The cycle ending, and beginning again...?

[tidge]

I agree with all the folks not expecting a large influx of WoW players. There is a lot to love in CoX, and the HC crew are being good stewards, but folks that weren't attracted to CoX (or never came to it) aren't going to suddenly want to join en masse, especially given more modern alternate choices.

[CerebralSleuth]

My interaction with CoX right now is pretty sporadic, but I still come in from time-to-time to play group content and play dress-up. My impression is that most of the current playerbase is, and always were, hardcore CoX players, most of whom have done the content to death. And then some of the playerbase is like me, drifting in and out. I think we're all here because we played CoX when it was live, and I seriously doubt that anyone who is unfamiliar with CoX will give it a try at this stage. Yes, there's lots to love, but this is now a fan project, for fans, by fans.

[Doc_Scorpion]

16 minutes ago, CerebralSleuth said:

I seriously doubt that anyone who is unfamiliar with CoX will give it a try at this stage.

There isn't many of them, granted...  But judging by the forums and Reddit, there is a s-ll-ooo-wwww trickle of complete newbies.

[Ace Jones]

I think CoX might get a few people but not mass waves from this. I think we’re in a bit of a ripple effect, word of mouth etc seems to be attractive a few new players - encountered a couple recently which was very nice to see

[TombTyrant]

I actually have run across a few brand new players in recent days.

[Darmian]

On 8/18/2021 at 6:24 AM, TombTyrant said:

I actually have run across a few brand new players in recent days.

Same here.

[Hyperstrike]

On 8/10/2021 at 6:05 AM, Omega Force said:

There are two others: Champions Online, and DC Universe Online.  Both are legal and free to play, and DCUO has steadily ongoing development.

Like he said.  No other...

CO has been on life support for nearly 10 years.  The only reason it exists is to churn out lock boxes.

DCUO...As good as the world looks, the characters are potato people.  The controls are screwy.  And the game is hampered by all the console compromises.  Even worse than CO was.

[Hyperstrike]

On 8/11/2021 at 10:46 AM, GM Crumpet said:

I tried WoW and hated it with a passion. And I know dedicated WoW players who hated CoX with a passion. The two demographics don't necessarily have that much of an overlap. The only overlap is DCU and CO players tend to migrate to CoX and find it a more satisfying experience. They look pretty, have differing power sets and storylines, but there is something missing that is hard to quantify. 

I've played all three games.

One of the things missing from CO and DCUO is storytelling.  Sure.  They have storylines.  But they aren't expressed well.  And in both games, there's terminal over-use of "Get me X number of bear asses."

Don't get me wrong.  CoH has it's own "Bear Ass hunt" missions too.  But they're spaced more judiciously.  With a lot of "Kill X" being relegated to optional badge content.

Another is a nice, consistent control set.

Yes, you can reconfigure how you move and what you see in CoH.  But it's still internally consistent.

CO and DCUO suffer because of "console compatibility" choices.  It's not that I begrudge console players.  It's that the choices made to try and accommodate that niche has actively damaged (and limited) usability on a PC. 

Another is developer-to-player engagement.

Let's just say that Jack was never really a "people"person.  Even in person.  Sure, he can dial up the "schmooze" for conventions and PR.  But he's really a fairly antisocial person at heart.  This is why he was so bad at player engagement.  He was a big believer in "The devs are Gods.  The players should just be grateful." paradigm.

And CoH just NEVER worked that way.  A huge chunk of the team was actively engaged with players from the get go.  And it became even moreso after the advent of the Paragon Studios era.

CO is still locked in this.  Mainly because their dev "team" is essentially one person, with responsibilities elsewhere in the constellation of properties.  When the position isn't empty.
Funding is nonexistent for development.  And the only push from the parent company is "new lockboxes".

DCUO?  I honestly don't know about community interaction.  During the 6 months I gave the game, I became convinced there is no "community", in the CoH sense.  The devs were unknown to me.  And with the rather sparse (and hostile) player-to-player environment...


So, CoH has been the only thing I've played regularly since July 4ht 2008 (when I joined).
I have a CO account still, that I peek in on every now and again.  Because I have a lifetime sub (traded for swag w/Jack at a GenCon).  I peek back in ever 3-6 months to see if I know anyone.  But beyond that...nah.  I've already done 99% of the content in the game, and it just isn't that replayable.
And I haven't even bothered to look at DCUO in a long, long time.  That's how bad a taste it left in my mouth.

 

[Hyperstrike]

On 8/18/2021 at 12:24 AM, TombTyrant said:

I actually have run across a few brand new players in recent days.

Yeah.  One of the things we have on our side is that this game has tons of actual content.
So there IS lots of things for truly NEW players to do.

[Aeroprism]

It would be incorrect to compare CoH and WoW as opposing forces for all the reasons you guys have mentionned above.

