhere) for a hypothetical CoH2, my cohorts at Plan Z, or a yet-to-be-imagined superhero MMO project: The scene where they crash-land the Winnebago on the elevated freeway and have to make their exit at 120 mph? That's what Skyway City is supposed to look like. The final battle where they defeat the Omnidroid? That's what Steel Canyon is supposed to look like.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Heroette on November 27, 2012, 09:40:58 PM
Done and Done. I had six greeting cards made and will ship them out one at a time every few days. Each envelope has a number of screenshots included along with a hand written note. Each one in a metallic gold on white velum with each piece of velum in a different shade or texture of white.

Now, that is awesome!!!!  Great Job.  I hope they can see the potential.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: mikoroshi on November 27, 2012, 09:43:58 PM
I have a friend who's a lead animator at Pixar; he actually consulted with my team on our now-defunct horror MMO project.  I don't think he's anywhere near high enough on the totem pole to get any movement on this though.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Segev on November 27, 2012, 09:48:39 PM
I have a friend who's a lead animator at Pixar; he actually consulted with my team on our now-defunct horror MMO project.  I don't think he's anywhere near high enough on the totem pole to get any movement on this though.
Can't hurt to try.

If he even knows people - and if they're his coworkers, he does - who know people, just talking about this effort as something he heard about can start the rumor mill internally grinding. And hearing employees talk about it around the water cooler as they walk by can get bosses thinking about it when they might have put it out of their minds.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Loveclown on November 27, 2012, 09:51:26 PM
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Shadowhawke on November 27, 2012, 10:29:01 PM
Looking at this latest page of entries, I have to say I am humbled by the heart and spirit this community has. You have made this veteran Paragonian and Norrathian cry.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: ebenbrooks on November 27, 2012, 11:37:23 PM
Ms. Lackey, I am nearly in tears over this. This is truly a "Hail Mary", but it fills me with hope. I will, indeed, write letters. I will tell them about the friends I made because of this game, and the other friends I stayed in touch with through this game. I will tell them about how playing CoH was instrumental in getting me to write my novel (as yet unfinished, but over 65,000 words currently). I will tell them about the back-stories, the grueling costume design decisions, and the the brain-wracking struggle to come up with cool but unique superhero names, so that my characters were mine, and no one else's. And I'll tell them about the time I was "saved" from "certain death" by Jesus Almighty. ;-)

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

--@Archimagos
aka Eben Brooks
creator of the CoH filk songs "Beat Up the Scum", "Personal Archvillain", "Don't Wanna Be Defeated", and "Regeneration"
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: vandegraff on November 27, 2012, 11:59:01 PM
Even if Disney feels the need to put their own stamp on the game, and Mr. Incredible gets a statue in Atlas Park, while Frozone becomes a mission contact, I think I could live with that.   ;)
Put Frozone in Icon, shouting "WHERE IS MY SUPER-SUIT?!" at tailor contact Edna Mode.  (Although Edna might not let you add a cape.)

(I have to credit Szybko for that.)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Heroette on November 28, 2012, 12:05:50 AM
I have written my letter and it turned out longer than I thought it would.  I will be writing more in the upcoming days but this one will be mailed tomorrow.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Badaxe on November 28, 2012, 12:22:19 AM
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Shadowhawke on November 28, 2012, 12:53:31 AM

Honestly the Marvel MMO is NOT City of Heroes. It isn't even in the same ballpark. I foresee Marvel's MMO coming out big but struggling like mad within 6 months in. It's a game you will play to play as your favorite characters but once that is done, you will have very little reason to keep going. Also, to point out to those who may have simply forgotten that Champions Online WAS supposed to be Marvel's MMO until it got nixed because of what microsoft called "an inability to compete" with the current MMO marketplace. Hence the rename to Champions Online.

Our game did not only compete in that marketplace, it was on top of the G*d damn food chain for EIGHT YEARS.



Will it be cool to play Wolverine or Magneto? Hell yeah it will...initially. I agree with no customizing of characters, the burnout time on this one is going to very short indeed. Ultimately, I would have no attachment to those characters. Every character I played on CoH had a purpose and backstory, even if they a homage character I gave them an origin that fit them into Paragon, sometimes with humor. I am a very concept-driven player, but I know I'm mainly preaching to the choir here, as there are Role Play Congress members in this thread. I can see Marvel appealing to the 5-15 year-old crowd, but not the mature gamers that VV was making the case on.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on November 28, 2012, 01:47:21 AM
Have I mentioned before that I love you guys?

Please, once your initial letters are sent, consider sending another batch...and another...and another.  Make up some postcards and pester friends to sign them.  Leave flyers at comic book shops and book stores and coffee shops and toy stores.  And Disney Stores, if they'll let you!  If we are going to pull this thing off we have to have a massive, massive impact.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on November 28, 2012, 02:02:12 AM
2018 - Disney opens Paragon City in Walt Disney World Orlando. A new theme park focused on super powered family fun!  :P


I totally asked them to do this in my letter. =D
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on November 28, 2012, 02:17:39 AM
I put the text of my letter up on my blog http://mjcbarnes.wordpress.com/2012/11/26/disney-and-city-of-heroes/ (http://mjcbarnes.wordpress.com/2012/11/26/disney-and-city-of-heroes/).  I'll be writing it out longhand tomorrow and sending it. My daughter and I are going to make costumes for our Disney figurines out of construction paper tomorrow and photograph them and include those photos.  Her letter is finished.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Shadowhawke on November 28, 2012, 02:45:36 AM
Unless the Disney CEO's are utterly heartless bastards, I just can't see someone there not being touched by all this. Touched enough to actually act on it? Time will tell.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: JWBullfrog on November 28, 2012, 02:47:16 AM
Unless the Disney CEO's are utterly heartless bastards, I just can't see someone there not being touched by all this. Touched enough to actually act on it? Time will tell.

Corporate, but far from heartless
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on November 28, 2012, 02:52:55 AM
Done and Done. I had six greeting cards made and will ship them out one at a time every few days. Each envelope has a number of screenshots included along with a hand written note. Each one in a metallic gold on white velum with each piece of velum in a different shade or texture of white.
/bind g em clap

-mashes the G key-
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on November 28, 2012, 02:53:57 AM
Ms. Lackey, I am nearly in tears over this. This is truly a "Hail Mary", but it fills me with hope. I will, indeed, write letters. I will tell them about the friends I made because of this game, and the other friends I stayed in touch with through this game. I will tell them about how playing CoH was instrumental in getting me to write my novel (as yet unfinished, but over 65,000 words currently). I will tell them about the back-stories, the grueling costume design decisions, and the the brain-wracking struggle to come up with cool but unique superhero names, so that my characters were mine, and no one else's. And I'll tell them about the time I was "saved" from "certain death" by Jesus Almighty. ;-)

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

--@Archimagos
aka Eben Brooks
creator of the CoH filk songs "Beat Up the Scum", "Personal Archvillain", "Don't Wanna Be Defeated", and "Regeneration"

Heeey, welcome to Titan, mr. Brooks!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Shadowhawke on November 28, 2012, 03:19:35 AM

Corporate, but far from heartless

*crosses fingers*
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on November 28, 2012, 06:26:11 AM
I think there is a number that will clinch this.

100k letters.

It is a truism in business, an accepted business practice and statistic, that for every person who physically writes to a business, either to complain, to request, or to praise, there are 100 more who did not. 

To Disney that would mean if we manage to muster 100k letters, there are a million people who would potentially be interested in the game.  And that is not only enough for the game to break even, it is probably enough to pay off the whole investment in a year or less.

Can we do that?  I don't know.  I think we should damn well try.

If you are a member of any other fangroup that has brought its property back from the brink (or from death) please contact them and plea for their help.  Browncoats.  Trekkies.  Galacticans. Anyone who might see us as a reflection of them.  Please.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: mikoroshi on November 28, 2012, 06:41:33 AM
If you are a member of any other fangroup that has brought its property back from the brink (or from death) please contact them and plea for their help.  Browncoats.  Trekkies.  Galacticans. Anyone who might see us as a reflection of them.  Please.

Now that's brilliant.  I will do so myself.

EDIT: Just discovered who VV is IRL.  And that I'm way behind on this information.  FPACelebrity? :P
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Stygian Outlaw on November 28, 2012, 03:28:24 PM
Done!

Not one for writing, especially since my hand writing skills are horrid, but I managed to churn out four hand written letters to each of the points of contact.

((Crosses fingers))

~Styg
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Blackbird71 on November 28, 2012, 05:24:32 PM
Put Frozone in Icon, shouting "WHERE IS MY SUPER-SUIT?!" at tailor contact Edna Mode.  (Although Edna might not let you add a cape.)

(I have to credit Szybko for that.)

I love it!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: johnrobey on November 28, 2012, 06:22:30 PM
I think there is a number that will clinch this.

100k letters.

It is a truism in business, an accepted business practice and statistic, that for every person who physically writes to a business, either to complain, to request, or to praise, there are 100 more who did not. 

To Disney that would mean if we manage to muster 100k letters, there are a million people who would potentially be interested in the game.  And that is not only enough for the game to break even, it is probably enough to pay off the whole investment in a year or less.

Can we do that?  I don't know.  I think we should damn well try.

If you are a member of any other fangroup that has brought its property back from the brink (or from death) please contact them and plea for their help.  Browncoats.  Trekkies.  Galacticans. Anyone who might see us as a reflection of them.  Please.

Will do!!  Fandom Unite!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: mikenovember on November 28, 2012, 06:33:14 PM
Something we should also do with our letters is point out that even with the closure, we're one of the most fanatical (probably the wrong term - dedicated, is perhaps better) fan bases out there who WILL return to the game if it's reopened.

There is always an argument of "Well, the game is dead, how many would return?", so it's something we might want to address.  Not only WILL we return but we will do so heartilly, and we will bring with us an increased membership to assure it's success.

We may want to - as bizare as this sounds - have a membership drive on this last few nights, signing up new accounts to the last breath, as it were.  Nothing sells like sales, as they say, and having new members created in the final hours says a lot.  If we have a new membership drive it won't stop the shut down, but it's one more nail in the coffin against the argument that the game was dying off.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Shadowhawke on November 28, 2012, 06:35:44 PM
I think there is a number that will clinch this.

100k letters.

It is a truism in business, an accepted business practice and statistic, that for every person who physically writes to a business, either to complain, to request, or to praise, there are 100 more who did not. 

To Disney that would mean if we manage to muster 100k letters, there are a million people who would potentially be interested in the game.  And that is not only enough for the game to break even, it is probably enough to pay off the whole investment in a year or less.

Can we do that?  I don't know.  I think we should damn well try.

If you are a member of any other fangroup that has brought its property back from the brink (or from death) please contact them and plea for their help.  Browncoats.  Trekkies.  Galacticans. Anyone who might see us as a reflection of them.  Please.

Do we actually HAVE that many people interested in seeing this game come back?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Segev on November 28, 2012, 06:46:45 PM
Well, we CAN'T sign up new accounts. So that won't work. But getting people interested can't hurt.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: dwturducken on November 28, 2012, 06:49:28 PM
Like VV has said here and in other threads, we have to look beyond subscribers to "sympathetic" groups. I doubt that the multiple mediums (cards, letters, etc.) will have as much impact as getting as many people as possible involved, but you never know.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: mikenovember on November 28, 2012, 06:54:32 PM
Will it be cool to play Wolverine or Magneto? Hell yeah it will...initially. I agree with no customizing of characters, the burnout time on this one is going to very short indeed. Ultimately, I would have no attachment to those characters. Every character I played on CoH had a purpose and backstory, even if they a homage character I gave them an origin that fit them into Paragon, sometimes with humor. I am a very concept-driven player, but I know I'm mainly preaching to the choir here, as there are Role Play Congress members in this thread. I can see Marvel appealing to the 5-15 year-old crowd, but not the mature gamers that VV was making the case on.

Well, in all fairness to what Marvel is doing - it's Not an MMO, and they probably know that.  That was never the reason for doing Marvel Heroes.  Marvel Heroes is based on the concept of selling the Marvel brand, so customization isn't a top priority for them and even dilutes the brand.  But CoH is an excellent feeder for it, because it extends the life of the genre constantly.  It's a good way to keep not the brand of Marvel, but the genre for which Marvel relies on it's business hot.

Every person who creates a superhero in CoH is a customer at some level.  The more you keep those customers focused on super heroes and comics in general - the less likely you are to lose the market entirely when everyone suddenly decides the real 'cool' is in other types of genres.  CoH allows people to embrace those genres (horror, steam punk, sci-fi, warrior, fantasy, soldier) in a way that keeps the over all genre of comics and heroes hot and accessible. 

Do they provide competition for Marvel?  Uh, to some extent, in the lesser picture of game vs. game.  But to Marvel, or Disney no, not at all, in fact they act as a defense to Champions, DCUO or anyone else who walks into the gaming arena by deadening the blow, and they act offensively as a proactive way of drawing the 'agro' as it were, from these competitors.  CoH also plays the more important passvie role of keeping the genre hot at the same time.

Logically this would make a very wise financial move for them really.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: mikenovember on November 28, 2012, 06:55:13 PM
Well, we CAN'T sign up new accounts. So that won't work. But getting people interested can't hurt.

No, we can't.  But we can get them to sign a petition that says they would have if they could have can't we?  :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Shadowhawke on November 28, 2012, 07:38:02 PM
Well, in all fairness to what Marvel is doing - it's Not an MMO, and they probably know that.  That was never the reason for doing Marvel Heroes.  Marvel Heroes is based on the concept of selling the Marvel brand, so customization isn't a top priority for them and even dilutes the brand.  But CoH is an excellent feeder for it, because it extends the life of the genre constantly.  It's a good way to keep not the brand of Marvel, but the genre for which Marvel relies on it's business hot.

Every person who creates a superhero in CoH is a customer at some level.  The more you keep those customers focused on super heroes and comics in general - the less likely you are to lose the market entirely when everyone suddenly decides the real 'cool' is in other types of genres.  CoH allows people to embrace those genres (horror, steam punk, sci-fi, warrior, fantasy, soldier) in a way that keeps the over all genre of comics and heroes hot and accessible. 

Do they provide competition for Marvel?  Uh, to some extent, in the lesser picture of game vs. game.  But to Marvel, or Disney no, not at all, in fact they act as a defense to Champions, DCUO or anyone else who walks into the gaming arena by deadening the blow, and they act offensively as a proactive way of drawing the 'agro' as it were, from these competitors.  CoH also plays the more important passvie role of keeping the genre hot at the same time.

Logically this would make a very wise financial move for them really.


It's interesting, given what you said regarding Marvel, especially since DCUO did just fine pushing the DC brand...BUT the whole Luthor-steals-exobytes-from-the-future thing was a solid way to introduce all those characters we want, and not take away from DC's core. All in all, I think DCUO did very well on it- the problem lies in the fact that DCUO still feels like a MMO half-finished. As a long-time SOE gamer, I really want to like it more, but it needs work.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Codewalker on November 28, 2012, 07:41:55 PM
BUT the whole Luthor-steals-exobytes-from-the-future thing was a solid way to introduce all those characters we want, and not take away from DC's core.

Ironically, that particular plot point was one of the biggest things that turned me off of DCUO and made me not want to play it. I don't like being shoehorned into a particular origin story.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Shadowhawke on November 28, 2012, 07:51:40 PM
Well, being as none of our custom characters would exist in the 'real' DC universe, I thought it was a decent approach. Was it best way to handle it? Well, I'm sure someone out there could have put a better explanation in, but for those of that are story and/or RP focused, you can always avoid some nitpicking and just say you were an unknown hero, from another dimension...whatever.

Have you by chance played Age of Conan? EVERYONE there gets the same origin. And by that I don't just mean the same origin arc, I mean you're all effectively the same person. The one who carried an Acheron spirit as a slave of Thoth Amon, have to gather the pieces of the Phoenix Medallion, work with King Conan, etc. That's a very limiting origin, much more so than DCUO, but if you can get over it, AoC is a stellar game.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: mikenovember on November 28, 2012, 08:24:41 PM

It's interesting, given what you said regarding Marvel, especially since DCUO did just fine pushing the DC brand...BUT the whole Luthor-steals-exobytes-from-the-future thing was a solid way to introduce all those characters we want, and not take away from DC's core. All in all, I think DCUO did very well on it- the problem lies in the fact that DCUO still feels like a MMO half-finished. As a long-time SOE gamer, I really want to like it more, but it needs work.

Well, we're hijacking the topic here - so I'll keep it brief and we can pick this up in another thread somewhere. 

But my point is that DCUO does only push the DC brand, and not the genre itself, which is in large part where it fails as an MMO and getting that feeling.

I think Mercedes and others have said, far more brilliantly than I ever could, that the community of CoH is what has kept it alive all this time.  Thats because it is a true MMO.  It's massive in scope because it doesn't force us into origins.  We can be werewolves or villians, scientists, mutants whatever we wish - and remain within this very inclusive family.  If you browse the shelves in comics stores the books there cover almost any possible venue from horror to heroes, fantasy to hard core sci-fi... but they all seem to fit there don't they? 

This is what COH managed to do so well, in large part because of us.  We made that.  That's US in the game and that's why even if NC did create a new hero game, or anyone else does... it won't be CoH.  Marvel could completely buy up CoH and add all the functionality to it... but without our input it will never be a truly massive multiplayer online game. 

Because it may be massive, and it may be online, but that multiplayer aspect - which is us - which is what you experience at the comic shop - that all concepts are openly welcome feel... comes from us.

We're the real IP which needs to be sold.  Everything else could be replicated.  That's what Disney, or any other buyer will be looking to purchase.  Something they can't just buy anywhere or have copied.  We let Disney know they have us... they know they have a long term prospect.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Nafaustu on November 28, 2012, 08:40:28 PM
You know, Disney originally struck me as an odd choice for the game.

Then I remembered that I first picked up a copy of CoH after watching "The Incredibles." 

<snip>

Every time my boyfriend watched the Incredibles, he resubscribed to City of Heroes.  Maybe I should put that in MY letter.  :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Colette on November 28, 2012, 08:49:32 PM
"If you are a member of any other fangroup that has brought its property back from the brink (or from death) please contact them and plea for their help.  Browncoats.  Trekkies.  Galacticans. Anyone who might see us as a reflection of them.  Please."

I just did a search of Star Trek Online's forums and didn't find anything about us. Anyone plays that game wanna change that?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: dwturducken on November 28, 2012, 08:53:02 PM
I mentioned that we're on our third copy of The Incredibles and were about to add a paid CoH sub, but not that I had Incredibles-themed characters. I didn't want to imply copyright infringement in trying to convince them why the IP was a good buy. :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: eabrace on November 28, 2012, 09:18:51 PM
I love it!
You know, now that I think about it, I do remember someone creating a Mr. Incredible character in CoH and standing on the steps to City Hall in Atlas the day before the film debuted telling everyone to go see The Incredibles.  It would be funny to see that come full circle.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Surelle on November 28, 2012, 11:22:20 PM
I think there is a number that will clinch this.

100k letters.

It is a truism in business, an accepted business practice and statistic, that for every person who physically writes to a business, either to complain, to request, or to praise, there are 100 more who did not. 

To Disney that would mean if we manage to muster 100k letters, there are a million people who would potentially be interested in the game.  And that is not only enough for the game to break even, it is probably enough to pay off the whole investment in a year or less.

Can we do that?  I don't know.  I think we should damn well try.

If you are a member of any other fangroup that has brought its property back from the brink (or from death) please contact them and plea for their help.  Browncoats.  Trekkies.  Galacticans. Anyone who might see us as a reflection of them.  Please.

If we need 100k letters, then we should definitely link this Call to Action thread to all the MMO news sites like Massively.com, etc.  Even getting 100 posters from this site to write letters would be a lot.  And there aren't many active members left over at the official forums, either.

There's Eliot's final CoH column up on the front page at Massively right now.  I'm going to link this thread in it, and we should send Eliot and/or Bree info about this thread to see if they'll link to it in its own article, too.  Now what other sites would be interested?  Penny Arcade?  CNN, Tomshardware and MMORPG.com again?  C'mon, peeps, time's a-wastin'!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: JWBullfrog on November 28, 2012, 11:56:45 PM
I've been watching the net and the news about the appeal to Disney is getting around. In addition to our allies at Massively and Starburst, the story- including links to the original thread-- is being repeated and cross linked all over the world.
I have to say that, overall, the mood of the coverage is overwhelming positive with a general theme of  'It's a long shot but more power to you.' We appear to have the support of the gaming community and perhaps some of that will translate into more letters.
What do we do now? Keep fighting. Keep writing letters. Do not let the message die. We might be fighting a foolish battle but, in the words of my own SG The Lemming League, 'We have a cause. It might be a losing one, but it's ours.'
 
 
 
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Tanglefoe on November 28, 2012, 11:58:48 PM
I just sent an email to a lady I used to work with who grew up in Florida and spent several years at Disney and asked if there was any chance she still knew anybody there with string pulling abilities.  I highly doubt she does or I would have probably already heard about it but I'll check my email later and see what she says.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ammon on November 29, 2012, 12:55:15 AM
I didn't want to imply copyright infringement in trying to convince them why the IP was a good buy. :)
There's a guy on the Union server who has made lots of characters based on the Disney Princesses, and had them for a long time before the closure notice.  Like you, he's safe really because there's no intention to gain or profit.

Marvel sued ages ago because the game was making money and profit from being able to make clones of their intellectual property, and certainly, they had some grounds with regard to the Claws melee set.  You simply cannot think of a superhero with metal claws without thinking of Wolverine, and the original only costume option for said claws looked a lot like his.  The important bit was the intention to make gains or profits though.  The fact that the GMs actively took steps to prevent infringement (genericing some names etc) meant that the game was not guilty.  There was never, ever an option to sue the players, not unless they started selling screenshots or otherwise using the IP for gain.

