Dear NCSoft: I Hate You

Okay, it’s childish, I know. And rude. And probably not good for my mental or moral health.

But I am still really, seriously, sorely pissed at NCSoft.

Since the announcement about City of Heroes closing down, I haven’t played the game. At all. Simply … couldn’t.

In the past few days, though, I’ve been running around taking screen caps and staring various memorial pages. And I look at all the characters  created — ones I ran up to 50, and ones that were along the path — and it just freaking chaps my hide.

Margie got on tonight (as she was doing her own screen caps) and saw she had a toon that was just short of dinging 50. So she finished it up. She was working on it as I came back from my NaNoWriMo Write-In.

And it was, like, I want to do that. I want to play with these characters, in this world. I want to fiddle around with the combinations we created, enjoy the array of power sets, the different story arcs …

And, of course, I could … until Friday. Sometime … Friday.

Or not, since I have other things I need to do between now and then, and, of course, why freaking bother when it’s all going to go away when the plug is pulled?

(Note: one could consider this a microcosm of the moral / mental considerations of what one evaluates of the reality of the Afterlife. If there is nothing beyond this world, is there a use in going on?  If there’s no CoH after Friday, is there a use in playing the characters? Discuss.)

I try not to wish ill of people, because, as Spider Robinson said, “Vengeance is counterproductive, always. Not to mention the fact it gets your soul all sticky.” But given how the game was terminated, without explanation, at a time when it seemed from all indications that the game was doing okay — not spectacularly, but profitably — and in a way that basically left the fanbase hanging and the dev all out of jobs … I really do wish, sincerely-truly, that anyone in any management position in NCSoft who had anything to do with this decision finds themselves unemployed very, very soon. And stays that way for quite some time.

Yeah, I know, kind of a weak beer curse. But it is, after all, only a game.  But I also am just really frelling pissed at those (I’ll assume) guys, for taking away something I enjoyed, something I (and others) were willing to continue to spend money on, something that’s been a part of my life (and my life with Margie) since almost 8 years ago.

Oh, yeah — if they all suffered a bout of explosive diarrhea, at a maximally inconvenient and embarrassing moment, would be nice, too.

Rrrg.

(Yeah, and, btw, life is too short, and I have no need to ever spend any money ever again on any product from NCSoft — and will, of course, be more than happy to advise others likewise. Eat Hamidon Goo and Die, NCSoft.)

22 thoughts on “Dear NCSoft: I Hate You”

  1. “If there is nothing beyond this world, is there a use in going on?”

    I’ve given this some thought, since I (unlike a lot of my friends and family) expect a full and total personal server shutdown when I shuffle off this mortal coil.

    And here’s what I think.

    When it’s all tallied up, life is a series of moments. Every moment is precious and full of possibility for wonderful things, and every moment can be squandered or enriched by what you do with it.

    Squandered, now there’s an interesting word.

    Some would have it that a moment (or a life) may be considered squandered if it will not continue to have personal value to you forever after. By extension, if there is no forever after, then it follows that one way of looking at this life of ours is that it’s all automatically squandered. Meaningless.

    I disagree.

    Each of our moments is not just a potential for wonder, but also a ripple-generating event. Those ripples generate memories; they generate other moments; they affect those around you, as well as those you might never meet in your lifetime. You have the ability to affect the world — to know that you left it better (or worse) than you found it. You can make your friends laugh. You can teach your kids. You can pet your dog a hundred thousand times. You can tell stories, even little ones about a game you used to play. It all matters, even if you personally will eventually cease to care about it (or anything).

    So, City of Heroes.

    Kaylee imprinted on the sound of Hype’s fire tank shield — it was the white noise that sent her to sleep as a baby. I met my wife on City of Heroes. Sean wouldn’t exist, were it not for that game. The fiction I wrote about my characters attracted the attention of the first professional agent interested in my work, who in turn introduced me to the agent I still have today, who eventually convinced HarperCollins to publish my first book. I made friends on that game, and I made them laugh. I watched you and Margie play even after I stopped playing, and saw the bond you had over that game, and it made me pretty happy I’d had some small part in starting that.

