Exit the Heroes

I haven’t played City of Heroes since the announcement it was going down. It was too painful.

Tonight, around 10 or so, Margie said, “Do you want to play CoH, just one last time?” Or something like that.

And I hemmed. And hawed. And …

… well …

… um …

… yeah.

And so we thought about Rita and Runt — could we race up three levels, 47 to 50, in a couple of hours?  (It would have been three hours, in fact.)

But … I wasn’t feeling scrappery.

We got on instead as Positive Force and Ms. Crackle, a pair we’ve been comfortably pleased with, and were ready to go do some missions …

… when we discovered Victory had a big party going on at the big hill in the middle of Talos.  Big party meaning “The Ghost Ship is stuck there, and there are at least three Monsters spawned at any given time, amidst some dozens of heroes fighting them off.” Yikes.  And, yeah, fun.  We played with them, and then swapped out with some other toons (Velorio, for me). It was lots of intense action fun … until Jade Spider appeared at the top of the hill, doing 1700 hp psychic attacks beyond the borders of the block, and wiping out pretty much everyone around. Repeatedly.

Hrm. Not fun.

We decided, eventually, to sign on with some of our 50s and see what was going on over on Champion.  Nostalgia time.

On with Torchy and Hildy.  And ended up on Talos Hill again, but only for a Rikti Invasion.  Got on teams, and then league, and, when that was done, went Monster Hunting.  Cleaned out two of them from Croatoa — Eochai and Jack in Irons (badges!). Back to Adamastor in Talos.  Couldn’t find Lusca in IP. Took out the Kraken in Perez (oh, Perez — how long ago it was …). Heard about action in Atlas …

… which is where the GM / Devs were lobbing Arch-Villains and Monsters.  We swapped out to Psi-clone and Amorpha, and spent a good hour and change taking on (with scores of our fellows — Atlas 1 and 2 were full up, and Atlas 3 was pretty busy) Drop Ships and Avatar of Hamadon and Lord Recluse and Seed of Hamadon and most of Recluse’ gang and the mad gods from the Shadow Shard and Babbage and … yeah, actual-real Hamidon showed up, too.

“Slip on that Wedding Ring, boys — use it or lose it!”

Eventually the GM had to move to another server. We did a bit more stuff (monster hunting on Monster Island in PI), hopped off to do this and that, but eventually …

… got back on with Psi-clone and Amorpha She had the Peregrine Island bank mission, so we decided to go out that way. Because they were our truest, bestest duo.

And, as the big red messages kept popping up about the 30 minute, 10 minute, 5 minute count-down, we did our damnedest for the people of Paragon City. We went toe-to-toe with Carnies and Malta, foiling a bank robbery, disarming bombs, and subduing and arresting miscreants.

And as we dashed to the next mission, in one final leap, the screen froze, Butch-and-Sundance-like, on Psi-clone and Amorpha, heroes together through time and memory.

-Fin-

The chunks of memory taken up by this game, over the last 7+ years, is amazing.  Geography (every nook and cranny of the Hollows) … Opponents (when faced with mob X, target individual Y) … Group fun, PUG frustration (or exhilaration), friends, family … The Transcendence Trial (in the true meaning of the latter word) … SG leadership (and all the drama attendant thereto) … new rules, improving Quality of Life, added zones … events and arcs and stories and that huge Level 50 DING …

Many thanks to the Devs and all the creative talent behind the game. I was there from Issue 3, and never regretted a single dollar spent. It was a life-enriching experience and a pleasure.

Many thanks to the folks we teamed with here and now and there and again … Scott and Kevin and Lorne and Doyce and Kate and Stan and … many more I’m not remembering, I know.

Many thanks to Doyce, for hooking me on this particular opiate — I could quit any time, right? But I hated ending cold turkey. I appreciate the “first taste”, the companionship, and the encouragement.

And many thanks, of course, to my faithful duo partner, Margie. It sounds weird, but it’s non-trivial playing a game like this with your spouse. There are endless challenges, leadership quibbles, tactical considerations, and, of course (for us) figuring out all of that with multiple alts across multiple story threads and game issues.  It was occasionally challenging, but also always engaging, which is just what makes for a great marriage. Whether it was a game or not.If not for her, I wouldn’t have played nearly as much. And, with her, playing was so much more than just a game.

You always remember your first car. Your first job. Your first SO. Your first house. Your first Doctor. Your first … well, you get the idea.

City of Heroes was my first MMORPG. And while it wasn’t (and won’t be) my last, it will always hold a very special, fundamental, place in my heart.