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A Mild-Mannered Reporter: How superheroes died and why it's good
2012 was probably the worst year ever for fans of superheroes in the MMO space. The best months of the year were just kind of there, and then the biggest game in the genre unexpectedly closed. Unpacking what caused the City of Heroes closure is something that's ongoing to the moment, and I'd be remiss to not talk about the recent anonymous claims that City of Heroes was profitable up to its closure combined with a denial that... isn't, really. At the same time, I'm a firm believer in the idea that bad things can have positive outcomes. So I think that for all the bad that happened in 2012, we might be looking at 2013 as a banner year for superheroes. Not that it's certain by any means, but between last year's media and the current state of affairs, there's space for some awesome possibilities. And a lot of screwups, too, but isn't that always the case?
A Mild-Mannered Reporter Extra: Interviews with Champions Online and The Phoenix Project
I promised you that we would be doing interviews next time, but astute readers would note that I did not say "next week." So welcome to our special extra installment of the column looking at two different sides following the City of Heroes shutdown. We've already seen two projects coming from the ashes of CoH; The Phoenix Project and Heroes and Villains are both currently being assembled by passionate fans of the now-departed game. But we'd be remiss if we failed to note the impact that the game's closure has had on existing games like Champions Online and DC Universe Online. Rather than just speculating on any of this, we decided to just ask. So today you've got two interviews. One is with Brad Stokan, Executive Producer at Cryptic Studios, about how the City of Heroes shutdown has affected Champions Online and the studio that helped bring the game to life in the first place. The other is with the lead staff at Missing Worlds Media, the team behind The Phoenix Project. So let's take a look behind the scenes, yes?
The Phoenix Project aims to give a new home to City of Heroes expats
In the wake of City of Heroes' closure, one group of fans has decided that it's not enough to move on to a new game. The Phoenix Project aims to become a spiritual sequel and recreation of the game for players and by players, with a new trailer showcasing concept art as well as serving as a statement of purpose. Formed by several regulars of the Save CoH movement, The Phoenix Project is the work of Missing Worlds Media, a studio composed of several independent designers, programmers, and artists united by their love of the lost game. The game is still very early in the concept stages, but the studio has already announced that it will be built using the powerful CryENGINE 3. If you're looking forward to the prospect of running around in Titan City, check out the trailer past the break, and keep your eyes peeled for an interview with the staff from our regular superheroic column, A Mild-Mannered Reporter.
Anonymous source sounds off on City of Heroes profitability, NCsoft responds
The chance to prevent City of Heroes from being shut down may have passed, but the debates about the game's profitability and the merit of that shutdown aren't going anywhere. An anonymous source has come forward reaffirming several previous data points but also elaborating on some of the details surrounding the closure, including Paragon Studios' plan to pull away from NCsoft entirely and why NCsoft wouldn't greenlight a sequel to the game. Surprisingly, NCsoft's Chief of Corporate Communications, Lincoln Davis, responded to the information, denying all claims but still shedding some light on the issue. Davis mentions repeatedly that Paragon Studios was not profitable, but at no point does he state that City of Heroes itself was not profitable. He also avoids saying that the company was unable to find a buyer for the game but simply that the company was unable to find a buyer that NCsoft thought would support the game "in a manner [players] were accustomed to for years to come." While it won't bring the game back, it certainly sheds some interesting light on the whole situation, albeit light that will likely be of cold comfort to the game's fans. [Update: We've reached out to NCsoft for a more detailed statement; we'll keep you posted when we hear more.]
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Farewell for now, Champions Online
So I've spent a month in Champions Online, and I've taken enough time to understand most of how the game fits together on a conceptual level. This is from equal parts playing and reading about the game in various places because I just do that for fun. Those of you who were here for my first outing will remember that I was pleased with the game as a whole. Upon further play, though, my impression has... well, remained pretty darn positive. This is not one of those twist endings. Of course, I can also see why the game never quite hit the level of widespread popularity that City of Heroes managed, and some of the problems that plague it are a direct result of what I like about it. So with my first outing in the game out of the way, I'm going to offer a more complete look at the game, starting with the bad and ending with the good.
