One Year Ago

[Johnny Joy Bringer]

[alphajaybo]

Hey dude the community will never die sure it might get smaller but then it gets bigger again. as for the heroes of paragon city i have a feeling that their return will mark the beginning of a new era.

[healix]

way to keep the faith, alphajaybo...I also believe that we will get our City back. Not only will long-time players come back, but new people would be able to see why we wouldn't let go or give up hope.

[pogoman]

Every time I hear about these wonderful kids, a tear comes to my eye. Then, my resolution gets a little stronger, I get more determined. There were times this past year I almost said, 'Hey, let's not do a show this week...' Then I thought about those kids, and others in this wonderful community of ours and I said 'Hey, I've GOT to do the show this week.' They are MY inspiration. As long as there is air in my lungs and blood in my veins, the show will continue!
 

-Pogoman-

[Johnny Joy Bringer]

And, of course, they are Pogoman fans, ... and Captain Bacon fans ... and god help us all Detra fans.

Every time I hear about these wonderful kids, a tear comes to my eye. Then, my resolution gets a little stronger, I get more determined. There were times this past year I almost said, 'Hey, let's not do a show this week...' Then I thought about those kids, and others in this wonderful community of ours and I said 'Hey, I've GOT to do the show this week.' They are MY inspiration. As long as there is air in my lungs and blood in my veins, the show will continue!
 

-Pogoman-

[Twisted Toon]

Every time I hear about these wonderful kids, a tear comes to my eye. Then, my resolution gets a little stronger, I get more determined. There were times this past year I almost said, 'Hey, let's not do a show this week...' Then I thought about those kids, and others in this wonderful community of ours and I said 'Hey, I've GOT to do the show this week.' They are MY inspiration. As long as there is air in my lungs and blood in my veins, the show will continue!
 

-Pogoman-

I'll let you borrow my family motto, if you'd like.

Dum Spiro Spero. (While I breathe, I hope.)

Or, if you want, you could always use a quote from Commander Peter Quincy Taggert.(Galaxy Quest) "As long as there is injustice, whenever a Targathian baby cries out, wherever a distress signal sounds among the stars, we'll be there. This fine ship, this fine crew. Never give up... and never surrender."

[Triplash]

One year ago, I had accepted the end and knew it was coming, then feared it, then realized it can't ever come, because we're all still here.

I've heard it said that City of Heroes was a social networking tool with an MMO attached. And that sounds about right for what I remember. In that case then, the bulk of its players would have to have been a group of friends that enjoyed each others' company, and just used the game as the core around which they gathered. A game which, in time, they grew to love as though it was another of their friends.

So you're right, the end can't come, because friendship doesn't end. It can change, sure, but even with distance and time feelings this deep don't just stop. We may gather in smaller groups now, and we may pass our time with different activities, but we're still us. We're still the group of friends who all enjoy the same thing, and want each others' company while we do it.

It was the heart of Paragon City that made it special, and one day that heart will beat again. It might be in Paragon City itself, with its familiar streets and caves, or it might be in a city with a new name and new maps to explore. But it doesn't matter. Even if it's not the city we know, it will still be the city we love. 'Cause all our friends will be there.

[Golden Girl]

or it might be in a city with a new name and new maps to explore.

And some will still be caves

[Triplash]

And some will still be caves

Of course! It's not a superhero city without sewers and caves. How else would we show off our ability to wade through nasty muck without getting our clothes dirty?

[Golden Girl]

Of course! It's not a superhero city without sewers and caves. How else would we show off our ability to wade through nasty muck without getting our clothes dirty?

For variety, we'll have 2 styles of sewer - a more modern system for the majority of Titan City, and an older, darker one for the areas beneath the old town district of Salem.

[DJMoose]

[General Idiot]

For variety, we'll have 2 styles of sewer - a more modern system for the majority of Titan City, and an older, darker one for the areas beneath the old town district of Salem.

Somehow, I just became slightly more interested in your game. Which is odd because you'd think that more sewers would make me less interested. :p

[Kaiser Tarantula]

Today is August 31st, the anniversary of the shutdown notice of City of Heroes.  With that notice, NCsoft believed they had ended their commitment to us.  Severed the ties.  Burned the bridges.  In some ways it's true - they have made it very clear that they're done with us, and done with this whole situation.

But we're not done.  Oh no.  Not by a long shot.

I am reminded of a quote by Isoroku Yamamoto, Admiral of the Japanese Navy, about the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant, and fill him with a terrible resolve.

Well, NCsoft's done about the same thing.  One year ago, they woke up a sleeping Titan.  And now they've dealt with us rumbling ominously in their direction for a solid year.  The time is drawing closer when we are going to sever our ties with them, and we're going to do it in spectacular fashion, as only superheroes and supervillains can.

