Where did you go post-Sunset?

[RikOz]

Well, I came from WoW, so I just went back to WoW. I had started playing WoW in 2008, because that was when I finally had a computer capable of running it. Because I was a Mac user, I didn't even bother looking at other MMOs because, up to that point in my experience, Blizzard was the only game company that could be bothered to release Mac versions of their games simultaneously with the Windows versions (I had previously played Diablo 2 and the WarCraft RTS games). So, late 2008, I got in not long after the launch of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. I took forever to get to max level because there was so much world to explore. I just wanted to take my time and see everything. I did pretty much everything except PvP (I just don't have the right mindset for that) and endgame raiding (I had an extremely unpredictable work schedule, so couldn't commit to a guild raiding schedule). But I loved every minute of the game. Then the Cataclysm expansion came out, and while I liked the changes to the "old world" and the Cata leveling experience, once I got to max level there wasn't much to do. The game had done one of its "raid or die" pendulum swings, so there wasn't a lot to do at max level if you didn't raid. So I got bored.

 

So I mentioned on another forum, in late 2011, that I wished there was another MMO that would run on a Mac, and somebody pointed me at CoH. I fell in love with this game instantly! This was shortly after Freedom, but I chose to go ahead and pay the sub fee for a VIP membership. I actually kept up both my CoH and WoW subs for about six months, but eventually realized I was barely logging into WoW, so I canceled that one. Alas, I came to CoH too late. I only got to play for a little more than a year before the sunset. WAAAAH!

 

By that time I had acquired a Windows laptop, so I tried out a bunch of other MMOs. RIFT, Aion, LotRO, D&DO, EverQuest, CO, STO, and maybe a couple others I can't remember. I discovered quickly that I really hated gaming on a laptop, and in any case none of those games grabbed me.

 

So, as luck would have it, the CoH sunset coincided roughly with the release of WoW's Mists of Pandaria expansion, and I went back to playing WoW on my Mac. And, fortunately, I utterly adored that expansion. Then I was "meh" about Warlords of Draenor, but really loved Legion a whole bunch. Legion was the best ever WoW expansion for altoholics, and I finally got up a full slate of max level toons of every class. Blizzard announced that they were finally discontinuing support for OpenGL with the next expansion, Battle for Azeroth, so I was forced to finally get a new computer. I'd been playing on the same 2008 iMac for ten years at that point, steadily lowering my graphics settings with every expansion to keep the game playable. So Blizzard forced my hand, and I ditched the Mac for a proper Windows gaming machine.

 

So now that I had a decent Windows machine, I headed into the Battle for Azeroth expansion, and also decided to try my hand at SW:ToR and  FFXIV, but didn't get far with the last two, and decided to just stick with WoW.

 

And then I got the word: CoH was back! I found Homecoming, made an account, and within three days I had once again cancelled my WoW sub. CoH was the only game that had successfully made me quit WoW, and now it had done it twice.

 

I'll confess that I did take a break from CoH for a bit in 2020. It was during the pandemic lockdowns, and I was stuck at home, and even CoH got old playing it 12+ hours a day. I was a bit burned out, so I jumped back over to WoW for a bit to finish out the BfA expansion and see the ending, and then try out the new Shadowlands expansion. That expansion finally, officially, permanently killed off any love I had for WoW, and I've been back here ever since. I haven't even been tempted to try Dragonflight, the current WoW expansion.

[Azari]

Nowhere. I gave up on online games entirely until HC came out. 

[Healix]

Same here, Azari. There was no game online that could compare for me to my CoH. I enjoy Hidden Objects games, and did a lot of those, plus Brickshooter, Cradle of Egypt, Cradle of Rome, Bejeweled and more like that.

[Lockpick]

On 12/4/2023 at 7:49 AM, Uun said:

After trying and abandoning Champions and Star Trek Online, I ended up playing Star Wars: The Old Republic. I played all the classes on light and dark side to max level and joined a fairly active guild. The stories are pretty good but it's very much tied to the DPS/Tank/Healer meta. End game is grindy as you're constantly forced to upgrade your gear to play the newest content.

 

Same, I really liked SWTOR but it was always one step forward three steps back for me.  I basically gave up when they gated best in class gear behind the high end task forces. 

[MonteCarla]

I moved to Champions Online.

After not being super-impressed with it at launch, it had really picked up by the time I went back. The lack of content compared to here wasn't great, and the support powersets were a bit lacking (although being able to cast 6000 hp Protection Fields with the right build was cool) but it made a very good substitute for CoH.

There were a number of things it did better than CoH, which shouldn't be surprising since it was a second attempt by many of the same people.

 

I met some cool people there, had some of my best roleplaying experiences ever, and will always look back fondly on my time there.

[Water]

TSW for a year. Landmark for a couple of years (till that got blown out), H1Z1, many others, Cities Skylines 1 (which remains the best city builder of all time), many many other games yet here I am ~ in the best game I have ever played actually CoH.