The Game Archaeologist's top MMO stories of 2012
As another gaming year spins to a close, we here at the Institute for Digital Interactive Entertainment have been holding our archaeological department hostage with a trained buffy-tufted marmoset until it delivered a final report. After hours of begging and infected monkey bites, the head of that department, Prof. Justin Olivetti, Ph.D., handed us a scrap of urine-soaked paper with the following article inscribed. While the Institute strongly suggests that you ignore this report and instead work on your button-mashing exercises, the board of directors stated that all such papers must be posted for the public to see. This report is presented in the Yetbari typeface and contains a sequential series of items that number between 11 and 13.
City of Heroes fan videos pay tribute to the game's legacy
The game may be cold and gone at this point, but City of Heroes still lives in the warm, beating hearts of its fans. Two players endeavored to create tributes to the game that would endure long past its expiration date, and Massively thinks they should be shared with the larger community. The first video, City of Heroes Remains, sees Paragon City being pummeled into the ground by a fiery meteor shower, only to be rebuilt by its heroes after the event. It's a movie-quality production full of special effects and stunning views of the city, set to a couple of perfect songs. The second video, Memories, is a longer, quieter look at the end. In it, a costumed crusader pays a final visit to City Hall where he hangs up his tights for good -- but refuses to let go of a backpack full of memories. We've got both videos for you after the jump, but be warned: You may need hankies.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Tips for City of Heroes refugees in Champions Online
Champions Online has been a breath of fresh air for the past couple of weeks. It's not a perfect game, nor is it a perfect substitute for City of Heroes, but it's a remarkably good approximation. I would imagine that most players familiar with the latter will feel fairly comfortable in the former, once they get over the obvious differences between the two. Not that the hurdles are exactly minor. For all that I've grown fond of Champions Online, it still has a lot of strange fiddly bits, doing with six different systems what most games do with two or three. Just jumping in cold, as I did, can leave you looking around aimlessly and quite possibly result in your making some choices regarding character builds that you swiftly regret. As I also did. So here are a few tips for players new to the game, tilted in no small part to anyone coming over from our dearly departed CoH. I can't keep you from making every mistake, but I can at least help you get a feel for the game's systems in some small part.
The Perfect Ten: My biggest gaming moments in 2012
I am a complete sucker for three things: novelty soft drink flavors, Tom Servo's singing voice in MST3K, and end-of-the-year lists. Egads, I love the end of the year just for the lists alone. Everyone does them (copycats!), and I like to see how my opinions stack up against them. Plus, often I learn of cool things that happened or came out during the past year that I missed. So this is my list. My end-of-2012 list. I am devoting the 26th Perfect Ten of 2012 to the top 10 moments in MMO gaming and blogging. It was a rollercoaster of highs and lows, and looking back, I don't think I could've predicted half of the major events that happened in this industry. That's what I like about this gig: It keeps me on my toes.
The Game Archaeologist: Asheron's Call 2 returns from the dead
No, the above picture is not some sort of long-forgotten, dusty archive picture of Asheron's Call 2 from back in the day; it's from the live game this past Thursday evening. How incredibly, insanely weird is that? Turbine absolutely stunned the MMO community the other day when it casually announced that it was bringing back its second title, cancelled since 2005, on a new server. Our editor-in-chief burst into the office chat room screaming, "AC2! AC2! AC2!" It took us a minute to realize that she wasn't just discovering the Assassin's Creed series but had in fact learned that the impossible had happened: An old, deceased MMO had been brought back to life. As the resident MMO historian here at Massively, I felt this was kind of like going to Jurassic Park and seeing all of those dinosaurs after spending most of my time merely reading about them. In the blink of an eye, Asheron's Call 2 went from the ancient past to the playable present. We've got a lot to talk about today, including my hands-on experiences with the title and thoughts about what this means for classic MMOs. Let's not waste any time!