We will have a home again.  By hook or by crook, we will have a home again.  Let the doubters moan, let the naysayers whine, but we will have a home again.  And once we do, we will kick NCsoft to the side, and tell them, "we have had a reevaluation and realignment of our goals as a community.  You no longer matter to us any more."

Best-case scenario?  They learn shame and humility for their mistreatment of us.  Worst-case scenario?  Their accountants still bemoan the fact that our money isn't filling their bank accounts.  I'll be fine with either.

In the meantime, each and every one of you needs to keep that torch held high.  Do not stop, do not give up.  Yeah, it's been a year, but I've seen other communities suffer longer and keep faith, and I'm pretty damned sure we're the best out there.  If it makes you feel better, needle NCsoft a little - don't be rude, don't be crude, but a little reminder that CoH's not dead so long as its community survives is a beautiful thing.  Maybe throw a few comments @ncsoft on twitter, tagged #SaveCoH or #AvengeCoH.  Make yourself heard on their Facebook wall.

It wouldn't hurt to remind them that when they thought they were just killing a game, what they were really doing was wounding a community.  I hold little hope that those blasted executives learn shame from it, but at the very least, we can show them that mistreating your playerbases tends to have consequences down the road.

[Johnny Joy Bringer]

This is a link to Tonyv's extremely gifted response to NCSoft's nonsense and continuing nonsense, at the time.

http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,5467.0.html

Here is the insulting response to the community from NCSoft.

http://web.archive.org/web/20121004230919/http://us.ncsoft.com/en/news/response-to-city-of-heroes-player-and-fan-suggestions.html

I hope we can all remember what doing business with NCSoft is like. In effect is was as if you played a great card, board, or role playing, game with friends all over the world for a decade, and some company didn't just stop publishing the game, they snuck into our houses stole our game and burned our characters sheets. That is what it's like when an MMO shuts suddenly. It destroys faith in the idea of an MMO at all. We are all going to invest our time and money differently after this experience. Observers of this event will also. When joining a new MMO we'll wonder if it's been around too long. We'll wonder if it will be shut down soon, and with little notice. NCSoft damaged the MMO business model when they callously closed City of Heroes.

That might be why so few of us have moved to other games.

My hat is off to people like Golden Girl who has amazing drive, skill, and seems to have a clock with 36(or more) hours on it. I envy her, as my schedule has only become more hectic over the last year. As a life long, gamer, GM, comic collector, and programmer, I would love to work on a game.

I've always been a kind of loner. Never a joiner. In fact I refused to team or join an SG for a long time. I played with only a small group of people. As little as 1 year ago I would never have posted here, or called SaveCOH radio to talk to the ever so cool Pogo. I have grown, thanks to the game, and changed. Not exactly from the game itself, but from the players.

From now until a year from the day they turned off the server I suspect we will be saying "a year ago" a lot. I'm glad. It would be far worse if we all lost our resolve and didn't say anything. Remembering will give strength to the new projects and will harden many of us against purchasing anything that will give money to NCSoft. I hope we will make fan videos, and write stories. I hope we will have parties and remember those of us who didn't make it to see these days.

Well, that's the end of my rambling "I love you guys" mode. I have to make breakfast and play the City of Heroes card game with the kids, because it's raining outside today.

Take care.
#SaveCOH

[r00tb0ySlim]

One Year Ago

So...

One year ago, I had accepted the end and knew it was coming, then feared it, then realized it can't ever come, because we're all still here.

Nice post Johnny.  My kids also played in similar fashion and the wife complained of motion sickness too, so we played her blaster

[Randomvector]

Gonna just say what I say to everyone:
Next year in Paragon.

[Eoraptor]

https://plus.google.com/110443013547390365152/posts/epfoYPmBCGG Because we want our city back!

[LaughingAlex]

I gave my thoughts on the game, for sure.

[batqueen]

(as chanted by loud, angry, defiant cheerleaders,
and led by Head cheerleader, Fusionette...) 
------------------------
(Boom boom bam)
(Boom boom bam)
(Boom boom bam)
(Boom boom bam)


One year ago, on this day,
NCSoft said "go away!"

but we're still here,
we're still here,
we fight for what
we hold dear

they took the keys
and locked the door
threw our accounts
down on the floor

but we're still here,
we're still here,
the world knows that
we're still here

they laughed us off
left us alone
we looked around
could find no home

but we're still here,
we're still here,
time has passed
and we're still here

it's not that easy
you thought you'd win
we'd walk away
and just give in

but we're still here
we're still here
a year has passed
and we're still here

paragon streets are
where we roam
the only place
that we call home

and we're still here
we're still near
whispering
into your ear

give our city
back to us
you've done us wrong
you broke a trust

but we're still here
we're still here
we must remind you
we're still here

so this is how
it should be done
we shouldn't quit
we cannot run

and other games will
come and go
but we'll still
always let you know

that in the end
we will be home
we'll never leave
we'll never roam

there is no other
choice for us
we'll fight until
victorious!


