How

[Craigrx]

I am a curious sort so I was wondering how Homecoming came about. Obviously if explaining the History of the rebirth of City of Heroes, is legally problematic I TOTALLY understand but as I said I am  a curious sort (ie History buff) so if the tale can be told I would sincerely like to hear it

 

I don't want to do anything that would jeopardize the continuation of City Of Heroes

 

Thanks for your attention

[Lunchmoney]

A lot of the news can be found here https://massivelyop.com/tag/city-of-heroes/

[_NOPE_]

A good rundown is summarized in the Unofficial Wiki:

 

https://coh-homecoming-unofficial.fandom.com/wiki/City_Of_Heroes:_Homecoming_Unofficial_Wiki

 

 

[Robotech_Master]

Putting together what I've read in the news, shortly after CoH shut down someone leaked the source code and other associated files to some CoH gamers who were also coders. Calling themselves SCORE, the Secret Cabal of Reverse Engineers, the group created a secret server where they could continue to play the game in private, just inviting people they thought they could trust, as they worked on patching it and improving it--finishing up I24, and creating the further improvements now known as I25.

 

Some people don't believe this, but as some of the news coverage notes, SCORE actually was planning on going public with it on the 15th Anniversary of City of Heroes, at the beginning of May. They had been preparing to set up Homecoming all along, and were nearly ready to do it--when some schmuck they had invited a little while earlier jumped the gun and leaked the existence of this secret server ahead of time.

 

Some skeptics have expressed doubt that the developers actually had been planning to go public, and say we wouldn't be playing the game now if not for that leaker, but I've talked to some of the people involved and I believe them. The saddest thing about the whole mess is that there really isn't any way to prove it now, so people will believe what they want to believe.

[Adeon Hawkwood]

Some skeptics have expressed doubt that the developers actually had been planning to go public, and say we wouldn't be playing the game now if not for that leaker, but I've talked to some of the people involved and I believe them. The saddest thing about the whole mess is that there really isn't any way to prove it now, so people will believe what they want to believe.

I tend to believe them but then I like to believe the best of people. Also from a practical point of view lying low for a few years seems like a sensible strategy, NCSoft would probably have been more likely to react harshly if a private server had popped up immediately following the shut down. Additionally it would have made it easier for NCSoft to identify the individual(s) who were involved in handing over the code base while the time gap provides them with some protection.

 

[Lunchmoney]

Some people don't believe this,....

 

Some skeptics have expressed doubt ...

 

It's all a Nemesis plot.

[PSLAnimal]

Some people don't believe this,....

 

Some skeptics have expressed doubt ...

 

It's all a Nemesis plot.

 

Everything is a Nemesis plot. 

[Healix]

[Pixie_Knight]

Some people don't believe this,....

 

Some skeptics have expressed doubt ...

 

It's all a Nemesis plot.

 

Everything is a Nemesis plot.

 

Unless it's a Nemesis Pot or Nemesis Mop.

[Zolgar]

Some people don't believe this,....

 

Some skeptics have expressed doubt ...

 

It's all a Nemesis plot.

 

Everything is a Nemesis plot.

 

Unless it's a Nemesis Pot or Nemesis Mop.

 

Or when he's tired and it's a Nemesis Plop.

 

[Pixie_Knight]

Some people don't believe this,....

 

Some skeptics have expressed doubt ...

 

It's all a Nemesis plot.

 

Everything is a Nemesis plot.

 

Unless it's a Nemesis Pot or Nemesis Mop.

 

Or when he's tired and it's a Nemesis Plop.

 

Last time he made a movie, it was a Nemesis Flop.

[EggKookoo]

Some people don't believe this,....

 

Some skeptics have expressed doubt ...

 

It's all a Nemesis plot.

 

Everything is a Nemesis plot.

 

Unless it's a Nemesis Pot or Nemesis Mop.

 

Or when he's tired and it's a Nemesis Plop.

 

Last time he made a movie, it was a Nemesis Flop.

 

Please, just Nemesis Stop...

[Pixie_Knight]

Please, just Nemesis Stop...

 

Does this make you the Nemesis Cop?

 

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[justicebeliever]

+1 inf to Zolgar, Pixie Knight, and EggKooKoo for the belly laughs.

