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MMO Blender: Eliot's rock odyssey
I'm upset with bards in MMOs. Don't get me wrong, I like the fact that they exist. But every single game that features bards uses them wrong. The bard is always a back-line character, someone who sits in the back and heals people through gently strumming on a lute. And that depresses me, because I want to see some bards that actually rock. I want to see some music used offensively. I want to have the option of making my bard kill things through careful use of sweet riffs. You can say it sounds ridiculous, but tell me that it's somehow more ridiculous than having a bard heal you via magical singing and I will call you a liar. So let's go for it. Let's dedicate an entire MMO to bards who aren't about muzak and nurturing new age songs, but bards that are going to defeat things through the unmitigated power of rock. My only regret is that this is a week too late for Rocktober.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: A tale of two shutdowns starring City of Heroes
It's been about a year since Star Wars Galaxies was shut down, and for a lot of people that wound is still fresh. For a sadly vocal minority, that wound is so fresh as to provoke a lot of groundless vitriol toward any available target -- but that's not the point. The point is that what happened to that game is happening again, to City of Heroes, and the players are just as powerless to stop it. Except that it's not the same thing, not really. There are different reasons behind the closure of City of Heroes, different protests, and different player organizing taking place. The result is a scenario that's both a clear parallel to an earlier tragedy and its own unique blend of awful circumstances at the same time. When we first heard the announcement, fellow City of Heroes player and former Star Wars Galaxies player Brianna Royce asked me if I felt the same way about CoH as I had about SWG. As we talked about it, though, it became clear that there were certain parallels being drawn that just didn't work. So I'm going to talk about what happened to both games, starting with the very significant difference between the two games shutting down.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Potential new homes after City of Heroes
Despite what many of us might feel, the world is not ending when City of Heroes shuts down. Just our world. But the sun will continue shining, other games will continue running, and most likely your interest in video games will not evaporate. So after an appropriate period of mourning, it's going to be time to think about getting together with another game. The problem, of course, is that nothing else can ever be City of Heroes. Like Benjamin Franklin, nothing can serve as its replacement, merely as its successor. But it's worth examining some of the more reasonable and likely destinations for the community. I'm sure there are more, but the four I've listed seem to be the games that either are or will be hoovering up a large number of the game's former players, games that are close enough to what CoH represents to serve as a reasonable successor. So let's look at our potential new homes and see what they have to offer, both good and bad.
A video to mourn City of Heroes and celebrate the new Paragon Studios project
It's not over until it's over for City of Heroes, but that time is fast approaching. Longtime fan and noted machinima artist Samuraiko decided that the city deserved to go out with an appropriate tribute and has put together a last video memorializing the game's environments and players. If you're a veteran player, you owe it to yourself to sit through the whole video just past the break, although you may get misty-eyed toward the end. But all is not doom and gloom for the fine folks from Paragon Studios, as they've taken it upon themselves to begin a new project, one that will undoubtedly be just as influential in their chosen field. Or possibly not. It's still worth watching after the previous video, at the least to get a smile back on your face. Jump on past the break for both videos, and keep your eyes peeled for more coverage as we approach the City of Heroes shutdown. [Thanks to the folks that sent these in!]
The Game Archaeologist: A City of Heroes memorial, part 1
When I first heard that City of Heroes would be given a hero's farewell, I felt for the players who call that game home. I also was depressed because I spent a fair amount of time in Paragon City myself and have a particular affection for the game. But beyond empathy and misery, I knew that the Game Archeologist had a duty to perform: to preserve the memories of what would soon fade into history. Thus, I put out a call for your City of Heroes characters along with their stories so that I could share them with the world at large. Dozens of readers responded, and for the next couple of weeks, we're going to be looking at the digital face of tragedy and memories. These are the avatars who genuinely meant something to someone, and while they are about to be deleted from the servers forever, I hope that by archiving them here, they'll live on for future generations (read: December 2012 readers) to discover. Let's go meet some of them, shall we?