..echoes away, then cheers roar within the War Walls...

[Atlantea]

As for what I have to say to NCSoft - I believe all you need to do is read my signature below. Which I'm going to leave on their facebook today as a reminder that we're still here.

"...and filled him with a terrible resolve."  Yes. Indeed. My anger has cooled since a year ago on Black Friday. But my resolve has not.

This is the best damn gaming community I've ever been a part of. One of the best communities period. We are passionate and creative and driven. We will get our City back, one way or another. Indeed, in some ways, we already have. Not, perhaps, in the way that most of us would wish. But we can walk the streets of Paragon still if we wish.

Have hope that the rest is coming.

*Raises a toast*

Next Christmas in the Ski Chalet!

[healix]

*Raises a toast*... here here. Hard to believe a year has passed. While I will not have anything to do with NCSoft again, I no longer let them occupy any portion of my mind. My desire to be back in my City has not changed. I like 'Next Christmas in the Ski Chalet!' even better, because it's closer than 'next year'.....hold tight to faith and hope.

[BobMc]

*Raises a toast*... here here. Hard to believe a year has passed. While I will not have anything to do with NCSoft again, I no longer let them occupy any portion of my mind. My desire to be back in my City has not changed. I like 'Next Christmas in the Ski Chalet!' even better, because it's closer than 'next year'.....hold tight to faith and hope.

In remembrance, I pulled up Trollbabe (my first CoH character), Amyra (my first 50), and Nine Lives 9 (my last 50) with Icon just to light a torch. I think I'll do that again around the Unity Rally Anniversary, and certainly on the anniversary of shutdown.

[PunkusJR]

A year ago a crushing blow was served to all of us. Thanks guys for keeping the community alive. ^^ We'll have or city back. Whether it be the exact city, or something close, we'll have it back. Until then I only have this to say. I look forward to fighting along side all of you again. Except for you villains. I look forward to fighting against you.

[General Idiot]

It says a lot about this community that a good portion of us are still here a year later.

[pewlagon]

I created a video to commemorate August 31st: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqARPM8StjQ

The video will be expanded to be much longer on the anniversary date of the shut down.

I love being part of this community because one word sums all of us up: Hope.

[Menrva Channel]

You know this will be our first year without ToT--one of my favorite yearly events in the game. Too bad we couldn't do a mock up here. XD

[healix]

[Eoraptor]

You know this will be our first year without ToT--one of my favorite yearly events in the game. Too bad we couldn't do a mock up here. XD

Cries

I loved ToT and Zombie attacks. running banners at night was fun too

[MindBlender]

For variety, we'll have 2 styles of sewer - a more modern system for the majority of Titan City, and an older, darker one for the areas beneath the old town district of Salem.

I just get all giddy when content is brought up!  you had me at "we'll have 2 styles.....

[Tubbius]

I created a video to commemorate August 31st: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqARPM8StjQ

The video will be expanded to be much longer on the anniversary date of the shut down.

I love being part of this community because one word sums all of us up: Hope.

Thank you for letting us all hear that gorgeous music again.  Thank you.

[PunkusJR]

You know this will be our first year without ToT--one of my favorite yearly events in the game. Too bad we couldn't do a mock up here. XD

T~T ToT in City was more fun than doing it IRL . . . where I live not many people give out candy xD

[Menrva Channel]

T~T ToT in City was more fun than doing it IRL . . . where I live not many people give out candy xD

One thing I loved about ToT in Paragon was that no one judged you or thought you were too old. Everyone was in costume and our ages were all hidden by computer screens. XD Seriously. I loved it almost as much as I loved the Winter Holiday events.

[PunkusJR]

One thing I loved about ToT in Paragon was that no one judged you or thought you were too old. Everyone was in costume and our ages were all hidden by computer screens. XD Seriously. I loved it almost as much as I loved the Winter Holiday events.

Haha, the treats were better to, don't forget that.

[Megajoule]

I was at work, reading the forums on my lunch break.  I remember that for a good minute, I simply stared at the words on my screen, unable to believe them.

[JanessaVR]

I was at work, reading the forums on my lunch break.  I remember that for a good minute, I simply stared at the words on my screen, unable to believe them.