[LegionAlpha]

Tried Star Trek online for a while, wanted more out of space game then went to Eve Online. Found out that was a 40 hr.  job, Went to DC online got tired of being someone's sidekick, then rediscovered Bethesda and went to Skyrim then modded Skyrim, then Sims 3(don't judge me), then split my time between those two games then moved to Fallout 4, then modded Fallout 4. Now I am back here part time, and playing Starfield( don't judge me). 

[StrikerFox]

Played The Secret World for a few years. I enjoyed it until they rebranded the game to The Secret World Legends. Revamped the battle system, added more p2w features. Regrinding from zero was too much, it lost my interest. Also played some mobile game on and off. Marvel Strike Force, The Walking Dead, Final Fantasy Brave Exvius and Raid Shadow Legends. Raid is the only one I'm still playing.

[Glacier Peak]

Great thread topic idea @Scarlet Shocker!

 

I logged in to City of Heroes for the first time in Issue 0, early 2004, but actually stopped playing CoH before sunset and didn't know about the game closing until years later. To answer your original question, I haven't stayed in any one similar to CoH gameplay genre, but I went through many games since legacy days:

 

RPGs (The Legend of Dragoon [many times], Final Fantasy X and XV [many times], the Kingdom Hearts series, Conan Exiles [currently], and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic (many times)).

 

Survival games (No Man's Sky, Satisfactory, Stranded Deep, Ark, Conan Exiles (double tap for multiple genres), The Long Dark, Subnautica, and Raft).

 

Action/Adventure games (Batman Arkham series, Tomb Raider series, God of War series, Assassins Creed series, A Plague Tale series, and Firewatch).

 

Strategy games (Civilization [every Civ game 3 and after, but I love 5 the most!])

 

Shooters (Master Chief Collection, Halo 5 and Halo Infinite [😢])

 

Edit: I know I'm missing some, but that's what I remember at the moment. I also did a lot of living (undergrad, married, military, grad degrees, busy career) between when I stopped playing CoH and when I started back up in 2019. And I discovered I like running a lot, so that is my main hobby outside video games. 

Edited December 15, 2023 by Glacier Peak

[Scarlet Shocker]

One game I did really enjoy for almost its entire life was Atlas Reactor.

 

It had many superhero elements, but was difficult, fun game play and although I was crap at it, I got great pleasure from it. Gamigo killed it when they bought the publisher and then tried to revive it but bolloxed it up so badly it fell over almost immediately.

 

Sometimes I think we should pool our resources and form a corporation called "Redundant Games" and buy old IPs and code 😉

[Braddack]

i went to Mechwarrior online, i like the releaxed PVP in 12 vs 12.

and ofc the Mechpron ❤️

Edited December 15, 2023 by Braddack

[Coyotedancer]

Aion was always my "other MMO", so I played around with that, then spent some time with Secret World. I also tried out Champions, but wasn't a fan.

[Shenanigunner]

Secret World, which I always struggled with. A case of using much the same ingredients as CoX, but didn't... quite... jell.

 

And my only other real love in the tooniverse... Borderlands. My punk kid and former CoX teammate is always throwing new games at me, but I've always been a "one game until it doesn't run any more" type, and I game more for relaxation than for 'adventure,' so I still swing back and forth between Paragon City and Pandora.

 

Note to the wise: It is a bad, bad thing to carry one game's mindset into the other. 😛

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Shenanigunner

[wjrasmussen]

Well, had a couple of other games to jump in such as swtor.  But the big time sink for me was World of Tanks.  That got ruined by changes...

[rolandgrey]

I tried Secret World, DCUO, Champions Online, a smattering of D&D inspired MMOs (including DDO and Neverwinter), but I kept being hammered by a level of relentless monetization and nickel-and-diming that should have made all the people who complained about Paragon's approach to Free-to-Play take up arms and begin rioting.

Secret World I played long enough to notice the behavior of the mechanics and grow tired of it.  Champions Online I played long enough to understand the mechanics and realize that it wasn't "sidekick-friendly" the way CoH was.  Neverwinter I got frustrated with its pandering nature (What the Hell is a Level 21 +2 Longsword!?  Why even bother calling it a +2 Longsword when it will be outclassed by a Level 23 +1 Longsword!?  WHAT THE HELL IS WITH LEVELED EQUIPMENT!?  WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS!?)

 

Eventually, I just got fed up and stopped playing MMOs.  I was tired of seeing a genre that was about community and creativity get mode-locked into ruthlessly extracting money from players.  I get that businesses are supposed to be making money, but this was the most minimalist approach to Skinner Box development, giving players tiny boons for exorbitant prices.

 

Then I joined the Air National Guard, got some more folding money and a coworker told me about WarFrame.  Still not fantastic, but the gameplay was good, the Frames were interesting looking and I had some fun.  I just wish I could comprehend the damn story.  Like, why do the Frames look like an aborted attempt at Fashion Show Body Armor?  It's like the Guyver got infected with Syphilis...  Wait...  Oh.  That IS what happened.  Huh.  I joke, I know there's a HUGE story involved, but it's still way too much and the gameplay loop isn't really conducive to learning what's going on.  In any case, when I paid money for the game, I felt like I got my money's worth, something that a lot of other games didn't accomplish in the time since CoH was shuttered.  It's probably why I keep coming back here.