I mention this because I think it might even highlight just how amazing in flexible CoH is that it can recreate almost any character of any heroic genre.  I think Disney would be struck by how players of the game could pay homage to their favourite Disney characters (among other heroes).
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: dwturducken on November 29, 2012, 02:12:09 AM
Doing a little bit of digging on these guys, I'm actually more optimistic. Pleasants is big into acquiring studios, though it primarily feeds "social gaming (http://venturebeat.com/2010/07/23/playdom-ceo-john-pleasants-why-social-gaming-will-die/)," like the "*-ville" games on Facebook. Nicolai was a high muckity-muck at Atari and Infogrames back when Sid Meier was doing Civ3 and 4. Also, Pleasants is "co-president" with a guy named James Pitaro, who had a pretty good history with Yahoo before going to Disney. He might be worth writing to in lieu of Pepper.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on November 29, 2012, 02:26:15 AM
A note about Mr. Pepper - he's not with Disney anymore, at least not in a very high capacity.

Our primary targets are Iger, Disney's CEO, and Pleasants, co-president of Disney Interctive. If you have resources to send packages to others as well, go for it, but these two are the ones we need to convince, so focus there.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: blackjak on November 29, 2012, 05:32:57 AM
The flexibility is because the game stepped outside the boundries (in my mind, not necessarily yours) of "Superheroes" (Although yes, there were super heroes who work chainmail/used hammers/great swords etc.. Thor springs to mind, some of the more "fantasy" settings of Spawn), and into the more open "Comic book" setting, where sub-genre is *not* an issue. Does this mean that everyone was an antihero, superhero, villain?

No, but there is *no* singular correct answer.

I do remember seeing in the early days of the game on EU servers Optimus Prime, Yumi and Numinor (Ulysses 31) characters and numerous other "clones" from non super hero genres. Strangely enough, I never saw a smurf... although I did see them when I went over to Aion.

DJ Ginger from ParahonRadio and friends had a Smurf day in AP on virtue.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: no hero on November 29, 2012, 07:33:00 AM
A note about Mr. Pepper - he's not with Disney anymore, at least not in a very high capacity.

Our primary targets are Iger, Disney's CEO, and Pleasants, co-president of Disney Interctive. If you have resources to send packages to others as well, go for it, but these two are the ones we need to convince, so focus there.

So just to verify, my next round of cards and notes go to
 Robert A. Iger and John Pleasants,  
but
not Jean-Marcel Nicolai and John Pepper Jr.

I have already assembled enough cards, screenshots and such for six waves of four
The first wave shipped out Tuesday evening and the second wave ships Friday morning.

Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ammon on November 29, 2012, 07:43:11 AM
Strangely enough, I never saw a smurf... although I did see them when I went over to Aion.
Poor twisted Lord Borealis (http://union.virtueverse.net/wiki/Lord_Borealis) was nicknamed 'Papa Smurf' by the legendary Big Game (http://union.virtueverse.net/wiki/Big_Game), so I know of at least one 'smurf' on the Union server. ;)  Thankfully he had no clue of the reference.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Knightslayer on November 29, 2012, 09:03:57 AM
I mention this because I think it might even highlight just how amazing in flexible CoH is that it can recreate almost any character of any heroic genre.  I think Disney would be struck by how players of the game could pay homage to their favourite Disney characters (among other heroes).
For some reason that gave me a mental image of a "Key" sword costume piece on market =P
Though there's probably more iconic items out there.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: CapaDevans on November 29, 2012, 12:26:31 PM
Sent via altoholic monkey who kindly offered on FB to post letters for those of us outside the USA.

Thanks alto!!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Occultist on November 29, 2012, 01:08:20 PM
My seven year old and I have both sent letters.  Thank you for all your efforts.  The game has been an valued shared creative experience for us and we had been very much looking forward to sharing it with his baby sister in a few years.  We will continue to contribute when and where we can.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: PseudoCool on November 29, 2012, 01:20:02 PM
Greetings All,
 
First off.. Thanks Team Wildfire for getting this initiative moving.  I sent my letters off this morning :)

Secondly...
I'm not sure what server ya'll play on, but I started back in Issue TWO (yes, that long ago) on Justice server, then after Issue 13, switched to Liberty server.  I've been getting the contact information for my old friends on both for the last couple of days, and am about to go log into the game for what appears to be the last time (unless it's saved).  That being said, for the better part of the last 8 years, on and off unfortunately, CoX has been my mainstay, it's been my shining light and outlet for a LOT of issues.  The friends I've made there have helped me out with many things in my real life, and been there to help me bash the tar out of something, no matter what mood I'm in.  The community is what makes this game great, and after trying many other games (WoW, SWTOR, and Aion all come to mind).. there is no better community.  So to each of you out there, I say, with everything I am.. Thank You.

Let us hope with all we are and work with all we can, to keep our game, our community, alive and well.  Let us remember bashing on Circle Mages, Slicing and Dicing Carnie's, Shooting a large dose of "energy love" at Malta Sappers, Wrapping our hands in netherworld energy and sending Hellions to the rapid pit of tenebrous tentacles, or any of our other more favorite things.. like launching a radiation attack on Recluse that allowed us to stand next to him and laugh as he threw one ineffectual blow after another!  Let us not only remember those things, but the people we shared them with, both good and bad times, both joyous yells of triumph (I know I'm not the only one who did this after the Dr. Q) or the boisterous yells at team-mates that we know they'd never hear, in most cases thankfully.

Let us remember that WE are the Heroes and Villians that made CoX what it IS.. the best damn MMO ever.

/em soapbox off

I will be around the forums from time to time looking at what's going on :)

Kris
aka PseudoCool, Max Radmore, Coolshade, Roffal Mao, and many others....
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on November 29, 2012, 01:46:53 PM
Stick a fork in me, because I'm done.

With my package, that is. Still plenty of work to do.

Thirty-one screenshots {it was a coincidence, I swear! I forgot to print the base indoor shots}, each with a writeup of what they depict {archvillains, AE, revamped zones, costume sets} plus a three-page introduction about myself, what CoH means to me and a brief rehash of #savecoh as a whole.

Time to mail this puppy off.

(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/33551029/CoH/PB290598.JPG)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Segev on November 29, 2012, 01:52:39 PM
Quinch's coincidental 31 screenshots took me a bit to realize he meant in comparison to 31 pages of their pitch. I initially was thinking, "but we had AP33, not 31." That gave me an idea, though: Do we have, between all the people who participated in that first Unity Rally, screenshots of all 33 Atlas Parks at that time?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: dwturducken on November 29, 2012, 02:03:28 PM
Found this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRsj2DtLCQs), but I can't find the video that shows each instance of AP in sequence.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Biidi on November 29, 2012, 02:15:34 PM
My dad works at Disneyland, and when I saw that blue image with the merge of the CoH and Walt Disney logos I was wondering if I should try to talk him into using it as the wallpaper on the tablet he takes to work with him. I will also do my best to get a couple letters written up in my atrocious hand writing and send them off.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Segev on November 29, 2012, 02:41:03 PM
Hey, it can't hurt to ask him. See if he has any ideas on spreading the word amongst his co-workers and up the chains to bosses' bosses' bosses.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Profit on November 29, 2012, 03:48:27 PM
Should we let them know how much we absolutely loved this game...

(https://images.weserv.nl/?url=www.tomheroes.com%2Fimages%2Fducktales_nes.jpg)

And played it during the very early years of gaming supporting the Disney brand? :D
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Knightslayer on November 29, 2012, 03:54:07 PM
Should we let them know how much we absolutely loved this game...

(https://images.weserv.nl/?url=www.tomheroes.com%2Fimages%2Fducktales_nes.jpg)

And played it during the very early years of gaming supporting the Disney brand? :D
Wow, I had completely forgotten about that one! O.O
Fond memories indeed though!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on November 29, 2012, 07:29:08 PM
My dad works at Disneyland, and when I saw that blue image with the merge of the CoH and Walt Disney logos I was wondering if I should try to talk him into using it as the wallpaper on the tablet he takes to work with him. I will also do my best to get a couple letters written up in my atrocious hand writing and send them off.

If you need it in a different size, let me know!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: rookery. on November 29, 2012, 08:08:54 PM
Found this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRsj2DtLCQs), but I can't find the video that shows each instance of AP in sequence.

You really should find a way to send that video to the Disney folks with an explanation that each of those characters was a player and they all showed up to rally in support of City when they heard it was closing AND they would come back too if they had the chance.

Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rotten Luck on November 29, 2012, 08:41:06 PM
You really should find a way to send that video to the Disney folks with an explanation that each of those characters was a player and they all showed up to rally in support of City when they heard it was closing AND they would come back too if they had the chance.

Cheap flash drives?  Or write out the link to the video in the letter?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: unladenswallow on November 29, 2012, 10:55:30 PM
A random thought for those that are doing all of these graphics tying COH and Disney imagery. Has anyone thought about putting together an image with "bat signal" style spotlight of the mouse icon shining above Atlas Park? Kind of like Paragon City is calling for the Mouse.

It just popped in my head and thought I would share. :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: JWBullfrog on November 29, 2012, 11:02:08 PM

pictures

... twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles
and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each
one was to be used as evidence against us...
 
Sorry, that was my very first thought here.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Merseine on November 29, 2012, 11:25:32 PM
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: BryanSnowden on November 30, 2012, 12:03:10 AM

... twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles
and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each
one was to be used as evidence against us...
 
Sorry, that was my very first thought here.

And while on most forums - I'd normally say, "well most people here probably don't/won't get that" - then I remembered just where I was & realized way more people got that (say percentage wise) than they would on some other game forums. 8)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: dwturducken on November 30, 2012, 12:20:33 AM
Yeah, I had to stop and think about it for a sec. :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Zapping on November 30, 2012, 12:33:19 AM
I've been out of touch due to my work schedule, but I saw the post Alty put on the RO Boards and wrote some letters tonight.  I'll stick them in the mail tomorrow morning.




... twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles
and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each
one was to be used as evidence against us...
 
Sorry, that was my very first thought here.

I love it!  Appropriate around Thanksgiving too.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ironwolf on November 30, 2012, 01:27:05 AM
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: JWBullfrog on November 30, 2012, 01:34:18 AM
And, as far as this entire project goes, the following comes to mind....
 
Fred Gailey (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0668361/): Your Honor, every one of these letters is addressed to Santa Claus. The Post Office has delivered them. Therefore the Post Office Department, a branch of the Federal Governent, recognizes this man Kris Kringle to be the one and only Santa Claus.
Judge Henry X. Harper (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0516876/): Uh, since the United States Government declares this man to be Santa Claus, this court will not dispute it. Case dismissed.
 
IN a way, this is what we're trying to do.
 
we're not dead yet and, in comics, nobody stays dead forever.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Roughtrade on November 30, 2012, 03:29:04 AM
Star Trek Fans convinced NASA to rename a Space Shuttle with a letter writing campaign.

It is possible to change the mind of the government with enough letters.

We can do this.  Just keep the campaign going.

Get friends involved on FB or Pinterest or Twitter.

Right now, the best thing we can do is get the Save CoH Campaign noticed.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rotten Luck on November 30, 2012, 05:16:57 AM
Just came to my mind.

If we get the Mouse's ear but NCsoft still won't sell.  Do you think they be willing to fund Plan Z? 

Due to me being busy in reality I haven't wrote any letters that my goal December 1st at 12:01 AM.  Till then my free time be spent saying goodbye.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: SithRose on November 30, 2012, 05:29:55 AM
I just watched "The Incredibles" again recently, and I couldn't help noticing how much Municiberg (from the opening scene) and Metroville (from the climactic battle) look like Paragon City... or should I say, the way it would have looked in CoH2, if NCsoft had had the sense to back that project. Or maybe they just look similar because they're all computer-generated and I'm just imagining the resemblance. (I'm not suggesting there was any influence either way; "The Incredibles" came out around the time of CoH's launch and Paragon City's look was long since set.) At any rate it's very cool to see how Paragon City could look in digital "real life".

And a note to future devs, whether at Disney (or elsewhere) for a hypothetical CoH2, my cohorts at Plan Z, or a yet-to-be-imagined superhero MMO project: The scene where they crash-land the Winnebago on the elevated freeway and have to make their exit at 120 mph? That's what Skyway City is supposed to look like. The final battle where they defeat the Omnidroid? That's what Steel Canyon is supposed to look like.

The Incredibles has a very special place in my heart - On our wedding day, my husband and I went to see it in the theater as part of our honeymoon.

I may be able to get my kids to write letters. I'll certainly be sending them a fairly heartwrenching pitch to buy it.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: dwturducken on November 30, 2012, 05:34:28 AM
I've been selling as hard as I can on the teams I've played with on Champion, tonight. Every little bit helps, right? People are already aware of this, but they think it's just another rumor.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Olantern on November 30, 2012, 07:31:15 AM
And, as far as this entire project goes, the following comes to mind....
 
Fred Gailey (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0668361/): Your Honor, every one of these letters is addressed to Santa Claus. The Post Office has delivered them. Therefore the Post Office Department, a branch of the Federal Governent, recognizes this man Kris Kringle to be the one and only Santa Claus.
Judge Henry X. Harper (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0516876/): Uh, since the United States Government declares this man to be Santa Claus, this court will not dispute it. Case dismissed.


Several times since the shutdown announcement, I've thought of Judge Harper's intoning, "Before making its ruling, this Court has consulted the highest authority available."  (William Frawley.)

True story: When I taught clinic, I showed the entire trial sequence of Miracle on 34th Street as an example of how to structure an argument to support a client's conception of his case.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: johnrobey on November 30, 2012, 02:40:22 PM
I've been selling as hard as I can on the teams I've played with on Champion, tonight. Every little bit helps, right? People are already aware of this, but they think it's just another rumor.

I have found it hard to sell this idea.  While Team Wildcard's pitch to Disney IS being discussed on various server chat channels, what's said is often not supportive or  more precisely met with mixed reactions.  Additionally, none of my non gamer friends will write, nor will many of the players I'm still in contact with who would (i think) return to CoH - many of them did the whole range, everything from e-petitions to physical letters, capes and masks to NCSoft, CNN iReport, Twitter, etc.  They're feeling defeated and emotionally cutting their losses.  They're also still stinging from having the rug pulled out from under them, with a few vowing never to do MMO gaming again.

I'm hopeful that Wildcard's presentation package was sufficiently strong on it's merits alone that Disney will consider it, even without an avalanche of mail.  Perhaps each letter actually sent represents more like 50, rather than the usual 1:10 or 1:20 ratio.  Sorry for the bad news.  Hoping others have met with more success than I.

P.S.  Thanks again, Team Wildcard!  Whether it works or not, you done great!!  I'll keep doing my individual best.  I probably won't check forums again until after the shut down.  Maybe i'll see you in-game.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Segev on November 30, 2012, 02:55:30 PM
So, then, it's a question of how we can re-energize them for at least one more push. I know defeatism and depression and exhaustion are all major factors, but we need to convince people who've already put their time into it that their time wasn't wasted - it's only wasted if they give up.

Maybe ask each one to just write a short paragraph about their feelings, about what they have already tried to do, about the time and money and effort they've already invested in saving this game? Ask them for a paragraph about how they would feel if the game were restored, what they'd do.

Ask them to write and sign it, and then you mail it if they won't or can't. Those of us still energetic enough for this, maybe buy pre-addressed and -stamped postcards or envelopes to offer to people if they'll just write a letter to put in them. I know somebody has made special envelopes with a special design; maybe offering physical ones, pre-addressed and -stamped, might encourage those flagging to make the one-more-effort?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on November 30, 2012, 03:17:55 PM
I was considering making our Statesmouse into postcards.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: johnrobey on November 30, 2012, 03:51:38 PM
Perhaps I was too hasty in my post before this one.  It's backup day for me with Titan's Sentinel + Extractor.  I am seeing all sorts of people on Chat (server LFG esp) again fired up, angry, hurt.  One is a mother angry her 10 y.o. daughter is going to school crying, writing about how the daughter's reading and math skills improved by playing CoH.  I'll be posting the link to the Team Wildcard forum lots today, i think.  Hail Mary!!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Segev on November 30, 2012, 03:58:09 PM
Hail Hydr--er, Mary!



*ducks and runs*
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: blackjak on November 30, 2012, 04:09:10 PM
Hail Hydr--er, Mary!



*ducks and runs*
Lol. You know Viper is in the next Wolverine movie...I  smell awesome crossover-ness.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: JaguarX on November 30, 2012, 04:24:36 PM
I have found it hard to sell this idea.  While Team Wildcard's pitch to Disney IS being discussed on various server chat channels, what's said is often not supportive or  more precisely met with mixed reactions.  Additionally, none of my non gamer friends will write, nor will many of the players I'm still in contact with who would (i think) return to CoH - many of them did the whole range, everything from e-petitions to physical letters, capes and masks to NCSoft, CNN iReport, Twitter, etc.  They're feeling defeated and emotionally cutting their losses.  They're also still stinging from having the rug pulled out from under them, with a few vowing never to do MMO gaming again.

I'm hopeful that Wildcard's presentation package was sufficiently strong on it's merits alone that Disney will consider it, even without an avalanche of mail.  Perhaps each letter actually sent represents more like 50, rather than the usual 1:10 or 1:20 ratio.  Sorry for the bad news.  Hoping others have met with more success than I.

P.S.  Thanks again, Team Wildcard!  Whether it works or not, you done great!!  I'll keep doing my individual best.  I probably won't check forums again until after the shut down.  Maybe i'll see you in-game.

Alot of times it's quality over quantity. While sending in letters sounds like a good idea, but if they are all are poor reasons in the reciver's eyes then those 100 letters become more of an annoyance instead of a moving gesture. 10 well written letters will have more of an effect than those 100 poorly written letters. I think with this letter to Disney, the aim will have to be quality. Even if our  peak player base each sent in a letter about (150,000-200,000) that is probably a very small amount of mail that they receive on a day to day basis per product that they have that is known to the public. Quantity alone probably wont get them to move. There is word that they recieved over a few million letters about having Mickey Mouse become an advertising tool sponsoring the vegan diet, and another few million or so about Mickey being used by PETA yet it is said that Disney did not budge. Why? Because they didnt want to and no amount of letters will change their minds. On the other hand, there have been cases where one single letter written by someone makes it through and Disney actually obliges the letter.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: hitchbear on November 30, 2012, 05:25:44 PM
Isn't this all dependent on NCSoft being willing to sell?  Good luck with that.  Even the mouse has a budget limit.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on November 30, 2012, 05:35:12 PM
Maybe, but if the word got out that Disney, of all companies made NCsoft a valid, reasonable offer and they refused, they'd get laughed out of the market.

So self-preservation plays a pretty huge role here.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Linuial on November 30, 2012, 06:26:55 PM
bookmarked...I have a bunch of vacation time I *have* to take before the end of the year....hmmm.....
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rotten Luck on November 30, 2012, 06:31:15 PM
Besides if we get Disney's attention, but NCsoft don't sell.  That doesn't mean Disney would stop.  They might choose to go and see if they can hire the Paragon Studio team and produce their own version, or Ours Plan Z.  By doing this writing campaign we are telling them There is a market for this type of MMO and so far the masters of this style of MMO is Paragon Studios.  (CO and DC are ... so so.  Marvel MMO is based on the Diablo system so its not even the same type.   You PLAY as a Marvel Character not your own.  It's more of an MMOAdventure game rather then a MMORPG. 

Disney owns Marvel.  So if Disney Buys COH then the next batch of comics be MARVEL CITY OR HEROES.  Already they had Top cow and ... what was the other Dark horse?

Marvel has a number of universes going.  The Main line, the Ultimate universe.  There is no reason a City of heroes universe brand couldn't be produced under the Marvel banner.

Besides more then one company has bought a franchise from another.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: epawtows on November 30, 2012, 06:32:12 PM
Have been promoting in global chat channels.  Single most common objection is "Disney owns Marvel".  Can't really refute that in a few chat comments.  At least some people have said they'd come here and look. 

Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rae on November 30, 2012, 06:38:56 PM
Point them to Q11 here:

 http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,6367.0.html
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: johnrobey on November 30, 2012, 06:41:32 PM
Have been promoting in global chat channels.  Single most common objection is "Disney owns Marvel".  Can't really refute that in a few chat comments.  At least some people have said they'd come here and look.

First, that Disney owns Marvel does NOT work against CoH, imo.  It might dovetail nicely with a genre they're developing.  (Also no lawsuit issues if CoH and Marvel are owned by the same company.)  Second, I gotta say how MUCH i like what and how people write on Titan forums, as compared to what's been on the official forums predominately these past few weeks (this 100% apart from all the memories and sharing after 8/31.)  Thanks again!

Hoping the Mouse likes us and hoping parents, kids, and grandparents who all play CoH write in to Disney to tell them why CoH is special.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: dwturducken on November 30, 2012, 08:16:50 PM
I've been countering the Marvel argument with the difference in style of games. Seems to at least change their objection, most times.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Tanglefoe on December 01, 2012, 12:00:55 AM
I remember when I was younger collecting Marvel comics, Marvel bought and took over a really small comic company.  I don't remember the name of it but their main character was Prime.  Some of their characters were kind of neat.  Anyways, I don't see how acquiring a few new heroes would do Marvel any harm.  They would have a lot to gain from it actually.  I'd buy Freedom Phalanx #1. 
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Kaiser Tarantula on December 01, 2012, 12:32:55 AM
Disney owning Marvel does not preclude them from purchasing other Super Hero IPs.