[eiynp]

I doubt pretty highly that the original SCORE group ever intended to go public; I knew some folks who had access to the private server (I didn't) and their practice was pretty much absolutely secrecy and access for the folks a relative handful of gatekeepers thought were worthy of being given access. The claims of intent to go public were only ever retroactive and imo if they actually weren't, stuff like fundraising would've been much more sorted by the time the 'launch' happened. It doesn't seem very likely to me that we'd have available servers (and certainly not multiple servers) if the leak hadn't happened.

[Healix]

eiynp, you have no idea how wrong you are. All the leak did was bring the game out before it was fully cooked. You are not alone in your opinion, but the truth is, if working on it had not remained secret, we all wouldn't be here now. *legal stuff* The truth remains the truth whether people choose to believe it or not. :)

[Scarlet Shocker]

I doubt pretty highly that the original SCORE group ever intended to go public; I knew some folks who had access to the private server (I didn't) and their practice was pretty much absolutely secrecy and access for the folks a relative handful of gatekeepers thought were worthy of being given access. The claims of intent to go public were only ever retroactive and imo if they actually weren't, stuff like fundraising would've been much more sorted by the time the 'launch' happened. It doesn't seem very likely to me that we'd have available servers (and certainly not multiple servers) if the leak hadn't happened.

 

You have speculated poorly and drawn incorrect and wrong conclusions.

[Pixie_Knight]

Personally, I couldn't care less if people believe SCORE were going to open to the public or not after getting all their ducks in a row. What matters to me is that the Homecoming servers are here, and I can once again play this amazing game. And that's good enough for me.

[BelleSorciere]

Personally, I couldn't care less if people believe SCORE were going to open to the public or not after getting all their ducks in a row. What matters to me is that the Homecoming servers are here, and I can once again play this amazing game. And that's good enough for me.

 

^^^This. It doesn't really matter what their real intentions were, this is what we have now, and it's great.

[Myrmidon]

Personally, I couldn't care less if people believe SCORE were going to open to the public or not after getting all their ducks in a row. What matters to me is that the Homecoming servers are here, and I can once again play this amazing game. And that's good enough for me.

 

Exactly. Everything that has transpired over the last seven years has brought us all to the moment when we could finally come back home.

[jubakumbi]

Personally, I couldn't care less if people believe SCORE were going to open to the public or not after getting all their ducks in a row. What matters to me is that the Homecoming servers are here, and I can once again play this amazing game. And that's good enough for me.

 

This is my opinion as well.

 

While I have a very curious mind and I like to understand the 'why and how' of things, there are simply too many 'Internet anonymous' humans involved here to get to the 'truth' w/o a professional involved and even then, eh.

 

There are also reasons it was secret for so long...uncovering details may well paint more than one person or enitity in a bad light...that is the sort of thing that impacts public reputations and bottom lines...

 

Personally, I have chosen to let this mystery fade away...at best it is just idle curiosity, at worst, it's 'evidence'.

 

We get to play CoH now.

The code and binaries are in the wild, so the genie will live on in the future.

Enjoy playing the game. :)

[Romeyn]

I dont care either way, if they had kept it secret, I would have operated my daily life as before. If they intended to release it but it was released early... well... here we are.

[_NOPE_]

If they did intend it to be public all along, and they wanted people to KNOW that, they could provide proof... such as e-mail exchanges, Discord chats, screenshots, whatever. But I don't think it matters looking at the past. We got where we are how we got there, what matters is where we are going NOW. I'm optimistic.

[Man_From_AUNTIE]

If they did intend it to be public all along, and they wanted people to KNOW that, they could provide proof... such as e-mail exchanges, Discord chats, screenshots, whatever. But I don't think it matters looking at the past. We got where we are how we got there, what matters is where we are going NOW. I'm optimistic.

Exactly PK

[justicebeliever]

If they did intend it to be public all along, and they wanted people to KNOW that, they could provide proof... such as e-mail exchanges, Discord chats, screenshots, whatever. But I don't think it matters looking at the past. We got where we are how we got there, what matters is where we are going NOW. I'm optimistic.

 

I agree - I am dubious that they had all these plans for something that was going to happen just a week later, but still hadn't nailed down things like fundraising, forming a non-profit, etc.  But I clearly don't know for certain, just my opinion.

 

However, not having CoH has caused me no harm.  So I can't complain about being injured by the secrecy.  One could say it's a missed opportunity, but it's not one that I had any legal right to, so I still can't complain - I wasn't entitled to CoH

 

So today is today, and I can't relive the past, except in Ouroboros, so there is no use dwelling on what's done, when your time and emotional energy could be better spent enjoying the here and now.