Officially Unofficial Weekly Discussion #6: Looking back and looking forward.

[SeraphimKensai]

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the infamous sunset that started a 7 year eclipse on the game for many of the player base. The game has been back for several years now so we've all seen a number of our friends come and go as the nostalgia dissipates, so...

 

What captivates you to continue playing? Is it the costume editor? Some particular content? Trying new alts? The people? Or is it because you've played so many years it's became ingrained within you?

 

When the game shut down those ten years ago, what did you do not knowing if CoH would ever return? Did you get swept up in another MMO? Play single player games? Go to wizarding school and graduate? Start a family? Start a career? Or finally find time to hit the gym?

 

What reaction did you have when you found out about SCORE or if you arrived later than others, Homecoming?

 

Only time will tell what the future may bring, so take advantage of the time you have.

[TheZag]

Its that first time you hear the character select screen music and atlas park music after so many years.  Keep coming back for more after that.

 

[Owenknowone]

52 minutes ago, TheZag said:

Its that first time you hear the character select screen music and atlas park music after so many years.  Keep coming back for more after that.

 

Definitely!  Everytime I think i love just making new toons just to run around at low levels to feel fresh!  Miss Galaxy City.

[BurtHutt]

Interesting question. For me it was making your super come to life - so to speak. Making them look a lot like what you envisioned and then creating new toons etc. This is my fave part.

 

I was happy the game came back. I never played an MMO before and this one really did it for me. During Live, the community also did it for me too. The community in HC is much smaller so it's different now and I haven't made too many solid connections - but I have made some!

 

I still see this game as fun to play but the play time is a lot lower these days. It's very repetitive and it's been a couple years since I found HC. I must thank the HC team once again for all of their hard work.

 

The devs can't keep up with demand but I think they do a great job. The quality of the items pushed out here is on par with the Live team. 

 

I didn't find any other games to replace CoX. I'm not really a gamer. I was out and about and doing non-game things. When the pandemic lockdowns hit, CoX was there to save the day...so to speak!

 

I still log on from time to time and play a bit here and there. I will add some of the excitement is building toons that are different than what I've normally done (using different pools, maybe using a bit of a proc mechanic to alter playstyle etc).

 

Finally, I am hoping to see the devs add some costume pieces/sets and my biggest ask is using AE and the community to create game content (yes, the same idea I've been asking for in many other threads 🙂 ) 

 

 

 

 

[Spaghetti Betty]

18 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

What captivates you to continue playing? Is it the costume editor? Some particular content? Trying new alts?

It's a combination of these 3 here. This is still, to date, one of the best character creators in any game I've played. It also has some of the most fun stuff I've ever found to do in a game. I played a lot of dungeon crawlers growing up, and CoH still satisfies that itch the best.

18 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Or is it because you've played so many years it's became ingrained within you?

Stop attacking me

18 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

When the game shut down those ten years ago, what did you do not knowing if CoH would ever return? Did you get swept up in another MMO? Play single player games? Go to wizarding school and graduate? Start a family? Start a career? Or finally find time to hit the gym?

Funnily enough, I was already gone before sunset hit. I wasn't a huge fan of the direction the game was going after CoH: Freedom, and I considered myself done some time after that. I recall Water Blast being on the test server when I left.

 

I was a teenager then. In those 10 years I grew up and moved out, got a job and started working. I would try other MMOs (namely The Secret World and WoW), but they never really hit the same, so I took the time to catch up on the games I missed. It's hard to argue to your parents having a monthly sub to a video game AND buying $60 ones on top of that.

19 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

What reaction did you have when you found out about SCORE or if you arrived later than others, Homecoming?

I had no idea of SCORE's existence and I didn't find out about HC existing until 2019, and even then, that was just a "Hey, did you know CoH has a private server now" from my sister. Unfortunately, no PC at the time, so I didn't get to join until August 2020. I didn't realize how much I missed the game until I booted it up again.

 

 

And if it all goes away for a 2nd time? I'll appreciate the time I had and move on. I'll be sour, sure, but this all feels like a freebie anyway.

[twozerofoxtrot]

19 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

What captivates you to continue playing? ... is it because you've played so many years it's became ingrained within you?

 

I ask myself this frequently and haven't been able to find an answer that satisfies me.

 

19 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

When the game shut down those ten years ago, what did you do not knowing if CoH would ever return?

 

I quit CoV sometime around 2008 or 2009? The invention system was fairly new and I felt like it was bloat. 

 

Anyway, I was in Afghanistan when the game shut down. I didn't notice.

 

19 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

What reaction did you have when you found out about SCORE or if you arrived later than others, Homecoming?

 

The whole Destroyerstroyer leak made for good wholesome gossip reading. Until then I had no idea CoX had shut down, so the emergent details from MassivelyOP and Reddit fed my curiosity.

 

[Clave Dark 5]

Funny timing! 