I was actually home - I had scheduled the day off and was in the process of working a new L50 up to "Alpha" status (wherein they had all Incarnate slots filled with top-level powers, had all benefit-giving Accolades, and had all Purple or top-quality recipes in their enhancement slots as well as all enhancements upgraded to L50+5) when a teammate relayed the announcement to us.  We were on a Manticore TF, and I didn't understand at first - I thought they meant that the servers were about to go down for maintenance and I was wondering what idiot scheduled that for during the day instead of 2am or something.

I was totally in shock when I actually understood the message on the website.  It just didn't make any sense.  A year later, and it still doesn't.

[OzonePrime]

I remember logging on that day. I was so stunned that I couldn't continue to sign in screen and play. I called one of my SG members just to verify what i had just read. We were both in shock. Still am.


Never Give Up! Never Surrender!

[Tubbius]

I was in the middle of playing with my girlfriend.  I got up to go get some more drink from the kitchen.  I then heard her hollering, "They're shutting down City!"



Why did they have to do this to all of us? 

[CoyoteSeven]

I was at work, reading the forums on my lunch break.  I remember that for a good minute, I simply stared at the words on my screen, unable to believe them.

I was at work too. First post I saw about it was from that goat guy. The one who got on my nerves all the time, lol. He said something about how it had to be an obvious prank, and then a few posts later it was like OMFG this is serious! D:

My heart sank that day.

[eabrace]

If I recall correctly, I first saw the news while I was at work.  I jumped over to the Titan forums to see the discussion here - half expecting to see the announcement debunked as some sort of horrible joke - but the server wasn't responding.

Thus my first two lines of text that day over Skype.

[pewlagon]

Was really bittersweet for me. I was laid off that morning and came home to find out Paragon Studios was, as well. I was in disbelief for about twenty minutes before I was able to communicate.

[Golden Girl]

Was really bittersweet for me. I was laid off that morning and came home to find out Paragon Studios was, as well. I was in disbelief for about twenty minutes before I was able to communicate.

I see the "bitter" part of that, but where's the "sweet"?

[Twisted Toon]

I see the "bitter" part of that, but where's the "sweet"?

He still had CoH around, at least for a few more months?

[JaguarX]

I was polishing up a round in another game and off to visit my friend that was still playing COX. Got to the house, and usual talk, business, food, health conference, etc. then she just kind of casually said, while the forum was pulled up on her screen, "COX is dying and people are going nuts. Well, all good things come to an end right?" And all I could say at the time, "dang, that sucks." Which she replied something of the likes about going until it goes dark, which I think she did.

Me, I didn't play again. I kept thinking about what could of went wrong, the early warnings, what was missed, I noticed it was getting emptier and emptier besides Virtue and Freedom when all servers used to be full of people at all times of the day and even red side it was common to see people throughout all zones compared to the ghost town it was especially on Victory server. But was it that bad? A few days later, eventually went to the old forum again, it sure as hell wasn't the community that I left. It turned into the cesspool that people used to point at other games and laugh at for being. I think I seen more accusations of "troll" in the few days that followed more than my entire 5+ years of playing. It was a disappointing sight. At first I was just going to write off the community as lost and think nothing more of the closing. Then I heard about Titan.

Thus I came and checked it out. Although some views were extreme and some source of the problem on the old forum stemmed from regulars here attacking others that didn't share the enthusiasm for taking up torches and pitchforks against NCSOFT, I figured it's just an emotional time and it will die down and sensible talk will be tolerated more about the situation with time. Not to mention the passion, although borderline disturbing how people attacked others not feeling the same, I couldn't help but admire it. Thus I stuck around. Blind rage and emotional veils tend to fade with time but passion and wit sticks around longer.

[Twisted Toon]

I tried to be a voice of reason on the CoH forums after the announcement. Although, I advocated holding out hope for the game's eventual return (in one form or another), I tried to reason with both the ones that wanted to hop a plane over to Korea and drop it on the NCSoft headquarters, and the ones that practically demanded that we give up all hope, for whatever reason.

For the most part, I am a very middle of the road guy. That probably explains why I was hit by a car when I was 7.   

[MindBlender]

I tried to be a voice of reason on the CoH forums after the announcement. Although, I advocated holding out hope for the game's eventual return (in one form or another), I tried to reason with both the ones that wanted to hop a plane over to Korea and drop it on the NCSoft headquarters, and the ones that practically demanded that we give up all hope, for whatever reason.

For the most part, I am a very middle of the road guy. That probably explains why I was hit by a car when I was 7.   

When someone tells you "Go play in traffic" they are not serious! 

[JaguarX]

Yeah I remember you Twisted.
Also Father Xmas being rational as usual, and Capt. Electric doing his heroics thing and trying to keep the spirit up in those hard times without prejudging anyone from it seems in his posts.

