Abraxus

I don't believe I said, or even implied anything about emotional maturity. Sorry that you interpreted it that way. My comments regarding age referred to the fact that I have the advantage of more years of observing trends, and turns of events that defied prediction based on macro analysis of present indicators. From that perspective, most here would lack a common frame of reference. That's all. So, please don't make more out of it than it is.

So, the gist of all this empirical evidence to the contrary of my fears of a bleak future, is that everything is fine, just play, and be happy? I get that. That was the basic idea behind the thread, which was to start a conversation about all the possible factors, interpretations, and permutations of what we see out there with regards to our precious game. I believe we have done that, and I thank you all for your input. However, I would add that it is quite likely that I am older than most of you, and seen many surprising turns of events that defied conventional thinking, across many fields of endeavor. So, please don't quickly write me off as some bothersome worry wart who has no idea from whence he speaks. I haven't made it this far without having underestimated what the future might hold, regardless of what the present might suggest, and paid the price for my lack of vision, as everyone does at various times in their lives. Hindsight being the clearest picture of the past, and the older one becomes, the longer that vision extends. At some point, we all learn not to put blind faith in to anything, and to be cautious about any indicators of trouble on the horizon. Not consumed with fear about them, but never totally disregarding them either.

You kind of hit on something that underlies the concern I had when when I first started this thread. Sure, there was the perhaps irrational fear that the game would just fade away as folks got over their fascination with, and ability to reconnect with their love of the past game. But, underlying that was the concern for a consistent population level to make it possible to play any aspect of the game. To have a robust market, to have Incarnate Trials that don't require hours to fill, and to be able to do a simple Posi 1 TF anytime the mood strikes. The SCORE server that existed for years after the original game went dark operated with a relatively low population, but changes were made to the game to accommodate for that. Markets were seeded, and there was a lot of coordination to make events happen, as I understand it. I am looking for the comfort level of knowing not only that the game is there to play, but that there are no limitations on what parts of it I can play, and how those can be played, which only a relatively large, consistent overall population can provide. Things have gone fairly well so far, but as some have noted, there are times when filling out a DFB can be a challenge, when it used to take literally seconds. I'd hate to see that start happening to the game overall. I know. First I wanted the game to just be here forever. Now, I want it to be robust enough to sustain whatever I want to do in it. What can I say? I have experienced exactly this over the past couple of months, and now I want it always. 😎

I don't fear the Dev team giving cause for anyone to leave. The fact that they have this game running, and running pretty well is all they really need to do. As long as donations fund those efforts, I don't see that changing. If they manage to make improvements down the line, so much the better. But, anyone expecting monthly, or even quarterly content additions, or paradigm shifting changes, will be in for a let down. I don't see that as being realistic, given the volunteer nature of the Dev staff in this iteration of the game. Besides, it already has TONS of content, lore, and all manner of things to do. That most choose to ignore it, or intentionally skip over it to get to the end, then complain that the game is vacuous, or devoid of anything fun, really misses the point of the game, and they weren't going to be around for long anyway. I believe what we will end up with after a few months, are folks who love this game for what it was, and what it is once again. They aren't expecting big time development, and will play for years on end, so long as it is available. Those looking for the next "shiny" don't fall into that category. That probably makes the game something of a "legacy" attraction, but graphic issues not withstanding, I still think it is the best game out there, and over the years, none that I tried in the interim ever held my interest in the same way. My prediction is that, eventually the population will consist mainly of those who feel pretty much the same. How many of us there are in the end is hard to say. Every day I see posts from people that, despite the publicity in the gaming circles, were still unaware that the game was back, and now that they know, are overjoyed to be back, and playing like mad. Those will continue to trickle in over time. Whether those numbers offset the ones that leave, who can say.

But, if you haven't done an ITF, definitely do it! At least once, but I'm guessing you will want to repeat it once you've done one. Provided you get on a team not attempting to speed through it, that is. You want to go through at normal speed, at least the first time. There is absolutely the payoff to the story line in Cimerora in there.

Yeah, there have already been very long discussions about the similarities, and distinctions between WoW, and CoH. I think for the most part, folks who played both back then, will again. Those who were never a fan will stay right here. So, it won't pull everyone away from our servers overnight. 😀

...and it deserves all the attention you have to offer! 😎

I don't subscribe to that level of desperation. Just gauging the player temperature out there, and collecting thoughts on the subject.

