Why I'm Leaving

[Oubliette_Red]

9 hours ago, GM_GooglyMoogly said:

 

The only rule about leaving is: 

1. Do not abuse or harass others
   1. This includes players, Homecoming staff, and players or staff from other communities
   2. If someone wants you to leave them alone, you must leave them alone

It's always sad to lose fellow players.  Maybe Bag_Fry will come back some day.

 

Until then, can I have his stuffs that no one else wants?

 

[High_Beam]

The White zone is for loading and unloading of personal baggage.

[jprewitt73]

14 minutes ago, High_Beam said:

The White zone is for loading and unloading of personal baggage.

 

The red zone is for immediate loading and unloading of personal baggage. There is no whining in the white zone.

[Snarky]

here we go...

[merrypessimist]

14 hours ago, Lines said:

 

Do you announce your own departures at airports?

I used to, but then TSA got mad at me for some reason.

[Solarverse]

9 hours ago, arcane said:

Thank god it’s not the CoX of 2004. It’s 100x better by now.

 

That would be highly debatable if all the people who left were still here to say differently. I might argue more people left due to them not liking the direction the game took at any given time than the amount of people who remained and still play today.

[Snarky]

17 minutes ago, Solarverse said:

 

That would be highly debatable if all the people who left were still here to say differently. I might argue more people left due to them not liking the direction the game took at any given time than the amount of people who remained and still play today.

So, you are saying people left because they did not like it?

 

We need to put in a suggestion for the Devs to make it like able!

[Water]

39 minutes ago, Snarky said:

We need to put in a suggestion for the Devs to make it like able!

 

Game should smell like pancakes and butter.

 

[Snarky]

7 hours ago, Water said:

 

Game should smell like pancakes and butter.

 

Secrets of the universe 

[Octogoat]

I just don't get the hate maybe I'm dense. There's so much to do, so many years of content, more on the way, and it's free. Doesn't even need a powerful computer. What is not to love?

[High_Beam]

1 hour ago, Octogoat said:

I just don't get the hate maybe I'm dense. There's so much to do, so many years of content, more on the way, and it's free. Doesn't even need a powerful computer. What is not to love?

Sir or madame, how might one subscribe to your newslettter as I agree with your position in this matter.

[Scarlet Shocker]

1 hour ago, Octogoat said:

I just don't get the hate maybe I'm dense. There's so much to do, so many years of content, more on the way, and it's free. Doesn't even need a powerful computer. What is not to love?

 

 

Must... resist... saying both things can be true... at once!

 

Resistance fails. So sorry 🤣

[Forager]

11 hours ago, Solarverse said:

 

That would be highly debatable if all the people who left were still here to say differently. I might argue more people left due to them not liking the direction the game took at any given time than the amount of people who remained and still play today.

 

Oh my... please elaborate on this point.

[Seed22]

On 5/31/2025 at 3:01 AM, bag_fry said:

Not the CoX I used to know.  Oh well. 

I can respect the brevity. 

 

I personay wouldn't announce a departure. It pretty much accomplishes nothing at this point and at worst makes you have to deal with more annoyances should you return. 

 

[strix_]

They just don't make quitting threads like they used to.

[Seed22]

3 hours ago, Octogoat said:

I just don't get the hate maybe I'm dense. There's so much to do, so many years of content, more on the way, and it's free. Doesn't even need a powerful computer. What is not to love?

Well, as a vet all those "years of content" I already have ran. Mind numbingly amount of times as a kid.

 

To me, better games are out today(better games than CoH were out when it launched too but not nearly as many as gaming just wasnt super big then) on consoles, which are easier to boot up and play with friends than CoH, so I have more distractions from CoH. To the point I find it fascinating someone only plays CoH. Not bad, just fascinating. This is also just again, my opinion. YMMV here.

 

I do love that CoH can run on anything. Thats freaking awesome, truly. 

 

And well, I haven't been exactly motivated to log in as much if at all due to the power changes over the course of 5 years. Revamps are fine n all but new sets are what I try and get jazzed about and honestly the new ones we've gotten as a minmaxer are disappointingly mid in my eyes.