In those times we could have used a bit more middle of the road. But what in the past is in the past and as long as lessons are learned, it's done. One year later, we are mostly still here, three games in the making, other community members out there still watching, and about 5 days until the Kickstarter kicks off. That is one hell of a lot of progress in one years time.

And still within that time, besides COX, at least two games got shutdown by Disney, Arcane Saga went shut down 16th 2012, Raider Z, ProjectGoblin (made into a mobile game), Zombie Online, Eclipse War Online, Bullet Run, Trickster and other casualties that have fell or on their way in 2013.

[Twisted Toon]

When someone tells you "Go play in traffic" they are not serious! 

They should put those little smilies at the end of their comments if they're not serious when they tell me those things.   

[healix]

I applaud anyone who is keeping their hope alive without hate-talk toward NCSoft. I will never forget what they did, but they are no longer living rent free in any part of my brain. We are still here, still strong, and we will fly the skies of paragon again.....I won't let go of that in my heart. In the end, we will win.

                                                           

[PunkusJR]

I applaud anyone who is keeping their hope alive without hate-talk toward NCSoft. I will never forget what they did, but they are no longer living rent free in any part of my brain. We are still here, still strong, and we will fly the skies of paragon again.....I won't let go of that in my heart. In the end, we will win.

                                                           

I'll admit, it's a little hard to not feel a little angry sometimes. :/ But you're right, being hopeful is better than being angry.

[Johnny Joy Bringer]

Feel angry! We feel angry also. If you need to write that down, but don't send it to anyone. Get the feelings out. Tell us your are angry, and we will be honest and say that its natural. But let the anger go. It's not productive. Anger is passion without a useful direction, so give your passion a direction and everything will be much better. We all have shared your experience, to a very close degree. Let's be productive together rather than seething in our loneliness.

I felt very down when I heard about Ascendant. Every bit of optimism left my body. I found someone who I shared so many interests with, and he was someone I would never talk to again, but I didn't know him all that well. We shared only a few in and out of game conversations near the end. He was about the only person who really enjoyed some of same interests, such as Astro City. We both made mad crazy character names up out of nowhere. Right now I would have told him I want to create a water blaster called Phil Buckets. So, anyways, I was down. Victoria Victrix reminded me I was not alone. That a solid community, and that people like us come together and help each other. She said people would gather at GenCon, and that I was welcome. I was unable to go, but her words made me feel much better. There are many game communities our there, but COH had a community that was far more friendly and protective of their own.

So, PunkusJR, we are with you. We know how you feel. And I'm sure we are here for you. Turn anger into creative passion, and we'll all do what we can to help. Look for us at Sci-Fi and game cons. We'll be there. If you need an outlet write a story, or create artwork around your characters.

That being said, you can take action without anger or hate. If you don't see the need you don't have to spend money with NCSoft,  or you could always write them. I confess to tweeting about them releasing the game knowing full well they wont. But, then again eternal hope is what drives a hero, or villain.

Take care.

I'll admit, it's a little hard to not feel a little angry sometimes. :/ But you're right, being hopeful is better than being angry.

[PunkusJR]

Feel angry! We feel angry also. If you need to write that down, but don't send it to anyone. Get the feelings out. Tell us your are angry, and we be honest and say that its natural. But let the anger go. It's not productive. Anger is passion without a useful direction, so give your passion a direction and everything will be much better. We all have shared your experience, to a very close degree. Let's be productive together rather than seething in our loneliness.

I felt very down when I heard about Ascendant. Every bit of optimism left my body. I found someone who I shared so many interests with, and he was someone I would never talk to again, but I didn't know him all that well. We shared only a few in and out of game conversations near the end. He was about the only person who really enjoyed some of same interests, such as Astro City. We both made mad crazy character names up out of nowhere. Right now I would have told him I want to create a water blaster called Phil Buckets. So, anyways, I was down. Victoria Victrix reminded me I was not alone. That a solid community, and that people like us come together and help each other. She said people would gather at GenCon, and that I was welcome. I was unable to go, but her words made me feel much better. There are many game communities our there, but COH had a community that was far more friendly and protective of their own.

So, PunkusJR, we are with you. We know how you feel. And I'm sure we are here for you. Turn anger into creative passion, and we'll all do what we can to help. Look for us at Sci-Fi and game cons. We'll be there. If you need an outlet write a story, or create artwork around your characters.

That being said, you can take action without anger or hate. If you don't see the need you don't have to spend money with NCSoft,  or you could always write them. I confess to tweeting about them releasing the game knowing full well they wont. But, then again eternal hope is what drives a hero, or villain.