They own the Incredibles, and they own Mile High, both of which are super hero franchises.  What's one more, this one in playable MMO format?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Donoman on December 01, 2012, 08:46:38 AM
I remember when I was younger collecting Marvel comics, Marvel bought and took over a really small comic company.  I don't remember the name of it but their main character was Prime.  Some of their characters were kind of neat.  Anyways, I don't see how acquiring a few new heroes would do Marvel any harm.  They would have a lot to gain from it actually.  I'd buy Freedom Phalanx #1.

It was Mailbu comics.  A good comics line, which unfortunately, Marvel ruined.  They only bought them because they wanted their coloring techniques (or something like that, this was like 15 years ago; I don't quite remember).  Anyhow, it had nothing to do with Malibu's content, but with the technical stuff on how they made their comics.

Just a FYI. 

Don't get me wrong, I would be happy if ANYONE picked up City.

:)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: hitchbear on December 01, 2012, 09:04:35 AM
Self preservation of what, exactly?  NCSoft could care less about western markets.  Their money is right there in their own part of the world.  They don't need us.  And don't want us.  Google Korean business practices.  Sorry, I want COH to stay as much as the next person, but not going to happen. 
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Shadowhawke on December 01, 2012, 09:22:28 AM
NCSoft could care less about western markets.  Their money is right there in their own part of the world.  They don't need us.  And don't want us.  Google Korean business practices.  Sorry, I want COH to stay as much as the next person, but not going to happen.

Well, we'll all see how that turns out. Yes, Asia has a large gamer population, but guess what, so does Europe, Canada and the United States. We'll see how well NC thinks they've planned their little venture, being as revenues have already fallen in the midst of all this.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ammon on December 01, 2012, 09:26:06 AM
Ah, the official forums close, and as if by magic, my little pony with a horn start to appear.  What a surprise.  First post Yesterday, total of 2 posts, both negative with not one creative thought.

Have you anything to say other than naysaying?  If you have nothing to add to the discussion, maybe you shouldn't.  What do you think will work?  I mean, anything is possible, (unless you are one of those weirdoes that think putting men on the moon never happened).  Everyone has their price (even if it isn't always monetary).  Let's hear your better plan.  Come dazzle us with your brilliance, oh mighty one-horned one!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on December 01, 2012, 09:35:54 AM
Self preservation of what, exactly?

Reputation.

They've lost money in the second quarter.

Guild Wars is underperforming.

Blade and Soul might not even launch in China, world's biggest MMO market.

Their stocks have fallen down a staircase, showing that even their investors don't trust them anymore.

The press questions their decisions on their home ground.

Losing money, losing confidence, losing customers... they're one refused cash offer for a buried franchise short of becoming the laughingstock of the business world.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: no hero on December 01, 2012, 10:07:54 AM
Isn't this all dependent on NCSoft being willing to sell?  Good luck with that.  Even the mouse has a budget limit.

Self preservation of what, exactly?  NCSoft could care less about western markets.  Their money is right there in their own part of the world.  They don't need us.  And don't want us.  Google Korean business practices.  Sorry, I want COH to stay as much as the next person, but not going to happen.

With all due respect to an elder forum member, what exactly are you trying to convey?  Possibly you have a new goal, a different direction, or a plan of action that would be the driving force in finally voicing your thoughts. Since words of encouragement are missing from these posts, there must be something insightful hidden within the venom.

Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: johnrobey on December 01, 2012, 10:32:10 AM
I remember when I was younger collecting Marvel comics, Marvel bought and took over a really small comic company.  I don't remember the name of it but their main character was Prime.  Some of their characters were kind of neat.  Anyways, I don't see how acquiring a few new heroes would do Marvel any harm.  They would have a lot to gain from it actually.  I'd buy Freedom Phalanx #1.

(LOL at myself for crying more, for saying I was going to log but instead reading and posting.  Pardon me, I'm bereft.)

I saved all of my comicbooks apart from Caspar and Wendy until my middle 30s and would re-read many of them (e.g. Jean Grey/Phoenix to Black Queen to Dark Phoenix) until my early 20s when Science Fiction and well written Fantasy novels became more to my taste.  I still cherished my old comics well enough to give them to a friend who's a collector and who I felt would be better able to care for them.  (His passion for comicbooks far exceeds my own.)  But Oh, what a delight to enjoy all the nostalgic pleasure of those comicbooks with the fun of creating my own characters in a highly enjoyable format, and then connecting as fans do with so many diverse players.  Anyhow, if memory serves Marvel and DC published a number of cross-universe "specials" featuring characters from the other "rival" company.  The signature City of Heroes characters would work easily as a stand alone, cross over, or fully integrated into Marvel or for that matter DC.   I feel we got to play Issues 1-4 of Freedom Phalanx I with the second Signature Story arc.  I also feel that Praetorian/Primal Earth stories CoH delivered enough content and maturity to make an engaging comic even without the MMO.  (Man, I came to love Ghost Widow, especially as Belladonna Vetrano and her showdown with Praetor Sinclair .)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Shadowhawke on December 01, 2012, 10:53:03 AM
Anyhow, if memory serves Marvel and DC published a number of cross-universe "specials" featuring characters from the other "rival" company.  The signature City of Heroes characters would work easily as a stand alone, cross over, or fully integrated into Marvel or for that matter DC.   I feel we got to play Issues 1-4 of Freedom Phalanx I with the second Signature Story arc.  I also feel that Praetorian/Primal Earth stories CoH delivered enough content and maturity to make an engaging comic even without the MMO.  (Man, I came to love Ghost Widow, especially as Belladonna Vetrano and her showdown with Praetor Sinclair .)

And that is one of the true beauties of the game. It was not just a MMO that was closest to GURPS or the like, with the epic, massive customization. It's that Paragon Studios built a large pantheon of heroes and villains, given a daunting task. Comic giants like DC and Marvel have been in production for many decades, but yet Paragon City gave us something nearly as epic and sizable that, in my view, stands up nicely to all that. I really do think Disney etc. would gain a great asset with this.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: LT. Couper on December 01, 2012, 06:08:54 PM
So I'm posting this here so that it gets a bit more noticed.
http://fav.me/d5mr4h2 (http://fav.me/d5mr4h2)

It was suggested on the other thread that I send these to Disney instead of my original plan of NCSoft because of the time that they were completed. And I agree, seeing as Disney is the better choice at this time and I feel that they will be more appreciative of this package. (When you wish upon a star...) So what I need to know now is;

1: Where and who to send them to

2: What to include in the note along with it
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Vasarto on December 01, 2012, 08:28:35 PM
Gonna do this either tonight or tomorrow night.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on December 01, 2012, 08:37:32 PM
So I'm posting this here so that it gets a bit more noticed.
http://fav.me/d5mr4h2 (http://fav.me/d5mr4h2)

It was suggested on the other thread that I send these to Disney instead of my original plan of NCSoft because of the time that they were completed. And I agree, seeing as Disney is the better choice at this time and I feel that they will be more appreciative of this package. (When you wish upon a star...) So what I need to know now is;

1: Where and who to send them to

2: What to include in the note along with it

First post in this thread should give you the answer to both questions.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on December 01, 2012, 08:40:17 PM
Ah, the official forums close, and as if by magic, my little pony with a horn start to appear. 

Psst... If you feed it, it will never leave!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Randomvector on December 01, 2012, 09:51:51 PM
Sitting down to write my letters and I can't seem to put my thoughts in order.

Any advice?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rae on December 01, 2012, 09:52:32 PM
Write about why COH was special to you, and why you think that Disney should be the ones to bring it back to life, perhaps?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: LT. Couper on December 01, 2012, 09:58:59 PM
First post in this thread should give you the answer to both questions.

Right! :roll: Not sure why I didnt think to check that.
Although I was also wondering what to write refering to the "make 1000 paper cranes, get a wish" bit connecting with Disney magic. (what I'm asking makes more sense in my head)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 01, 2012, 11:42:14 PM
Right! :roll: Not sure why I didnt think to check that.
Although I was also wondering what to write refering to the "make 1000 paper cranes, get a wish" bit connecting with Disney magic. (what I'm asking makes more sense in my head)

The unofficial Disney Theme Song has been, from the first days of the TV show, "When You Wish Upon A Star" from Pinocchio.

Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Golden Girl on December 01, 2012, 11:43:54 PM
I've been countering the Marvel argument with the difference in style of games. Seems to at least change their objection, most times.

I've been counteirng it by saying that if the Star Trek franchise was up for sale, Disney wouldn't turn it down :P
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: houtex on December 02, 2012, 02:14:12 AM
^ That.  Star Trek, Tron, Star Wars, Marvel... all under the Mouse's control.  They'd be just fine with that.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 02, 2012, 03:17:43 AM
All right, here's a question for you folks.

We know how many MMORPGs have been closed (15).

But how many either STILL stay open even with a handful of players, and how many were REVIVED after shutdown?  That could be a very useful set of numbers for Team Wildcard.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: blackjak on December 02, 2012, 03:23:44 AM
Argh! The Wildcard name still makes me wish... Any chance you know George R.R.???
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Sleepy Wonder on December 02, 2012, 06:10:50 AM
All right, here's a question for you folks.

We know how many MMORPGs have been closed (15).

But how many either STILL stay open even with a handful of players, and how many were REVIVED after shutdown?  That could be a very useful set of numbers for Team Wildcard.

Does this one count? Never heard of it, but it mentions Nexon. Oct 31, 2012

http://www.mmoculture.com/2012/10/legend-of-edda-game-revives-in-korea-under-new-publisher/

Technically though the article mentions the shutdown was due to a "temporary break" while the publisher re-structured itself.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Golden Girl on December 02, 2012, 06:37:43 AM
Would APB count? It was closed because of financial problems that left the makers bankrupt.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Riff on December 02, 2012, 11:39:52 AM
This could have a lot of potential - and possibly isn't as long a shot as some seem to think.

One thing nobody's mentioned (in the threads I read) was the CoH comics. With Disney owning Marvel it could create a standalone line of comicbooks that feature Paragon and the Rogue Isles - a different universe. It gives an opportunity for people like the Avengers and X-Men and Fantastic Four to come visiting. It's not like Marvel doesn't have form in that area - Squadron Supreme is the perfect example. They have a stand-alone universe they can create a whole different set of stories in. Imagine Warren Ellis and Brian Bendis being let loose in Paragon's lore!

Problems:

Gangrel pointed out that even if Disney pick up the IP, they might not use it (however personally I think they'd consider this unlikely - because if they wanted to spend on the IP they'd want to generate some cash for it ASAP and they've got a ready made audience out there.) But it is a risk. We could be no better off - and could potentially be worse off (imagine seeing City of Heroes: The Movie) on the big screen featuring your main toon without you getting to even be a tiny part of that!)

NCSoft have already proven themselves intransigent regards the CoH IP. What makes anyone thing they will sell the IP for less than something exhorbitant that will render it worthless to a potential buyer in terms of ROI?

Also I'm a little bit concerned - writing to endorse a pitch I've not actually seen. I've known people get burned with similar activities before. Is there anywhere here we can read this 31 page document? Would be really useful when it comes to crafting a follow up letter.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on December 02, 2012, 01:09:56 PM
NCSoft have already proven themselves intransigent regards the CoH IP. What makes anyone thing they will sell the IP for less than something exhorbitant that will render it worthless to a potential buyer in terms of ROI?

Like I've mentioned in other posts, self-preservation. NCsoft is no longer operating from a position of strength like it had with other four MMOs it buried - it's lost money recently, the new releases aren't pulling in the kind of cash to warrant the expenses they made, their stock is taking a dive and the press is questioning them on their home ground. If word got out they refused a cash influx for a property they decided not to use, it would be the last nail in the coffin.

Also I'm a little bit concerned - writing to endorse a pitch I've not actually seen. I've known people get burned with similar activities before. Is there anywhere here we can read this 31 page document? Would be really useful when it comes to crafting a follow up letter.

I understand your frustration, but no - there are some things in there that might end up biting people in the rear, if it became openly known they shared it. So yeah, as annoying as it may be, I'm afraid you have to trust us on this. We spent over two weeks polishing, researching and fact-checking, so if my word is worth anything, then believe me that it was nothing short of professional.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ammon on December 02, 2012, 01:14:26 PM
One thing nobody's mentioned (in the threads I read) was the CoH comics. With Disney owning Marvel it could create a standalone line of comicbooks that feature Paragon and the Rogue Isles - a different universe.
Everyone has mentioned cross-marketing.  No need to be specific as telling Marvel they could make comics is just like telling Disney they could make movies.  Grandmothers, eggs, and sucking lessons.

NCSoft have already proven themselves intransigent regards the CoH IP. What makes anyone thing they will sell the IP for less than something exhorbitant that will render it worthless to a potential buyer in terms of ROI?
The fact that the legal issues NCsoft feared evaporate with the closure of the game.  Two inside sources have told us that NCsoft will be quite willing to sell, and even quite cheaply (relative term) now the game and studios are gone as a business entity.

Also I'm a little bit concerned - writing to endorse a pitch I've not actually seen. I've known people get burned with similar activities before. Is there anywhere here we can read this 31 page document? Would be really useful when it comes to crafting a follow up letter.
Noone is asking you to support the pitch written, or anything in it, other than the basic idea that Disney could do very well to take up this game, and continue to develop it.  Write your own reasons.  Make your own case.  State your beliefs about the value.  The plea that others made need have nothing to do with the plea that you make. 

Its the fact lots of pleas arrive that will lead Disney to take a look, and make their own decisions (also free to ignore anything in the Wildcard pitch).
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Kistulot on December 02, 2012, 01:30:35 PM
I will be writing letters in the coming days, happily.

It's the least I can do.

But, and if you answered this already please be gentle, how soon (realistically, and feel free to say a long amount of time) do you think it would take for us to know if we need to move on to plan well... the next one? I only ask because I would be more than happy to write a letter to each of those places, and encourage the same from others, but I know it would make it easier for me to know roughly how long I should know I'll need to wait before giving up hope.

The hardest thing about the sunset for me was that it was hard to give up hope. It was hard to believe it would really shut down, with all of you awesome people cheering for CoH to survive right along side me.

It might be selfish to ask, but it'd definitely help me :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on December 02, 2012, 01:42:57 PM
You're... pretty much where we are too. Remember that we aren't in any position to make decisions about CoH - not the sale, or what can be done when NCsoft sells it. I think the first person who will know the answer - if one comes - will be Brian Clayton, Paragon's head manager. And even then, he might not tell us, and even if he does, we might not be able to tell you, lest we blow our chances. Disney, as far as I can tell, doesn't make a habit of telegraphing their purchases - by the time anybody hears about it, the ink on the contracts is already dry. So while we know what went into the proposal, there's a very good chance we'll know what came out of it no sooner than you do.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ammon on December 02, 2012, 02:29:22 PM
Team Wildcard are already evaluating the next targets on the list should Disney not bite, but we really think we should give the Disney campaign a couple of weeks.  Really though, its down to how many letters everyone is sending out to Disney.  We are naturally assuming that just a few people may lose hope, or not try quite so hard on the next target (although we really hope that is wrong, we have to plan for such).  If everyone isn't sending a deluge of mail to Disney, our chances will be slim.

The good news is that those who are extra determined, and send more than just one letter to each, make up a lot for those who are less determined.  But seriously, at this point, every single letter counts.  The more, the better.  Write a letter, write another, and another.  Fight!

There's one saying that is true in life above all others:  The only way to fail anything is to quit.  Anything other than not trying anymore is just that you haven't succeeded yet.  The only way to lose, is to stop trying to win.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Surelle on December 02, 2012, 02:56:54 PM
All right, here's a question for you folks.

We know how many MMORPGs have been closed (15).

But how many either STILL stay open even with a handful of players, and how many were REVIVED after shutdown?  That could be a very useful set of numbers for Team Wildcard.

Do you mean how many NC itself has shut down and how many of their games were revived, or are you talking about MMOs in general?  Because then, of course, the list gets a whole lot bigger.

Vanguard, originally cancelled by Microsoft, was rezzed, fixed up, and is still owned and operated by Sony Online Entertainment.  In fact it just had a relaunch as F2P.

A.P.B. and Fallen Earth both closed down and then were rezzed by Gamers First and are both still running and being updated today.

Saga of Ryzom's original devs went bust shortly after it launched in 2004, and it was picked up by someone else (and I think handed off a couple times, actually) and it still runs today.

Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising was cancelled during late development, then was rezzed a few years later and is still running today.

I know Turbine rezzed their own games, er, saved them from extinction by buying them back from their publishers.  Their Asheron's Call was originally published by Microsoft, until around 2004, but I think Turbine itself still runs it today.  And Turbine bought back Dungeons & Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online from Atari, wasn't it?   

And speaking of Atari, they chose to put all their eggs into one basket for a while with Cryptic and Champions Online and Star Trek Online, and well, thank goodness for Cryptic getting bought out by Perfect World International, huh?  Or those two games would be dead right now, too! 

Hellgate: London (not really an MMO, more of an online hub/lobby with instances but still) went down when Flagship Studios went bust, then the bank they owed millions to actually hired a dev team to finish it and rez it and it runs worldwide pretty much as Hellgate:  Global today.

And those are just the ones off the top of my head.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: wmilliken on December 02, 2012, 03:58:55 PM
But how many either STILL stay open even with a handful of players, and how many were REVIVED after shutdown?

The one example I know of personally is the Mac version of Everquest, which SoE was going to shut down early this year. It didn't actually get shut down and restarted, but it was a very close thing:

http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/14/reports-of-everquest-mac-dying-have-been-greatly-exaggerated/

http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/21/the-game-archaeologist-chats-with-john-smedley-about-eqmacs-sal/

There were some posts on the SoE forums about the shutdown decision and reversal, but I can't find them there now, they may no longer be accessible. Google has a cached copy of the original shutdown announcement:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1KbaknGW5o8J:forums.station.sony.com/eq/posts/list.m%3Ftopic_id%3D182821%26fb_source%3Dmessage+Mac+everquest+shutdown+all+good+things+must+come+to+an+end&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

The case of MacEQ is a bit unusual, since the game was frozen in its release state and so the server population didn't expect new content, or even much in the way of support, so SoE's ongoing costs were fairly minor -- bandwidth and whatever limited amount of admin support was needed. One of their main issues was an aging code base; a problem not relevant to CoX.

SoE gained a lot of good PR from saving EQMac, and I suspect whatever ongoing costs there are for Al'Kabor are coming out of the marketing budget, since they have *no* way to actually make any money off EQMac now. The head of SoE did ask the EQMac population to promise to eventually buy the new version of Everquest SoE is still working on, but given the number of users involved (probably well under 1000 would be my guess), the real benefit to SoE has to be in the PR value of showing they listen to and support their customers, even if their bean-counters have other ideas.

If you want more details on the saving of EQMac, I suggest contacting the people who run eqmac.com, the main user community for Mac EQ players. They were very involved in the whole process, and no doubt know a lot more than has been reported publicly.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Surelle on December 02, 2012, 05:07:29 PM
Darkfall Online *could* possibly fit into this category, although it is an interesting case.

Darkfall Online was originally released back in 2009, but in October 2012, Aveturine (their developer) announced that they were shuttering the game November 15th. This was however to make room for Darkfall Unholy Wars... and I believe that Unholy Wars is set in the same game world, but is essentially Darkfall 2.0, with gameplay changes, skill changes and so on and so forth. Characters from the original game *will not* transfer over to the 2nd, due to the changes that they have introduced (there are now classes, where originally it was freeform creation).

Hell, to be honest, the whole development of the game was very very interesting to follow, because it built up a lot of hype, and launched with a very very damp splodge...

Well, yeah, I watched that one too for a bit, but Free For All open PvP with no level restrictions tends to become a damp splodge as you say (lol!) no matter what the game.....
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: TargetOne on December 02, 2012, 06:54:06 PM
All right, here's a question for you folks.

We know how many MMORPGs have been closed (15).

But how many either STILL stay open even with a handful of players, and how many were REVIVED after shutdown?  That could be a very useful set of numbers for Team Wildcard.

One that comes to mind is "Horizons: Empires of Istaria" (which has been renamed to "Istaria: Chronicles of the Gifted"), http://www.istaria.com/ (http://www.istaria.com/). After much ugly drama within its original development studio, it was released in an incomplete and extremely buggy condition. It was originally developed by Architect Entertainment and released by Atari way back in 2003, but was bought out by a company called Virtrium LLC in 2007.

The game is still up and running, despite what must surely be a VERY small playerbase. The last data available on MMODATA.net was 5,000 subscribers back in 2007, it's likely less than half that by now. But the point is, it IS still running. The current owners do continue to work on bug fixes and other updates, and it appears to have a small but active and tight-knit player community.

I only know of this game by virtue of a co-worker who used to play it frequently, it dropped off the major gaming magazine/websites' radar a long time ago.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: MaidMercury on December 02, 2012, 07:12:17 PM
Write a letter to Disney in an attempt to
purchase 'City of Heroes'
and make NCSoft <-the S.O.B's who shut down the game]
a lot of money for the sale.

Money they couldn't extort from other game companies that made pitches.

My computer 'hung' up processing this data. 0000011110001110010101010101

...but I will think about it...
I did write letters way back, from the very beginning to NCsoft and other companies,
so don't get me wrong. I care a lot.

I've been becoming enlightened from the Titan effort in creating
their own Hero game to fill in the void. It seems full of the same energy CoH had
before NCsoft.

Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: cxemu789 on December 02, 2012, 07:46:09 PM
All right, here's a question for you folks.

We know how many MMORPGs have been closed (15).

But how many either STILL stay open even with a handful of players, and how many were REVIVED after shutdown?  That could be a very useful set of numbers for Team Wildcard.

