Can The Negativity Stop? PLEASE!

[reconfigureyourface]

I get it. You hate NCSoft... They're a big evil corporation who shut down our favorite game. OoooooOOooooooOOooooo. 🙀

 

Give Titan and HC a damn break. They are trying to make it so we don't have to worry about going to log in one day and getting an error message and coming to these forums for bad news.

 

Hate to tell you all this, but NCSoft owns the IP... a deal HAS to be struck with them otherwise this stays an illegal private server and they could put the hammer down at any time. They haven't yet (4 months now) and they are negotiating with HC/Titan, this isn't "OMG SPY CONSPIRACY TO GET INFO" this is NCSoft sees an opportunity for SOMETHING to benefit them and us.

 

"But so many private servers to move to blah blah" if you don't think NCSoft has lawyers with a team of paralegals who would hunt down every server you post about here and on reddit and send a C&D you are grossly underestimating the corporate world. No Bourne conspiracy approach required.

 

Maybe TRUST the people who got you back into the game (with super populated shards) and whose servers you are playing on, instead of being Debbie Downers and smack talking their efforts.

 

I mean that HERE and on Reddit. Have some damn hope and optimism. No one ever built a statue to a damn worrier.

 

That is all. 👋

Edited August 11, 2019 by reconfigureyourface
grammar

[MunkiLord]

If NCSoft is offering me something I want at a price I'm willing to pay, I'm in. They don't care about me and I don't care about them, so no hard feelings from me.

[PaxArcana]

54 minutes ago, MunkiLord said:

If NCSoft is offering me something I want at a price I'm willing to pay, I'm in.

Not me.

Way, way, way back - during i13, when i14 was just about to start closed beta - I actually had one of the Community Moderators throw a personal attack at me.  Nimue, I think she used as a name.  N-something-or-other, anyway.  Other posters were even shocked by it, enough to comment on it.  Then she hit me with a warning.  So, I did as the rules suggested, and took it to the community Manager at the time ... Lighthouse.

 

Instead of looking at that interaction, Lighthouse went through the entirety of removed threads, found my name in there "over 600 times", and slapped me with a year-long forum ban.

 

Keep in mind, the horribly antiquated forum software at the time was such, that if a post was trimmed from a thread, every post downthread of it was also removed.  And that's where nearly all of my appearances in that little list came from.  (I'll cop to 3 or 4 being my fault, but not all 600+).  Further appeals to his boss fell on deaf ears.

 

That's why I originall left CoX (missing everything in i14 through i23), and turned my back on every NCSoft title under the sun.  FOREVER.

 

And "forever" ain't over yet, so NCSoft could offer to pay me to play their games, and all they'd get for a response is my middle finger ... 'cause I do care about them, and it's not a happy-fuzzy-warm, rainbows-and-puppies kind of caring.

Edited August 11, 2019 by PaxArcana

[MunkiLord]

That's fair, I absolutely understand and fully back you(or anyone) that has a problem with a company refusing to give them business.

[Duuk]

Rookie.  I sat out a _2_ year forum ban on Paradox.  But when you've been registered on a forum for 18 years stuff like that happens.

 

Fun side effect of that:  When the HC servers came online, someone necro-posted in a thread of mine about City of Heroes and I got a notification telling me that my computer specs sucked... on a thread from 2006.

 

Yup.  13 year thread necromancy for the win.

[Abraxus]

I imagine there are others who have an ax to grind that they can't get past, and if this thing comes together, they will likely have a similar reaction and turn there backs as well.  Regrettable, but probably inevitable.

 

I'm one of those that would love to see everyone (including the ones who broke off and formed their own servers) come together to play in one place once again.  But, I know there is probably too much water under the bridge for that to ever be an option again.  Downside of the code being as available as it has become, is that it gives folks an option to follow their specific issues right out the door to a place that doesn't offend their sensibilities.  When before, it was either play on NCSoft servers, or don't play at all.  Likely no way back towards a unified community, as divisions seem to be the thing these days.  Everything from our choice in games, phones, music, religion, politics.  All of it has become fertile ground for issues that come between friends, and end relationships.  But, I never thought City of Heroes would fall into that category.  Probably naivete on my part, or Pollyanna, "pie in the sky" dreams of how things used to be.

 

I guess you can never really go home, but I think the majority of us are gonna try all the same.

Edited August 11, 2019 by Abraxus

[GM Fiddleback]

Sometimes you can't go home. But you can always try to make a new home.

 

And Pax, I feel for you. What you described is a terrible way to be treated. And you were justified in being upset about it. But ten years is a long time to hold a grudge. I'm not saying you should go back to warm fuzzy rainbows and what not, but maybe just loosen your grip on it a bit.

 

>shrug<

[reconfigureyourface]

3 hours ago, MunkiLord said:

If NCSoft is offering me something I want at a price I'm willing to pay, I'm in. They don't care about me and I don't care about them, so no hard feelings from me.