The Daily Grind: When was the last time a character creator didn't tick you off?
For me, it was PlanetSide 2. Admittedly, I usually prefer insanely robust character creation systems; give me five million options or go away, right? And yet even with all the options, those games with the very best character creation systems -- a moment of silence, please, for Star Wars Galaxies and City of Heroes -- were saddled with their own strange quirks, like crazy boob sliders, insufficient tools for making non-European characters, and an obvious disdain for aging or overweight or otherwise socially unacceptable toons. You can have 50 different mohawk styles, but if you want wrinkles, realistic breast physics, or a waist thicker than your wrist, then god help you. By limiting options to four heads per gender (only one apiece European) and by making sure my female character is believably muscled and armored, PlanetSide 2's character creator manages to secure an advantage over more robust systems. By going minimalist and choosing to leave out almost everything instead of only one or two things that make me question the designers' motives, SOE has effectively curtailed complaints. But is that worth it? When was the last time a character creator didn't offend you? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Perfect Ten: Absolutely ridiculous cash shop selections
This past week, the Money Gnomes at Turbine tested the waters with the idea of selling a $50 horse in Lord of the Rings Online. Oh, not just any horse, mind you: It's a toy hobby horse. For $50. The representative who asked for feedback on the item and price-point probably caused herself internal hemorrhaging by stating, "This is not a joke." The fans responded, "Of course, and the sky is made out of blue cheese." At the very least, it allowed the more creative players to come up with humorous expressions of incredulity. The fun finally came to an end when the studio announced that the "experimental" price point was a failure. Of course, this is by far not the first time a game studio's attempted to sell a ridiculous item, an item with a ridiculous price point, or both combined. If you sell it, after all, the rubes will come. So in the spirit of a $50 hobby horse that costs something like $20 in real life to acquire, here are 10 completely ridiculous items that we've seen in MMO cash shops.
The Daily Grind: Which MMO do you use as a substitution for a dead one?
The second that City of Heroes shut down last week, that domineering voice in my mind piped up, "I want to play City of Heroes!" I tried to say that it wasn't a possibility any more, but the voice wasn't having it. It also wanted Froot Loops with chocolate milk. Now I have a sugar high. So I began hunting around for a substitution to fill the gap in my now hurting soul. DC Universe Online was first up, but I couldn't quite get into the setting or the actiony playstyle. So I swallowed my distaste for Champions Online's free-to-play restrictions and reloaded that title onto my machine. There's enough of that old Cryptic magic to soothe the loss of CoH, I think. Have you ever done this? Have you ever used an MMO as a substitution for a title that's shut down? If so, share with us and let us know if it was a soothing balm or a weak facsimile. Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Korea Times quotes Mercedes Lackey calling City of Heroes closure 'unethical'
NCsoft's recent closure of City of Heroes didn't win the company any fans in the US market, but it looks like the effects are being felt even over in the company's home of Korea. A new article in the Korea Times quotes fantasy author Mercedes Lackey regarding the game's shutdown. Her words on the matter were unambiguous: "I think canceling a game that is making a profit, along with destroying jobs and an online community, is entirely unethical." The article covers several of the pieces of confusion regarding NCsoft's management of the shutdown and the perceived ambiguity about the financial side of the decision. Lackey also emphasizes in her quotes that she and other City of Heroes fans will not stop until they have exhausted every option to resurrect the game. NCsoft is clearly feeling the pinch considering the news of recent layoffs, but it looks as if the company is losing the image war on several fronts as well.
One Shots: Dearly departed
Today's One Shots will be a more somber one, as we strive to honor two MMOs that are passing into history. First up is the dearly departed City of Heroes, which Reader Michelle apparently loved quite a bit. She sent us in several screenshots, including one of her supergroup, Part Time Heroes. "Here's a group of my friends during the Mortimer Kal Strike Force," Michelle writes. "My character is Astral Black, a Warshade who should be my last level 50. She's the one in the purple and black crop top." Head onward for more personal dedications, but be warned: You may be misty-eyed by the end.