Mmm, the first that pops to mind is Myst Online: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myst_Online:_Uru_Live. For that matter, Ultima Online and Everquest are still going - EQ even released a new issue in November. Also in EQ's case, they just recently saved the Mac version from planned shutdown due to player's petitions. There's also a number of Neverwinter Nights servers functioning, but these are private servers, so it's not exactly the same.

For that matter, there's still several MUDs still running...

Ah, and a quick search turned this article from Massively: http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/05/01/the-game-archaeologist-when-dead-mmos-come-back-to-life/, which mentions Shadowbane, Hellgate, Mythos, All Points Bulletin, Pirates of the Burning Sea and Vanguard.

P.S. And I also just remembered Rhyzom, too.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Enson Red Shirt on December 02, 2012, 10:57:51 PM
I did some work for them so i made some calls instead (no you can't have the #'s)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: dwturducken on December 03, 2012, 12:39:24 AM
Um. You may have just won the Internet...

Whether or not it advances the effort, thank you.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Riff on December 03, 2012, 12:54:36 AM
Like I've mentioned in other posts, self-preservation. NCsoft is no longer operating from a position of strength like it had with other four MMOs it buried - it's lost money recently, the new releases aren't pulling in the kind of cash to warrant the expenses they made, their stock is taking a dive and the press is questioning them on their home ground. If word got out they refused a cash influx for a property they decided not to use, it would be the last nail in the coffin.

I understand your frustration, but no - there are some things in there that might end up biting people in the rear, if it became openly known they shared it. So yeah, as annoying as it may be, I'm afraid you have to trust us on this. We spent over two weeks polishing, researching and fact-checking, so if my word is worth anything, then believe me that it was nothing short of professional.

Ok the first point I can kind of agree to. The second, no chance. The "trust me, it's for your own good" thing is exactly a red line I won't cross. Believe me, I want to support this effort, and I do understand issues of confidentiality, but no, actually I don't trust you. No offence, but I don't know you from jack, and we have exactly one thing in common - we want to see CoH live again. But other than that I don't know anything about you, or the (non)team that put this effort together. Your take on this is not dissimilar to the Catholic Church's whole point about "don't let the peasants have a bible they can read, they might find us out" thing - and that's not to mention the whole Hail Mary bollocks! Why are we giving this some religious mumbo jumbo cloak? That in itself is entirely objectionable!

Here's a challenge: You want me to buy in to this - then post a redacted version of this 31 page document that excludes confidential information. Let me make an informed decision about how I proceed. If you don't, I call bullshit. Sorry but that's how I see it.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Roughtrade on December 03, 2012, 02:39:38 AM
Here's a challenge: You want me to buy in to this - then post a redacted version of this 31 page document that excludes confidential information. Let me make an informed decision about how I proceed. If you don't, I call bullshit. Sorry but that's how I see it.
I've been watching this debate for a couple days now and I am still boggled.

What part of "Dear Disney, I like City of Heroes and I think it would be a profitable venture for you" is life threatening?

They are asking for a letter, not a blood sacrifice.  Your good name is not being attached to a plot to sell embryos to Chinese slavers.  We're just asking for a letter or four stating you enjoyed playing a game and would enjoy playing it again.

The presentation document is not legally binding.  It's an attempt to explain what in City of Heroes might be in Disney's interest to purchase.  If the sale goes through, the legal stuff is all between NC Soft and Disney. 
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: srmalloy on December 03, 2012, 02:46:28 AM
After two complete rewrites, three major revisions, and having to set aside the whole thing for a day because trying to do it Saturday was just poking the open wound, I now have four envelopes ready to be dropped into the mail when I go up to the galley at work to eat breakfast tomorrow.

I took Greenlantern24601's Save CoH flyer image (http://greenlantern24601.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d5e2dhm) and trimmed out the QR code -- it was illegible at the size I was using -- and used it both as a letterhead image and over my return address on the envelopes as a way of getting a little additional distinction to make them stand out better in the sea of mail. I also took the time to look up the standard business letter format so that the letters at least have the appearance of being more rational.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: dwturducken on December 03, 2012, 02:51:07 AM
Hang on. We weren't supposed to write it in blood? *awkward*
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Vasarto on December 03, 2012, 02:54:13 AM
OK! I have a personalized letter to EACH of the places mentioned in this thread!

They are each two pages long and well thought out and written and I am gonna send them out tomorrow afternoon.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Terwyn on December 03, 2012, 03:11:01 AM
Ok the first point I can kind of agree to. The second, no chance. The "trust me, it's for your own good" thing is exactly a red line I won't cross. Believe me, I want to support this effort, and I do understand issues of confidentiality, but no, actually I don't trust you. No offence, but I don't know you from jack, and we have exactly one thing in common - we want to see CoH live again. But other than that I don't know anything about you, or the (non)team that put this effort together. Your take on this is not dissimilar to the Catholic Church's whole point about "don't let the peasants have a bible they can read, they might find us out" thing - and that's not to mention the whole Hail Mary bollocks! Why are we giving this some religious mumbo jumbo cloak? That in itself is entirely objectionable!

It is not a religious term, rather it is a sports metaphor drawn from American football in regards to an extremely long distance forward pass that has a very slim chance of succeeding initiated either at or very close to the end of a half. So it isn't even remotely objectionable if you understand that particular context. It is so called because it is the sort of move that, to borrow another metaphor, "doesn't have a prayer," so in the process of initiating the action, might as well throw a prayer at it too, just in case.

The simple matter is that there are legal considerations for those who have written the pitch document, as there is solidly confidential information that could end all efforts before they got rolling if they were leaked to a larger audience. The people who put together this pitch are largely experts in their fields, which to my knowledge specifically deal with the sort of information included in that particular communication.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: blackjak on December 03, 2012, 03:35:53 AM
Kinda gets lost if people aren't from the US I imagine. Never thought of it doing that...
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 03, 2012, 03:46:24 AM
no, actually I don't trust you. No offence, but I don't know you from jack, and we have exactly one thing in common - we want to see CoH live again. But other than that I don't know anything about you, or the (non)team that put this effort together.

If you had been paying attention, I not only stated numerous times that I am author Mercedes Lackey, I actually PROVED it back when I first signed on to Save Paragon three months ago by quoting from one of my books not yet published (was published last month).  Clearly you have not been paying attention.

Quote
- and that's not to mention the whole Hail Mary bollocks! Why are we giving this some religious mumbo jumbo cloak? That in itself is entirely objectionable!

I see, forgive me for assuming that a Brit might possibly have some understanding of an American football term.  Oh, Wait, Ammon, Quinch and Rae are all Brits and they knew what I was talking about....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Mary_pass (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Mary_pass)  "A Hail Mary pass or Hail Mary route in American football refers to any very long forward pass made in desperation with only a small chance of success, especially at or near the end of a half.

The expression goes back at least to the 1930s, being used publicly in that decade by two former members of Notre Dame's Four Horsemen, Elmer Layden and Jim Crowley. Originally meaning any sort of desperation play, a "Hail Mary" gradually came to denote a long, low-probability pass."

Quote
Here's a challenge: You want me to buy in to this - then post a redacted version of this 31 page document that excludes confidential information. Let me make an informed decision about how I proceed. If you don't, I call bullshit. Sorry but that's how I see it.

No.

For two reasons.

One, I am not willing to take the chance that somehow, NCSoft will manage to connect something we wrote to our sources and proceed to sue them.  They don't deserve that.

Two, Disney is traditionally extremely secretive about all aspects of negotiation.  Even though we have made it clear that we are only four players pitching the idea of buying the game, and not those with whom they can negotiate anything, nevertheless, I am not willing to risk getting the whole pitch on their wrong side by making it public.

Now what I don't understand is, if you are really, truly, interested in seeing the game find a new home,  why are you having enormous tantrum ragefits over all this?  Are we asking you for money?  No.  Are we asking you to endorse the pitch itself?  Actually, no, not really. 

I'm sorry, but I call bullshit here.  You could very easily have quietly not written letters instead of demanding things you have no right to and having tantrums because we said no.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Vasarto on December 03, 2012, 04:16:59 AM
If you had been paying attention, I not only stated numerous times that I am author Mercedes Lackey, I actually PROVED it back when I first signed on to Save Paragon three months ago by quoting from one of my books not yet published (was published last month).  Clearly you have not been paying attention.

I see, forgive me for assuming that a Brit might possibly have some understanding of an American football term.  Oh, Wait, Ammon, Quinch and Rae are all Brits and they knew what I was talking about....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Mary_pass (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Mary_pass)  "A Hail Mary pass or Hail Mary route in American football refers to any very long forward pass made in desperation with only a small chance of success, especially at or near the end of a half.

The expression goes back at least to the 1930s, being used publicly in that decade by two former members of Notre Dame's Four Horsemen, Elmer Layden and Jim Crowley. Originally meaning any sort of desperation play, a "Hail Mary" gradually came to denote a long, low-probability pass."

No.

For two reasons.

One, I am not willing to take the chance that somehow, NCSoft will manage to connect something we wrote to our sources and proceed to sue them.  They don't deserve that.

Two, Disney is traditionally extremely secretive about all aspects of negotiation.  Even though we have made it clear that we are only four players pitching the idea of buying the game, and not those with whom they can negotiate anything, nevertheless, I am not willing to risk getting the whole pitch on their wrong side by making it public.

Now what I don't understand is, if you are really, truly, interested in seeing the game find a new home, you are having enormous tantrum ragefits over all this.  Are we asking you for money?  No.  Are we asking you to endorse the pitch itself?  Actually, no, not really. 

I'm sorry, but I call bullshit here.  You could very easily have quietly not written letters instead of demanding things you have no right to and having tantrums because we said no.

I say +1 to all of this lol!

Agreed in full.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Surelle on December 03, 2012, 04:20:22 AM
I've been watching this debate for a couple days now and I am still boggled.

What part of "Dear Disney, I like City of Heroes and I think it would be a profitable venture for you" is life threatening?

They are asking for a letter, not a blood sacrifice.  Your good name is not being attached to a plot to sell embryos to Chinese slavers.  We're just asking for a letter or four stating you enjoyed playing a game and would enjoy playing it again.

The presentation document is not legally binding.  It's an attempt to explain what in City of Heroes might be in Disney's interest to purchase.  If the sale goes through, the legal stuff is all between NC Soft and Disney.

OMG, classic.  This is the Best.  Post.  Ever.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Vasarto on December 03, 2012, 04:25:11 AM
OMG, classic.  This is the Best.  Post.  Ever.

Yeah I quite enjoyed that one too!

Do we have a +1 for posts here? lol
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: faith.grins on December 03, 2012, 04:35:58 AM
If you had been paying attention, I not only stated numerous times that I am author Mercedes Lackey, I actually PROVED it back when I first signed on to Save Paragon three months ago by quoting from one of my books not yet published (was published last month).  Clearly you have not been paying attention.

Also, to anyone who doubts Vicky's motives, I've played with her and her husband a few times, and they are the coolest "celebrities" I've ever encountered.  I say celebrities in quotation marks not because I don't consider them famous, but because they never plugged their work or played themselves off as a big deal; they were just players who happened to have fans outside of the context of the game.  (I think I remember her husband talking about doing some work on the set of the Peter Jackson Hobbit movie, since he's a falconer, but that was really him more geeking out about getting to do LOTR movie stuff.)  Her only stake in this is that she loves this game and doesn't want to lose it forever.  We're all in that boat, and if you don't believe that, then you are a cynical, petty person.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Terwyn on December 03, 2012, 04:37:40 AM
CEO I used to work with taught me that important lesson:

Doesn't matter who a person is in terms of public visibility or financial resources, they're still one individual amongst billions.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: johnrobey on December 03, 2012, 05:33:07 AM
Ok the first point I can kind of agree to. The second, no chance. The "trust me, it's for your own good" thing is exactly a red line I won't cross. Believe me, I want to support this effort, and I do understand issues of confidentiality, but no, actually I don't trust you. No offence, but I don't know you from jack, and we have exactly one thing in common - we want to see CoH live again. But other than that I don't know anything about you, or the (non)team that put this effort together. Your take on this is not dissimilar to the Catholic Church's whole point about "don't let the peasants have a bible they can read, they might find us out" thing - and that's not to mention the whole Hail Mary bollocks! Why are we giving this some religious mumbo jumbo cloak? That in itself is entirely objectionable!

Here's a challenge: You want me to buy in to this - then post a redacted version of this 31 page document that excludes confidential information. Let me make an informed decision about how I proceed. If you don't, I call bullshit. Sorry but that's how I see it.

I understand where you're coming from, even though I have a different opinion and do  trust Victoria Victrix implicitly.  I don't think it's fair to call them a (non)team, especially since they worked their tails off and took time away from game etc., got 2 senior devs to review their presentation, etc.  I also didn't think "Hail Mary" had anything to do with Catholicism, but rather referred to the Hail Mary pass from U.S. football:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Mary_pass
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: johnrobey on December 03, 2012, 05:37:15 AM
Hang on. We weren't supposed to write it in blood? *awkward*
ROFL!!!!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Vasarto on December 03, 2012, 05:49:20 AM
I understand where you're coming from, even though I have a different opinion and do  trust Victoria Victrix implicitly.  I don't think it's fair to call them a (non)team, especially since they worked their tails off and took time away from game etc., got 2 senior devs to review their presentation, etc.  I also didn't think "Hail Mary" had anything to do with Catholicism, but rather referred to the Hail Mary pass from U.S. football:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Mary_pass

Yes...Hail Mary from American Football...I should know because I am an American.

Is a Specific Football maneuver where it is a Desperate shot to gain a touchdown when the game is about to end and you are behind on points.
Its a specific position in where the quarterback attempts to from a long distance away from the goal to get the ball into the hands of someone from far away.

Its a weak, and pathetic move that almost never succeeds but it HAS done so in the past many times even though the odds are stacked against them.

so lets see here

1. NCSOFT has stated it refuses to sell the title and shut down the game already
2. NCSOFT Will NEVER go out of business in a million years and has enough financial power to buy out and merge with other companies in the west to save itself and permenantly secure its hold on the worlds MMO Market and gaming industry.
3. They will forever ignore us no matter what we do.
4.No one is listening and if they are they do not care until we MAKE them care and we are starting to do so at a very fast pace


so lets see here...its  a far stretch....Its Highly unlikely but not unheard of and possible if we try our hardest!

Sounds like the perfect definition of a Hail Mary to me!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Dynastys Sweeper on December 03, 2012, 05:52:38 AM
i really hope this Hail Mary works out for real, it would be awesome to see City up again its only been 2 days but it felt like its been years honestly i miss everything about that game, the awesome devs showing up randomly, also all the awesome people. All the friends i made playing 7 years of my life all my money and time invested into that game it would be awesome to see Disney owning the IP. just thinking about being able to buy pieces of marvel like iron man or anything like that it would be awesome. i am going to write them letters only because we all been fighting got this since the first announcement of the "sunset" bull crap i thought disney did awesome with "the avengers worlds mightiest heroes series"  not much people agree but go big or go home!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: johnrobey on December 03, 2012, 05:52:45 AM
Also, to anyone who doubts Vicky's motives, I've played with her and her husband a few times, and they are the coolest "celebrities" I've ever encountered.  I say celebrities in quotation marks not because I don't consider them famous, but because they never plugged their work or played themselves off as a big deal; they were just players who happened to have fans outside of the context of the game.  (I think I remember her husband talking about doing some work on the set of the Peter Jackson Hobbit movie, since he's a falconer, but that was really him more geeking out about getting to do LOTR movie stuff.)  Her only stake in this is that she loves this game and doesn't want to lose it forever.  We're all in that boat, and if you don't believe that, then you are a cynical, petty person.

I got to meet Ms. Lackey and her husband Larry a couple of times at conventions where one or both were Guests of Honor.  They were fabulous GoH's.  Apart from accomplishments and other merits they are also fellow fans and relate to members of the fannish community as such (meaning peers, not "better than you" celebs.)  They are indeed awesome!  I'd forgotten about Larry's interest in raptors (wish I still had the autographed T-shirt he'd signed that had hawks flying).

Digression:  I came to really appreciate Titan Network forums over the past few weeks for being seriously constructive and hope desperately to avoid the name calling, ax grinding and petty flame wars that the official forums devolved into.  We're all grieving our loss.  For some that means anger but PLEASE let's comport ourselves better this time around.  I'm A-Okay with differences of opinion and realize that personality conflicts can arise, but we can each do our best.  Thank you!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Roughtrade on December 03, 2012, 06:04:39 AM
OMG, classic.  This is the Best.  Post.  Ever.
Blush
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 03, 2012, 06:06:44 AM
I'll tell you what, Riff.  Since you are such an expert on pitch packages and you don't trust our expertise in business practices, how about if you write your own and send it to Disney?

Oh, but you had better have the addresses, emails and phone numbers of senior Paragon Studios members to put in as your official contacts for actual negotiations.  Because if someone DOES come knocking, you are going to look really stupid saying "gee....I don't know who you could go to."

And you had better make it crystalline clear that YOU are not in any way able to sell the game.  Anything else is fraud.

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a flying frick if you do that.  It will still be one more "please buy the game, Mr. Pleasants" missive.  And if it should happen that the game does get bought and you want to claim all the credit for it, with your superior pitch, be my guest.  That and $5 will get you an overpriced latte at Starbucks.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: dwturducken on December 03, 2012, 06:14:09 AM
Frankly, my dear, I don't give a flying frick if you do that.  It will still be one more "please buy the game, Mr. Pleasants" missive.  And if it should happen that the game does get bought and you want to claim all the credit for it, with your superior pitch, be my guest.  That and $5 will get you an overpriced latte at Starbucks.

I'm sorry. Maybe I'm just in a mood, tonight, but:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr6quR0v9JY
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: johnrobey on December 03, 2012, 06:18:27 AM
Here's a bit of awesome I came across earlier today.  This ought to re-kindle everyone's interest in seeing City of Heroes brought back.  gawds, it was good to see this, for me the next best thing to being able to log in and play.  Note: while I find the music entirely appropriate you may want to listen with speakers off.  I started crying within seconds.  Enjoy! and thanks for the memories.  This was one hell of a way to go out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdNaLitjgJs
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: epawtows on December 03, 2012, 07:01:51 AM
Wife and I sent out a set of letters.  Hopefully we're getting close to a tipping point.

I guess it's still way to early to have expected to hear anything back from The Mouse?  Is the fact that we HAVEN'T heard anything at least evidence that they are at least thinking about it?


Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: johnrobey on December 03, 2012, 07:58:55 AM
I don't have any idea whether Disney would reply to Team Wildcard's 31 page presentation.  Plus I expect it takes weeks to months for such negotiations to happen (not that I have any experience in this area), with Disney or any prospective buyer doing their own analysis, provided they think it's worthwhile even to do that.  It would be great if V.V. could tell us if they got any reply at all.  Maybe all they got was return receipt or other verification that the presentation package was delivered.

In looking at some of the other threads, one proposal is to see whether Stephen Colbert might take up our cause.  If so, his legions of fans at Colbert Nation would give us far greater numbers.  If memory serves Colbert Nations got NASA to name a satelite after Colbert.

Additionally, while there may be reasons not to make similar presentation pitches to other prospective buyers, such as Valve, I don't know what they are.  (Okay, thought of one, the time it takes to customize a presentation.)  I'm thinking strike while the iron is hot.  What do you all think about the idea of a concerted letter writing campaign simultaneously to a number of potential purchases, companies we (and the devs) think might be good custodians for City of Heroes?  Ditto for the proposals on related Titan forums about contacting not only Colbert but also Ellen and Oprah?  Here are the links:

Other Options
http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,6638.msg82526.html#msg82526   

Stephen Colbert
http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,6606.msg81979.html#msg81979

Ellen Degeneres
http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,6633.0.html

Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 03, 2012, 08:17:17 AM
tracking numbers for Pleasants

EO 924 452 225 US

EO 924 452 027 US

tracking number for Iger

EO 924 452 282 US

all three are USPS Express Mail
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: johnrobey on December 03, 2012, 08:37:19 AM
tracking numbers for Pleasants

EO 924 452 225 US

EO 924 452 027 US

tracking number for Iger

EO 924 452 282 US

all three are USPS Express Mail

Thanks!  I had no doubt Team Wildcard's presentation package was sent with delivery notification.  Can you share with us if Disney sent any reply, even just a form letter saying they'd gotten it?   While I know you can't share the content, I'm certain it's a beautiful presentation with everything a prospective buyer might want to know.  Thank you again for Team Wildcard.   :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 03, 2012, 10:52:21 AM
Thanks!  I had no doubt Team Wildcard's presentation package was sent with delivery notification.  Can you share with us if Disney sent any reply, even just a form letter saying they'd gotten it?   While I know you can't share the content, I'm certain it's a beautiful presentation with everything a prospective buyer might want to know.  Thank you again for Team Wildcard.   :)

If Disney contacts one of us I will be sure and let you know.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 03, 2012, 11:08:48 AM
Write a letter to Disney in an attempt to
purchase 'City of Heroes'
and make NCSoft <-the S.O.B's who shut down the game]
a lot of money for the sale.

Money they couldn't extort from other game companies that made pitches.

My computer 'hung' up processing this data. 0000011110001110010101010101

...but I will think about it...
I did write letters way back, from the very beginning to NCsoft and other companies,
so don't get me wrong. I care a lot.

I've been becoming enlightened from the Titan effort in creating
their own Hero game to fill in the void. It seems full of the same energy CoH had
before NCsoft.

Yeah, trust me, I know.  I don't want NCSoft to profit by this in the least.  But picture this in your mind: Disney buys CoH.  Disney puts some proper marketing behind it.  Disney turns a profit in the first year, and gets a subscriber base up in the millions (we KNOW it will never, ever be a WoW-killer, but with proper management it can reap Disney a nice pile of cash).  Watch as the NCSoft stockholders turn on the management and ask, rightly, "Why couldn't YOU do that?"  Watch as their face not only fails, but falls with a splodgy splatter.  Watch as it becomes obvious that the reason NCSoft can't succeed in the West is because they don't try.  Watch as Nexon descends like a shark to devour the last shreds of the company.