I get all the reasons why things are, as they are, at the moment. It all makes perfect sense, and I am among those who don't get to play as often as I'd like. But, like so many who have posted on this thread, this is my "forever game", and I don't want to lose it again for no better reason than the hard realization that not enough people believed that the content, and the dynamics of the game, far outweigh the fact that it is somewhat dated in appearance, and code. I want to believe there is a core of players (admittedly, I hoped for a more consistently higher number of them) that will always be here, and letting the devs know with our consistent presence, that what they do for us is justified, and worthy of long term support. Let's face it, without them, we would be relegated to finding someone with a private server, or setting one up for ourselves. Options, perhaps. But, not good ones IMHO. No substitute for hundreds of folks playing at the same time, populating all manor of endeavors that I can choose to join in, or team with local mates, or just solo. I want to keep those choices for a long time to come!

You mean everyone is NOT like me, and CoH is the only game there is? Preposterous! 😁😉

I suppose I let the 130,000 accounts created, and the numbers of posts I see saying things to the effect of "I just found out my favorite game was back! I created my account, and now I'm livin' the dream!", create a false narrative in my own head. Based on those things, I suppose I let myself enjoy the fantasy that we would just continue to grow, and that anyone watching would see just how dedicated, and unexpectedly sizeable we still are after all these years.

Is it me, or do the numbers seem to be trending downward lately? Shortly after everything broke wide open, and expanded to the current 5 server shards, we were regularly hitting around 9,000. The other day I checked, and it was more like 5,000. These past few days, it's been just over 3,000. Granted, there is some fluctuation depending on day, and time. We don't seem to be growing, but rather shrinking in number at an alarming pace. Is anyone who watches these kinds of stats more closely seeing something else?

Now that you've posted about it, the power of suggestion would dictate that it will have an effect. How much of an effect may well be dictated by how many read this post, as I have. 😮😉

To be fair, I think Marvel was looking down the road at their own MMO/RPG, and they were trying to clear the decks in anticipation. Of course, I can't recall if that idea died before it launched, or if it came and went so fast that it might as well have died on the vine. In either case, their concerns about CoH being the potential cause of concern, with regards to it's success, or failure, turned out to be unfounded in retrospect.

Quite interesting! I might be able to get back a couple of slots and only lose 3-4 mph. That seems like a fair compromise!

I made an homage to John Spartan, and called him "The Demolition Man". Dual Pistols/Energy. The energy secondary is so that he could use "Energy Punch" to ACTUALLY knock people across the room when they were too close for the pistols to be effective. His battle-cry is "Send a maniac to catch one!". It's pretty spot on, but I saw it more of a great theme to play a DP Blaster than anything else. It's not the most original thing I have ever done, but it sure is fun! Do you think Sly's production company will come after me? 😉

Party on man, and thanks!

Clicking the "+" next to the Reputation count does it too, but it also takes you to the poster's account info. So, if the "like" does the same thing, then...so be it!

Oh man! I was very active over at the SEGs effort before this incarnation of the game sprang into existence. Hearing the actual coders talk about the mess that was the code for this game, I would not want to be restricted from the game for not understanding the code...especially in this case! Even the experts have a hard time with that! 😉

While one is at it, if you think the post has some merit beyond just a "reaction", don't be afraid of giving that poster +1 influence/reputation.

That's life in a nutshell right there!

I suspect a lot of that was because on the shadow "SCORE" server, the community was quite small, and changes were made to accommodate a low-population environment. Now, it is a larger population, and I'm guessing some changes to reflect that will come eventually. But, as we have said amongst ourselves for quite some time, these guys are volunteers as opposed to paid developers, so changes are not going to come as frequently, or be as encompassing as we might like. Their main goal is to just keep things running. They are doing fine there. If things keep going well, perhaps we will see some changes that reflect a larger population scenario.

Actually, I played SWTOR for a few years after CoH, but it never felt like it had the appeal of CoH. I was already away from it by the time the second incarnation of CoH occurred. However, as soon as I became aware of Icon, and later Paragon Chat, I went about re-creating a lot of my old L50 characters from memory. By the time Homecoming became a reality, I had all of those costumes, and power profiles saved, making it possible to re-create them in the game very quickly. Within an hour of logging back in for the first time, I had 15 of them created, stocked up from the P2W vendor, and standing in their first Day Job location. As for real-life creativity/activity, I became a collector of Light Sabers from Star Wars. My office walls, and shelves are running over with them after 10 years of collecting. The latest 2 are pictured here.

Just be around at the schedule date/time, and you will have your opportunity! Paypal is probably the easiest way, so make sure you have an account ready to go when the time comes!