    That is what City of Heroes did, before it died. That is died is sad, but for those that are still here after, the moments it created are not suddenly invalidated because it is gone — perhaps those characters become more precious in the memories of those that remain. I’d like that, if I were one of those characters — to be remembered, to be eulogized, the way you’ve done.

    The last thing my grandfather ever said to me was “It was a good life. No regrets.”

    I remember that. I remember that it was enough.

    It was a good game. It gave us a lot of good moments.

    No regrets.

  2. I haven’t been able to play since the announcement. Every time I think “Maybe one more go-around for nostalgia’s sake / screenshotting / camaraderie” I just get angry again and give up on the idea.

    So, no, not even today or tomorrow will I log in. I’ll just get angry or weepy, and life’s too short to do that to myself on purpose.

    Grrrr, NCSoft. GRRR.

  3. I’m one of those who doesn’t personally feel the impact of this. I stopped playing when our Alliance imploded and I found that Stan was the only person willing to group with me (thanks, Stan; you’re one of the good ones!). I tried playing occasionally on Welcome Back weekends and after the game went F2P, but it was difficult. The controls now felt counterintuitive, I couldn’t find NPC to grant missions, I had nobody to play with…

    After the announcement of the game’s demise, I thought about logging in to copy my characters’ bios and get some screenshot, but it didn’t seem worth it. Some of my characters are even locked away from me, so any such effort would be incomplete unless I gave NCSoft some more money. Hah!

    I’m so firmly ensconced in Middle-earth that I won’t miss COH the way you do. However, “I grieve with thee,” as I know what the loss of LotRO would mean to me, and therefore how you must feel. I’m sorry the players got treated with less respect than Dr. Vahzilok’s minions. It shouldn’t end like this. (Is there even the traditional player/dev event when the server shut down for that final moment of glory?).

    Man, you don’t even get a crappy reboot. Just cancellation of the title. As Thor might say, “Verily, this doth suck.”

  4. @GreyDuck – I understand. Believe me. Were I not an historian (heh), I wouldn’t even be doing this bit.

  5. @Avo – I’m glad you were able to move on (truly).

    My understanding is that there’s no dev team to stage an event. Though it did seem there were some Rikti invasion shenanigans when I was on doing some of the screen shots last night.

  6. @Doyce – No regrets over the moments shared. No regrets over the time spent, the imagination exercised, the fanfic written, the $14.95/mo charged. No regrets over the social bonds created, renewed, or strengthened, or any of the time Margie and I spent punching Council or saying “Hey, I just had the most awful pun of a name pop into my head — let’s roll up some new alts so I can play with it.”

    Nope. Precious moments, remembered and recorded and cherished. “You can’t take the Skyway away from me,” to mix my media metaphors.

    Regrets for what could have been, of course (“Hey … how about a hippy chick named ‘Flower Power’?”), but that’s inevitable with any change in life.

    The heartless banker who forecloses on the farm can still be spat upon and cursed, but that doesn’t (or shouldn’t) take away the memories of Thanksgiving Dinners there, right?

  7. This. You wrote it, but it could’ve come from me. Every word. (Substituting my spouse for Maggie, obviously.) I haven’t been able to put it into words, but yes. This.

  8. I only played a few times after the announcement. There didn’t really seem much point to it once it became clear that they would never let me finish my one Incarnate.

  9. NCSoft was once about $369 a share. It’s dropped to $135.
    Vengeance is not always counterproductive. What you feel is measured and appropriate. You hope those who made this bad decision don’t prosper. It’s scary to think someone could just…dump happy paying customers and prosper.

    An austerity program would have made sense. Closing some servers but not others would have made sense. Telling Paragon to cease development for a time would have made sense. People would have understood layoffs…or selling the game.

    They chose the road most senseless.

    I would ask people to keep making their voice heard. To hold those torchlight vigils they held in Paragon in whatever game they play, come the night of the anniversary of that awful announcement.

    If ever you see someone distribute an NCSoft product, that firm should be reprimanded for deciding to do so. Consider- Best Buy closed about half their stores. Their selection of computer games gets smaller all the time. As this happens, more and more pressure is on for a product to do well. Can they afford to waste what little space they have on a product that is so lame it just dumps paying customers? I think not. Ultimately, the decision is theirs, but it doesn’t hurt to call their attention to the matter.

