Why are you playing this game?

[Nello]

Henlo! I'm fairly new here on Homecoming. I used to be obsessed with the game back in early 2000s. I was probably too young to understand all the game mechanics back then, but I still spent so much time on the game playing with friends. I vaguely remember some kind of dungeon that was sewer themed. I think I played as darkness controller, but I'm not sure. XD

 

Anyways- the nostalgia brought me back to this game, and I've been having fun playing it again even though the graphic is so much worse than I remember just like any other old games from my childhood. What surprised me is that the server is actually quite crowded. I was worried Atlas City might be empty and would just remind me that the game is dead, but I was totally wrong! But then, I wondered- why are people still playing this game?

 

So, what's the reason you're still playing this game? What's so appealing about this game for you?

And if you've tried other mmorpg games(especially more modern ones), what did bring you back to this game?

[arcane]

1) Addiction 

2) Sometimes fun

[Nello]

2 minutes ago, arcane said:

1) Addiction 

2) Sometimes fun

Fair! But what makes the game so fun for you?

[MoonSheep]

CoH for many people is a “third space”, it‘s a digital world in addition to a game. sometimes i’ll not really be in the mood to game but i’ll log into atlas park to see who’s about

 

thesedays i also tend to only play when on voice chat with friends and also the friends they invite into the close knit group, it becomes a nice hangout 

[Mopery]

Other video games are mere mistresses, CoH is the one I always return Home to.

Edited July 7 by Mopery

[Octogoat]

Gotta be a hunnid with you fam, I just like it's rizz

[tidge]

The mechanics of the game are pretty well-understood (by me, for me), so my (solo) enjoyment has been coming up with a concept, translating into a new AT/primary/secondary and running with it. 

 

The Homecoming variant has a tremendous number of Quality-of-Life-over-Live improvements which allow for all sorts of drudgery to be side-stepped. In particular, I find the changes to the market and other means of earning enhancements to have been life-changers.

[Go0gleplex]

Cool costume/toon creator. 

Most maps and such randomize despite having the same flavor text which improves replay.

Kills time most efficiently. (something I have way too much of being effectively partially retired)

Did I mention the cool costume/toon creator? lol 

[technohoungan]

For me it’s about creating a character from a concept (probably a character in the comics I wanted to improve or make a better costume or have slightly different powers) then running them through the game to see the final result.  I love creating costumes and bios.  It’s a little like art therapy to get away from daily life for a bit.

[arcane]

1 hour ago, Nello said:

Fair! But what makes the game so fun for you?

I’ve been playing it for over half my life and don’t wanna do other stuff idk this question is hard.

 

The community also has a part to play. Some people make me want to stay. Some people make me want to leave.

Edited July 7 by arcane

[Yomo Kimyata]

2 hours ago, Nello said:

I wondered- why are people still playing this game?

 

Spite.

[Skyhawke]

1 hour ago, Octogoat said:

Gotta be a hunnid with you fam, I just like it's rizz

 

Swag.

[Skyhawke]

Real answer? Gaming is my zen. Between work, home, family and all the responsibilities that come with all of that, gaming keeps me sane. Some fish. Some play golf. Some do woodworking. Me? I game. Comics and superheroes were also a big part of my childhood and still a part of my adulthood. COH/V combined the two and had an amazing range of looks and powers to craft your own characters. When it sunset, none of the other superhero games compared to me and they lost my interest quickly. When I discovered Homecoming in 2019, it was like an old friend had returned.

 

So, I play because this game caught my attention and held on like few have. It’s an old comfortable pair of shoes that gets cleaned up with some new shininess every so often but still slip on and make me feel at home every time.  I keep logging in because I enjoy the game and I think this simple answer is the real reason for most of us. Except @Yomo Kimyata. Yomo plays for spite. 😅

[Kaika]

Because it has not stopped being fun in the last 20 years. One of the best things I think about this game, the the sheer depth that it has that you practically do not need to interact with. When I was a kid, I had no idea what I was doing, and was just having fun picking whatever sounded cool, and the game still worked fine. These days I'm min/maxing the crap out of all my characters to my specific play style and am able to solo just about anything thats possible to solo, spending hours editing and optimizing my builds and making sure I can properly execute all of my individual characters rotations for max DPS, and the game still holds up extremely well. When people talk about accessibility they usually only mean to players newer to MMOs or video games in general, and while CoH is somewhat good at this, what I think is this games real strength is that you can kinda just always keep digging for more depth if you want it. The game REALLY wants you to play it however you want and accommodates every level/style of play. This is on top of the already absurd amount of ways to play this game, meaning that as long as you don't get bored of the base mechanics and systems, the game really never gets old.

 

I've played since release in 2004, I take decent sized breaks occasionally but I always come back, just nothing else like this game

Edited July 7 by Kaika

[Billbailey96]

MMOs have always interested me but the big problem is that many of them have a "We want to be WoW" problem and WoW is becoming an ever bigger and bigger mess. Also there is very little in the way of Super Hero games that aren't based off an existing IP. City of Heroes/ Villians lets me create what I want and lets it be its own thing instead of aping Marvel or DC. Also its just interesting.  Could it use some polish? Yes and a whole lot of it. But and the end of the day, I am back where I want to be.

[KaizenSoze]

Combat system

Travel powers

Teaming optional, but enjoyable

Almost never mandatory tedious grinding like other MMORPGs

Edited July 7 by KaizenSoze

[Seed22]

Honestly? The gameplay is pretty bare bones and lacks any real variety to it and depth.