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: The unseen cost of closing City of Heroes
City of Heroes is leaving a lot of victims with its closure: the employees of an excellent and underrated development team, a group of players with a lot of passion and energy, and an entire world that deserves to keep going. But there are a lot of other costs along with all of those, things what we're losing out on that you might not have even considered at the time. At least, not until some writer on the internet decided to call attention to all of those things. Guilty as charged. Those of us who are adamant fans of the game have been lamenting the loss of the game that is. But one of the reasons I tied every single anniversary post with another post looking forward is that City of Heroes has always been a game that moves in both directions. It's a game where a lot of the fun is tied into what it will be. And while there are some directions I've been critical of, there's a lot about what's coming up that's never going to be realized.
The Soapbox: No game lives forever
The lifespan of a video game is a funny thing. There are some games that have a definite end, yet you'd wish they'd last forever. These games measure life in replayability, run-through length, or multiplayer matches, but they lack permanence and persistence. Still, you can usually dust them off years from now and still have fun with them. MMOs are a different breed, aren't they? They promise the inverse of the solo game, with a world that goes on, content that keeps flooding in, and the illusion that it will last forever. Yet when the switch is turned off, there's no going back. You can't pick it up 10 years from now and give it another go. It's why the news that an MMO is closing up shop comes as such a devastating blow to many of us. As MMOs attempt to emulate the persistence of life, so too do they illustrate the finality of death.
The Perfect Ten: Worst expansion names of all time
When SOE announced that EverQuest's 19th expansion would be titled Rain of Fear, I instantly found myself tripping over the name. I shouldn't have -- it's a few simple words that are first round picks for spelling contests -- but it defied the traditional naming conventions for MMO expansions. Many people I talked to kept wanting to write "reign" instead because "rain" seemed like a deliberate misspelling by some intern in Smedley's empire. Homophones aside, Rain of Fear is hardly the worst expansion title I've ever seen. The industry has had its share of bad names, from the confusing to the downright unpronounceable. Sure, we get used to these titles, and perhaps it's nit-picky to lug them out at such a late point in many of their lifespans, but petty is my middle name. My first name is Tom. And these are 10 poorly named expansions. Deal with it.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: No hope for CoH, no faltering for us
By now every City of Heroes fan has no doubt seen NCsoft's backhanded dismissal of the entire Save CoH movement. If by some coincidence you hadn't seen it, congratulations! Welcome to Wednesday; here's your bad news. NCsoft has heard us and responded with, "Aw, shucks, we really tried," which is the equivalent of a five-year-old child claiming that he did try to clean his room after three minutes of picking up toys and putting them back down in roughly the same spot. If I sound bitter, it's because I am. But what does this mean for City of Heroes? Is all hope truly lost? Have we lost the fight to save our city? Is there no chance for a reprieve or some shining light in the late night? Well... not much. But this is not actually the change that it's being framed as. This is what we went in knowing, and while it changes the game being played, it doesn't change many of the hard facts. I said in my first column that we were fighting a battle with a slim hope, and the fact that it's now pretty much no hope doesn't change much, nor does it mean we should stop fighting.
Ten things to do in City of Heroes before it's gone
A year ago to the day, I grudgingly, sorrowfully published Ten things to do in Star Wars Galaxies before it's gone. SWG was my favorite MMO of all time, and I was devastated to see it canned for licensing reasons, but I wanted to do it justice, and hey, at least I had my second-favorite MMO to fall back on, right? City of Heroes -- now that was a game that had staying power! Welp, so much for that. As we've been covering for the last month and change, NCsoft is pulling the plug on City of Heroes come the end of November, and the genre is faced with the loss of yet another pioneering and ostensibly profitable MMO long before its time. While there are still soldiers fighting for that slim chance NCsoft might sell the game to a willing investor, the likelihood is that it's game over for Paragon City, at least in its current incarnation. Fight on, I say; don't give up. But make sure you enjoy the game that exists right now, too. Log in. Play. You may never get the chance again. Today, I'll tell you 10 things you should do in City of Heroes... before it's too late.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Remembering my time in City of Heroes
Not long after my first column on the City of Heroes shutdown, I received an email that contained several of the testimonials from this full-to-bursting thread on the Save CoH boards. And they're not the only ones out there. There are countless stories about what the game means to people, ranging from the silly to the sublime, stories that can only really accumulate in a game that's run for eight solid years. When it comes to recollections about the game, I'm not Mercedes Lackey or Scott Kurtz or even Eric Burns-White. I'm what the byline says: a mild-mannered reporter. But I'm also a guy with a lot of feelings about the game, one that I've been playing on and off for nearly all of its eight-year run. To be blunt, I've got the microphone and you don't. So I'm going to go ahead and throw my hat into the ring when it comes to remembering City of Heroes, starting with the game that I played at launch for less than two weeks.