    At every turn, any firm that seems like it would have the talent to breath life and health into CoH should be encouraged to buy. At every turn NCSoft should be encouraged to sell. As their stock drops, firms should be encouraged to buy the firm itself.

    It is true the devs are scattered to the four winds, the servers are reallocated and the code is probably of little utility. Even so, we should hope for the sale of the likeness, the image, the rights.

    We can argue for the birth of CoH2, or a “spiritual progeny” of the game.

    I can only hope NCSoft comes to it’s senses and decides it doesn’t want to throw away all the revenue of the last four years after all. But if not, there are many other lawful strategies that can be employed. What is needed, is a fan base that loves the game so much they will never give up. I think CoH has that fan base.

  10. I don’t expect to see a real CoH2 — but I’ve been pleasantly surprised in the past, so who know?

    I’ve made (and so far kept) the conscious decision to not buy any NCSoft games. And I’ll tell anyone quite openly why.

    I still haven’t found my Next Game, though I’ve found some ways to pass the time since then. And I’ll remember CoH fondly.

  11. Not to fire on anyone but… yes. CoH is dead. We all loved it, and we all mourn it greatly. ( would not have you do otherwise.) But this is one lost battle, and the war goes on. If you haven’t given up trying, bravo! If you are in despair, lift up your heart.
    There are still things we can do. I would write every company you know that runs a decent mmorpg, tell them their game is cool…and tell them you have a hankering for superheroes.
    Superhero movies are all over. They’re big. Superhero merchandising is in most stores. Superheroes are big. So why shouldn’t these mmorpg companies make profit too?
    World of Warcrafter, Everquest, KotoR… any game I suggest, there are many who will gripe of it’s problems but…these games are beloved by many.

    Even more important than this idea…. dream up such ideas and share them.

    I pray for the day that NCSoft’s stock values are low enough to make it worth purchasing for the rights to CoH alone….

  12. Here’s the thing… we loved the game. There are a lot of us. We were loyal, we were devoted. A look at their stock chart shows we took NCSoft from a company valued at under 50k to over 360k. Since they closed down, NCSoft has managed to lose fully half of it’s value.
    Sooner or later, someone has to act sane. The management may realize they are systemically inept and need to step down. The Stockholders may ask why they are losing their shorts and may feel the need to replace management.
    But if that fails to happen, somewhere out there, there is a company that is worth about 50k, that wishes it was 360k company. It doesn’t happen overnight…but even if there is no “CoH 2″… there should be a spiritual offspring of it.
    I do worry, however. A lot of us have stayed with NCSoft, and play guild wars 2. Apparently, there are a number of CoH players who felt that NCSoft did the right thing…and reward NCSoft for doing so with their dollars. I can’t imagine the logic…but they do reward ncsoft for closing coh with their continued support.
    The biggest worry for a new coh is simply that it takes time… if we want to see the new superhero game, we need to “not go away”.
    Actually, there is another thing. There seem to be a lot of…featherweight games…that would rather you play licensed characters and not create your own. I’ve nothing against this per se. If a company wants to market their image, great. But if they are looking for the coh market…ie doing an mmorpg, rather than a video game… they really should allow us to do our own characters. They should also be every inch coh’s equal in choice of powers.
    Take care guys…and keep the memory alive.

  13. Don’t know if anyone will read this but, even after all this time I still hurt from losing COH, and still resent NCSoft for their disregard of so many lives.

  14. NCSoft tore a piece of our hearts out last year. The why of it never has made sense to me.

    Yesterday Missing Worlds Media launched a kickstarter project to create “a spiritual offspring of a recently deceased popular superhero mmo.”

    There are hecklers who say this is doomed.
    I do not agree.

    The hardest part of a superhero MMO is the costume interface. This is the part of the process that scares everyone away and drives everyone to do still yet another game with two genders, three classes, three hair styles, your choice of 8 colors and a choice of three outfits…

    If they could get this far and no farther, they would have a powerful selling/negotiating point.

    and so now, I am spamming you all from the bottom of my heart and soul. Moderator, this is very much on-topic, I beg you, do not delete me.

    Times are hard, and none of us are made of money. But take a moment, and go to
    http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/missingworldsmedia/the-phoenix-project-city-of-titans

    and make a pledge.

    This is the first real chance we’ve had to do anything besides grieve.

