What kind of deal is this? What does it mean for Homecoming?
Homecoming has been granted a license to operate a City of Heroes™ server and further develop the game – subject to conditions and limitations under the contract – but, as between us and NCSOFT®, NCSOFT still owns the City of Heroes intellectual property and its derivatives.
Will Homecoming remain free and donation-funded?
We don’t currently foresee any changes to our funding model, as Homecoming is not required to pay any up-front or recurring license fees. We continue to be overwhelmed by the generosity of the community when it comes to keeping the server online.
Are there any financial implications?
Yes, we anticipate that:
Our overheads will increase slightly to keep up with our commitments as a licensee.
In the short term we will be increasing our donation targets in order to build up a disaster recovery fund. This will be roughly equivalent to 30% of our annual costs. Additionally, we will have some one-off legal costs for some updates to our consumer documentation (Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, etc).
We’re now free to explore alternate hosting options, which may alter our ongoing costs.
Can NCSOFT still demand that Homecoming shuts down?
Yes. NCSOFT has always had (and will continue to have) the right to demand that Homecoming shuts down.
This agreement provides a framework under which Homecoming can operate the game in a way that complies with NCSOFT’s wishes in hopes of minimizing the chances of that happening. We’ve had a really positive and productive relationship with NCSOFT for over four years now, so we do not anticipate there being any issues.
What does this deal mean for other servers that aren’t Homecoming?
NCSOFT has granted Homecoming a limited license. Other servers are out of scope.
Wasn’t Homecoming working with some other servers?
Our hope is that our license will help us consolidate our userbase with City of Heroes fans from other servers.
What does this mean for development? Will Homecoming be able to go open source?
Development will continue, and we will be expanding the development team under the terms of the license agreement.
We do not anticipate moving away from a closed-source development model.
What does this mean for live streaming and YouTube videos?
Live streaming and YouTube videos of gameplay footage on Homecoming will continue to be permitted. Monetization is also permitted, but all video content must be free for the viewer to access (ie: no paywalled content).
Our Code of Conduct applies to any video content created, and we will take action against players who create videos featuring violations of the Code of Conduct, including those that feature or use third-party copyrighted content. For more examples of what kind of content is permitted in City of Heroes streams, please see our Code of Conduct.
Will there be any changes to the Code of Conduct or Terms of Service?
The existing User Agreement has been superseded by our new Terms of Service. The Code of Conduct and Privacy Policy have also received minor updates.
Does this impact my ability to play the game? Will my characters be deleted?
There will be no rollbacks or resets of any kind, nor will there be any real changes to our day-to-day operations. You can continue playing as you do today, provided that you comply with our Terms of Service and Code of Conduct.
However, we will be discontinuing support for Tequila and similar launchers in the coming months. Providing an in-house installation and patching solution is part of fulfilling our side of the license agreement (this was a key reason behind the development of the Homecoming Launcher).
Will NCSOFT have access to our personal data?
No, they will not.
Will the management of Homecoming change in any way?
Yes. We will be forming a new leadership group - the City Council - to head up the project going forwards.
The City Council will include the original Homecoming admin team, representatives from the other servers we have been working with, and a few additional members from our Game Master and Development teams. Cipher will remain the project lead.
How can I get involved with Homecoming? Are you recruiting developers and Game Masters?
Yes and yes! Thank you for your interest in helping out.
Please note that in order to join the team you will be required to sign a Contributor Agreement covering confidentiality and the volunteer nature of the position (no compensation can be provided, in-game or otherwise). All applications are subject to Homecoming’s Privacy Policy.
Please also be aware that there’s a chance we may receive far more applications than we can deal with in a timely manner and it may take quite a while before we can respond to your application.
Is Homecoming still going to be registering as an NPO?
This is something we are still intending to do. This process was put on hold when the discussions reached an advanced stage, as changing our legal structure during the drafting process would’ve been an unnecessary complication.
NCSOFT & Homecoming License Announcement
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