NCsoft crushes the hopes of City of Heroes fans
City of Heroes fans have been rallying around the movement to save the game ever since its shutdown was announced. There have been in-game rallies and operations to let the corporate side of NCsoft know just how much the game has meant to the players. Despite all of these efforts, the worst has come to pass. NCsoft has officially responded to the Save CoH movement in the form of a short press release stating that the company has heard player demands but has no plans to reverse its decision regarding the game's shutdown. The statement also claims that NCsoft has attempted to sell the game's code and intellectual property rights but was unable to find a suitable buyer. Despite the best efforts of a truly overwhelming number of fans, it appears that the game's sunset will not be averted. Fan reaction to this news has been understandably bitter regarding the lack of information and sudden shutdown. The game will be holding several events in the remaining weeks leading up to the shutdown on November 30th.
Save CoH movement invites NCsoft execs to play, petition passes 20,000 signatures
The shutdown date for City of Heroes looms over the game's fans, but the movement to save the game has maintained its intensity. The online petition to save the game has continued to gain steam, with just above 20,000 signatures as of this writing, and players continue to plan events and rallies to protest the decision. One player has put forth a unique idea: Instead of asking NCsoft executives to reverse their decision, he's asking them to come play the game. Other fans have taken to mirroring the letter and sending it to the address set up for CoH-related messages. The hope is that playing and experiencing the game will convince the people in charge how much the game means to the players who have spent years in Paragon City. If you've already signed the petition and sent your letter, you might be looking for a bit of happy news. That would come in the form of photos of the player-bought lunch for Paragon Studios, a gift from the community to the team. It's a sign of the dedication behind the Save CoH movement and an inspiration to those still hoping that the game's sunset will be averted. [Thanks to Jeffrey for the tip!]
City of Heroes issues sunset FAQ, event schedule
Paragon Studios -- or what's left of it -- has just released an FAQ aiming to clarify the sunset process for its doomed superhero MMO City of Heroes. Like last week's status update, the FAQ reminds players that the game will formally close down on November 30th, and though you can spend existing cash shop points, you cannot create new F2P accounts or upgrade your existing account to VIP. The FAQ outlines the refund process in detail; NCsoft will be refunding outstanding subscription and gametime card balances. In happier news, Assistant Community Manager Jessie "Hitstreak" Lawrence took to the forums this afternoon to post the schedule of sunset events, which appear to be existing holiday and themed events from seasons past: Summer Blockbuster: October 5 - October 8 Double XP: October 18 - October 22 Halloween Event: October 26 - October 29 Winter Event: November 9 - November 12 Rikti Invasion: November 23 - November 30.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: To save City of Heroes, we must be jerks
The City of Heroes community has been great in rallying to save the game, but I'm wondering whether that's enough. If you missed it, this week has not been a good one for efforts to keep the game alive. I'm not going to reprint everything laid out in TonyV's recent post, but the short version is that there are currently no signs that things are changing. NCsoft has set up an email for players to send letters, one that I suspect is not read vigilantly, and there have been no signs that any of the various talks about the game's future have resulted in anything. It's the email thing that really set me to wondering about whether or not City of Heroes fans are the right people to be protesting. While I love you guys -- beyond a shadow of a doubt -- there's a certain revolutionary spirit necessary for an effective protest. I'm not entirely certain that we've got that. And if there was ever a chance to save the game, we may just be unable to do what's necessary.