 

Alls to say I haven't quit yet, I just don't log in very much. Maybe that'll change with P3.

 

*Also, my entire family(pretty much the only people who I used to play CoH with as a kid and the only people I could convince to play it when it relaunched) quit CoH. Im pretty much the last one barely holding on.

 

All RL friends won't even look at this game and honestly I can't recommend it as I'm again, barely on, so that doesn't help.

 

Eh, if I do leave, there won't be a single announcement. It'll be like CO all over again. Silently dipping and leaving feedback only to the devs will be my route.

Edited Sunday at 03:16 PM by Seed22

[arcane]

23 minutes ago, Seed22 said:

Well, as a vet all those "years of content" I already have ran. Mind numbingly amount of times as a kid.

 

To me, better games are out today(better games than CoH were out when it launched too but not nearly as many as gaming just wasnt super big then) on consoles, which are easier to boot up and play with friends than CoH, so I have more distractions from CoH. To the point I find it fascinating someone only plays CoH. Not bad, just fascinating. This is also just again, my opinion. YMMV here.

 

I do love that CoH can run on anything. Thats freaking awesome, truly. 

 

And well, I haven't been exactly motivated to log in as much if at all due to the power changes over the course of 5 years. Revamps are fine n all but new sets are what I try and get jazzed about and honestly the new ones we've gotten as a minmaxer are disappointingly mid in my eyes.

 

Alls to say I haven't quit yet, I just don't log in very much. Maybe that'll change with P3.

 

*Also, my entire family(pretty much the only people who I used to play CoH with as a kid and the only people I could convince to play it when it relaunched) quit CoH. Im pretty much the last one barely holding on.

 

All RL friends won't even look at this game and honestly I can't recommend it as I'm again, barely on, so that doesn't help.

 

Eh, if I do leave, there won't be a single announcement. It'll be like CO all over again. Silently dipping and leaving feedback only to the devs will be my route.

Did you ever like CoH?

[Water]

5 hours ago, Octogoat said:

I just don't get the hate ...

 

millenialism

 

[Indystruck]

People also choose some bizarre lines in the sand. "I enjoyed it when my speakers blew out, how dare you," "why didn't you listen to me and only me about Force Fields," "how could you change the alignment of the third pillar on the east side of Pocket D"

Edited Sunday at 07:35 PM by Indystruck

[Solarverse]

6 hours ago, Forager said:

 

Oh my... please elaborate on this point.

 

In which way would you like me to elaborate? The amount of people who left in comparison to the people who stayed? Or would you like me to elaborate as to why I have seen people leave and the complaints they made over the last 20 years? 

 

PLAYER NUMBERS

 

According to Google, City of Heroes (just this server) has over 300,000 accounts. At its peak, City of Heroes has a maximum of 4,600 players who play at their peak times. Let's keep in mind, at its peak, I think it is safe to assume that there are some of those numbers that are off due to all the people multiboxing for various reasons. That is a LOT of accounts no longer active. So even if those numbers are massively off, the amount of players who left the game or no longer play far outnumber (even in MMORPG standards) the amount of players left.

 

VARIOUS REASONS PEOPLE HAVE LEFT

 

Level of difficulty

People have complained on how simple the game has become to play, how there is no real challenge, facerollable, and how everything is just handed to the players with no effort; or the fact that very little is earned. People were upset over how easy the game has become, how now the game has become about go go go rather than let's work together to defeat a challenging experience, I suspect primarily due to how easy the game has become due to power creep.

 

I have seen others leave in the early years due to the nerfing of aggro limitations when that was never needed in the first place. The primary reason why it was nerfed was because Tanks could herd massive amounts of NPCs and the player's largest issue was being told to wait at the door. The easiest solution to that was not to nerf the number of enemies that could be taunted, the issue was with Tanks. Tanks should have gotten a HUGE nerf to defense and resistance so that the Tank would NEED players to stay alive. Instead they got a buff over the years with power creep, while still only being able to hold aggro of a ridiculously low amount of enemies. 