Ever since 1999, I have loved MMOs.  Sometimes I dabbled (Champions Online, Everquest 2, STO, Warhammer Online, Guild Wars, a few more), sometimes I played quite extensively (CoH, WoW, Everquest, DAoC, Rift, Guild Wars 2, LOTRO, SWTOR, PSO, PSO2).  Paying a sub has never been an issue. Paying for an expansion has never been an issue.  I have a stable income and aside from tabletop RP, video games is the only place where I put hobby money.

 

And here we are, in 2021. I could play any MMO I want, but I chose CoH and LOTRO.  Why?  Because CoH is unique and wonderful and no other MMO feels like it. CoH gives me what I want when I want to feel fast, powerful, over the top. It gives me flexibility, pretty powers and happy bubble butts in tight clothes. 

 

LOTRO is the opposite.  It's slow. Soooo veeeery slow. It's like a massage for the brain, telling you a nice story with Ian McKellen's voice. Both games are worlds apart but they share one trait: they are old AF. This, to me, doesn't hurt them in any way.

 

Most of my friends are still on WoW but I will most likely never go there again. To me, WoW is all about running the same 5 daily quests until the next raid comes out. I hate that.  And I hate PVP with a burningly passionate passion.  The game plays well and aged well, but that's not enough for me. 

So no, I can't see why a WoW player would come here instead.  People who come here do so because they want to be here, not because they no longer want to be somewhere else.

Am I making a point with all this mess?  I think I derailed my own train of thought when I mentionned bubble butts.

Yeah.

 

On 8/12/2021 at 4:53 AM, Miss Magical said:

I rank everyone here just below that person who made an entire website explaining why a Star Destroyer would beat the USS Enterprise in a firefight, supported with detailed engineering analyses.

 

Do you have a link for that website?  I really, really want to read that website.  Really.

 

[Miss Magical]

17 minutes ago, Aeroprism said:

Do you have a link for that website?  I really, really want to read that website.  Really.

 

I disclaim all responsibility if your spouse, coworkers, children or pets discover you reading a detailed analysis about why a turbolaser delivers more joules than a phaser bank.

 

http://stardestroyer.net/

[Omega Force]

On 8/20/2021 at 10:11 AM, Hyperstrike said:

Like he said.  No other...

Spiritually he is correct, those other two *are* terrible, but it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility that someone might not know they exist.

[Rathulfr]

On 8/20/2021 at 10:53 AM, Aeroprism said:

And here we are, in 2021. I could play any MMO I want, but I chose CoH and LOTRO. 

 

Whoa, LotRO.  There's an acronym I haven't seen in years.  That game still alive?  I thought Turbine went out of business?

 

[Haijinx]

On 8/11/2021 at 11:46 AM, GM Crumpet said:

 but there is something missing that is hard to quantify. 

 

like .. you know .. people willing to play in teams.

[Aeroprism]

12 hours ago, Rathulfr said:

 

Whoa, LotRO.  There's an acronym I haven't seen in years.  That game still alive?  I thought Turbine went out of business?

 

 

Very much alive, new expansions still coming.  It's not massively populated but most people who play are dedicated.  I have rarely seen such an intense level of roleplay and commitment in a MMO. Seeing 25-30 players in band formation, all dressed up, playing their instruments is something rather spectacular.

 

I don't really RP much there though. I tend to find LOTR roleplay too serious.  I just explore and read the story. It is a HUGE game.

[Gatling]

I love CoX.

I think it's one of the most unique and inspired MMO's of its time.

It just doesn't have the presence to pull in a crowd. We may get a few people, but the earlier streaming restrictions really took the wind out of the sails of any push for popularity.

Unfortunately Super Hero MMO's aren't a big thing because people just don't play them.

[kiramon]

On 8/12/2021 at 4:53 AM, Miss Magical said:.

 

Not to mention y'all are the last remnants of a 17 year old niche game's community, a game that was revived through a plot straight out of a Tom Clancy novel involving the leaking of source code and hidden servers operated by an elite cabal on the dark web. l

🤗

Ah the memories of that day. Most unbelievable torrent of events. 

[Neiska]

Personally, I get a warm feeling when I imagine CoH having a smaller, yet more passionate community. Despite our bickering sometimes. It really goes to show just how great CoH is after all this time it still boasts a community of people who return to it as their main game entertainment when given the options available now, as well as after so much time passing. To me CoH is a game that will always stand apart from the rest. Sure, things might have been done better, but it's done a lot of amazing things too. I mean, even in present day we still boast some of the biggest character options in any game anywhere, which was years ahead of its time.

 

So a smaller, but more dedicated fan base. I could be wrong of course, but I like to believe so.

[Shred Monkey]

I don't think the CoH community will see any growth, and only a little decline moving forward.  The people who want to be here are already here.  The people who would get bored and leave have already got bored and left.  What remains is a community of people who stay because they're happy here.

 

Edited September 7, 2021 by Shred Monkey