Abraxus

Thanks for the breakdown Cipher. It added some detail to the monthly statements that I peruse when I donate, but it all tracks. Still happy to support the effort! Especially one with this much transparency.

Done! Always makes me feel good to contribute. Especially when I consider how much I feel I get out of this game.

Welcome home! Another wayward hero found his way back to Paragon City.

Then feel free to exercise the other option, and cut them some slack from not being on duty 24x7, and on top of every issue thousands of players can manifest, immediately. If you submitted a ticket, it will be taken care of.

An all volunteer community that doing the best it can to do the things that a fully funded, employee-based organization would do. Thousands of players, multiple shards to oversee, and perhaps a dozen GMs. I can assure you, they are doing the best they can. But, nobody's perfect. So, cut them some slack, or volunteer to join their team, and help out. Assuming that they don't care is not helpful at all.

Wow! Went grocery shopping, and by the time I got back, it was already done! Not so good for me, but great for Homecoming!

It can be either, or both. With 1,000 slots available, you can decide for each character how you wish to progress. There are so many ways with this much content, you shouldn't have to repeat the same way twice for awhile, between Hero, Villain, and Pratorian starting points, and the ability to easily jump between them by using NULL The Gull in Pocket D.

You gotta be fast! Typically, the donation target is hit within an hour, or two. And, once it's reached, it closes until the next month.

And, like everything else, they are free. No subscriptions, and no in-game charges for things. There is a monthly donation run to support the admin/dev team here (on the last saturday of the month), but it's totally voluntary.

I know EXACTLY how you feel. I had the same feeling back in May of last year, when all of this exploded back on to the scene. The first time I rolled up on the steps of Atlas Park, and heard that theme music, I swear it brought a nostalgic tear to the eye! I played other games while this one was away lo those 7 dark years. But, this was the only one a really wanted to play, and as soon as it was back, there was no desire to play anything else. Welcome home hero!

There is one server (Reunion I think) that is based in Europe, for the benefit of our players there. But, yeah. The rest are based in Canada last I knew.

Here is the current status on the population of each server. I think you'll find that Excelsior is pretty much the highest population server. Just for reference, I typically play on Torchbearer, which is typically in the middle of the pack, but I never have trouble finding a team when I look for one.

With regards to NCSoft, perhaps they know more about the situation than you do, since they are the ones actually in contact with them. There always seems to be a lot of supposition, and assumption about this, when nobody outside of the legal process is actually privy to what is discussed. But, that doesn't stop folks from portraying a perspective that implies some knowledge of the subject that is supposed to convince others of its validity. Well, you don't, and the bitterness over the games closure 8 years ago, well maybe it's time to look to the future, rather than the past. And, let's not forget that the very reason they are doing this isn't for their own enrichment, or profit. It's for the love of the game, and to take away the lingering specter of legal action, so we can be put that behind us, if they are successful. As for the demands for specific things, well...things are coming according to the updates, and hints we've all seen. Perhaps not the things you have listed, but Page 6 has a lot of promise. But, I doubt that any of it will be satisfactory for you. You seem to relish in focusing on the negatives of playing on HC, and how great it is on other servers. Typically, there is no way to overcome that kind of negativity, so do as you will. I will play the game, and wait for what's to come. These folks here at HC have never given me any reason to doubt that it will only get better from here, no any reason to doubt their motivations.

^ This too!

I am a SysAdmin in my day job, and I deal with security patching for 14,000 servers. We run patches on our test systems on the 2nd Tuesday, which gives app owners a week to test to make sure that everything still works (though most don't actually avail themselves of the opportunity, to their own despair at times). On the third Tuesday, we patch our production systems, and on the 4th Tuesday, we patch our Disaster Recovery systems, and the odds and ends that just couldn't be part of the first two groups, for whatever reason. Then, we spend whatever time there is from there, until the start of the new cycle to get compliance as high as it can be, before it all resets to zero. That is a lot of what I do. So, yeah...I get the whole patching thing. Whose to say that they actually apply MS updates on the 2nd Tuesday? Perhaps they accomplish some other maintenance on that day, and save the actual patching until a week, or two later, as we do. But, it is not outside the realm of possibility that Tuesday works for one, so why not just standardize on it. Crazier things have happened. That's my speculation on it, for whatever it's worth.