Trick of this is... NCSoft is striking a deal with Homecoming. We'll never have to deal with NCSoft, only the board members of HC LLC. 

 

I am not their biggest fan but I would much rather this become legit and I not have to worry about the shards being yanked and then we can get some new material in the game 🙂

[_NOPE_]

You go on Reddit? That's a TERRIBLE idea. 

[nihilii]

The negativity seems confined to that one announcement thread, to be honest (or I'm particularly blind; everywhere else, it feels like business as usual).

In any controversial situation, it's a given people who have concerns will voice them out and might seem overrepresented.

I think bleeding that debate on here will only serve to make those people feel even more victimized - and entrenched in their opinions.

If the negativity affects YOU, best to not look at the announcement topic anymore. I know I haven't. It's not like any news will come out buried in the pages of replies, nor will any decisions be made there. Log ingame and have fun, or stalk PK and +like all his posts.

[_NOPE_]

37 minutes ago, nihilii said:

stalk PK and +like all his posts.

I do NOT condone this behavior... 

 

 

...though I will take advantage of it for the sake of fake internet fame.

[DoctorHugh]

I often find that the best way to stop the spread of negativity is to not make confrontational posts about it in new locations to spread the drama further.

 

Maybe that's just me, though.

Edited August 11, 2019 by DoctorHugh

[Coyote]

1 hour ago, DoctorHugh said:

I often find that the best way to stop the spread of negativity is to not make confrontational posts about it in new locations to spread the drama further.

 

Maybe that's just me, though.

 

Aim, Build-up, Zing!

[_NOPE_]

 

[PaxArcana]

8 hours ago, MadCow99 said:

Rookie.  I sat out a _2_ year forum ban on Paradox. 

🙂 It wasn't the length of the ban.  It was the WHY of it - not only unreasonably punishing me for their own obsolescent software's quirks, but doing it vindictively because I had the temerity to point out that the Emperor was starkers (in both senses of the word). 🙂 

If we want to go all e-peen?  I've got permanent bans from at least two big, ongoing forum communities (RPGnet and ENWorld) ... 😄 ... plus a few others here and there.  I was ... much more fractious, once upon a time.

 

7 hours ago, GM Fiddleback said:

But ten years is a long time to hold a grudge.

I "have a list", if you will: companies that deserve to be denied any further income from my pocket.

Getting off that list is almost never simply a matter of time; the company has to do something, other than normal business, to earn their way back off of it.  And, to be clear: if NCSoft elects to let HC continue to exist, without any punitive elements in the deal they work out, that will earn them .... well, let's call it "a parole hearing", yes?

EDIT TO ADD: Paradox got off the list, because people convinced me to focus more on the developer, Kerebos, than on the publisher, Paradox.  So Paradox got probation: Stellaris.  It's been successful, and I no longer avoid games _just_ because they are Paradox.

More recently, Deep Silver earned their way onto that list, with the Metro: Exodus bait-and-Epic-Games-switch this summer.  I won't buy games published by them, especially not on PC, for at least another two years.  Probably much longer.

It's not about grudges, though.  It's about "I support companies whose practises I approve of - and don't support companies whose practises I don't approve of".

NCSoft hasn't done anything to get off the list.  HomeComing is their first real opportunity to earn some clemency ...

 

6 hours ago, reconfigureyourface said:

We'll never have to deal with NCSoft, only the board members of HC LLC.

And this is a key thing to me: I can be here, and not give NCSoft money.  🙂 

Edited August 11, 2019 by PaxArcana
... adding more details about "the list" ...

[reconfigureyourface]

1 hour ago, DoctorHugh said:

I often find that the best way to stop the spread of negativity is to not make confrontational posts about it in new locations to spread the drama further.

 

Maybe that's just me, though.

Or maybe they shouldn't be ungrateful jackholes? 🤷‍♂️ But what do I know? I am just an old man who wants to read forums on the toilet without seeing people crap on folks who are doing stuff for us. Pun intended.

 

5 hours ago, The Philotic Knight said:

You go on Reddit? That's a TERRIBLE idea. 

If not for Reddit I wouldn't be here, but generally speaking, yes. Yes it is.

[starro]

I would like to see an issue 27, 28, 29.... and a new engine to run all of COH.  That kind of development needs to get professionals on board and without fear of lawsuits.  I say get NCsoft to finally ink a deal to get out of the way and let people who care about the product and this enthusiastic community support them as they see fit.  Where do I send my damn $15 a month?

[jubakumbi]

9 hours ago, PaxArcana said:

Not me.

Way, way, way back - during i13, when i14 was just about to start closed beta - I actually had one of the Community Moderators throw a personal attack at me.  Nimue, I think she used as a name.  N-something-or-other, anyway.  Other posters were even shocked by it, enough to comment on it.  Then she hit me with a warning.  So, I did as the rules suggested, and took it to the community Manager at the time ... Lighthouse.

 

Instead of looking at that interaction, Lighthouse went through the entirety of removed threads, found my name in there "over 600 times", and slapped me with a year-long forum ban.