 

I just about burnt myself out playing League TPer for Monster Scouting in PI during Halloween (the Pink Bamfper says hi by the way), and that combined with a busy RL has kept me mostly away from the game for the past few weeks.  This morning though, got to play for about half an hour, and just a radio team in Brickstown...  And it was a lot of fun!  It was really nice to see the city again, see what sorta costumes other people had, etc.  There's that comfy ew

 

Then on top of that, I feel like I've found my new project toon to start planning out a bit.  That's always a draw: the concept starts to coalesce, I think about various power pools I might want, costume parts to match the concept, etc.  I've always said this game is like being able to design your bespoke action figures then getting to play with them, and here I am planning another.

 

That's what keeps me playing, I haven't burned out yet.  As for the other stuff: I didn't move to another MMO.  It's hypocritical of me, but I generally find all video gaming a waste of time, I'd rather watch a good film, read a good book, pet my cats... but damned if I can quit this game.

[UltraAlt]

21 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

What captivates you to continue playing?

 

Who's playing?

I live in THE CITY and fight the crime that tries to destroy it (and maybe a little more than a little bit of ingame Amazon Empiring .... who me? Ebil Marketing?)

 

 

21 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Is it the costume editor?

 

The costume editor is so good.

Usually have a pretty good idea for a look when I craft a new character in my mind, and, when I go into the editor, the parts are there to get what I'm looking for.

And then I usually make another costume or two as soon almost as soon as into THE CITY (costume changes are free until 10 after all).

 

21 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Some particular content?

 

No pretty much all of it aside from Farming, Doorsitting, Power-leveling, End-gaming, and the Praetorian content.

I actually haven't ran much villainside either since I've been back.

 

21 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Trying new alts?

 

Being well over 100 alts at this point, I think I only made 4 new alts in the last month...or maybe 6...or 7?

I can't remember.

 

21 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

The people?

 

In general, the people in THE CITY are great to play with in PuGs.

I have some RL friends that I game in THE CITY as well.

 

And, even though I put a lot of people on ignore, I generally like interacting with most people in the forums.

 

21 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Or is it because you've played so many years it's became ingrained within you?

 

The ingrained more addictive part to me is really the Marketing.

Market to market. I market to turn a profit. I market just to make things for the community. I market to take up time while I wait to see if someone else recruits. I market while I'm recruiting.

 

THere is just so much to explore in the game with what it offers. Put on top of that I try to be creative and play my characters when I'm playing a character that I'm exploring that as well on some level.

 

So there is that addiction to be able to creates superhero characters, but I had that before City of Heroes ever existed.

I created superhero characters before Champions the RPG existed.

I created superhero characters before I running my 5-Years from now Marvel Comics game using Traveller.

I was creating superhero characters before I started somewhat seriously collecting comic books.

 

It is in my blood, and a game was created where I can bring my creations to life ... well, in a 3D video game environment at least.

 

21 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

When the game shut down those ten years ago, what did you do not knowing if CoH would ever return?

 

I think this sentence needs editting editing.

 

21 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Did you get swept up in another MMO?

 

I tried Champions Online, but they had trashed the mechanics of the game and kept the lame signature characters. It was a half Donkey Kong'ed version of CoH without the fun.

I checked out WoW, but I thought it was pretty lame.

I tried DCUO and that kind of scratched my superhero itch a bit, but is is no City of Heroes, and I think I made more characters the first month back on Homecoming than you can unlock in DCUO. (It's really pathetically low for no good reason, like low 20s?) I'm an old-school DC Comics fan, but the last probably 10-15 years of people working on the books turned me off so much and finally the creep managed to reach the books that I subscribed to that has somehow managed for 10 or so years to avoid the kinds of changes that were going on in other books. That being said, the first 20-30 levels of DCUO have some old school story arcs. Since then, the content is about 100% new stuff, so not so much content that I really enjoy playing. There is no side kicking, so either you follow the funnel or sit around for who knows how long for a queue to fill.

There was period in time there when I dusted of my Playstation 2 and played a lot of Dynasty Warriors (various versions and Legends of versions) and some other Playstation 2 games that were still around to pick up.

DCUO did draw me into Sony Online Entertainment and, if you subscribe to one game, it's considered ALL Access which provided you with subscriptions to other games (Dragon's Prophet, EverQuest, EverQuest 2, and Planetside 2). I checked out Dragon's Prophet, EverQuest 2, and Planetside 2.

I still play Planetside 2. I played Dragon's Prophet until it was pulled from the platform. EverQuest 2 was just kind of tedious and not much fun to play (I like Dragon's Prophet far more and not just because of the character creator - so many sliders).

I also started playing Card Hunter, which I don't play enough of any more. It reminds me of Tactics games from Playstation. (and, yeah, I even alt out in it. I alt out in pretty much any game I play.)

And then, Homecoming showed up....

 

21 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Go to wizarding school and graduate?

 

Nah, that was back in the late 80's and early 90's. Went on to write some stuff for the new crowd of wizards and supernaturals back then.

 

21 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Start a family?

 

no comment.

 

21 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Start a career?

 

I was hit hard in the depression that the fat cats called a recession back then before the sunset, and didn't get decent work for almost 10 years because of it.

 

21 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Or finally find time to hit the gym?

