Abraxus

Kevin Feige is a pretty smart cookie. Something tells me there has been a plan that went beyond Endgame. How that plan manifests in content fans still flock to in droves, and more importantly, how they adjust (as DC had to do, albeit a little late in the game), will be the real factors in determining the future growth, or lack thereof, in the MCU. There was one change that we saw in Endgame that I didn't care for, but it wasn't a deal breaker.

I guess we'll see now that we're arguably at or past "peak MCU." Let's check back in five years. Well, the last MCU movie is a mere 6 million away from becoming the all-time global box office champ, taking it away from Avatar (if successful). If you look at the top 20, more than half are MCU movies, and DCU movies. So, while they might be at a peak right now, it remains to be seen how they go from here to see if they can maintain the momentum, or if they take in in such new directions that they lose portions of their current following. I suppose some loss is fairly predictable, but I don't believe you'll see wholesale abandonment of the attraction to the superhero movies, or the genre in general. Nothing lasts forever, but if it can be maintained a high levels, there will always be more demand for content of all kinds...games included.

Yup. I agree that in 2004 it could justifiably be classified as niche. But, since 2008, I would say that classification no longer applies. It might not have the collective following in the gaming arena that the fantasy games have, but I think it qualifies as a bit more than it's being given credit for here. As for the lore being largely unknown, well that's true. But, that gets us back to the lackluster marketing, where they should have been hyping the ability to create your own hero, and forge your own legend, rather than imitating one that you already knew. That would have had widespread appeal to anyone remotely interested in superheros.

Superheroes, niche? Box office numbers both domestic, and worldwide for the superhero movies would suggest otherwise. I believe it really does come down to marketing, and reaching those out there who obviously love the genre, but were just unaware that it was a thing. Even today, I'm sure if word of the game's return were more widespread outside of the typical gaming outlets, population on all of the various CoH servers would likely skyrocket.

Oh, it's much more than that. Big Corps provide the basic funds the banks use to create loans. No big corps, no money bags to get loans from, no loans for start ups to work with. Not to mention, Big Corps advocate for specific regulations, usually ones that they can diversify around and smaller businesses cannot. Big Corps are fine so long as there is somewhat of a leash on them. The biggest economic travesties in the past involved big businesses with government interference. Not to belabor a point, but what about when big business (auto industry, and banking industry) were both teetering on the verge of extinction, consequently taking our economy down with them, until the government bailed them out? Does anybody conceive, or accept that the "too big to fail" situation we had then, and coincidentally still do, is a good one? We have crafted ourselves a nightmare where these huge entities have made themselves the necessary evil that they are, and any efforts to even attempt to pull back from that are met with the resistance that such power entails, and painted as "un-American" to the populace, so that we tend to actually side with the entities that care nothing for us. I personally could not imagine a more dangerous, and yet pathetic symbiotic relationship. No easy solutions to be sure. But, this has drifted a bit from the OP subject matter, so I digress. CoH is great for what it is, and WoW is great for what it is. If that is the last comment on this thread, I think it sums the situation up nicely.

Keep in mind that those attributes can be gained via Incarnate powers as part of the endgame experience. I have an Earth/Earth Dominator, who had some mild debuffs, as a secondary to her attack powers. But, when I took the right Incarnate power that incorporated -regen for every attack, well let's just say I am much happier with her offensive capabilities than I was before.

Just a comment: Only 34% of corporate equity is owned by households. Of that 34%, the wealthiest percentiles (90-99.9% of wealth) own 90% of corporate equity that is owned by households. People who rely on SS are in the bottom 50% of wealth and own almost no corporate equity. The 50-90 percentile ownership has dropped by over half since 1989 and continues to drop. Source please? I'm not doubting the statement, but corporate equities could be defined a few different ways. Direct equity ownership is probably right where you are at. But what about indirect, like an annuity, or pension plan? 45% people have a 401K account for retirement, and perhaps many of those shift to bonds at retirement, but not sure if they are being counted either... Regardless, my point is that when the market doesn't gain as much as is expected, and stock prices drop, millionaire/billionaire retirees are no doubt financially impacted the most, but practically, it's all the people who are living on something beyond Soc Sec that can find any kind of an enjoyable retirement permanently destroyed. I want to be clear - I am for Big Corp, it's a reality in this modern, global age. How they are regulated and taxed is where I'll keep quiet... And remember, many start up businesses (not small businesses that serve just a local community), but start ups that want to provide products that lots and lots of people need are hoping more often than not to either go( public one day and put on the big corp pants, or to be bought out by a big corp. Take Big Corp out of the picture and a lot of those startups won't start up...(No Facebook, Twitter, Uber, Lyft, etc) True, without big corp, the little start-ups would have nothing to strive for. The issue for most of them (like Facebook, Twitter, Uber, etc.) is that even IF their motivation in the beginning was doing something that could benefit people, when they make it big, priorities change, and pretty soon the goals are all about the all mighty dollar. Most of them advocate less regulation, because those kinds of things cause them to make less profit, but as soon as you take the handcuffs off, left to their own devices, their worst impulses are realized. In the case of big pharma, big banking, big chemical, they will do heinous things in the pursuit of profit, at the expense of anyone unfortunate enough to be touched by their particular wares, with the mindset that it is cheaper to settle, than to not attempt this way of operating. Yes, they are a necessity, but only because that is the way our economy (as well as that of most of the world) is structured. That doesn't make it right. Just legal. There is a huge difference.