Take care.

Heh, I will be looking for COHers at cons I can go to. But yea. ^^ Anger can be channeled, but it's not good to stew in it.

[Tubbius]

We both made mad crazy character names up out of nowhere. Right now I would have told him I want to create a water blaster called Phil Buckets.

My Mastermind villain-turned-hero, Tubbius Regalis, had a Bruiser named Phil Paine. 

[Sajaana]

The last thing my main, Jean "Femme Fencer" Depallier, did before "the day" was to get taken out by John Starkweather to Black Friday.  We had gotten engaged a few weeks before.  I was pregnant with his child.  I remember going to Icon and getting every bit of the dress just right...it took me at least an hour.  We ran into some old friends, some old enemies, and had the best time.

It was so wonderful that night before.  We laughed, we drank, we talked about the VoPC, and we had so much fun there.  It was, simply put, the greatest night of Jean's life, because she loved John for years.  But he never looked at her that way until she became his "go to girl" and trusty assistant.  We built the VoPC together in that last year.  We ran it smoothly, but fanatically, and our ranks were growing every day.  I can't tell you how deep we were in the whole CoH life.  Every day we did something new, met new people, RPd more people into our plots, and so on.

And now, Jean's dream of being Mrs. Jean Starkweather was becoming a reality.  I even reserved the name and made my alt for the day we'd finally get hitched.  I'd major in Katana and Regeneration...a perfect PvP build so I could protect my husband and the leader of the VoPC.  I was already trying to think of priest characters I knew who could marry us.  I was already making a list, in my head, of my bridal party.  And I was thinking about where we could hold it...right at Williams Square...right where Jean wanted it.

Little did we know, that night, events were being put into motion that would destroy everything we built.  There would be no wedding...how could we have a wedding with such a pall over us?  There would be no child...how could I give birth to a child amidst all the uncertainty?  The VoPC itself was split in two.  Some went to TSW.  Others, like me, stayed behind.  Within a few days, we did our final RP together as a group.  And then, it was done.

I'd like to say it'll be the same if we got our city back.  It'll be good, no doubt, but I don't know if it could ever compare to that sole, singular night on August 30, before "the end times."  Perhaps it was just as well to have that one, perfect date: that one, perfect show of gratitude and devotion we had towards each other at Black Friday.  That's what I'll always remember about Paragon City; that's the moment that made all the levels, base building time, RP plots, AE work, Virtue Verse entries, BBS posts and /tell hell worth while.  I'll always have that.

But maybe, with all our effort, we'll have better.

Here's to better!

[healix]

After the loss and sadness sadness we all have felt, I can only imagine the feeling of seeing that familiar splash screen and logging in again for the first time. I believe we will...and when that happens, I will be grateful for the opportunity of being puked on by zombies, drained by sappers and being overcome by yellow fever (tell hell).......AFTER I have stopped sobbing from happiness. I won't give up the hope that we will have our City back.

                                        "Here's to better"....well said, Sajaana. Well said.

[r00tb0ySlim]

After the loss and sadness sadness we all have felt, I can only imagine the feeling of seeing that familiar splash screen and logging in again for the first time. I believe we will...and when that happens, I will be grateful for the opportunity of being puked on by zombies, drained by sappers and being overcome by yellow fever (tell hell).......AFTER I have stopped sobbing from happiness. I won't give up the hope that we will have our City back.

                                        "Here's to better"....well said, Sajaana. Well said.

Well said!!  I concur 

[NecrotechMaster]

on the day of the announcement it had been like any ordinary friday i was off work so i was logged in most of the day playing like usual and was hearing wierd things in chat so i popped over to the forums to find out what really was going on

at first when i had read it i thought it was some sort of random prank or something, but after it was confirmed by zwillinger i was thinking to myself "oh no this is not good" and when i went into work the next day my co workers had definitely noticed that i wasnt myself cause the game i loved for the prior 6 years as well as all the poeple i knew would be going away in a matter of months, extremely abrupt as well as there being little to no reasons given for the shutdown

in the month following the announcement i was mostly logging in and sentinel exporting all my toons in hopes they could be used one day and so i could save all of my toons as memories and went in game only to tour the city showing everyone i could all the various easter eggs throughout the city

around the end of september i had almost stopped logging in for awhile because it was just too painful and i had started playing borderlands 2 then to hopefully kill some time while i hoped this bad memory had floated by but after the next 2 months i could tell that wasnt going to happen, the last couple days before shutdown i had logged in all day to try to gather up contact information from as many poeple as i could for hopes of keeping in touch once the game was down.  i had stayed on till 3 am eastern time when i was forcibly disconnected during a super mothership raid with the devs spawning all sorts of stuff in the bowl of the mothership

in the following months i have been finally getting through some of my steam games list (played ~30 bought another ~130 lol) and kept up on titan, and as they say the rest is history

[Stormsurge]

To this day I still hold out hope that one day, City of Heroes will return. In fact I won't ever give up on that hope. Here is Titan Network, with a still diligent CoH community, here to prove that the game is actually still alive and well... just not up and running. We are all waiting for the day we can log back in.