 

But what has me logging in, even to make what will probably be my last alt(emptying my stash of inf), is the power variety. The missions are not the greatest, with some standouts, the older TFs are very dated in design, but the zones and power variety and no chore like activities keeps me engaged to a degree.

[BlackSpectre]

Because I'm in too deep to turn back now!!!  LOL

 

Favorite video game... EVER!

Nostalgia.

Friends.

Community.

Sentimentality.

Kick-ass missions

Get to be a superhero

Stress relief.

It's home.

 

Poor graphics, huh? A couple years ago I was flying through Steel Canyon and marveling at the artwork, 3-D modeling, and the gobs of thought that went into it. It's beautiful. In so many ways it is a game that was way ahead of its time. The special effects rock! The costume designer is incomparable. No other game comes close to its customizability. Compared to so many other games its graphics are still decent if not better. Take a look at A-biotic Factor (a great game), its graphics suck!  There's much more to a game than mere looks, ya know?  How many great looking games have you played that max out your computer's resources, looks amazing, yet still sucks as a game? I could keep going on... supergroup base building and design, huge amount of power choices, you get to create your own superhero, and not play Batman like the zillionth 10 year old does, write your own stories, role-play, power level, min-maxing builds, leading teams and leagues, gaining respect from your fellow heroes and gaining respect for your fellow heroes, teamwork and cooperation, PVP is a choice and not emphasized, the many different kids of missions and tasks to complete such as solo missions, team missions, league mission where you can play with no one or up to 48 players (48 players??? I dare you to find another game that can deal with that many in a team/league), the chat system is fantastic (for a chat system... probably the best designed out there), there's an entire shard/server dedicated to roleplaying, I mean... I can go on if you like. There's plenty more about this game that is outstanding, and then there's most of the people who play it... also outstanding. 

 

Honestly, the things I loved about the game when I first started playing are no longer the things I love about the game now (although I  look back at them with fondness). I keep finding new things and activities that interest me.  There is soooo much to this game to keep you engrossed for years and years, if you really want to dive into it. Or you can just sit back and enjoy the fun casually. There are so many ways to play this game. Once you get bored with one way, change your perspective or focus and all of a sudden a whole new world opens up to you. It's pretty amazing, really.

 

[Snarky]

name another mmorpg where i can create my own character, costume, down to crazy details, then play that as whatever i want.

[Psyonico]

5 hours ago, Snarky said:

name another mmorpg where i can create my own character, costume, down to crazy details, then play that as whatever i want.

Champions 

 

(ooh I feel dirty just saying that word)

[bAss_ackwards]

The game does many things that no other MMO does. I still love making character after character, customizing and min-maxing them. I'm thankful that the game is not just being maintained, but getting new additions. 🦸‍♀️

[Octogoat]

10 hours ago, Psyonico said:

Champions 

 

(ooh I feel dirty just saying that word)

You need to max your credit card to get all the costume pieces in champions

[Ukase]

Fair question. When CoH shut down, I downloaded and tried them all. Most of them were unplayable because of this counterintuitive wasd or click to move setting that couldn't be changed. I will never use wasd or my mouse to move my character. There's absolutely nothing intuitive about either of those. I'm sure they're faster than my pressing the up (forward in my head) arrow and the left/right arrows to go - you guessed it - left or right, and of course, the back arrow to go ...you guessed it backwards. 

The only game that gave me that option that I found was Champions. But their forums were completely a mess, and I couldn't figure out their enhancement system, so I stopped playing at like level 13 or something. It wasn't bad. But it wasn't great. 

The only reason to play this game beyond some individual desire to experience a story line for me is the people that also play it. Some folks are fun. Some folks are funny. And we won't talk about those few who are annoying or just jerks. Or simply come off that way because maybe English is their second language and they're not real sure what they're saying. I'm sure I'm the jerk to some folks. 

Part of me plays it because it takes me back to a time when life was simpler. Part of me plays it because it's simple, and it's free. But I'm not playing nearly as often as I used to. Mainly in the afternoons for the labyrinth. 

[SuperiorD]

some1 said 3rd space I can agree.

I love the world of events on chat from all the differences the tabs our coloful chatting sometimes.

I love we rule at customization and support it so i log on as a number to say we matter as a game to b here we taught games

I love our support old and now current they listen most of this game i lived on forums n got beaten up badly by its loyalist inhabitants on live to get the game we love now 

I love the 1 size doesnt fit all they give us soooo many ways to achieve happiness in this game is bionic shortcuts to the top no game offers really without penalty its not a hack or cheat       its for those that been there done that now wants to move on but core game there anytime go back n do is also optional

I love we dont have greed hovering over our fun

I love we are a hidden gem to the world they havent robbed our community that does a hell of an awesome job policing itself which is strong with the force at keeping the non-sense            from being perma so I say the Hero in us all is we police ourselves on this fantastic game

I love our game is a digital sunrise or set I log on just to watch sometimes waiting for a digital wave in the ocean of visual interactive fun

[lemming]

Superheroes and done fairly well.   I played way so much TTRPG Champions and I was friends with the devs of the original computer game that was being developed, so the dream of having a computer game like it was always there.   

COH was the closest and still is IMO.   (Would I like it more like, somewhat)

 

The graphics are fine and it runs well on older computers.   Being able to chat and team with other people is a plus.  It's a fair approximation of pickup games at conventions.

Edited July 8 by lemming
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