All very true. I guess the things that bug me the most revolve around the fact that, the eternal drive for unrealistic profitability on a quarterly basis forces big corp to do things that are morally questionable, and a lot of times, antithetical to the goal of taking care of those very customers who make those profits a possibility. There are other reasons, but those are among my biggest peeves.

As a wiki, is the point of it to be changeable for relevant information? Perhaps I am misinformed on that one.

Statistically speaking, it might not be the strongest, most damaging power. But, that's not why I pick a powerset when creating a character, and whatever it might lack in the statistics, it more than makes up for in the fun it is to play it. Which is why I play this game in the first place. 8)

I started a DP Blaster on Saturday, and by Sunday, he was L27. He was just so fun to play, I couldn't stop!

Try entering the main building behind the Statesman statue. You can go to the upper floors and actually see out the windows!

I'm always more a fan of evolution to positive change, as opposed to revolution and descent into chaos. The "burn it to the ground, and what rises from the ashes will be better" approach, while sometimes effective, is always painful for the ones caught-up in it.

Suffice to say that the game is a solo friendly as one chooses to make it. If you know the game well enough, and choose a character that can both take damage, and do damage, you will go through the content, and have fun. If you choose an archetype that excels in buff/debuff, or healing others, then you will have made it difficult for yourself, and the inevitable frustration of piles of life debt will become a reality. Some archetypes are initially pretty difficult, until they reach a certain level (like controllers), then they are much more solo friendly. So, you could team until you get to that level, then solo. But, the bottom line is that "solo friendly" does not mean that any archetype will plow through any content with ease. It really means, if you choose well, it is quite solo-friendly. If not, then quite the opposite will be true.

Perhaps, one of these days, these publishers will figure out ways to INCLUDE folks that want to play their stuff, rather than going to all the trouble to legally EXCLUDE them. It's rather sad that the scenario just keeps repeating, but I suppose that is the nature of profit-driven business. Money first, and foremost. The customers who supply that money, much lower on the priority list. Both Blizzard and NCSoft are public companies, which means they are *required* to generate profits for their shareholders. Ideally that means increasing customer counts, or generating more revenue from existing customers. Take Blizzard for example - they were going after private servers because those players were essentially playing the same game as paying customers, but for free. Blizzard shut them down, knowing that many of the people they shut down would just say "Screw it...I'm done with you Blizzard" (which doesn't really hurt Blizzard because these people were playing for free), but some people would come crawling back resubscribe. In NCSoft's case, I think part of the reason they aren't doing anything is because CoH is dead right now, and we aren't competing for customers... Yeah, profit. Both boon, and bane to everything in our world. These companies are typically so driven by the need/desire to meet unrealistically high quarterly growth expectations (remember when 3-5% annually was acceptable, as opposed to that much or more every quarter?), that they are pretty much willing to do ANYTHING to meet them. Their profits drive society, but the means that they are willing to sink to in order to make them happen, denigrate it in ways that only get worse the closer one looks. If you look at just about any important aspect of modern day life, it is not as good as it could be if pursuit of, and hyper-prioritization of profit, weren't as real as they are. We don't have the infrastructure we could because of the cost. We don't have the best healthcare because of the cost, and the fact that everyone from one end of the system, to the other is more interested in profit, than actual healthcare. We don't have the best education, because education institutions have to make money. Our journalistic integrity is a thing of the past, because unlike the old days, when news divisions were considered loss leaders (not required to make a profit), now they have to do things that guarantee more web activity, and more viewership, which sometimes collide with their basic responsibility to be absolutely truthful, and that has eroded trust in the whole process. So, when it comes our games, and the large companies that publish them, I never allow myself the luxury of believing that anything they do is for me as a customer. It is primarily intended to contribute to the aforementioned unrealistic quarterly growth, demanded by those stockholders, and the hyper-overpaid management of those companies. If they manage to provide something I find enjoyable, and I end up contributing to their pursuits of incalculable wealth, I have to live with the morals of that choice, knowing I contribute that system, despite knowing how wrong it is. But, what choice have we got? As for NCSoft in particular, I have said it before. They never understood this game, didn't know how to properly market it, and if weren't for their US-based devs, it wouldn't have been as good as it was, or gone on for as long as it originally did. In the end, they took it down, despite the fact that it was still making them money, to finance other games that were closer to their market comfort zone (at the height of the super hero craze in the US, and eventually, the world mind you), most or all of which subsequently went bust. So, IMHO the best thing they could do is just continue not to care about the existence of this iteration of a game, which suites me right down to the ground. If they refuse to find a way to be inclusive of the players who would have been willing to sign-on again if they had made it possible, then hopefully, they will just stay out of the picture, and let us continue to do what we love. Be SUPER!