[LaughingAlex]

I see it like this.  Fallout was a popular game, one I never knew about untill fallout 3.  Then I found it to was a game that, well, became a series that had to be shelved.  Then fallout 3 came out to hit with a ton of success.  City of heroes could to the same, why could it not do the same?  It was popular but didn't have the recognition due to advertisement.  Whoever takes it up will likely see that one mistake and actually turn the game into a success.  Heck, city of heroes 2 could if the IP was given to a good developer/publisher become a very big thing.

[healix]

This is such a huge community of people who really loved CoH....it HAS to come back, somehow. I believe that.

[navyrayne]

I don't post a lot, but maybe that will change now that I see all these other people that loved CoH as much as I did. Plenty of people that loved it even more,

A little over a year ago, I made a mistake. A mistake I still regret to this day, something that I should not have done, something of a knee jerk reaction...

I reacted to the news that CoH was closing down, by walking away. I logged in a few times, but when I walked away I had resigned myself to the notion that an MMO I had been playing since 2005 (my second longest stint since Eve Online) was closing down for good. So, when I walked away, I walked away from everything including the official forums and the game itself. Though I was also extremely busy working in the games industry (I still am) on a little Project called Kerbal Space Program, and my daughter had been born not but a few months before hand. So my Life was busy, and all of that took more of my time, including time I wanted to try and make to enjoy a few more nights of CoH...

So, in walking away, I never knew about AP33, TF Hail Mary, or anything else until after it had happened and I had missed it all...

Now I've this feeling that I'll be chastised or made fun of, but I really feel as though I failed. I let anger, and emotion stop me from enjoying the last few weeks to months of CoH with a great community. I let it stop me from a few more nights of RP, a few more nights of Incarnate Trials, a few more nights in Paragon City.

Now, a year later, I regret....

I regret not making the time.
I regret not enjoying a few more TF's
I regret not enjoying a few more IT's
I regret not enjoying a few more RP sessions.

Most of all, I regret not standing with the rest of the community.

So a year later?

I regret.

[Triplash]

Now I've this feeling that I'll be chastised or made fun of, but I really feel as though I failed. I let anger, and emotion stop me from enjoying the last few weeks to months of CoH with a great community. I let it stop me from a few more nights of RP, a few more nights of Incarnate Trials, a few more nights in Paragon City.

You won't be made fun of here. And I wouldn't call it failing, to choose to move forward along what you felt was a brighter path. Especially with a new family member to think about.

Glad you stopped by though! At least around here you have some understanding friends to remember the good stuff with. I mean, it's better than a kick in the teeth, right?

And hey, you know what? Don't count this community out just yet. There are some very talented people working on ways to let us fly again. It might be in a rebuilt Paragon City, or it might be in a freshly built place that still has that new city smell. But one way or the other, I fully believe we'll have a city again one day. We just have to find positive ways to occupy our time and our minds until that day comes. So pull up a chair and join in on some of the discussions. Heck, start a few! We'd love to hear from you!



PS, in case you haven't seen it yet... you might wanna look into Titan Icon. It lets you edit costumes, load up maps and fly around in them, and spawn in NPCs for screenshots and laughs. There's a whole section covering it in the Multimedia part of the forums. It's not the same as playing, granted, but a lot of people find it helps ease the sting.

[navyrayne]

Thanks Trip

[Triplash]

[FatherXmas]

Oban Star Racers 

Still didn't get to see the end of that show.

[Triplash]

Oban Star Racers 

Still didn't get to see the end of that show.

Oh, it's good stuff. You should catch it. It's one of my favorites, up there with Cowboy Bebop and Noein.

[JanessaVR]

Oban Star Racers 

Still didn't get to see the end of that show.

Currently available for free streaming on Amazon Prime - I watched the whole thing again about a month ago.

[Johnny Joy Bringer]

It happens. We can always look back that way, if we want to. Regret is temporary, unless we forget it's lessons. And, from my point of view you have nothing to  regret. NCSoft does, but not you.

Please don't regret anything else. Regret can only happen if you don't follow your dreams. If you love COH get in there and help with the new games. Get involved, give feedback, give input, encourage, and keep lobbying for the return of COH.