It will be a (relatively) small infusion of cash that will lead to an inevitable downfall.  The proverbial poison pill. 
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rae on December 03, 2012, 11:21:11 AM
Ok the first point I can kind of agree to. The second, no chance. The "trust me, it's for your own good" thing is exactly a red line I won't cross. Believe me, I want to support this effort, and I do understand issues of confidentiality, but no, actually I don't trust you. No offence, but I don't know you from jack, and we have exactly one thing in common - we want to see CoH live again. But other than that I don't know anything about you, or the (non)team that put this effort together. Your take on this is not dissimilar to the Catholic Church's whole point about "don't let the peasants have a bible they can read, they might find us out" thing - and that's not to mention the whole Hail Mary bollocks! Why are we giving this some religious mumbo jumbo cloak? That in itself is entirely objectionable!

Here's a challenge: You want me to buy in to this - then post a redacted version of this 31 page document that excludes confidential information. Let me make an informed decision about how I proceed. If you don't, I call bullshit. Sorry but that's how I see it.

Like many others, I'm also a little baffled by the rage here.

If you don't feel you trust us, and that this isn't something you can support, you're not obliged to. We're not asking you to endorse the pitch or stake your reputation on it.  All we're asking people to do is to write letters to show that we're not the only four people in the world who want to keep on playing City of Heroes, and think that Disney would make a decent custodian for the game.

If you don't trust us, that's really your prerogative, but please understand that we HAVE to respect the confidences of the people who DID trust us with information we were told was for our eyes, and Disney's eyes only. 

There is, of course, also a good chance the pitch will have to be re-written at some point, and re-submitted to other studios. Ammon is probably the best person to confirm what is considered acceptable business practice, but my gut reaction is that if the content of the pitch has been circulating around the web in the run up to that time and the company we're asking to consider buying it is the LAST person to see it, it seems more than a little discourteous and unprofessional.

(Edited, because I can't speeel gud. Hur.)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Riff on December 03, 2012, 11:27:46 AM
If you had been paying attention, I not only stated numerous times that I am author Mercedes Lackey, I actually PROVED it back when I first signed on to Save Paragon three months ago by quoting from one of my books not yet published (was published last month).  Clearly you have not been paying attention.

I see, forgive me for assuming that a Brit might possibly have some understanding of an American football term.  Oh, Wait, Ammon, Quinch and Rae are all Brits and they knew what I was talking about....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Mary_pass (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Mary_pass)  "A Hail Mary pass or Hail Mary route in American football refers to any very long forward pass made in desperation with only a small chance of success, especially at or near the end of a half.

The expression goes back at least to the 1930s, being used publicly in that decade by two former members of Notre Dame's Four Horsemen, Elmer Layden and Jim Crowley. Originally meaning any sort of desperation play, a "Hail Mary" gradually came to denote a long, low-probability pass."

No.

For two reasons.

One, I am not willing to take the chance that somehow, NCSoft will manage to connect something we wrote to our sources and proceed to sue them.  They don't deserve that.

Two, Disney is traditionally extremely secretive about all aspects of negotiation.  Even though we have made it clear that we are only four players pitching the idea of buying the game, and not those with whom they can negotiate anything, nevertheless, I am not willing to risk getting the whole pitch on their wrong side by making it public.

Now what I don't understand is, if you are really, truly, interested in seeing the game find a new home,  why are you having enormous tantrum ragefits over all this?  Are we asking you for money?  No.  Are we asking you to endorse the pitch itself?  Actually, no, not really. 

I'm sorry, but I call bullshit here.  You could very easily have quietly not written letters instead of demanding things you have no right to and having tantrums because we said no.

I see I touched a nerve or two here. Fair enough

I know who you are, I know of you. I think I may have even read some of your work in another life a long time ago. I have been paying attention. But I do not know you.

I don't follow American football. Over here, we use our feet to kick the ball when we play football - the clue's in the name. If we're throwing it, it's called Rugby. Very similar to your version but without the padding. No, I didn't know the context but then Why would I? We have so many great sports in the UK I don't need to follow some faux pastiche. But I guess the whole Hail Mary thing is still, ultimately a religious thing but no matter. I am now informed.

I'm not having anything close to an enormous tantrum ragefit over all this as you so delicately put it. I'm just calling it as I see it. If this is meant to be an open and inclusive project then the secrecy does bother me. I also appreciate that this isn't a massive sacrifice but if the pitch is that good, then surely it's in your interest to make at least some of it public so that, for example, we could highlight areas we felt especially relevant - maybe even encouraging people who can make decisions to go look at it, if they hadn't already seen it. It strengthens our hand knowing what has been sent, not weakens it. I appreciate there is sensitive info in there hence I suggested a redacted version.

Are you asking us to endorse the pitch? Arguably you are. You are asking for your efforts to be fortified by our letter campaign, to support the pitch, on the basis that the more letters that the Disney execs receive the stronger the pitch will be in their mind; that there's an entire community behind this effort who want the game to live. Your whole pitch to this community has been "We've put this document together to Disney that really sells them the idea of saving the game, now we need you to support that effort." That's absolutely fine and actually quite laudible in its own way, but if that's not asking us to endorse it, then I don't know what is.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Riff on December 03, 2012, 11:52:35 AM
I'll tell you what, Riff.  Since you are such an expert on pitch packages and you don't trust our expertise in business practices, how about if you write your own and send it to Disney?

Oh, but you had better have the addresses, emails and phone numbers of senior Paragon Studios members to put in as your official contacts for actual negotiations.  Because if someone DOES come knocking, you are going to look really stupid saying "gee....I don't know who you could go to."

And you had better make it crystalline clear that YOU are not in any way able to sell the game.  Anything else is fraud.

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a flying frick if you do that.  It will still be one more "please buy the game, Mr. Pleasants" missive.  And if it should happen that the game does get bought and you want to claim all the credit for it, with your superior pitch, be my guest.  That and $5 will get you an overpriced latte at Starbucks.

Where have I claimed any of this? Where have I said I have a superior pitch? Please show me. I did actually spend quite some time getting involved in profiling another organisation so that we as a community could have made a similar pitch to the one you seem to have made to Disney. However due to a number of factors, that's rather had to be put on ice for now at least.

But rest assured I have at no stage belittled your pitch, and I have no knowledge of your business practices as I said previously so I have no scale to judge them. All I've said is it's hard to endorse, support or promote it without knowing the content.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: srmalloy on December 03, 2012, 02:25:27 PM
I guess it's still way to early to have expected to hear anything back from The Mouse?  Is the fact that we HAVEN'T heard anything at least evidence that they are at least thinking about it?

I don't expect to hear anything for a minimum of a month -- and that's only if the Disney execs read the pitch and immediately start short-stroking over the opportunity to grab a potentially lucrative and badly underexploited property; I would be surprised to see a resolution in under three months, and expect something closer to six months. No matter how much work Victoria Victrix and her team put into their presentation, if they're willing to consider it, Disney will make their own investigation of City of Heroes and Paragon Studios, looking at its performance, comparing it against the resources NCSoft let them have, to see whether CoH is a terminally niche market or a potential blockbuster stunted by what could be charitably described as 'benign neglect', and what benefit to Disney bringing in a population of demonstrably fanatically loyal customers will provide. If they decide that Paragon Studios and City of Heroes has enough potential to be worth acquiring, then they will open negotiations with NCSoft, at which point we won't hear anything until after the negotiations succeed or fail.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on December 03, 2012, 03:04:30 PM
Riff, I think what they would like is if you would like Disney to buy the game, write them and tell them why. It doesn't matter if you say the same things that the pitch did, it would probably be better if you didn't. Along with the fact that they may need to use the pitch again like rae said, if everyone saw the pitch, Disney would just be getting watered down repeats of what was in it from people, and what Disney needs to see is passionate original letters.

Think of it as making your own plea to Disney at the same time as the rest of us are because that is the only way the little guy will get noticed. If you don't have reasons to support a Disney buyout, that's okay. Maybe if we end up on a second target, you will have reasons to support that.

To me they are not asking for blind faith, but for our own reasons we want Disney to buy, just without using them as the middleman(middlepeople?).
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ammon on December 03, 2012, 03:31:45 PM
I'm not having anything close to an enormous tantrum ragefit over all this as you so delicately put it.
In which case, you have no excuse whatsoever for the line "I call bullshit".  That might be excusable as harsh words in anger, but since you instead seem to suffer an inherent lack of tact, manners, or even the ability to see why calling other's efforts bullshit is both offensive and unwarranted, then it is probably best that you don't write to Disney.

"Buy CoH or I'll call bullshit" might not be the kind of heartfelt persuasive message we're after.  Someone who can't understand a polite but firm "No" or understand that there are two sides to things, not just their own demands, should never be a negotiator.  And as a messenger, they'd only be fit for sending to Sparta.

So there, Riff, noone at all is now asking you to write to Disney.  You don't seem to be equipped with the necessaries.  If the cost of you maybe, possibly, kind-of, sending any kind of letter to Disney is that we breach confidences made with people who've actually put themselves on the line and gone out of their way, asking NOTHING but confidence in return, then that price is so ridiculous as to be like NCsoft asking more than anyone would bid.

We've heard your hard-bargaining counter-offer to a generous gift given for free of a chance to support reaching out to Disney.  No thanks.  We happen to think that "We've written to Disney, putting in our own time, words, effort, thought, and resources.  Why don't you do the same?" is a perfectly reasonable and very generous deal. 
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on December 03, 2012, 04:10:23 PM
*facepalm* I thought we were the sort of community that brought things back down to civility after someone has had an over reaction, not the sort of community that continuously spits bile at each other. This is not a very good representation of who we are, in a very visible thread. Perhaps before we put emotional reactions out over the internets we should check and make sure our gun barrel isn't facing our toes first?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ammon on December 03, 2012, 05:01:05 PM
Lily, if you are reading bile into anything I said, I assure you that it is your own insertion.  My words are simply stating the reality that what we have done is a take it or leave it thing.  Join; don't join; your choices. 

We want people to join, (and by 'join' I mean only that they write their own pleas, in their own ways, making their own case, just happily coinciding with our effort), but not to the extent that we are going to breech confidence with those who helped willingly and didn't try to renegotiate the terms of a free gift.  And there is absolutely no point in encouraging further discussion on how/why/whether others think we should breech trust and confidence, as it will never happen.  Probably the why of why we were given that confidence.

I won't respond again trying to explain to those who have already either ignored, or argued, with polite explanation after polite explanation already (go back through the thread, at least 8 separate ways have been tried).  Anyone still harping to see the document at this point is just being rude.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on December 03, 2012, 05:52:39 PM
My point was that others may be reading it as such as well. I didn't quote your post because I think other posts in this thread fall under the umbrella of being passionate reactions that may come off as nastier than intended. I understand your frustration with the whole thing and I'm sorry you have had to deal with such questions after throwing your heart and soul into the pitch. People are really watching you since you are one of the authors, and that must also put a lot of pressure on you.

It's a great idea to ignore questions that you've already politely answered. Let the rest of us take some of the pressure off and help explain and deflect any issues. You have already done enough.

Thank you so much for the effort you and the others put into this, it is a truly fantastic thing. I just don't want anyone turned off by the way some of the disagreements are playing out. I suppose I just really love this community and unrealistically want everyone to get along. You know, like in a Disney movie.

Seriously though, I do want to thank you and everyone else involved with the pitch. I think it is brilliant.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Segev on December 03, 2012, 06:57:19 PM
All I've said is it's hard to endorse, support or promote it without knowing the content.
What has been asked of us is that we write letters to Disney, at addresses provided in the opening post, saying why we love CoH, want to see it brought back online, and how we'd support Disney and their products relating to CoH if they were to buy it. We're not being asked to specifically endorse the pitch (though, as you noted, this is in support of it by providing volume of interest). We're not being asked to promote it (though we have been asked to spread word that a letter-writing campaign would be useful and well-timed and -targetted right now).

We need know only one thing about the content in order to know why we're being asked to write these letters and send them: that the pitch is directed at Disney and is asking that company to buy CoH lock, stock, and barrel for purposes of re-opening it and doing some Disney magic, perhaps, to expand on it.

We're being asked to write to Disney to say why we love it. To tell them we will support their new product line and make it profitable with our monies. And to tell them why we would love to see them have it, and maybe some wide-eyed, child-like visions of what Disney magic might do for our beloved franchise so that we might spend even more money and speak even more highly of the company that made something so wonderful of our lovingly shared world.

We need know only that the pitch exists and that it's asking Disney to buy the property for purposes of making CoH playable again. The purpose of our letters is to prove that the audience is here, just waiting, and that we, a loyal customer base, are in no small part what they'd be purchasing along with the package.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: JaguarX on December 03, 2012, 07:19:14 PM
It is not a religious term, rather it is a sports metaphor drawn from American football in regards to an extremely long distance forward pass that has a very slim chance of succeeding initiated either at or very close to the end of a half. So it isn't even remotely objectionable if you understand that particular context. It is so called because it is the sort of move that, to borrow another metaphor, "doesn't have a prayer," so in the process of initiating the action, might as well throw a prayer at it too, just in case.

The simple matter is that there are legal considerations for those who have written the pitch document, as there is solidly confidential information that could end all efforts before they got rolling if they were leaked to a larger audience. The people who put together this pitch are largely experts in their fields, which to my knowledge specifically deal with the sort of information included in that particular communication.

Well actually, the sports methaphor did originate from the religious term and same thing with the term "doesnt have a prayer.". For some, especially those that may not be into sports, those terms still caryy anywhere from mild to extreme religious connotations.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Kaiser Tarantula on December 03, 2012, 07:36:42 PM
Let me reiterate something that Rae said earlier, that I think some people have missed.

If you don't feel you trust us, and that this isn't something you can support, you're not obliged to. We're not asking you to endorse the pitch or stake your reputation on it.  All we're asking people to do is to write letters to show that we're not the only four people in the world who want to keep on playing City of Heroes, and think that Disney would make a decent custodian for the game.
This is it.  This is all that TFHM is asking.  You are not being asked to make a legal committment of some kind.  You are not being asked to invest any money beyond that of postage (and if you're outside of the United States, Altoholic Monkey has given you an alternative (http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,6571.0.html)), and chances are you will not be interviewed.  You are not agreeing to any sort of legal contract that will then deny you your rights, and chances are good you will never have to speak of this event in a court of law.

Riff, If you don't feel you can, in good conscience, support the effort to convince Disney to make an attempt to purchase CoH, that's fine.  Don't.  But don't disparage those of us who can and have.  While you're at it, dropping the nettlesome, deliberately-barbed, patently-overblown sensationalist language would help too.  I'm specifically referring to stuff like the below, bolded emphasis mine.

But other than that I don't know anything about you, or the (non)team that put this effort together. Your take on this is not dissimilar to the Catholic Church's whole point about "don't let the peasants have a bible they can read, they might find us out" thing - and that's not to mention the whole Hail Mary bollocks! Why are we giving this some religious mumbo jumbo cloak? That in itself is entirely objectionable!
I don't follow American football. Over here, we use our feet to kick the ball when we play football - the clue's in the name. If we're throwing it, it's called Rugby. Very similar to your version but without the padding. No, I didn't know the context but then Why would I? We have so many great sports in the UK I don't need to follow some faux pastiche. But I guess the whole Hail Mary thing is still, ultimately a religious thing but no matter. I am now informed.
When people are talking about a "tantrum ragefit" it's this that they're talking about.  In the space of just these two posts, you have insulted a national pasttime, compared Team Wildcard to the Dark Ages Catholic Church, and accused them of using religious symbolism inappropriately, due in large part to your later-admitted ignorance of sports terms.

Specifically in regards to the choice of term "Hail Mary," it's certainly not limited to gridiron football, though that's where it got its start.  It has subsequently been used for similar situations in hockey (http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2026&dat=19980604&id=PswqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=itAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1743,346096), basketball (http://matthom.com/archive/2010/12/27/basketball-last-second-hail-mary-shots), tennis (http://www.sportspundit.com/tennis/terms/680-hail-mary), rugby (http://www.foxsports.com.au/Rugby/campo039s-hail-mary/video-e6frf4pu-1226497941380?subcat=1111112040153&site=FoxSports) and yes, even international football AKA soccer (http://www.rutgersnewarkathletics.com/news/2012/10/20/MSOC_1020123942.aspx).
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Segev on December 03, 2012, 07:38:29 PM
In this case, the sentiments behind both are equally relevant. Even if one is not, oneself, religious, the concept of a move that just might work but has slim odds and thus needing all the help - divinely miraculous and otherwise - it can get should still seem accurate here. It's a long shot. If one is religious, a few prayers can't hurt.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: r00tb0ySlim on December 03, 2012, 07:48:13 PM
I fully "trust" this team and appreciate the efforts that they have put forth to date and moving forward.  I do not personally "know" any of you; however, I feel that the task at hand warrants our trust and support as a gaming community.  We all have one goal in mind here.  Please remember that. Hope to see you all soon.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Arctic Force. on December 03, 2012, 08:51:09 PM
I fully "trust" this team and appreciate the efforts that they have put forth to date and moving forward.  I do not personally "know" any of you; however, I feel that the task at hand warrants our trust and support as a gaming community.  We all have one goal in mind here.  Please remember that. Hope to see you all soon.

This
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Globetrotter on December 03, 2012, 08:52:13 PM
Facepalms with Lily: Guys (Girls): We have one common goal: save our beloved City! Fighting among ourselves won't help that goal.

Please stop it ....
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rae on December 03, 2012, 09:13:07 PM
Thanks to everyone who's been supportive. And thanks to those who don't feel they can be at this stage, too, for at least caring enough to comment and have an opinion on it.

I know that everyone's a bit raw at the moment, and I appreciate that tempers are a little frayed given that we're still dealing with the sunset. But on the whole we've been lucky to have a mostly positive response to this - not just from the people who have been here since August 31, but also from the people who're just joining us now.

I felt like I needed to bring some love into this thread. Next up, a group meditation session and talking about our feelings ;)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: JWBullfrog on December 03, 2012, 09:16:31 PM
If you suggest Kumbyah I will pearsonally reach through this computer and slap you silly.... :P
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Randomvector on December 03, 2012, 09:17:47 PM
I trust this team. I trust that they are doing what they think is right. I trust that they have given their word to not share information.

Would I like to know that information? Of course! But if they were blabbing it all around it would mean they are not worthy of trust.

I have not been able to write letters yet. Every time I try I just become overwhelmed with emotion.
I am hoping to do so in the next week.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rae on December 03, 2012, 09:21:00 PM
If you suggest Kumbyah I will pearsonally reach through this computer and slap you silly.... :P

I know three chords, and I'm not afraid to use them ;)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: dwturducken on December 03, 2012, 10:38:05 PM
Facepalms with Lily: Guys (Girls): We have one common goal: save our beloved City! Fighting among ourselves won't help that goal.

Please stop it ....

Flag on the play! Illegal use of colons! Write one extra letter. :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Globetrotter on December 03, 2012, 10:57:09 PM
Flag on the play! Illegal use of colons! Write one extra letter. :)

Shows what a writer I am ... NOT, but I will take you on. Extra letter to Disney going out!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: dwturducken on December 03, 2012, 10:58:27 PM
Shows what a writer I am ... NOT, but I will take you on. Extra letter to Disney going out!

Fair point. That call might backfire...   :o
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: JWBullfrog on December 03, 2012, 11:01:16 PM
Are grammar calls subject to instant replay?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: dwturducken on December 03, 2012, 11:58:40 PM
I don't believe that's been tested.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ceremonius on December 04, 2012, 12:39:29 AM
Hello and sorry for crawling out of the shadows now.

Short intro of myself:
My name is Ceremonius. I played our beloved game since it's release (it came somewhat later here in germany).
Also I was once a S-Mod of a big german CoH Fansite (if it was the biggest - dunno ).
It was called Cohmpendium - some of you might remember. Well fact is I was reading this thread since page 4 started, but kept myself back to evaluate things. By now I also mentioned the whole idea at our facebook group (after closure of the cohmpendium, we wanted to stay in touch).

But just now I have another question:

Have some of you folks gone sort of mad?
There people who are willing to try to save the game.you love. They give you advices on how you could.do.this for free. They won't gain anything if it fails nor if it hits. They do this because they feel like this. Due their courage an international playerbase gathers and fights for their passion.

That's pretty normal and always has been. There is always the natural leader type or a person who is mostly.in charge with stuff. They don't want anything from you. Just write a simple letter for you own sake. So why not trusting these people? Okay, I haven't written a letter myself, but spread the word among the german veteran fanbase. At least it is something I did. Even if it doesn't do much, it still brings hope.

And for the religious stuff: Even I know a Hail Mary. We are in times of hollywood, internet, senseless tv spots. Can't believe someone wouldn't have heard this phrase.

But to get back to the topic:
Dear Team and to every user who signed a petition, who spread the word, or who wrote a card.

Thank you for trying to save the game I recall as my save haven for so long.


Greetings from germany,
Ceremonius

(Sorry for typos. I wrote that reply at late night on my mobile)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Vasarto on December 04, 2012, 12:58:57 AM
OK Everyone! I sent a Letter to Each person! Two pages each and custom for that person!
In a large flat envelope that cost me a dollar each....These are those BIG Thick ones and the papers just slide right in.

I also Tapped THIS to the front of it.