 

Keep in mind, the horribly antiquated forum software at the time was such, that if a post was trimmed from a thread, every post downthread of it was also removed.  And that's where nearly all of my appearances in that little list came from.  (I'll cop to 3 or 4 being my fault, but not all 600+).  Further appeals to his boss fell on deaf ears.

 

That's why I originall left CoX (missing everything in i14 through i23), and turned my back on every NCSoft title under the sun.  FOREVER.

 

And "forever" ain't over yet, so NCSoft could offer to pay me to play their games, and all they'd get for a response is my middle finger ... 'cause I do care about them, and it's not a happy-fuzzy-warm, rainbows-and-puppies kind of caring.

I get you are upset by this, I would be as well.

However, it is a lot like denying someone help because one of thier ancestors wronged you, IMO...

 

You are vilifying an entire corporation based on the actions of a couplr of low level flunkies.

 

I have not given NCSoft any money after how they handled the closure of the studio, as that IMO is a real 'corporate' move.

Even so, this many years later, I wonder how many, if any, of the people that made those choices are still there.

 

 

I have no love for NCSoft, but I have learned over the years the reality is that there are bad people in companies more often than there are bad companies...

[PaxArcana]

3 minutes ago, jubakumbi said:

You are vilifying an entire corporation based on the actions of a couplr of low level flunkies.

The Community Manager is not low-level.  Nor was Positron (the "boss" of whom I spoke).

Also: a captain is responsible for all the actions of his or her crew.

[Blackbird71]

9 minutes ago, jubakumbi said:

I have no love for NCSoft, but I have learned over the years the reality is that there are bad people in companies more often than there are bad companies...

I've seen every evidence to suggest that NCSoft is the latter rather than the former.

[jubakumbi]

4 minutes ago, PaxArcana said:

The Community Manager is not low-level.  Nor was Positron (the "boss" of whom I spoke).

Also: a captain is responsible for all the actions of his or her crew.

Terribly simplistic and over simplified.

Positron was the boss for one tiny office in the larger corporation.

'The captain' cannot always control the minute actions of the worker bees.

Again, this is villifying hundreds of people over the actions of just a couple in the group.

Having worked with large corporations for a long time now, I have a different lens, especially ones like NCSoft that are made up of other, smaller companies that were acquired.

 

The whole idea of villifying the whole group over the actions of a few members, is just not cool to me, that's all.

 

[PaxArcana]

3 minutes ago, jubakumbi said:

The whole idea of villifying the whole group over the actions of a few members, is just not cool to me, that's all.

I don't vilify the whole group; rather, if a company - or any part of that company - does me ill, I simply refuse to do business with the corporate entity as a whole.

 

There's an important difference in there.

And with companies as large as NCSoft, often the only way to even try to communicate to the higher-ups in the corporate structure that the local bosses are doing that ill, is to "vote with your wallet" (and of course, make it known you are doing so).  Which I have done, and continue to do.

For example, Blizzard, and their two-factor authentication devices for game accounts.  Devices they pushed as being for, say, "shared family computer" situations.  Well, at one point, they decided to seriously weaken the system - a computer that successfully used an authenticator, would be able to log in without it for several weeks or months.  So much for protecting yourself on thats hared computer!

 

I, and millions of others, cancelled our subscriptions over it.  And in our exit surveys, we explained why.  I even explicitly said, "if you make this an opt-in, non-default thing?  I'll come back and give you more of my money.  Until then, NOPE."

...

Blizzard reversed the policy.  It is now an opt-in/opt-out system.  Because enough people voted with their wallets, that the higher-ups HAD to take notice ... and direct those middle-management guys in charge who had implemented the policy to act differently.

[jubakumbi]

3 minutes ago, PaxArcana said:

Blizzard reversed the policy.  It is now an opt-in/opt-out system.  Because enough people voted with their wallets, that the higher-ups HAD to take notice ... and direct those middle-management guys in charge who had implemented the policy to act differently.

A large group made a specific plea for a corporate descion to be over turned, one based around personal data security, a hot topic.

 

Big difference from having a couple people in the company treat you badly because thier bloodsugar was low, they were having a bad day, or were just idiots and then never allowing the members of the other sub-sections to show you thier work effort.

 

Not the same thing at all.

[PaxArcana]

At the risk of being banned from this forum too, jubakumbi?

Please cease to annoy me with your "prattle".

 

Seriously; I have the absolute right to decide that a corporation - yes, the WHOLE corporation - is one I will not do business with.  For any reason, even just "I hate the color of their logo", let alone a specific negative experience with one or more of their employees.  Hell, I don't even need a reason at all ...!

So don't you dare go sitting there bloody judging me for it, you very annoying person, you. 

...
 

I'm not going to discuss the matter any further, especially not with you.

 

Edited August 11, 2019 by GM Fiddleback
Oh dear, oh dear. A bit much I think.

[Harris]

No offense pax but I'm starting to see why you were banned. You probably behaved like this on the forums on live.