 

Oh, did I say that I stopped subscribing almost exactly a year before the Sunset because I was so upset about what had become of my beloved City and the horrible direction that I thought the DEVs were taking the game in?
Plus I was depressed about the work I was doing and put into some horrible work environments that was physically crippling me.

It's only been about 5 or so years since getting a decent job and finally a stable enough schedule to actually do any decent exercising again.

Having THE CITY to run around in again hasn't slowed down my exercising anyway, but sometimes it takes away from my sleep .. speaking of which... I'm writing this instead of falling over like I should ... but ... like marketing sometimes .... I feel like I need to complete it before I can stop ....

 

 

21 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

What reaction did you have when you found out about SCORE or if you arrived later than others, Homecoming?

 

I don't even know what SCORE is in CoH terms.

When I found out that there were private servers opening up for players I was like. "Eh, that's cool". I poked around on the websites a bit to see what kind of chatter was going on.

I wasn't excited because of how the game had soured for me before the Sunset, but I was interested.

A friend talked me into checking it out, and the Homecoming DEVs had really turned the game around.

... and, luckly, that good friend and a mutual friend  -and some people that used to game with years ago- were all playing on one of the less busy servers, so I wasn't getting a lot of the farming spam that I had really hated seeing before the Sunset.

 

 

22 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Only time will tell what the future may bring, so take advantage of the time you have.

 

"Come ride with me
Through the veins of history,
I'll show you how God
Falls asleep on the job

 

And how can we win,
When fools can be kings?
Don't waste your time
Or time will, waste, you..." - Muse "Knights of Cydonia" 2006

[nihilii]

The combat gameplay loop is satisfying, and I can't see that ever changing.

Flashforward to year 2058, where we all live on Mars and have flying cars and virtual reality holodecks... I think it would still be enjoyable to play a mission of CoH on these antiquated interfaces we used to call mouse and keyboard.

Just like how I can still enjoy playing the original Marios, Donkey Kong Country, Doom occasionally. Somewhat thankfully, *those* games don't have addictive RPG mechanics tied to near infinite content.

[Xiddo]

I rejoined in 2019, before the Corona madness and I think I was starting to drift off before it hit. If I’m very honest, I don’t know if I would still be if it hadn’t been for lockdowns?

I knew I’d need something to do, something to empty my mind like it did when I was a teenager. And it couldn’t just be “bright lights, capes, bangs” cos my brain is older. I tried out every alt I could under the sun, I really got into builds, making friends on the server, I tried out content I’d missed, I made a badge toon… and I fell back in love with it. I got why there were 30 year olds playing when I was a teenager.

 

I take more breaks now from it than I did before. I’ve still only got five 50s. What keeps me around is still pushing myself to enjoy stuff I hated before, there’s still content I’ve not played, team set ups that are new, taking people through content they’ve never tried, and because I pop into the forums to DM people I’ve met in the game. 

 

the game went dead when I was at uni so it was an odd sadness. I missed the shared ‘grief’ of shutdown. Tbh it is probably a good thing. I am a more rounded person for not being addicted to the game when it closed. It helped me out when I was low as a teenager and it helped me during a very low period when covid happened. 

[DougGraves]

When CoH closed and I thought I would never play it again I was reminded of it every time I passed a power station and thought it would be a great place to find clockwork.

 

I still find the raw gameplay to be fun - at low levels.  I am still entertained by creating a new character and running through low level missions.  

 

And another shoutout for Champions as a pnp superhero game.  But it has gotten very complex.  BASH (Basic Action Superheroes) gives most of the feeling of Champions and is 1/100th as complicated.

[Zect]

There are at least two things that have consistently stood out as successes in this game throughout its lifespan.

 

The first is the costume creator. It's the one thing everyone praises about this game. This game always had a leg up because a superhero setting is just inherently conceptually flexible and you can make anything from power armored aliens to lizard wizards, but CoX also had the right idea to put the process of creating your own hero front and center, because avatar creation and customization is really what an MMO is about.  A lot of MMO's try to make their selling point about something else, like a particular IP (WoW, SWTOR), the story (FFXIV), the PvP (EVE), the PvE (too many to count), or milking players for cash (BDO, PSO2). Nobody gives a damn about any of that. Well, they might care a little, but mostly, people care more about dressing up their paper dolls.

 

Also, cape physics are still legitimately great in 2022.

 

The second is the IO system. It's really the salvation of the gameplay side of the game, adding endless replayability and customizability. One thing that I think makes the IO system more fun than other games that offer deep character building systems is that, possibly due to the original Cryptic team's d20 roots, the numbers are in general intuitive, with simple linear relationships - the kind of easily graspable math you might see in a TTRPG. For example, 5% more defense reduces the hitrate of enemies by 5%. In too many modern games, character stats are only related to the numerical effect by complex formulas and nonlinear relationships, often with hidden breakpoints. And if the game was really rude, it would even obfuscate those numbers.

 

Sure, there are balance issues, and the bonuses are way too strong for the content in this game. But the number of times I've found myself thinking "man, just one more slot" and spent an hour moving brightly colored icons around to try and squeeze it out - that's a sign of a job well done.

Edited November 30, 2022 by Zect