 

The game went from being a game that was challenging (outside of playing a Tank) to this extremely simple to play game that even small children can play it. The game went from being team focused, to now Blasters running solo on TFs and completing them in record times.

 

Sound Nerfs

 

Then you have the sound nerfs, they removed certain sounds out of the game because of the stacking problems that were bothering some people. So what ended up happening is that they removed the stacking effects of sounds all together. Now, in defense of the Devs of Homecoming, they eventually, and thankfully, brought the stacking effect back with an optional /command; which was wonderful. However, that doesn't help with the sounds that were completely removed and no longer exist such as Gravitic Emanation's hit sound effect, or the AoE Heal from Empathy's hit sound effect, or the hit sound effect from the Kinetics Fulcrum Shift. Those sounds were never brought back and those files are still silent/missing to this very day.

 

Toxic player behavior both in game and on these forums

Other players have left the game due to the player base being toxic, not only in game, but on these forums as well. One account of this is when I found a bad mod that contained nudity. I brought it to the attention of the players and was underhandedly called a liar. Well, when it was found that there was indeed a mod that had been tampered with, nobody who called me a liar had said a word...no "sorry for calling you a liar," no "thanks," no nothing. Quick to call somebody a liar, but not quick to admit they were wrong in doing so. The community has this tendency to attack people for small reasons. The reason was, the person who made the original mod, people wanted to defend that person. They felt I was attacking their hero...never stopping to consider that somebody else other than their hero had manipulated the file.

 

I have also seen people post things that just got completely jumped on by the community, things that might be mundane to some, maybe even threads that just didn't really make sense. Almost as if written by somebody who was challenged. However, they were attacked even though they said nothing to deserve that type of behavior...and these are behaviors that was expressed by some of the more "respected" people who post these forums. So people tend not to mess with forums as much due to the way they have seen people who post them behave and are allowed to behave. In game, it's even worse.

 

Other issues I have seen people complain about before leaving the game

 

Then you had the problem of AE babies, who don't know how to play the game, but are directed straight to AE and then power leveled to instant level 50. These players are then cut loose and have no clue how to play the game what-soever and are so new at the game that they can't even find their way to Steel Canyon...nor do they have any idea how to play their powerset or mesh with other players.

 

Wrapping it up

 

All in all, there have been many reasons people quit the game and I find all of them to be valid. However, some players like the game the way that it is (I mean they should, they gatekept the forums and worked very hard to push for the game to be the way that it is today) and if you dare attempt to change that in any way, they will for sure attack you for your ideas; I have witnessed this happen more times that I can count. So rather than fight against them because of the gatekeeping, players just leave. And a lot of them according to the data. Now, all that is left, are the players who prefer the game being simple, easy, and left as is.

 

So, if you enjoy the game as is, great...no problem...however, let us not pretend that players who preferred the game when it was more difficult (again, outside of playing Tanks) and wanted to see it become more team focused (meaning, it required a team, not just a Tank, to accomplish missions) and wanted to see the game grow in a more rewarding way, not just an instant gratification way; those players are no longer here to voice their opinion and left because the game is "not what it once was" nor did it go in the direction that players such as them, hoped that it would go.
 

I could go on and on, I could even write a book about it (much longer than the book I already wrote here) but I think that should suffice.

Edited Sunday at 08:07 PM by Solarverse

[Seed22]

5 minutes ago, Solarverse said:

The game went from being a game that was challenging (outside of playing a Tank) to this extremely simple to play game that even small children can play it.

It was always this simple. To think CoH was challenging is simply not true. It was simply a lack of knowledge and resources. I know, I was a kid who was leading content in this game.(Started playing at 9, was leading iTrials by 13.) 

 

Now today we see it as being "easier" because builds are actually doable now instead of pie in the sky dreams.

 

This game has always been pretty low stakes turn your brain off gameplay. It's an MMO. There never will be and are no challenging MMOs.

[Solarverse]

3 minutes ago, Seed22 said:

It was always this simple. To think CoH was challenging is simply not true. It was simply a lack of knowledge and resources. I know, I was a kid who was leading content in this game.(Started playing at 9, was leading iTrials by 13.) 