[img]http://www.getmewriting.com/wp-content/uploads/SaveCOH_Blue_Square.jpg[img]

A Pretty Big Sized one of those in front so to make it more noticeable.
Cost me a total of around $10.00 to buy the envelopes and get everything shipped off so its like I bought VIP in a way lol....wait...wasn't that 15?

oh well you get it.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: IronSkull on December 04, 2012, 01:04:20 AM
Newish to titan. Old to CoH.
Been lurking since September. Only reason I didn't cry the first weekend was cause I was at Dragoncon and that helped me stay mildly sane.
I fully support Disney buying CoH, I don't think they'll mess it up as they have improved on their treatment to various properties lately. I spent much of the morning this past saturday watching disney channel, cause frankly nothing else was on, but a lot of their advertisements featured various thoughts I got from CoH.
Make your mark.
Be Yourself.
Let Your Imagination Shine.

And many other cheesy lines... Lines that I will include in my letter to them this week.
Thank you for taking the time to read this if you did.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 04, 2012, 01:59:34 AM
No.

No temper tantrums, no name calling, no assumption of privilege because you have the title "Project Coordinator" under your name is going to get what you want.

No threatening to withhold your letter is going to get what you want.

No.

What part of that are you having trouble comprehending?

We are dealing with a multi BILLION dollar company.  So far all we know about YOU, Riff, is that you have a title under your name on the Titan Boards.  I don't know how you got that title.  I don't know what you do.  I don't know if you are trustworthy.  I don't know if you are going to go straight to someone else with the pitch and use it there while we are, at the same time, trying to interest Disney.  Trust goes both ways, and so far, you have shown yourself to be monumentally untrustworthy. 

So.

No.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Copper Cockroach on December 04, 2012, 02:35:57 AM
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Merseine on December 04, 2012, 02:46:14 AM
Quick question for letter writing clarification.

It's been said (couldn't find the quote fast enough, so I'm just paraphrasing) that we need to keep up the pressure.  What does this mean please?

I've written 4 letters with lots of heartfelt stuff in 'em.   I waited a few days and sent postcards (homemade Avery 8386, with screenshots of my main toon in various places or zone splash screens) with basically just a handwritten "I love CoH. This is a screenshot of Blah-de-Blah.  Wish I was still able to go there. Thanks for listening." 

Shall I wait a few more days and send another set of postcards? Should I send another round of letters? I have gotten a few people to send in postcards that say "my friend played CoH and loved it...." Is this what I should be doing - asking more friends to send cards?

Just asking for a little guidance. I don't want to sour the milk by sending too much myself, but I want to do all that I can possibly do to help.

thanks
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Dynastys Sweeper on December 04, 2012, 02:57:51 AM
I fully "trust" this team and appreciate the efforts that they have put forth to date and moving forward.  I do not personally "know" any of you; however, I feel that the task at hand warrants our trust and support as a gaming community.  We all have one goal in mind here.  Please remember that. Hope to see you all soon.

when we did a task force in City did we ever know anyone who joined?? that's what i liked about your comment no matter what even tho we are off the game we still have this wounderful community =D and when we run that task force we gotta trust everyone they will do there job. hope to see you soon to r00tb0ySlim
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: dwturducken on December 04, 2012, 03:05:33 AM
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 04, 2012, 03:26:55 AM
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 04, 2012, 03:31:57 AM
Quick question for letter writing clarification.

It's been said (couldn't find the quote fast enough, so I'm just paraphrasing) that we need to keep up the pressure.  What does this mean please?

I've written 4 letters with lots of heartfelt stuff in 'em.   I waited a few days and sent postcards (homemade Avery 8386, with screenshots of my main toon in various places or zone splash screens) with basically just a handwritten "I love CoH. This is a screenshot of Blah-de-Blah.  Wish I was still able to go there. Thanks for listening." 

Shall I wait a few more days and send another set of postcards? Should I send another round of letters? I have gotten a few people to send in postcards that say "my friend played CoH and loved it...." Is this what I should be doing - asking more friends to send cards?

Just asking for a little guidance. I don't want to sour the milk by sending too much myself, but I want to do all that I can possibly do to help.

thanks

Here's the long answer: 

When enough tonnage starts to come in, if we are not talking about a petition, what generally happens is that some poor long-suffering intern gets to sort through the mail coming in about a particular subject.  Said intern rarely can remember his cousin's name, much less yours.  What s/he will be doing is categorizing and culling out particularly interesting pieces of mail.  Form letters go at the bottom of the "interesting" pile, handwritten, interesting, or letters with interesting enclosures go at the top.  An assistant looks at the most interesting.  Some will be selected to go to the executive assistant and a very few will go to the executive himself. 

Here's the short answer:

The guys in the mail room won't know you have sent stuff before.  Keep sending.

Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Merseine on December 04, 2012, 03:35:14 AM

Here's the short answer:

The guys in the mail room won't know you have sent stuff before.  Keep sending.

w00t! Thanks VV!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 04, 2012, 03:58:29 AM
You know, for a good answer on what generally is in the pitch package (and who we are), all a non-lazy person would have to do would be to look for the press release.

Why look, here's one now.

http://lorehound.com/news/when-rejected-the-savecoh-campaign-looks-for-another/ (http://lorehound.com/news/when-rejected-the-savecoh-campaign-looks-for-another/)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on December 04, 2012, 05:21:22 AM
Well our family package is finally done.  Lots of pictures- a different screenshot for each executive, they all are getting pictures of our Statesmouse and our family Disney toys asking them to #SaveCoH. Hand written letters by my daughter and I.  It all took a lot longer to put together than I thought it would, but I hope it makes a difference. Letters will also be coming from the husband. He's still working on what he will include, but will likely also make it out tomorrow or maybe the next day. We really miss playing with our daughter. =(
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: NoName on December 04, 2012, 06:48:14 AM
Hopefully this doesn't put a damper on the efforts.

http://news.yahoo.com/disney-loses-appeal-319-million-wants-millionaire-case-014552575.html (http://news.yahoo.com/disney-loses-appeal-319-million-wants-millionaire-case-014552575.html)

Probably not the best story to do a first post with but I just hope everything succeeds since by what has been mentioned the cost to get the IP and everything else would be a fraction of this.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 04, 2012, 08:45:36 AM
Well that is the television division, not Interactive.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rae on December 04, 2012, 09:11:50 AM
You know, for a good answer on what generally is in the pitch package (and who we are), all a non-lazy person would have to do would be to look for the press release.

And the entire press release was posted up at www.savecoh.com :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: emu265 on December 04, 2012, 12:45:25 PM
Hopefully this doesn't put a damper on the efforts.

http://news.yahoo.com/disney-loses-appeal-319-million-wants-millionaire-case-014552575.html (http://news.yahoo.com/disney-loses-appeal-319-million-wants-millionaire-case-014552575.html)

Probably not the best story to do a first post with but I just hope everything succeeds since by what has been mentioned the cost to get the IP and everything else would be a fraction of this.
If we convince them to want the IP, they'll buy the IP.  A court ruling against a separate division isn't going to stop their business ventures elsewhere, or every single hiccup would weigh down the whole company.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Copper Cockroach on December 04, 2012, 05:25:02 PM
Huh... looks like an eagle or something took a crap on my kick-ass ride. No problem... I'll just grab a couple of the Hail Mary interns and have 'em wash it for me. Wax on! Wax off!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Roughtrade on December 04, 2012, 06:04:10 PM
Anyone have a link to the numbers about how much of NC Soft's Profit was due to City of Heroes?  And a link to the source?

Couple guys in my D&D group are willing to mail letters if I write them and I do not remember where I found the data before.  (This is why you should save drafts I suppose)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: sl701 on December 04, 2012, 08:51:40 PM
Finally found the time to find my letters. Each one got a custom made envelope, the letters are handwritten on paper on which I printed (very faintly) scenes from the game. Also, each letter contains two "trading cards" (redside and blueside) with one of my characters and their (possibly" last words before the world ended.
Here's an image of two of them:

(https://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m6/sanguinius_2006/CoX/Letters-Online.jpg)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Triplash on December 04, 2012, 09:21:45 PM
Those envelopes are gorgeous, and the trading cards are a great idea! Aargh, I was only going to print out simple letters, but now you're seriously tempting me to replace my busted old color printer so I can send something half as cool as yours :D
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: sl701 on December 04, 2012, 09:48:35 PM
Thank you very much, Triplash. The idea hit me while driving home from work today. I'll probably make a card for any of my heroes and villains and put them in my movie prop showcase in the living room  ;D
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Merseine on December 04, 2012, 10:10:15 PM
Thank you very much, Triplash. The idea hit me while driving home from work today. I'll probably make a card for any of my heroes and villains and put them in my movie prop showcase in the living room  ;D

Are you using a trading-card-making program or just doing this via GIMP or Photoshop?  And the text below the pic - is that the character's in-game bio?  Inquiring minds want to know.  Yes, I said minds...my cat Oreo is laying on my left arm while I type this...so she wants to know too.   8)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: sl701 on December 04, 2012, 10:17:55 PM
Are you using a trading-card-making program or just doing this via GIMP or Photoshop?  And the text below the pic - is that the character's in-game bio?  Inquiring minds want to know.  Yes, I said minds...my cat Oreo is laying on my left arm while I type this...so she wants to know too.   8)

I used Photoshop and a template (which I bought, so I can't share it - sorry) to create those cards. The text below the pics are the characters last thoughts before the world ended... In no way I could manage to cram their bios into that tiny space  ;)
Hope you're both satisfied.

...

Heloooooo Oreo!  ;D
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Merseine on December 04, 2012, 10:28:18 PM

Heloooooo Oreo!  ;D

*mrrrrow!*
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Vasarto on December 05, 2012, 12:11:57 AM
Finally found the time to find my letters. Each one got a custom made envelope, the letters are handwritten on paper on which I printed (very faintly) scenes from the game. Also, each letter contains two "trading cards" (redside and blueside) with one of my characters and their (possibly" last words before the world ended.
Here's an image of two of them:

(https://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m6/sanguinius_2006/CoX/Letters-Online.jpg)

AWWWWWW!!!! F***!!!!!

DOUBLE F***!

I wish I had thought of something like that cool! Mine was just a super large Envelope where I would not have to fold my two pager Letters to each one and taped one of our site logo's on the front with the rest of the address..

That is super cool and I am jelly!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: LT. Couper on December 05, 2012, 01:04:09 AM
I used Photoshop and a template (which I bought, so I can't share it - sorry) to create those cards.

I bought a few CoH TCG packs about a year ago. If I, say, scanned them into the computer and created a template with photoshop, would that be ok to share? Because it's technically not buying a template.  :roll:

Just want to clear this with someone who knows more about it than I do first. ;D
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ammon on December 05, 2012, 02:10:28 AM
Anyone have a link to the numbers about how much of NC Soft's Profit was due to City of Heroes?  And a link to the source?
http://global.ncsoft.com/global/ir/quarterly.aspx is as source-y a source as you can get.  We originally extrapolated a lot of data from the Q2 earnings that was discussed in detail.  NCsoft's entire Western (US and Euro) earnings were only 5% of the total, and CoH itself was less than half of that 5% (around 2%).  That still meant that CoH was providing around $3 million in profit per year, despite a large amount of its resources being reinvested in several R&D projects.  Near as we can tell, without all those development costs, Paragon Studios was earning around $10 million USD per annum.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 05, 2012, 05:17:33 AM
http://global.ncsoft.com/global/ir/quarterly.aspx is as source-y a source as you can get.  We originally extrapolated a lot of data from the Q2 earnings that was discussed in detail.  NCsoft's entire Western (US and Euro) earnings were only 5% of the total, and CoH itself was less than half of that 5% (around 2%).  That still meant that CoH was providing around $3 million in profit per year, despite a large amount of its resources being reinvested in several R&D projects.  Near as we can tell, without all those development costs, Paragon Studios was earning around $10 million USD per annum.

OK something just struck me right in the face.  DESPITE GW, GW2, Lineage and Aion all having MUCH higher numbers of players than CoH individually, never mind collectively, CoH all by it's itty-bitty self was responsible for HALF THE US INCOME.

/em boggle.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Vasarto on December 05, 2012, 05:23:45 AM
OK something just struck me right in the face.  DESPITE GW, GW2, Lineage and Aion all having MUCH higher numbers of players than CoH individually, never mind collectively, CoH all by it's itty-bitty self was responsible for HALF THE US INCOME.

/em boggle.

really?

Where can I find the numbers on that so I can see them?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: sl701 on December 05, 2012, 06:20:48 AM
I bought a few CoH TCG packs about a year ago. If I, say, scanned them into the computer and created a template with photoshop, would that be ok to share? Because it's technically not buying a template.  :roll:

Just want to clear this with someone who knows more about it than I do first. ;D

First, I don't know more han you in this regard   ;)
I think if you remove any symbols and stuff (they are easy enough to find via Google) and you only share a blank template it might be okay. Or you could do a search for templates online. I'm sure there' something floating out there. I hope this helps a bit.

Also, thanks for your kind words, guys. I don't consider myself to be a creative person, so this made me a little proud. ;D
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ammon on December 05, 2012, 07:37:10 AM
Where can I find the numbers on that so I can see them?
In the post you quoted as a link, plus in both posts before yours...
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: epawtows on December 05, 2012, 07:50:34 AM
OK something just struck me right in the face.  DESPITE GW, GW2, Lineage and Aion all having MUCH higher numbers of players than CoH individually, never mind collectively, CoH all by it's itty-bitty self was responsible for HALF THE US INCOME.

/em boggle.

Don't want to sound like a downer here, but are you sure your're not comparing apples and oranges? 

By that I mean:  We know Paragon was doing R&D on future games (that are now dead), so the actual income CoH generated varies depending on if you count that R&D cost against it or not

Is there any chance that the other games (GW, GW2, etc) are also funding a lot of R&D that would make their income seem lower? 

I.E., if we say Paragon was making ~$10mil/year not counting R&D costs, and GW/CG2/whatever also making ~$10mil/year COUNTING their R&D costs, its' not a fair comparison. 

Again, not trying to be a downer, just want to be sure there any math errors are caught here, rather than by a reporter or something like that.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: johnrobey on December 05, 2012, 07:59:37 AM
OK something just struck me right in the face.  DESPITE GW, GW2, Lineage and Aion all having MUCH higher numbers of players than CoH individually, never mind collectively, CoH all by it's itty-bitty self was responsible for HALF THE US INCOME.

/em boggle.

Regardless of the numbers, since CoH made profit, I'm still blown away they just shut it down.  I can only assume it made sense for NCSoft to do this from a business perspective, bottom lines and all that.  For a company whose stated mission is to promote human happiness however EPIC FAIL!

Cited source most of us have already seen lots:  http://global.ncsoft.com/global/aboutus/visiongoals.aspx

I'll be keeping my eyes open for more ways to help Team Wildcard.  Thanks, Titans!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Roughtrade on December 05, 2012, 08:14:06 AM
I dunno about R&D or anything like that but...

Couple of different people have been quoting that CoH was in the Guinness Top Ten MMOs by Subscription for 2012.

That has to be generating some cash. 
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 05, 2012, 09:35:54 AM
I know they didn't break out expenses, just what was coming in.  So on income alone, CoH was generating half of the North American profits, as against...and let's be fair here and not count GW2...THREE games combined generating the other half.

While it is true that GW, Lineage and Aion were generating tons of cash in the east, CoH was never even given a shot over there.  A confusing and lackluster launch guaranteed it would be shut down in the east before it had a chance.

But in the West?  HALF of the Western profits.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rae on December 05, 2012, 09:45:06 AM
I was thinking that when I read the Massively article on your interview. Yeah, only 3% of all GLOBAL income, but what did it signify of their Western income?

Now I know!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Segev on December 05, 2012, 04:14:41 PM
This was posted over in the NCSoft Stockwatch thread, but it got me thinking...

So does anyone know or Looked in to Toon Town Player numbers its a year older then CoH & Disney still has that going. And I do remember seeing some Saturday morning commericals for it a year ago.

I want to preface this thought by saying that we want in no way to make this annoying nor rude, just attention-getting and perhaps touching. How much freedom to customize your character does Toon Town give? Maybe we should consider signing up for accounts en masse and making as heroic-looking avatars as we can to do a Disney World-style parade to promote the idea that Disney should seek to buy CoH. "We're all players who signed into Toon Town just to tell you we'd pay you money to play CoH again."

The role-players amongst us might even make it a role-playing challenge. Write up, depending on the customizability of the avatars, a backstory for your character explaining he escaped a dying world of heroes and is a bit confused by the cartoony nature of his new home, but is seeking help to restore his old one. Or something like that.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Crater Labs on December 05, 2012, 09:05:03 PM
Okay, I just sent out some postcards to the four Disney addresses by going to AmazingMail.com.  I took this image of a screenshot that I grabbed on the last day:

(https://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a97/afgncaap5/City%20of%20Heroes/screenshot_121130-19-46-26.jpg)

...and sent it with the message

"Save Our City
Buy our Game
Help Us Build A Whole New World With You
#SaveCoH"

along with a lengthier message on the back.  I received a warning that I hadn't made the screenshot at the optimal dpi and that it might appear fuzzy or pixelated, but it seemed okay when I viewed the preview.

I also sent another such bit of mail with the same image to our friend Mr. Kim in Korea, thanking him for all he's done for us (words that felt wrong to type) and asking him to sell the game.  I sent a copy of that one to myself, so ideally I'll see how the image will look to the recipients.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Triplash on December 05, 2012, 11:42:58 PM
I took this image of a screenshot

That is a great picture. The shooting stars in the background really make it perfect... nice work :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on December 06, 2012, 03:13:18 AM
OK something just struck me right in the face.  DESPITE GW, GW2, Lineage and Aion all having MUCH higher numbers of players than CoH individually, never mind collectively, CoH all by it's itty-bitty self was responsible for HALF THE US INCOME.

Technically, it was responsible for an equal of half their US income - it was played elsewhere too. But yes, it's been mentioned around.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: johnrobey on December 06, 2012, 12:54:46 PM
Okay, I just sent out some postcards to the four Disney addresses by going to AmazingMail.com.  I took this image of a screenshot that I grabbed on the last day:

(https://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a97/afgncaap5/City%20of%20Heroes/screenshot_121130-19-46-26.jpg)

...and sent it with the message

"Save Our City
Buy our Game
Help Us Build A Whole New World With You
#SaveCoH"

Really pretty!   Beautifully done.  Thank you!

along with a lengthier message on the back.  I received a warning that I hadn't made the screenshot at the optimal dpi and that it might appear fuzzy or pixelated, but it seemed okay when I viewed the preview.

I also sent another such bit of mail with the same image to our friend Mr. Kim in Korea, thanking him for all he's done for us (words that felt wrong to type) and asking him to sell the game.  I sent a copy of that one to myself, so ideally I'll see how the image will look to the recipients.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Merseine on December 06, 2012, 06:09:45 PM
Just throwing out another example here.  Take it and use it if you wish, this is just to perhaps spark other ideas.

I've made postcards (Avery 8386) with various screenshots.  I'm sending one out today with this image on the front:

http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/File:Splash_DestroyedGalaxyCity.jpg (http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/File:Splash_DestroyedGalaxyCity.jpg)

On the back it reads:
"Dear Mr. Pleasants,
We were all working hard to reclaim Galaxy City when the world was taken from us.
Please let us be heroes again - Save Galaxy City with us!
Thanks for listening. Save COH!"
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Arkasas on December 07, 2012, 01:33:31 AM
This was posted over in the NCSoft Stockwatch thread, but it got me thinking...

I want to preface this thought by saying that we want in no way to make this annoying nor rude, just attention-getting and perhaps touching. How much freedom to customize your character does Toon Town give? Maybe we should consider signing up for accounts en masse and making as heroic-looking avatars as we can to do a Disney World-style parade to promote the idea that Disney should seek to buy CoH. "We're all players who signed into Toon Town just to tell you we'd pay you money to play CoH again."

The role-players amongst us might even make it a role-playing challenge. Write up, depending on the customizability of the avatars, a backstory for your character explaining he escaped a dying world of heroes and is a bit confused by the cartoony nature of his new home, but is seeking help to restore his old one. Or something like that.

Unless it's changed in the four or five years since I stopped playing, no. Toontown allows you to make a toon with several choices of species and a sizable wardrobe, but nothing quite to the extent of CoH. (You also have to pay with in-game currency for a lot of the clothes.) Making a heroic looking toon is... hard, to say the least. You can customize the name.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Segev on December 07, 2012, 05:39:43 AM
Hm. Maybe just get a uniform t-shirt or something (a t-shirt in red with a star on the chest?) to do the parade in, then.

I dunno. Brainstorming; may not be a good idea.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: healix on December 07, 2012, 06:20:13 AM
It's time to think outside the quadrilateral parallelogram.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Arkasas on December 08, 2012, 02:31:15 AM
Hm. Maybe just get a uniform t-shirt or something (a t-shirt in red with a star on the chest?) to do the parade in, then.

I dunno. Brainstorming; may not be a good idea.

Yeah, you could try that. Problem would be getting enough people to join you. (So, not many problems.)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: LT. Couper on December 08, 2012, 04:08:21 AM
Following up on my earlier comment about the CoH TCG template. Im just about done with making one but I don't have/can't find any decent quality AT logos, so the only only one I have is the scrapper logo (The original card was Ms. Liberty). So if someone could direct me to some good pictured of those logos, I would appreciate it.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Turjan on December 08, 2012, 05:13:46 PM
Following up on my earlier comment about the CoH TCG template. Im just about done with making one but I don't have/can't find any decent quality AT logos, so the only only one I have is the scrapper logo (The original card was Ms. Liberty). So if someone could direct me to some good pictured of those logos, I would appreciate it.