This is why the Homecoming Group shuts down the donation page when they reach their monthly cost goal. Whether there are two hundred or two hundred thousand players, what's the cost/benefit tradeoff for them to sue a group that has no more resources than what's needed to keep the servers running for another month? It depends what a company wants to gain. If they are after money, then no, suing Homecoming wouldn't help with that. Their legal costs would be more than anything they could get from the group. If their goal is control and intimidating other potential private servers, then a lawsuit would very likely pay off. But NC Soft would have care in order to go that route, and right now it's not clear that the do. Blizzard is a good example of a company doing this. Their lawsuits against private servers and cheaters don't bring them immediate financial profit, it's about control and scaring off other potential people from doing similar things. Perhaps, one of these days, these publishers will figure out ways to INCLUDE folks that want to play their stuff, rather than going to all the trouble to legally EXCLUDE them. It's rather sad that the scenario just keeps repeating, but I suppose that is the nature of profit-driven business. Money first, and foremost. The customers who supply that money, much lower on the priority list.

Welcome back! It's great, isn't it? I wouldn't count on getting your original characters back. That option was bandied about at the beginning of this whole resurgence of the game, and I believe it was decided against for a number of potential legal, and privacy issues that would unnecessarily increase the risk of losing our game again. So, we pushed forward with new characters/accounts. It's been a blast redoing all of that early level stuff, being totally broke again, and having to build up your fortune from scratch. I have thoroughly enjoyed the journey this second time around, and I intend to keep enjoying it with each of the many characters I have created/re-created here!

"Do you need advice on how to play CoH? Are you looking for help with a build or finding content? Do you have a suggestion to improve gameplay? Have you tried asking in-game and found to hard to get the information you need? Then the Homecoming forums are for you. We provide many boards for you to post in, and we have several thousand forum posts ready to hear you out! Required Warning: Side effects of posting in the forums include frequent criticism, threads moving way off-topic, and side arguments between posters. Other common side effects can include anxiety, rage, and frustration. If you experience those side effects you should step away from the forums and do something less frustrating like folding clothes, putting away dishes, calling your mom (that's 50/50 on helping) or playing City of Heroes." You forgot to mention Perma-Haten. I don't think I'll ever forget Perma-Haten! ;D

You mean the small team that kept their server secret for six years until it was forcibly revealed? They didn’t “keep the dream alive” for us, they did it for themself. Oh, and you weren’t invited to their party either. Technically, the current regime is different, and I’m happy the game is now out, I’ll leave it that. Feel about the past as you will, but the bottom line is that, were it not for these guys doing it for themselves, we would not be where we are, which is playing again. Life doesn't always provide for the smoothest path to something, but in this case, we got what we have wanted for a long time, which was to have our game back. I for one, am not looking back for recriminations on why we couldn't have had it sooner, and harboring anger about it. Life is too short. Instead, I am looking forward, in order to enjoy the second chance we have been given, and appreciate what I have for as long as I can.

If we somehow had 10,000 players on each shard, I think you'd see higher concentrations of folks everywhere. However, since the most popular shard (Excelsior) is currently peaking at just under 2,000 players at peak time, folks are spread out doing all manner of things, and the lower populated areas reflect those percentages. With 10 times the players, everything would be 10 times more utilized. But, we are working with what we have, and doing the best we can with the player-base as it is. There just aren't a lot of folks out of the average of 1,200-1,500 players on any given server to have the concentrations in all zones we'd like to see. Perhaps someday though. More former players are becoming aware of this, and hopefully that influx is faster than those who whose attention span has already compelled them to move on.

Hey - I have a mouse just like that. Found mine on the internet...you? I saw one just like it on the....ummmmm...City of Heroes: Homecoming forums...I think...??? :o :-X ;) 8)

"Here I come to save the daaaaaaaaay!" Don't touch the cape though...he's very sensitive about it I don't want to know what you use for left, and right click on a mouse like that, let alone any special function buttons. I really don't want to know! ;)

One of my sons (my oldest) played with me on Father's Day this year. We had a really good time, but he has other interests, so it's kind of a rarity. I just love the fact that this game was around when he was quite young, and it was one of the first MMOs he ever played. Now that it's back, he still loves it.

Corsair M65 RGB Elite. Compact, configurable, and comes with adjustable weighting which I like, because I prefer a heavier mouse.

Yup! I get that. I was responding to some of the comments that have materialized since the OP in my assessment that comparing a fantasy-based MMO, with a Super Hero MMO beyond the fact that they are both MMOs is kind of "Apples and Oranges". ;) :)