 

Now today we see it as being "easier" because builds are actually doable now instead of pie in the sky dreams.

 

This game has always been pretty low stakes turn your brain off gameplay. It's an MMO. There never will be and are no challenging MMOs.

 

If that were true, we would not have seen players complaining about all the debt they accumulated and demanded the debt be nerfed. I was 28 years old when I first played CoH. My memory of it seems way off from yours. The game was never insanely hard, but you at least could die several times in even some of the more easier missions, such as Frostfire. Hollows used to terrify players, nobody would even go in there without a Taxi or Hover. So we clearly recall the game much differently.

[Seed22]

Just now, Solarverse said:

 

If that were true, we would not have seen players complaining about all the debt they accumulated and demanded the debt be nerfed. I was 28 years old when I first played CoH. My memory of it seems way off from yours. The game was never insanely hard, but you at least could die several times in even some of the more easier missions, such as Frostfire. Hollows used to terrify players, nobody would even go in there without a Taxi or Hover. So we clearly recall the game much differently.

I dont think that didnt happen, but I ascribe it not to the game being hard, just...lack of knowledge. And people being too proud to use insp. 

 

Yes you cant solo +4×8 on SOs(I don't think?) but you could do some pretty impressive(For SOs and back in the day standards) things with knowledge of how the game works.

 

You started to see this as early as CoV's launch and also in MLTF(back when it was STF) via folks realizing what we know now: Support multiplier makes the game a joke. 

 

It's boring, but it's proof that just having knowledge shows this game's true side: a super easy turn your brain off MMO.

 

Even solo, I have a Pyro/Ice/Fire that mows the new group, BWI, the supposedly toughest group in KW(which is supposed to be a bump up in diff from PI) with relative ease. Just using perma dom and insp. No defenses, no tank mage BS, just insp and procs. 

 

The only thing I can concede on is IOs did open a level of power for the players, and smart players did what smart players do and gamed it.

[Solarverse]

Just now, Seed22 said:

I dont think that didnt happen, but I ascribe it not to the game being hard, just...lack of knowledge. And people being too proud to use insp. 

 

Yes you cant solo +4×8 on SOs(I don't think?) but you could do some pretty impressive(For SOs and back in the day standards) things with knowledge of how the game works.

 

You started to see this as early as CoV's launch and also in MLTF(back when it was STF) via folks realizing what we know now: Support multiplier makes the game a joke. 

 

It's boring, but it's proof that just having knowledge shows this game's true side: a super easy turn your brain off MMO.

 

Even solo, I have a Pyro/Ice/Fire that mows the new group, BWI, the supposedly toughest group in KW(which is supposed to be a bump up in diff from PI) with relative ease. Just using perma dom and insp. No defenses, no tank mage BS, just insp and procs. 

 

The only thing I can concede on is IOs did open a level of power for the players, and smart players did what smart players do and gamed it.

 

I get what you are saying, however, many players wanted to see the game grow in a more challenging way. It never did, it went the opposite direction. That's pretty much my point. Adding things to make you stronger is fine, however, you need more challenging content to compensate...I know the Devs have done a lot to fix this over the past couple of years, so hats off to them for that, however, level 1- 49 content is still face-rollable IMO.

[Lunar Ronin]

1 minute ago, Solarverse said:

 

I get what you are saying, however, many players wanted to see the game grow in a more challenging way. It never did, it went the opposite direction. That's pretty much my point. Adding things to make you stronger is fine, however, you need more challenging content to compensate...I know the Devs have done a lot to fix this over the past couple of years, so hats off to them for that, however, level 1- 49 content is still face-rollable IMO.

 

If you want level 1-49 content that isn't face-rollable, play red or gold sides.  I'm not saying that it is challenging (well, a couple of gold side missions are), but it's not face-rolling easy as blue side.

 

A big part of the problem is that quite a few of the people who scream that leveling content is too easy refuse to play anything other than blue side... which is where all of the face-rollable content is.