Mother's Love has large versions of Archetype logos in this Photobucket album :-

City of Heroes Memorabilia Art (http://s115.beta.photobucket.com/user/Mothers_Love/library/City%20of%20Heroes%20Memorabilia%20Art)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Merseine on December 08, 2012, 05:22:35 PM
Following up on my earlier comment about the CoH TCG template. Im just about done with making one but I don't have/can't find any decent quality AT logos, so the only only one I have is the scrapper logo (The original card was Ms. Liberty). So if someone could direct me to some good pictured of those logos, I would appreciate it.
There's also a whole category called "Graphics" on the Paragon Wiki:  http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Category:Graphics (http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Category:Graphics)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Nos482 on December 09, 2012, 12:34:52 PM
HEEEEEEEELLLLLLLP!
(https://images.weserv.nl/?url=www.bookchums.com%2FEditorImages%2Fwriters-block-1.jpg)
Well, maybe not exactly this...
My English is good enough for forums or in-game, but writing a letter?
Umm, well :-[
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 09, 2012, 12:53:31 PM
HEEEEEEEELLLLLLLP!
(https://images.weserv.nl/?url=www.bookchums.com%2FEditorImages%2Fwriters-block-1.jpg)
Well, maybe not exactly this...
My English is good enough for forums or in-game, but writing a letter?
Umm, well :-[

You start by explaining that you are not from the US or the UK, and that English is not your first language

You then tell Iger and Pleasants how much the game meant to you.  You tell them about the friends you met there.  You tell them anything at all about the game that made it so enjoyable for you.

You remind them that you are not from the US, and so the game really was international.

You thank them for reading.

Believe me, they will be more impressed that you made the effort than you think! 
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Terwyn on December 09, 2012, 04:53:14 PM
I will be working on Part VII tomorrow, and will at least partially focus on the efforts of Team Wildcard. The other focus will be on a certain interview. So, Part VII will be another Mercedes LacKey special. ;)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: johnrobey on December 10, 2012, 12:08:21 PM
Well that is the television division, not Interactive.

Love your Dido quote btw.  It's how a lot of us feel.   :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Hakkusshon on December 10, 2012, 01:36:20 PM
I live in Japan, but I'm coming home for the holidays. I've told my wife that I plan on buying some lottery tickets (which I normally never do). I said that if I win, I'm not buying a sports car, yacht or mansion, but CoH. Not a copy of a game, but the actual game.  She was perfectly fine with that, despite never playing the game before...

Now that I think about it, the odds of me winning the lottery is pretty slim since it appears I used up all of my luck finding this wonderful woman.
Title: MMOSite Voting: Let Disney Know!
Post by: Felderburg on December 10, 2012, 04:31:25 PM
Despite the fact that CoH is closed, it is doing VERY well in MMOSite's annual Reader's Choice awards, beating out many other active games to be top 3 in the two categories it's nominated for. That is definitely worth noting. For more info, check out the call to action: http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,7106.0.html
Title: Was CoH Profitable?
Post by: FrankTurk on December 10, 2012, 06:39:04 PM
I was thinking that when I read the Massively article on your interview. Yeah, only 3% of all GLOBAL income, but what did it signify of their Western income?

Now I know!

{sigh}

NCSoft is a publicly traded company.  They release a quarterly Consolidated fact sheet on all financials.  When you convert that from Korean Won to USD, they took in on all games $226.4 million -- half of that through Lineage and Lineage II.  CoH was only slightly about Guild Wars (the original) at 2% of all revenue -- about $5 million in the first half before the announcement.

Even if all of that was "WESTERN" "income", they had to support a studio employing about 80 people and the server infrastructure to serve game.  If we believe that CoH would have taken in $10 million in 2012 with no announcement, that only just barely covers costs to do the minimum of development, have a decent-sized office, and pay people what professional programmers and artists make.  There's no way to say it's a profitable franchise in comparison to, for example, Aion which took in 16 times as many dollars.

We all love this game.  I think I went through withdrawal this weekend not being able to play it.  But let's not imagine that NCSoft was just on some kind of drunken flop here shutting it down.
Title: Re: Was CoH Profitable?
Post by: Kistulot on December 10, 2012, 06:47:38 PM
But let's not imagine that NCSoft was just on some kind of drunken flop here shutting it down.

If they had this kind of information (and if anyone would, wouldn't it be them?) and they didn't express it by now, this only further shows their poor decision making process in the past. They still have a chance to turn this around, but I think it would show a poor choice of judgement.
Title: Re: Was CoH Profitable?
Post by: JaguarX on December 10, 2012, 10:10:21 PM
If they had this kind of information (and if anyone would, wouldn't it be them?) and they didn't express it by now, this only further shows their poor decision making process in the past. They still have a chance to turn this around, but I think it would show a poor choice of judgement.

With the NDAs on negotitations still seemingly in effect, I would imagine the stated reason or details over the closing wouldnt come to public light until sometime, if at all, after all the NDAs expire. If negotitation details cant even be mentioned even for those that fell through or no longer even relevant I can only imagine there is some sort of NDA on any details about the closing as those details may actually affect negotiations (or maybe not). In many companies it is standard procedure to not release any information about a product that have an NDA on it whether it cover negotitations, demantling it, new owners, or even trying to decide what to do with it, to prevent something accidentially getting out or the seemingly non-relevant announcements giving away details that fall under the NDA or is the reason for th eNDA i nthe first place. Until the NDAs go away I think it's unrealistic to expect anything said about the decision even if they wanted to until after those NDAs expire. They may not say nothing at all, but just in case that is also their policy, I would give them a chance after details can freely flow if ever. 

I wouldnt be surprised if there are some insiders right now that are itching to release all the details, whether it's because they think their uppers are idiots for not doing so or because they liked COX too and value the customers and want to clear stuff up, but may not feel their job, career, reputation is worth doing so.

More details would be nice and probably would clear up a lot of stuff but according to many of the insiders there is a lot of legal stuff that prevent the free flow of that type of information and that may or may not apply here, even if it's a nuke way of handling. The government takes this approach all the time even for stuff that is not officially clssified in itself but information released can confirm existance or raise questions about something existing that they do not yet wish to be let out that exists. Or on a day to day basis, I cant say I seen this particular person at a particular clinic because it can lead to questions and insinuations about information that is HIPAA protected about that person's records even though I never seen or even have access to their records and merely saying you saw someone is protected information in itself. Do people still do it? yes. If it gets tracked back to them and it has many times before, they have a bunch of explaining to do and loss of job for ever in the government sector.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ironwolf on December 11, 2012, 03:06:54 AM
I have seen this myth now repeatedly:

City of Heroes paid for a studio of 80 programmers/devs - this is a fallacy those needed for CoH were likely about 25-30 and the rest were making 2 (two) NEW games unrelated to CoH.

If they were paying for these new games out of CoH cash then the games was saving them a lot of developer salaries. For the number needed to run CoH the yearly expenses for the over all game would fall about in the 2.5 to 3 million range for the year leaving 3 quarters out of the year pure profit.

Note if this was a move to gain profit - they would have shut down all those except say 15-20 working on CoH and make 7-8 million a year from the game. They did not do this they flushed the entire Western enterprise down the tubes.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Zachary on December 11, 2012, 11:30:17 AM
Postcards sent. I still have many left if we get new targets :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Tanglefoe on December 11, 2012, 05:22:08 PM
I just sent an email to a lady I used to work with who grew up in Florida and spent several years at Disney and asked if there was any chance she still knew anybody there with string pulling abilities.  I highly doubt she does or I would have probably already heard about it but I'll check my email later and see what she says.

Alright guys I got some pretty good news this morning.  I ran into this person earlier and she brought up the email.  She said that she forwarded the email to her dad who is retired but used to be the head of food and beverage at Disney.  She said that he said last week he attended an "Eyes and Ears" meeting that all of the current and many retired Disney executives regularly attend and he mentioned this to someone he knows who still works in marketing.  She said she would check her email and if he sends anything she would forward it to me.  So, good news guys, take away that this was mentioned at an "Eyes and Ears" meeting with current and former Disney executives.

Also, rereading this I realized I never posted what I included in the first email I sent to her.  I pretty much just mentioned the pitch to Disney to buy CoH from NCSoft and told her to tell whoever she might know that we're (Titan Network) good people and they should have a look.  I didn't realize that she'd be sending it to her dad, so even better.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Jordan_Lee on December 11, 2012, 09:55:04 PM
Alright guys I got some pretty good news this morning.  I ran into this person earlier and she brought up the email.  She said that she forwarded the email to her dad who is retired but used to be the head of food and beverage at Disney.  She said that he said last week he attended an "Eyes and Ears" meeting that all of the current and many retired Disney executives regularly attend and he mentioned this to someone he knows who still works in marketing.  She said she would check her email and if he sends anything she would forward it to me.  So, good news guys, take away that this was mentioned at an "Eyes and Ears" meeting with current and former Disney executives.

Also, rereading this I realized I never posted what I included in the first email I sent to her.  I pretty much just mentioned the pitch to Disney to buy CoH from NCSoft and told her to tell whoever she might know that we're (Titan Network) good people and they should have a look.  I didn't realize that she'd be sending it to her dad, so even better.

Super exciting to hear, thanks!!!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Sapphire Jane on December 11, 2012, 10:45:08 PM
Just an FYI.  I received my letter back today that I sent to Jean-Marcel Nicolai.  "Return to Sender - Unable to Locate" was stamped on the envelope.  And it had the yellow label "Return to sender - Atempted - Not Known, Unable to Forward".

Anyone else have their letters returned?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Merseine on December 11, 2012, 11:46:28 PM
Just an FYI.  I received my letter back today that I sent to Jean-Marcel Nicolai.  "Return to Sender - Unable to Locate" was stamped on the envelope.  And it had the yellow label "Return to sender - Atempted - Not Known, Unable to Forward".

Anyone else have their letters returned?

Not a one - and I sent mine out before the world went dark.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 12, 2012, 06:04:12 AM
I've had Christmas cards sent back from friends that way, and I have lived here for 20 years.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Wyrm on December 12, 2012, 07:57:15 PM
Just an FYI.  I received my letter back today that I sent to Jean-Marcel Nicolai.  "Return to Sender - Unable to Locate" was stamped on the envelope.  And it had the yellow label "Return to sender - Atempted - Not Known, Unable to Forward".

Anyone else have their letters returned?
Mine to him came back with the address blacked out.  I think the stamp said that I needed to include both a first and a last name; I copied and pasted it from the top of this thread and printed the address label rather than writing out the address, so I didn't get anything wrong.  /em shrugs

Given that Nicolai wasn't one of the more critical targets, I just dropped it in the recycling bin.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: srmalloy on December 13, 2012, 07:48:32 PM
Anyone else have their letters returned?

Not yet -- and given the normal mailing time between San Diego and Burbank, I would have seen them come back long before now if they'd been kicked back for having an invalid address.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: dwturducken on December 13, 2012, 08:22:51 PM
I started sending that first week, but it's been one at a time. I dropped Nicolai from my mailing list almost right away, though. I'm about to send out Christmas cards, though, and I have one each for Iger and Pleasants. I'm trying to decide if I can get a good quality image to make a little trading card out of from my screenies to throw into each of them, but I want to get them out by Saturday.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 14, 2012, 03:09:20 AM
Keep up the mailings!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rae on December 14, 2012, 10:28:29 AM
The Post Office is gonna love me. Sending more out today :D
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: QuantumHero on December 15, 2012, 05:40:12 AM
FYI in a very pleasant suprise I am heading to disney world ...um tomarrow.  This was a very unexpected trip and I have not known about it for more then a day or two but the price (almost free) is the sort one does not turn down so off to the world of the mouse I go.  Um is there *anything* useful this can do our hopes and dreams.  I have a save coh song specifically written for disney but no background music or video for it :( so I guess I'll just hold it till I get back.  In light of ncsoft's apparent sale to itself where are we on this task force? I've been buried in phoenix project and real life stuff but my first goal is whatever it takes to save our community.

Will my location as of tomarrow be of any value, heroes?

QuantumHero

As Ncsoft falls, heroes will rise
They made the ashes, we sought the skies
Under mouse ears or our own phoenix wings
Our spirit wil not die, it is just learning to sing

We are heroes, and this is what we do.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: omegaultima on December 15, 2012, 09:43:28 PM
As Ncsoft falls, heroes will rise
They made the ashes, we sought the skies
Under mouse ears or our own phoenix wings
Our spirit wil not die, it is just learning to sing

We are heroes, and this is what we do.


Oh geez, that made me tear up...  :'(
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 16, 2012, 04:07:22 AM
The general consensus is that the NCSoft Western Reorganization is of interest only to us in that it won't make buying the IP harder and might make it easier.

Other than that, we are waiting on Disney to open one ponderous eye and notice us.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Sleepy Wonder on December 16, 2012, 02:03:26 PM
The general consensus is that the NCSoft Western Reorganization is of interest only to us in that it won't make buying the IP harder and might make it easier.

Other than that, we are waiting on Disney to open one ponderous eye and notice us.

I still find it strange. Don't they already have offices in the US? What exactly is there plan?

Re-build this Western office under the guise of a new company with new management and it will magically solve their problems?

The only way I see this being positive for them is if they staff it with American workers who understand American (and European) culture, and allow them complete control of their "division" provided they are making profits.

This is what they should have always have had done to begin with, instead of what appears to have been a strict Korean management team here or overseas constantly micromanaging the decisions. This is hinted at in those glassglow reviews of NCSoft to some degree I think.

I hope if such a process works out for them, that any new games managed by this new company don't suffer the same fate as CoH did many years from now.

At least, to some degree, it seems they at least understand there is a serious disconnect between the Western markets and Korean markets, and that if they have any hope whatsoever of doing business here in the future, they quit trying to impose what works in Korea to what works here (which it doesnt).


But how, VV, do you think this would help us? I don't imagine that NCSoft would hand over control of the dead IP to this new subsidiary purely on the basis it is a "Western market IP". I find it hard to think even if they did, that they would allow it to be sold. Or would that be just the thing they would do? It makes business sense to me, but given that this is NCSoft we're talking about.. and everything thats going on, well, NCSoft is still a bright colored of stupid in my book.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: CrimsonCapacitor on December 16, 2012, 03:50:55 PM
The general consensus is that the NCSoft Western Reorganization is of interest only to us in that it won't make buying the IP harder and might make it easier.

Other than that, we are waiting on Disney to open one ponderous eye and notice us.

Disney is underneath Sharkhead Island?  Who knew?   ;D
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: LT. Couper on December 16, 2012, 05:22:32 PM
Following up on my earlier comment about the CoH TCG template. Im just about done with making one but I don't have/can't find any decent quality AT logos, so the only only one I have is the scrapper logo (The original card was Ms. Liberty). So if someone could direct me to some good pictured of those logos, I would appreciate it.

Following up on my follow-up, I finally got around to actually creating a template and I posted it on DeviantArt http://fav.me/d5ob6dy (http://fav.me/d5ob6dy)
Not the best photoshop job but I'm sure anyone who uses this will create something amazing.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 17, 2012, 02:12:40 AM
I still find it strange. Don't they already have offices in the US? What exactly is there plan?

Re-build this Western office under the guise of a new company with new management and it will magically solve their problems?

The only way I see this being positive for them is if they staff it with American workers who understand American (and European) culture, and allow them complete control of their "division" provided they are making profits.

This is what they should have always have had done to begin with, instead of what appears to have been a strict Korean management team here or overseas constantly micromanaging the decisions. This is hinted at in those glassglow reviews of NCSoft to some degree I think.

I hope if such a process works out for them, that any new games managed by this new company don't suffer the same fate as CoH did many years from now.

At least, to some degree, it seems they at least understand there is a serious disconnect between the Western markets and Korean markets, and that if they have any hope whatsoever of doing business here in the future, they quit trying to impose what works in Korea to what works here (which it doesnt).


But how, VV, do you think this would help us? I don't imagine that NCSoft would hand over control of the dead IP to this new subsidiary purely on the basis it is a "Western market IP". I find it hard to think even if they did, that they would allow it to be sold. Or would that be just the thing they would do? It makes business sense to me, but given that this is NCSoft we're talking about.. and everything thats going on, well, NCSoft is still a bright colored of stupid in my book.

As part of the "reorganization" notice, they seemed to amend their position from "all options have been exhausted" to "no decision has been made regarding selling City of Heroes."  I am cautiously reading that as positive. 

As for the rest...there are a couple of things you could read into this.  "Stock is dropping like the Hidenburg!  Quick!  Announce a reorganization!"  Or  "Let's put another layer of protection between us and Them."  Or  "This is a great way to hide something."  Speculation possibilities are endless.  The bottom line is, we still don't know.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: dwturducken on December 18, 2012, 10:01:44 PM
I'd forgotten until I was cleaning the desk, but the stamps that I'd bought for Christmas cards were forever stamps that had one of "Justice," "Equality," "Freedom," and "Liberty" on each stamp with "Forever" below it. Each of the Christmas cards I sent to the Disney contacts got a "Freedom Forever" stamp. I know it's, at best, only going to be some secretary or assistant who sees it, if it isn't done by a machine, but it was cool to me. :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: nyhm on December 21, 2012, 03:30:06 AM
my friend told me about this site and after looking through this i decided to jump in here. I juust posted this in another thread:

http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,7444.0.html

________________________
Jean-Marcel hasnt worked there in almost 2-3 years? He "left" as part of a major re-org. Hence the return.

Also, while it is admirable to try and get a hold of John Pleasants, he is only the CO-President of Disney Interacftive Media Group. He runs the Video Games/Mobile side of the business known as Disney Interactive. The head of Production is Bill Roper, he reports to Pleasants. If you want a shot at them, you should try Roper first.

BUT, who the correct person to contact is Jimmy Pitaro, he is the other CO-President, runs the Online business, including Online Games,which are web based and facebook based games.

Pitaro and PLeasants are both based in Palo Alto, but you have to use the main corporate mail address (which you have) to get through them.


PS,
I know this because I worked at Disney Interactive until a couple of months ago.  Good Luck.

___________________

Also, keep in mind that it is VERY hard to get Disney to open unsolicited mail. Most fo the time its their admins who open them. If its unsolicited stuff, they tend to throw them away. I dont mean to rain on any parade. I wish you guys a lot fo luck. I want my game back!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 21, 2012, 03:47:17 AM
my friend told me about this site and after looking through this i decided to jump in here. I juust posted this in another thread:

http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,7444.0.html

________________________
Jean-Marcel hasnt worked there in almost 2-3 years? He "left" as part of a major re-org. Hence the return.

Also, while it is admirable to try and get a hold of John Pleasants, he is only the CO-President of Disney Interacftive Media Group. He runs the Video Games/Mobile side of the business known as Disney Interactive. The head of Production is Bill Roper, he reports to Pleasants. If you want a shot at them, you should try Roper first.

BUT, who the correct person to contact is Jimmy Pitaro, he is the other CO-President, runs the Online business, including Online Games,which are web based and facebook based games.

Pitaro and PLeasants are both based in Palo Alto, but you have to use the main corporate mail address (which you have) to get through them.


PS,
I know this because I worked at Disney Interactive until a couple of months ago.  Good Luck.

___________________

Also, keep in mind that it is VERY hard to get Disney to open unsolicited mail. Most fo the time its their admins who open them. If its unsolicited stuff, they tend to throw them away. I dont mean to rain on any parade. I wish you guys a lot fo luck. I want my game back!

Do Roper and Pitaro have authority to look at acquiring games?  If not, we will have to stick to Pleasants.  If so, I can print up another pair of the pitches and send it to them.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: nyhm on December 21, 2012, 03:59:27 AM
Pitaro and Pleasants  would be your people. However they cant acquire them without Iger. He is the CEO. But my point earlier is that you are going to the wrong person if you are sending this to Pleasants ONLY. He deals with Video Games. IN Disney's setup, thats Console games that also can be played on PC, and iOS/Android. NOT online games such as MMOs.

Pitaro deals with ONLINE games. I know its confusing. But thats how they are setup. Anything dealing with ONLINE goes through him.

Pitaro and PLeasants dont "talk" to each other in the sense that if you sent something to pleasants, and thought "oh this is online stuff" he wont give it to Pitaro.

I dont see the harm if you are sending it to Pleasants, they may be changing their strategy to include MMOs. i dunno.

Good Luck.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 21, 2012, 04:28:04 AM
So I only need to print up one more packet and overnight it to Pitaro.  Easy peasy.  Thanks for the heads-up!  I went with Iger and Pleasants for the initial presentation, with two to Pleasants, one at his Palo Alto office and one to the Bueno Vista office.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on December 22, 2012, 06:43:06 AM
My daughter and I will send some stuff out to Pitaro this weekend. Glad I made an extra copy of her letter, although now that it's been a few weeks, I might convince her to write a new one.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Riff on December 26, 2012, 01:00:33 AM
No.

No temper tantrums, no name calling, no assumption of privilege because you have the title "Project Coordinator" under your name is going to get what you want.

No threatening to withhold your letter is going to get what you want.

No.

What part of that are you having trouble comprehending?

We are dealing with a multi BILLION dollar company.  So far all we know about YOU, Riff, is that you have a title under your name on the Titan Boards.  I don't know how you got that title.  I don't know what you do.  I don't know if you are trustworthy.  I don't know if you are going to go straight to someone else with the pitch and use it there while we are, at the same time, trying to interest Disney.  Trust goes both ways, and so far, you have shown yourself to be monumentally untrustworthy. 

So.

No.

Ok at the risk of diverting this thread (yet again) I just wanted to try and draw a line under this a little bit.

I want to publicly hold my hands up and say calling bullshit was the wrong term to use and I wholeheartedly appologise for that.

I have had written to Victoria personally to appologise too, and given her some greater insight into my resonse, and reasons for it which I think she's accepted. I am not trying to obfuscate or hinder this effort and in conversation with her I have a better understanding of her reticence in sharing which I duly accept.