Join Massively tonight as we stream City of Heroes' final hour [Updated]
November 30th is a dark day for City of Heroes fans. Three months ago, NCsoft announced that it would be pulling the plug on the popular superhero MMO and shuttering Paragon Studios, the team behind the magic. The game's date of execution has now arrived; the MMO will draw its final breath tonight -- or tomorrow, depending on your time zone. The servers will shut down at 3:00 a.m. EST Saturday morning (midnight tonight on the West Coast). Never the type to go quietly, the Titan Network crew has organized a final Unity Rally; it will begin at 2:00 a.m. EST tomorrow morning (11:00 p.m. PST tonight) and take place at Atlas Park's City Hall on every server. Join Massively tonight as we livestream a final farewell to the game and record the event for posterity (or just people who fell asleep). And while you wait, you can go join the latest #SaveCoH campaign, this one a Hail Mary pitch to Disney. Farewell, Paragon City. Your innovation and creativity will be missed. [Update: It's gone, heroes. We've uploaded the stream after the cut for those who couldn't be there in person.]
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: The end of the city of heroes
"Name?" "Mr. Swift." The small man on the other end of the table sighed as if he'd heard the punchline too many times already. "Sir, I understand that you're unhappy about recent events, but this is a necessity. I don't want to keep you here longer than necessary, but I can throw you in jail for a night for obstructing this audit. I'm not asking for your moniker; I'm asking for your name, and it's only out of politeness." He tapped the side of his laptop for emphasis. "Now before I have to look it up -- your name." It was a little thing, really. But it felt huge. "Orson Herschel Siegal," Swift replied, purposely looking away from the auditor and searching for something in the stark white room to pull his attention away.
Jukebox Heroes: City of Heroes' soundtrack
Really, how could it be anything else this week? By the first of December, a major MMO influence on my life will be gone for good. We will talk about it in the past tense with wistful tones, remembering the superheroic escapades and villainous schemes. It will be given a place of honor in many of our memories, and I truly believe that City of Heroes will echo throughout the industry and community for years to come. One of those echoes is the game's score, which will endure, as does every MMO's soundtrack. When I first started playing City of Heroes in 2004, the music made a big impression on me. It painted a picture of the game's locale and atmosphere perhaps better than anything else. Heck, you could play the game with your eyes closed and know which zone you were in by the music cues. That's how integral the score was to the game. So this is my final send-off to City of Heroes: a look at the highlight from its soundtrack from the launch through Freedom. Goodbye, City of Heroes... I'm going to really miss you. I won't miss the whine from the force field bubble, but I'll miss almost everything else.
One Shots: This is the end, my friend
What do you imagine the end of the world looking like? I'm willing to bet it's nothing like the following technicolor nightmare ripped straight from the finale of the first version of Final Fantasy XIV. Reader Focant delivers this haunting image with a description of the videopocalypse: "The Garlean forces held nothing back in their battle against us, and attacked with their most destructive weaponry. The most powerful enemy we saw on the battlefield that night was the level 100 (the player cap is 50) Imperial Juggernaut, an enemy that is only seen one other time in game. I made sure to include a player character in the shot as well for size comparison. These things are massive!" And with that we're off to another wild and wooly edition of One Shots! Please put your tray tables in their full upright and locked position.
The Daily Grind: Do sunsetted games owe us refunds?
When Tiny Speck announced last week that Glitch would be shutting down come December 9th, the studio simultaneously did something that few closed MMOs do: It offered complete refunds for past subs. Sure, some companies have offered free game time or bonus cash-shop currency for their other games, but that's usually small consolation. NCsoft grudgingly provided refunds for unused timecards and long-term recurring subs when it set City of Heroes' closure date, but virtually no one provides a complete refund of all the subscription money you ever paid for the game. On Black Friday, it seems as if half the world is out shopping, looking for a good deal and with money on the brain, so today's an appropriate day to ask: Do sunsetted games owe us refunds? And if you were offered one, would you take it? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