    Thanks,
    Warp

  15. It’s been a year, and it’s that time of year. We should be seeing Santa on the streets of Paragon…armed with a battle axe, or smg. Little elf kids should be pelting us with snowballs. We should be rescuing Baby New Year. We should be exchanging warmest regards with people who’ve been gone the longest time in The Winter Chalet….

    _howls mournfully…a lonely sound._

  16. I generally avoid Facebook like the plague, and in this instance it has blinded me.

    I still miss Coh, I still miss fighting evil alongside you guys and gals. But it turns out, after all this time, NCSoft is STILL getting a daily spamstorm form unhappy CoH’ers on their Facebook page!

    Come! wad up balls of your favorite mixed meat of dubious origin and join the fight against evil at the NCSoft Website! Let them know, and continue to know how they feel.

    This is great…you can still fight evil…the community you loved is there.
    There are even citizens that YOU can save. Very often, people will ask about new games coming out. You can save them, remind them that you, like they, once felt enthusiasm.

    Oh. And it’s F2P!

    Please do not drift away. A key to winning the fight to preserve, restore, or replace Paragon city is to keep the community alive even in the wake of the game.

    Come and join the fight at NCSoft’s Facebook Page!
    https://www.facebook.com/ncsoft?rf=105959499435071&filter=2

    “Friends don’t let friends play NCSoft”

  17. _Pats Dave on the back_

    I miss it too.

    Allow me to make a brief case for blackest dispair. NCsoft appears determined to have wiped everything. If they wanted the game back they’d have to go back to development. As a master artist can tell you, if you tear up a painting, you might never recreate it exactly. But if they did push forward, it would likely be a five year wait. To the best of my knowledge, NCSoft has no desire to do so. Even if the winds blew our way, and 2019 found us donning our capes, and even if it was as good as the good old days…we would be gnawed by anxiety. The heroes have learned…they’re vulnerable to the winds of corporate insanity.

    I’ve stopped flaming NCSoft. Basically, I’ve said it all. Said it twice. Said it thrice. I’ve dug into this from every angle. At the end of the day, it’s their game and their business. If they want to be jerks, kill the game, and alienate the paying customers, well, I think it’s evil and stupid but…it’s their company and their fate.

    I’ve come to the realization that on a very real level, our struggle is a spiritual one. It began as “just a game” but became a home, a community. Fans love this community with a passion that surpasses a game. You hear the stories… One person says “CoX reformed me from crime/drugs/etc”, another person says “CoX helped my autistic child”, or “the white noise of my fire tank would sooth my baby daughter.”

    In my own case, I was young, stupid, and sinking. CoX let me talk to people who were older and wiser…they helped me to get upwardly mobile. I’m much less so now. I miss my friends. I miss their advice.

    I’ve come to the realization…it is more than just a game, and NCSoft doesn’t understand what they had. They just don’t get it. Because they don’t understand their product or their customers, they are very ill equipped to serve them.

    We needed an NCSoft who understood. An NCSoft who could make a profit as opposed to an NCSoft that made decisions not to do so…such as spending tons on development and then killing the game immediately thereafter, rather than allowing to run and earn money.

    Allow me to make a case for hope.
    There are those who will see that NCSoft no longer desires the market and want to introduce their own vision of what CoX should have been. “A Spiritual Progency” is the phrase. Not a sequel, but a competitor.

    NCSoft may bring the game back. They might someday sell the IP to someone who cares. They might let the IP sit so long they lose it. Don’t laugh. I’ve seen this happen at least a dozen times. Sometimes, they just don’t care…

    But if not, there will be other, different superhero MMORPGS.
    City of Titans is in the works.
    Valiance Online is in the works.
    Heroes and Villains lies out there, somewhere.

    and there are others. There will always be others.

    I’ve seen this with other games. There are no guarantees, no inevitabilities. There are only slim chances. But there are so many slim chances that near inevitability arises out of them.

    Not convinced? Remember, I’ve only listed what we know. None can say how much more is out there. In 2014, we still get imitations and emulations of Frontier Elite II…

    You say the new game didn’t get it right? Doesn’t matter. One fails, another succeeds.

    Try to find a way to pass the time…but keep an eye on the horizon.
    and have hope in these grey lonely years.

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