I hope I'm not the bad guy here. We're all on the same side, ultimately - and I guess some of us can be a bit prone to sounding shrill because we're still coming to terms with the loss.

I hope I still have some part to play on this team and I want to remain part of delivering some kind of positive outcome here.

Cheers and thanks for reading.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 26, 2012, 01:24:54 AM
This is the first salvo in what I am HOPING will not be a long campaign, but in what we are planning to be a campaign that takes as long as it takes.

I should get more information from Larry's high-level contact at Google Ventures about whether or not Google Play might be interested, and who to contact.  He didn't immediately shoot the idea down, so that's a plus.  He's going to get back to us about the second week in January.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Sleepy Wonder on December 26, 2012, 08:22:16 PM
This is the first salvo in what I am HOPING will not be a long campaign, but in what we are planning to be a campaign that takes as long as it takes.

I should get more information from Larry's high-level contact at Google Ventures about whether or not Google Play might be interested, and who to contact.  He didn't immediately shoot the idea down, so that's a plus.  He's going to get back to us about the second week in January.

Does this mean Disney isn't interested or you haven't heard anything yet? Also, did you manage to overnight the pitch as mentioned earlier?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on December 27, 2012, 03:03:59 AM
Does this mean Disney isn't interested or you haven't heard anything yet? Also, did you manage to overnight the pitch as mentioned earlier?

Have not heard anything yet, but this is the middle of holidays.  At Disney, there are two things happening: the CEOs and white collar workers are mostly on vacation.  The people in charge of the parks and movie business are working insanely.  We don't expect to hear anything until after the new year.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rae on December 29, 2012, 01:30:47 PM
I am back! I had the flu over Christmas. But I'm sorta-mostly back now!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Timelord Tom on December 31, 2012, 01:24:50 PM
For those of you with Twitter accounts, about 20 hours ago Disney threw out the question: "What would your wish upon a star be?"

Certainly wouldn't hurt to get as many "Save/bring back City of Heroes" replies to that as possible.


https://twitter.com/search?q=what%20would%20your%20wish%20upon%20a%20star%20be%3F&src=typd (https://twitter.com/search?q=what%20would%20your%20wish%20upon%20a%20star%20be%3F&src=typd)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on December 31, 2012, 04:32:21 PM
Done.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on December 31, 2012, 04:39:07 PM
Mine was done yesterday right after Disney tweeted it. I think it's wise to follow them on twitter if you do twitter. They aren't spammy and often tweet things that can be responded to with "I wish Disney would save CoH" or some variation.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on January 01, 2013, 01:23:51 AM
Good catch, guys!

Can you link TimEnchanter's Christmas Wish vid too?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3S-3LObdyM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3S-3LObdyM)

It's perfect and hits right in the feels.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: houtex on January 01, 2013, 05:40:37 AM
Done and Done!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Risha on January 03, 2013, 04:43:26 PM
Late with my Wish Upon A Star, but sent, along with links to Tim the Enchanter's video, and COH It's Always A Good Time.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: pogoman on January 04, 2013, 12:01:07 AM
Done
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: pogoman on January 04, 2013, 08:24:45 PM
Good catch, guys!

Can you link TimEnchanter's Christmas Wish vid too?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3S-3LObdyM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3S-3LObdyM)

It's perfect and hits right in the feels.

Just watched that video...These videos make me sad. But it was well done.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Joshex on January 08, 2013, 05:13:59 PM
I'm a little late doing this but I'll write a few letters, the mouse seems to have his eye on me in a good way so.. lets see what happens.

until then please don't loose faith in disney, they have yet to give us a definitive answer.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Cinnder on January 08, 2013, 08:19:37 PM
Please correct me if I'm wrong, VV, but Disney won't give us (even Team Wildcard) an answer at all, will they?  If they are interested, isn't the only person they might contact (other than NCsoft) Brian Clayton?  And he might tell you, but you'd have to keep it confidential anyway, correct?

I'm just thinking most of us really need to be patient here and not expect to hear anything for some time, even if Disney has decided they want to be our saviour.  I'd expect the first most of us will hear anything will be when an interested party gets a definitive answer one way or another from NCsoft.  Maybe some of the folks on Team Wildcard may hear something via sources, but they won't be able to tell us without risking the very thing on which we have so many hopes pinned.

So, be patient everyone.  Even if that star is responding to our collective wish, it's still gonna be some time before we know.  Don't lose hope!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: RioJustice on January 09, 2013, 03:09:32 AM
Hello everyone,

I'll send a few letters.  I wish a hearty thank you to all of you for trying to save the City.

Rio
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on January 09, 2013, 03:12:27 AM
Much appreciated!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on January 09, 2013, 03:49:47 AM
Please correct me if I'm wrong, VV, but Disney won't give us (even Team Wildcard) an answer at all, will they?  If they are interested, isn't the only person they might contact (other than NCsoft) Brian Clayton?  And he might tell you, but you'd have to keep it confidential anyway, correct?

Absolutely true.  Our "please contact these people" on the pitch package, as you might recall, are Brian Clayton and Matt Miller.  I can tell you however that as of yet I have heard nothing.

Quote
I'm just thinking most of us really need to be patient here and not expect to hear anything for some time, even if Disney has decided they want to be our saviour.  I'd expect the first most of us will hear anything will be when an interested party gets a definitive answer one way or another from NCsoft.  Maybe some of the folks on Team Wildcard may hear something via sources, but they won't be able to tell us without risking the very thing on which we have so many hopes pinned.

Disney is GLACIAL.  It's like getting the attention of an Ent.  And once you get the eye to open, there has to be an Entmoot where it takes 3 days for everyone to say hello.  This is the situation with most big corporations.

Quote
So, be patient everyone.  Even if that star is responding to our collective wish, it's still gonna be some time before we know.  Don't lose hope!

And never, ever forget that this is just our FIRST target.  We're waiting to hear from my contact at Google.  I'm pondering the next possible target and will open that to discussion after/if Google gives us something to pursue. 
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: healix on January 09, 2013, 08:02:24 AM
I just spotted this.


Disney looks to cut costs (http://www.cnbc.com/id/100358164)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Victoria Victrix on January 09, 2013, 09:35:31 AM
I just spotted this.


Disney looks to cut costs (http://www.cnbc.com/id/100358164)

We knew this was a long shot.

On the other hand, they don't own a game that is making money yet, and we know CoH can make a profit.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rae on January 09, 2013, 09:46:12 AM
Please correct me if I'm wrong, VV, but Disney won't give us (even Team Wildcard) an answer at all, will they?  If they are interested, isn't the only person they might contact (other than NCsoft) Brian Clayton?  And he might tell you, but you'd have to keep it confidential anyway, correct?

I'm just thinking most of us really need to be patient here and not expect to hear anything for some time, even if Disney has decided they want to be our saviour.  I'd expect the first most of us will hear anything will be when an interested party gets a definitive answer one way or another from NCsoft.  Maybe some of the folks on Team Wildcard may hear something via sources, but they won't be able to tell us without risking the very thing on which we have so many hopes pinned.

So, be patient everyone.  Even if that star is responding to our collective wish, it's still gonna be some time before we know.  Don't lose hope!

QFT, as the kids say.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on January 09, 2013, 02:13:48 PM
QFT, as the kids say.

What the heck does that mean, anyway. I always see it and have no idea.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: eabrace on January 09, 2013, 02:18:14 PM
What the heck does that mean, anyway. I always see it and have no idea.
QFT - Quoted For Truth.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Lily Barclay on January 09, 2013, 02:22:37 PM
QFT - Quoted For Truth.

Never would have guessed that. It somehow doesn't sound right. Now I feel old.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rae on January 09, 2013, 03:07:49 PM
Never would have guessed that. It somehow doesn't sound right. Now I feel old.

I googled it to appear down with the kids :-/
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on January 09, 2013, 03:33:05 PM
Word up, my homey, as it were?
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Joshex on January 09, 2013, 07:51:05 PM
I just spotted this.


Disney looks to cut costs (http://www.cnbc.com/id/100358164)

yeah, I suspected this the moment I saw the Toon Town MMO, it was a disney MMO based on 'who framed roger rabbit's world, the advertisements seemed... like they were begging for players, and they must have been on every other commercial during the saturday morning cartoons (allong with enzyte commercials with smiling bob) I still get a kick out of that "mommy daddy, wahts electile disfunxion?"

Yo, Mickey if you're reading this, no harm no foul, just although toon town was a great idea and didn't have much of a fan base, I hope that doesn't soil your mind about MMOs in general. ours is very attractive to any kid/person who ever wanted to be a hero, and to any person who ever wanted to be a villain.

Absolutely true.  Our "please contact these people" on the pitch package, as you might recall, are Brian Clayton and Matt Miller.  I can tell you however that as of yet I have heard nothing.

Disney is GLACIAL.  It's like getting the attention of an Ent.  And once you get the eye to open, there has to be an Entmoot where it takes 3 days for everyone to say hello.  This is the situation with most big corporations.

And never, ever forget that this is just our FIRST target.  We're waiting to hear from my contact at Google.  I'm pondering the next possible target and will open that to discussion after/if Google gives us something to pursue. 

lastly, because disney does take a long time to make decisions; I really don't think we should be prodding other companies yet.

personally, although google is a powerful company, they are also a very 'legal' company, they have a pretty hefty terms and conditions document. and not all of it is passive, I know cause both me and my dad have run into problems with google law before, and we were doing separate things.

also I'm only 27 and I have no idea what QFT meant until now, probably cause most of my life has been spent playing single player nintendo games, and I disliked people and hated leaving my 'cave-lab' as I refer to my room.

I'm not exacvtly down with the homies and I don't care.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rae on January 10, 2013, 10:50:44 AM
Word up, my homey, as it were?

Hollaback, bro.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Merseine on January 11, 2013, 06:16:30 PM
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Xieveral on January 22, 2013, 01:45:00 PM
Its been awfully quiet around these parts lately which doesn't do a whole lot for morale :(

Any word back from the Google connections VV had? And what of Disney? Has VV heard from Brian Clayton lately?

Any news would be welcome.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: houtex on January 22, 2013, 02:49:06 PM
Patience.  Things don't move as quick as a super speeder in the Real World of Multimillion Dollar Businesses.  Many layers to get through.

/Can't stand the silence either, but one must endure...
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Surelle on January 22, 2013, 03:25:09 PM
Well, we are no worse off now or later even if nothing ever happens.  And don't forget the unsung heroes working on a compatible server.  Icon is already up and running, with even the NPC costume pieces unlocked.  I am just grateful that no one ever gave up with that.  Having unrealistic hopes can sometimes shroud the only real hope you have. 
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ironwolf on January 22, 2013, 03:34:55 PM
Business is slow to churn and even if we have a break-through it will be a couple of months to get the gamne rolling again.

I will pledge once we get this game back to spend my own money if needed to advertise and grow the playerbase.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Rae on January 22, 2013, 03:44:48 PM
Do y'all really think if we'd heard something we'd keep it from you? :)

When we know something, you will, too!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Timelord Tom on January 22, 2013, 11:58:52 PM
I just got one of the Xmas cards I'd sent in back as undeliverable. Assuming the other's made it through. It would seem to me that Disney just started shifting through their Xmas mail a week or so ago (pure guess, that.)

Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Calamity1963 on January 23, 2013, 02:42:52 AM
I am so happy to know something is being done to try to save CoH!  My husband and I were paying members and would be happy to be again if it's possible. I will keep hoping and praying for it to happen and will be reading here to see what happens. Thanks for all your hard work!
Marie ;D
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on January 23, 2013, 02:58:43 AM
Hey there! Glad to have you with us.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Holo Drolo on January 24, 2013, 10:41:33 PM
Wow, what an incredible fan base this game has. City of heroes was my childhood game no older then 13 when I started and I played on and off for years. Now as an adult when I am settled and rooted and have money of my own the game has vanished and I am ready to do what I can to get it back up and running! Just sent a few letters to the addresses given but if I can do anything more I am ready and willing!

Save Paragon!!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on January 25, 2013, 03:53:39 AM
Aw man, that sucks. Doesn't help that CoH had been F2P for a while now, not that NCsoft bothered to advertise that fact by any measure.

Anyway, welcome aboard! Glad to have you with us.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: tomborocks1 on February 04, 2013, 10:06:53 PM
Hi folks. Like everyone else who comes here, I have been in deep mourning since early December. I went by the handle Broadback on Guardian server but my altitus saw me fill up practically every server on COH.

I'm definitely a late comer by nature, but at least wanted to ask a question about the letter writing campaign. I came across the following link and was wondering if an email might have any impact:

http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/contact-us

My brain is the relative size of a peanut so I figured before I took any action, I would at least ask the opinions of this passionate community of folks whom I admire so very much. If letter writing is the way to go, so be it. Maybe I'll even get my 9 year old girl to write in, too, considering she grew up with Disney princesses, as well as with COH.

Thank you very much for your input.

BB
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on February 05, 2013, 03:55:02 AM
Hi there, welcome to the forums! Gotta run to work so I'll give you the tl;dr version - if you can't send a physical letter, then the contact form might be a good thing to go with. If you can send an actual handwritten letter, that's a lot better, because it implies that CoH is important enough to you to go the more inconvenient but more effective route instead.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: tomborocks1 on February 05, 2013, 09:04:29 PM
Thank you very much. I really want to do both, but didn't want to take any action with the email without consulting those spearheading the effort. I didn't know if it was an action which would have been frowned upon.

Thanks again. Still keeping my fingers crossed.

Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Ironwolf on February 06, 2013, 05:04:15 PM
Nothing is frowned upon - except admitting defeat.

Day: [to Bluto] Let it go. War's over, man. Wormer dropped the big one.
Bluto: What? Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
Otter: [to Boon] Germans?
Boon: Forget it, he's rolling.
Bluto: And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the goin' gets tough...
[thinks hard of something to say]
Bluto: The tough get goin'! Who's with me? Let's go!
[Bluto runs out, alone; then returns]
Bluto: What happened to the Delta I used to know? Where's the spirit? Where's the guts, huh? This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you're gonna let it be the worst. "Ooh, we're afraid to go with you Bluto, we might get in trouble." Well just kiss my ass from now on! Not me! I'm not gonna take this. Wormer, he's a dead man! Marmalard, dead! Niedermeyer...
Otter: Dead! Bluto's right. Psychotic... but absolutely right. We gotta take these bastards. Now we could do it with conventional weapons, but that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part!

*editted to be somewhat family friendly :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: DAvino1982 on February 09, 2013, 08:38:40 AM
I have been really depressed since the shutdown of CoH, and I'm pretty f***ing tired of it, I'm not going to sit aside and cheer anymore, I'm writing to Disney. I'm posting my letter so that I can get some input on any changes they the community might suggest before I send it off, as well as boost morale for our cause. So here it is...

Dear Robert A. Iger

   Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Daniel Avino and I am writing you in support of the SaveCoH community. As I'm sure you are well aware, the Korean based company NCSoft has shut down the MMO game City of Heroes and it's devopment studio Paragon Studios and has created a massive uproar of fans. Much of the community has taken up the task to fight for the game they love, and like myself, many other players of City of Heroes have no interest in other MMO games, they just don't appeal to us like City of Heroes. Since it's release City of Heroes has dominated the Super Hero MMO genre for the 8 years it was running, both Champions Online and DC Universe Online are not nearly as succesful as City of Heroes despite new technology in graphics and ideas. When the game was shut down, it was still making a profit, and according to some, making more money since it's Free to Play release. As a standard in the MMO community, a subscription is usually $15 each month, and as a VIP subscriber, I was not only paying $15 per month for VIP content, but was purchasing the majority of  additional content such as new costumes and powers which Paragon Studios were creating on a regular basis. I was spending at least $250 each year playing City of Heroes and have been a regular player since 2006, I am certain most of the player base was spending a comparable amount of money, I was always running into player who had costumes and powers only available through additional purchase, and playing VIP content that only paid subscribers could access. I believe purchasing City of Heroes can not only be very profitable for Disney, I am sure it will also improve their image in the gaming community in general, while also giving them their first step into the MMO industry with a game that was not only successful, but dominating the Super Hero MMO genre which was only shut down because NCSoft wanted it so despite the wishes of not only the City of Hero players, but the entire MMO community in general. NCSofts shutdown of City of Heroes has caused their stocks to plumit and further tarnished their image. Their investers have questioned their judgment and even the Korean times are baffled at how their decision was supposedly good for their company, and their mistake created a rare oppurtunity for Disney to correct. May I also remind you that NCSoft bought City of Heroes from it's developer Cryptic Studios and once it was purchased, NCSoft seemed to have no intentions on promoting the game further. Despite the lack of promotion, which didn't seem to exist at all, City of Heroes still thrived and dominated any competetors within it's own MMO genre, and with Disney's experience and active promotion of the game, the players can return to the game they love, as well as bring in new players to tryout what new ideas and content Disney can provide for the community. The players of City of Heroes love our game, it has brought together families, as children and their parents have played and become closer together, people have met their spouses through the game, to the City of Heroes community, this is not just a game, it is much more. Disney has the money, resources, and influence to gain NCSoft's attention and deflate their misplaced ego. They are the only ones who are interested in watching our game die and the City of Heroes community refuse to let something so important to them be snuffed out without a fight, and we intend to give them a fight the likes which they have never seen. We are many but are still fighing a large corporation and need aid, the fans of  City of Heroes can keep up the fight for a long time to come, but Disney can end the fight and gain the respect of an entire community and the MMO industry, all while extending Disney's place among a new industry and taking it in directions that they have yet to explore, and with a game that well equipped for the journey.

Please give me your feedback and let me know if anything needs to be changed or addressed, let us not give up hope, BANZAI!!!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: healix on February 12, 2013, 07:38:02 AM
That is AWESOME as is...kudos
(https://i.imgur.com/egEjmCy.gif)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: PsychicG on February 12, 2013, 07:39:04 AM
That looks pretty perfect IMO DAvino. I just wanted to point out Disney did step into the MMO world with an attempted game; ToonTown a few years ago which fizzled(targeted to kids under 10). Just wanted to point that out so you'd know of it. Whether they'd be insulted to be told they'd never tried an MMO,  or what you'd want to rephrase I don't know, but you can come up with it if you haven't sent it in yet :) . They probably wouldn't be too hurt anyway, toontown was never really a name in the MMO world.

Even though it was done way back in december I'd like to remind the new posters of the existence of Titan's Icon app. If you still have CoH installed it launches your game and bypasses the login, server, and character select screens taking you straight into the official game's costumedesigner, where you can load costumes and powercustomization(or make new costumes), and blast off a few powers on that customize page for old times sake  ;D . I was so happy when I stumbled upon it a couple weeks ago. (I'm also going to get around to figuring out how to change the backdrop of the powercust screen, so I can take screenshots that look like they were taken IN the game, of course I'll bring it up again if/when I finally put the time into it  :) )

-PG
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Quinch on February 12, 2013, 03:47:34 PM
It bears mentioning that it's still fizzling, in fact. This is one of the hooks for the Disney pitch - they're already dipping their toes into the MMO market, and CoH is a proven earner.
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: TheCuriousOne on February 27, 2013, 01:27:23 AM
Just wanted to add my two cents. (After all, there's not much call for them in Canada anymore  ;). ) I had a strange relationship to CoX - I first purchased City of Villains, but had to give my copy to a friend upon discovering my net connection wasn't up to snuff. I loved the setting, and the character creator though, and to show my support for the franchise, I purchased a few of the Superpacks once in a while. I only really started to play once Going Rogue hit and I discovered the wonders of a cable connection. Throughout it all, I have been astounded by the community of the game; the level of comraderie and interaction is/was leagues above the competition. So, for what its worth, I'm cheering you guys on with all I've got. Here's hoping that others can see what made this game unique - I'll be sending a letter to Disney straightaway. With any luck it will make its' way past their (no doubt) extensive spam filtering!
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: johnrobey on March 09, 2013, 04:00:53 PM
Welcome to all the fans just now posting!  It's really good to see you guys taking part here on Titan Network forums!

/em holdtorch and doing my best to uphold the dictum to *Be Fabulous*    8)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: healix on March 10, 2013, 11:10:52 AM
*casts vote for JR to with the "Fabulous Award" in all catagories*
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: johnrobey on March 11, 2013, 06:01:14 AM
*casts vote for JR to with the "Fabulous Award" in all catagories*
*blink*  *deep blush*  *re-affirms super-hero Oath to make best efforts to be "Fabulous" in all areas possible - while trying not to faint or fall over*

*then gets clever and realizes there is no need to look further than constituent members of Team Wildcard:  Mercedes Lackey (makes note to ask Victoria Victrix why M.L. isn't doing wonderful things this very second, only be informed by V.V. that she is), Larry Dixon, the Quinch, Rae, and others either unknown to this mostly mild-mannered fan and sometimes reporter or else whose skill level in arcane eludes detection.*

*Bows, blows a kiss of thanks to Healix - then vanishes in a puff of genuine theatrical smoke, the type several grades below that used by Industrial Light & Magic.*

Have a good night, Titans/Titan Network.  Hasta Manana   :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: MindBlender on March 11, 2013, 09:33:35 AM
I like Toon Town!  Throwing a pie in someone's face is a fair stress relief  :)
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: mixedemotions on August 22, 2013, 06:04:30 AM

 Put me down for some letter  :D This gives me a fresh kinda hope to play the game I love with the family I found  :D
Title: Re: Call to Action! Team Wildcard needs YOU! TF Hail Mary LFM
Post by: Thunder Glove on August 23, 2013, 04:34:52 PM
I like Toon Town!  Throwing a pie in someone's face is a fair stress relief  :)

... oh, man.  Oh.  Oh, man. :(