Fan-made video promotes the movement to save City of Heroes
City of Heroes players have been rallying around the movement to save the game ever since the shutdown announcement was made. It's been nearly a month with no official response regarding the movement's requests from NCsoft aside from a special email address, and that's enough to make almost anyone start to despair. But a new fan-made video is meant to help inspire the protest, mixing machinima footage with narration, screenshots, and music to produce a tribute to the immense movement to avoid the game's demise. Starting with the unexpected August 31st announcement, the video shows off excerpts from several of the news stories surrounding the announcement and the major in-game rally at Atlas Park, with footage by several notable fans. The narration is spliced together from a variety of sources, including some quotes from our own Massively Speaking. The video also contains links and information for anyone looking to take part in the Save CoH movement. You can see the full video just past the break.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: A personal tribute to Paragon Studios
When I started my career at Massively, I wasn't hired to be the City of Heroes guy. I wasn't hired to be the anything guy, although I quickly earned a reputation. It was a few months after I got hired that I got the opportunity to start doing a pair of weekly columns, one on City of Heroes and one about the online Final Fantasy installments. This was due to the fact that my affection for City of Heroes was well-known on staff, and I was already knee-deep in the game, so... It wasn't quite three years ago, but it was close enough. And I've said many times that my professional career has been tied in directly with City of Heroes because of that. As I've grown as a writer and a journalist, I've been working alongside City of Heroes. So today I'm not going to talk as much about the game itself. I'm going to talk about the people of Paragon Studios, some of whom I had the good fortune to interact with over the years and all of whom seem to be absolutely astonishing human beings.
City of Heroes reveals pre-sunset billing and refund plans
NCsoft has been silent regarding the impending shutdown of City of Heroes past the initial announcement. An update has finally been posted, one that promises sunset events hosted in-game in the lead-up to the shutdown, although exact times and dates are not yet included. What is detailed is the policy for VIP status and the refund policy for players who had recently purchased Paragon Points. Anyone who had an active subscription for VIP status as of September 1st will be granted VIP status for the remainder of the game's operation. Players whose subscriptions had lapsed will be unable to renew those subscriptions, unfortunately. Any subscription fees paid as of September 1st and the value of any Paragon Points purchased on or after August 24th can also be fully refunded to you. Players with game time cards will need to contact support to receive a refund. It's certainly not the update that players have been hoping for, but it's at least a step toward knowing what will happen next with the game.
City of Heroes fans buy Paragon Studios a meal and proclaim allegiance
The zeal of the City of Heroes fanbase has not wavered, and fans continue striving to avert the game's shutdown. But it's not just the game that's suffered; the staff at Paragon Studios has been hit with a heavy load as well. TonyV, mastermind behind the movement to save CoH, knew of a restaurant that the studio employees frequented for meals and started a fundraiser to buy the staff a meal. It took three hours to raise $1000, enough for the entire team to have a nice dinner out courtesy of the fans. Fans are also organizing further events in-game. Two massive joint task force runs are scheduled for September 20th at 9 p.m. EDT and September 22nd at noon EDT. Players are asked to gather in Steel Canyon in record numbers to run Positron's Task Force en masse, showing that the entire playerbase is indeed Positron's Ally. Check the official thread for more details and start clearing some space on your schedule for next week. [Thanks to Dr. Toerag for the tip!]
The Perfect Ten: Ways MMOs explain infinite resurrection
Why? Why do we die in MMOs and receive an infinite number of resurrections? Are we in a type of hell defined by endless combat and suffering, doomed to never escape the cycle? Is this a cruel experiment being performed by supreme alien beings from afar? Does that make us the living undead, immortal Highlanders, or something even more significant? If you're looking at me with that look you have in your eye right now, I'd like to remind you that asking these questions is more in line with the core of RPGs than just mashing the 1-2-3 buttons. The rules that make up and dictate our virtual lives should have both meaning and sense, yet so many of these games expect us to just blithely accept that we can come back from the dead over and over without nary an explanation. Well, I like explanations. Even if it's just polite nonsense, a thought-out reason as to why our characters are death-proof tells me that the devs treat their game with a higher degree of integrity than others. So here are 10 MMOs in which the endless cycle of death and resurrection gets at least a backhanded explanation instead of "shut up, just accept it."