I'd say that, at least for the 2nd Tuesday of the month, it is the day that Microsoft releases their security updates. So, applying those to the OS, and peripheral OS related app patches (.NET, Internet Explorer, etc, C++, etc.), on that 2nd Tuesday likely sets the pattern for server reboots for any other updates on subsequent Tuesdays. Just a theory.

Nobody has thrown boondogle out there yet? SNAFU? Thunder Mug? Muzzle Blast?

I'm sure the reservation of a Twitch account caused some confusion from the announcement yesterday. But, I'm guessing it's just to have it in place in anticipation of the day when it does become agreeable to stream Homecoming content. I would also guess that when that happens, it will be made very clear that is has happened, how it happened, what it means, and all encouragement for doing so will be provided! Likely at that time, their FB feed, their YouTube channel, and their twitter account will be overloaded with new activity. Plus, when all that happens, likely there will be more concerted, and active efforts to let the world know we are here. So, stand by for now. We have been given some reassurance that all of this is a likelihood for the foreseeable future. We just don't want to jump the gun.

Welcome home! Makes me happy every time I hear of another player who found their way back! As you have noticed, and others have said as well, it is a different experience. A couple of major things contribute to that, I think. First, this server was based on the I25 code (which was a lot of stuff that was under development at the time of shut-down, but never implemented. There was a server running in the 7 years that the game was gone, and certain changes were made to XP, and markets to compensate for the low population there. Many of those changes were there when Homecoming launched, and have prevailed. Second, the game is no longer profit driven, so there is no concern about folks terminating their subscriptions when they had played through available content. Now, we play because we love the game, and look forward to seeing how it develops from here. There have been some mission arcs added, some new archetypes, new powers, proliferation of existing powers. Given the fact that this is all run by a group of volunteers, it's nothing short of amazing. What we have now is a game with a LOT of content (between the blue, red, and gold stuff), that very few folks even make an effort to experience. It takes a little more concerted effort to do that, but it's more about the fact that you have complete freedom about how to go about it. Want it easy? Well, it's easier than it used to be. Want it harder, turn up the difficulty to meet your needs! Want to slow things down, stop XP. Want to speed it up more? Buy XP boosters! Want to do it all? Well, you might have to spread it between multiple toons, but it's totally do-able! Have fun, and welcome back! Also, feel free to reach out to the community in-game, here on the forum, and on Discord. Also, the GM staff is available for questions as well. There are many ways to help you find what you are looking for, so don't hesitate to use them!

....and...done!

Yeah. Our methods are rather limited until/unless the negotiations are successful. On that day, by the power of the internet, ALL shall know and go forth! 😎

I simply want anyone who ever did, or ever wants to, to have the opportunity to play. We have had the privilege of playing again for over a year, because we found out early on about it's return. Many who loved the game, and would be back in a moment, just stopped looking for CoH related information, because it was shut-down, and historically that is the last word on the subject. Getting the word out would reach corners of the internet where those folks would more readily see that the game is back, and they'd be here in a hot minute! Then there are those who never played before, who would be curious to try it. I want them to have that chance. Why invite more to our little party? Because I want this to go on for a long time, and the reality is that, folks will come and go over time. We need a steady influx of players to maintain the current population, and keep this community thriving for the long term. That ensures the enthusiasm for playing goes on, as well as that of the Dev team to keep innovating, and evolving the game. Yes, things are fine now, and they would probably be fine for the next few months. We saw a sizable uptick in player population when the "stay at home" orders went out, and it has slowly trickled down, as things started to open back up. When the world begins to return to normal, there will be less time available to play games like this, and folks will spend less time, or just leave. So, the hope is to keep the community thriving through a somewhat steady stream of new players. They won't overwhelm, and there is plenty of room. Of the 5 shards, only one of them (Excelsior) is populated anywhere near capacity. The others still have plenty of bandwidth, and resources. If every server was equally populated as Excelsior, with an average of 1,200-1,500 players on-line through a given day, nothing would be overwhelmed, the markets would thrive, and the game along with it. Being overly protective of our little corner of the world, to keep it all to ourselves is not a solution for long term survival. When the restrictions are off, I hope the word gets out far, and wide.

We know from the slow trickle of folks who find their way here, that there are a lot more out there who just don't know the game has returned. But, the best way to reach them without crossing a line...I'm just not sure. I want to see them come back, but without knowing where the lines are drawn, I have not aggressively pursued it myself.

Welcome home! This week, the Halloween event is going on, so go knock on some doors!

Sometimes, the best things can't be explained. They just are... 😎