I'm hoping that if COH is not sold and re-opened soon that maybe in time it might be sold to a successor game ... IF NCsoft ever sells.

The only person holding us back is ourselves, and the only jailer is in our mind. Follow your dreams.

(Damn, for a villain I'm sure getting soft.)

I don't post a lot, but maybe that will change now that I see all these other people that loved CoH as much as I did. Plenty of people that loved it even more,

A little over a year ago, I made a mistake. A mistake I still regret to this day, something that I should not have done, something of a knee jerk reaction...

I reacted to the news that CoH was closing down, by walking away. I logged in a few times, but when I walked away I had resigned myself to the notion that an MMO I had been playing since 2005 (my second longest stint since Eve Online) was closing down for good. So, when I walked away, I walked away from everything including the official forums and the game itself. Though I was also extremely busy working in the games industry (I still am) on a little Project called Kerbal Space Program, and my daughter had been born not but a few months before hand. So my Life was busy, and all of that took more of my time, including time I wanted to try and make to enjoy a few more nights of CoH...

So, in walking away, I never knew about AP33, TF Hail Mary, or anything else until after it had happened and I had missed it all...

Now I've this feeling that I'll be chastised or made fun of, but I really feel as though I failed. I let anger, and emotion stop me from enjoying the last few weeks to months of CoH with a great community. I let it stop me from a few more nights of RP, a few more nights of Incarnate Trials, a few more nights in Paragon City.

Now, a year later, I regret....

I regret not making the time.
I regret not enjoying a few more TF's
I regret not enjoying a few more IT's
I regret not enjoying a few more RP sessions.

Most of all, I regret not standing with the rest of the community.

So a year later?

I regret.

[Twisted Toon]

I don't post a lot, but maybe that will change now that I see all these other people that loved CoH as much as I did. Plenty of people that loved it even more,

A little over a year ago, I made a mistake. A mistake I still regret to this day, something that I should not have done, something of a knee jerk reaction...

I reacted to the news that CoH was closing down, by walking away. I logged in a few times, but when I walked away I had resigned myself to the notion that an MMO I had been playing since 2005 (my second longest stint since Eve Online) was closing down for good. So, when I walked away, I walked away from everything including the official forums and the game itself. Though I was also extremely busy working in the games industry (I still am) on a little Project called Kerbal Space Program, and my daughter had been born not but a few months before hand. So my Life was busy, and all of that took more of my time, including time I wanted to try and make to enjoy a few more nights of CoH...

So, in walking away, I never knew about AP33, TF Hail Mary, or anything else until after it had happened and I had missed it all...

Now I've this feeling that I'll be chastised or made fun of, but I really feel as though I failed. I let anger, and emotion stop me from enjoying the last few weeks to months of CoH with a great community. I let it stop me from a few more nights of RP, a few more nights of Incarnate Trials, a few more nights in Paragon City.

Now, a year later, I regret....

I regret not making the time.
I regret not enjoying a few more TF's
I regret not enjoying a few more IT's
I regret not enjoying a few more RP sessions.

Most of all, I regret not standing with the rest of the community.

So a year later?

I regret.

The way I look at it, you're just fashionably late to the support party.

The thing I like about this community is that they, usually, don't hold anything you might have done in the past against you.  If you missed out on some of the important events, they'll be happy to fill you in some of them might even point you to the website ( <-- hint, hint  ), created by the brilliant VyoletRose, that could easily summarize the events that happened over the last couple of years with regards to CoH, and the efforts underway in attempting to bring it back.

It seems to me, that the community's first priority seems to be the players and then the game that they want back. That is the basis of a strong community. The fact that it has lasted this long with out a game to play in, shows that this Community of Heroes is persistent.   


...or Stubborn. 

[Triplash]

... this Community of Heroes is persistent.   


...or Stubborn. 

Depends how much sleep we've had

[healix]

Navyrayne, you are part of the family /community here. We all share the feeling of loss at having our game end before it's time. (Personally, I would probably have played till my bones turned to dust.) Please don't get lost in regret...you are here, and we WILL get our city back somehow. Till then, take comfort that the community is standing with you. Glad you are here!

[Twisted Toon]

Depends how much sleep we've had

You're persistent until you get sleepy, then you're too stubborn to take a break and get some sleep? 

[Twisted Toon]

Let's see...

One Year ago

[healix]

[Megajoule]

No mockery from this corner.
I know several people, including some in my own playgroup (who are still together now, thanks to an IRC channel to keep us in contact even when we aren't playing the same games) who left immediately, or almost, and never looked back.  It was just too painful for them, something I understand.

[Twisted Toon]

I pull that video up occasionally and watch it, it never gets old.