This month NCsoft announced that it is shutting down the world’s first and best super heroes MMO, City of Heroes. Sad news indeed, for those of us who spend their downtime fighting crime and super villains. The servers will be switched off by the end of 2012, with some saying November 30th will be the last day. This news was swiftly followed by confirmation that the game’s developer, Paragon Studios, will also close, putting 80 people out of work. As a CoH veteran and beta tester, I have to say no game touches this MMO for fun, and the community sets it head and shoulders above any other, so I am shocked and saddened.
A statement from NCsoft read, ‘In a realignment of company focus and publishing support, NCSoft has made the decision to close Paragon Studios. Effective immediately, all development on City of Heroes will cease and we will begin preparations to sunset the world’s first, and best, superhero MMORPG before the end of the year.’
"As part of this, all recurring subscription billing and Paragon Market purchasing will be discontinued effective immediately. We will have more information regarding a detailed timeline for the cessation of services and what you can expect in game in the coming weeks."
In a more heartfelt blog post, Paragon Studios community manager, Andy Belford
praised the development team of 80, who will all lose their jobs as a result of NCsoft’s decision to close City of Heroes. He said, ‘To any potential studios looking to grow your team; hire these people. You won’t regret it.’
He also sent a special message to the CoH community, saying, ‘Thank you. Thank you for your years of support. You’ve been with us every step of the way, sharing in our challenges, encouraging us to make City of Heroes better, more than everyone else thought it could be. We couldn’t have come this far without you.’
But the CoH community aren’t taking the news lying down. Remember this is the game where masses of players gathered in a silent vigil to mark the death of Superman actor, Christopher Reeve. This time, Paragon City’s players are gathering for a very different reason. Over 17,000 fans have signed an
online petition to stop NCsoft from shutting the game down, but that’s just the beginning.
The first in-game protest saw thousands of players stage a rally at Atlas Park. Reports claim that CoH players were queuing for hours just to get on to the servers. Heroes flocked to stand, each holding a flaming torch, in a silent message to NCsoft. It may not change the firm’s mind, but it is a very public demonstration of what makes the CoH community great. Tony V is the person behind this mass movement to save CoH and we have him to thank for the focused and effective protests that have taken place so far.
In true CoH community style, the players haven’t forgotten that it’s the staff at Paragon Studios who are the real victims of this decision. And to show their appreciation, Tony V organised a virtual whip-round. Within three hours, fans had raised over $1,000, which was enough to buy the entire Paragon Studios team a meal at one of their favourite restaurants.
There’s more to come from the CoH community, with massive joint task forces being organised, asking players to gather to play en masse. And I will be among them whenever I can.
CoH was my first foray into the world of MMOs and boy am I glad I chose it. The only trouble is, I’ve never found another MMO like it. Cryptic, the original developer, created a fantastic game and Paragon Studios were worthy successors. But it’s always been the CoH community that made it the best MMO experience I’ve ever had.
I originally signed up to CoH because I’m a comics nerd and this game allows me to create my own super hero. That’s geek heaven. I forked out on a brand new PC just to run the game. And yes, it was worth it.
The game is good, but the community is fantastic. You see, super heroes are made for grouping. It’s all about creating your own Avengers or Justice League. Everyone hitting that game is coming from the same perspective, so you never feel like a n00b. Players are happy to help each other out and won’t hurl homophobic insults at you if you ask something obvious. I made real life friends on CoH and I never got anything close to that on Guild Wars, another NCsoft game I started from beta.
CoH seems to be a more mature crowd, who probably read comics and understand what roleplaying is. I used to roleplay some of my characters, and people would dig that and just run with it. On other games you have to go to the RP server to get that.
And then to top it all, the avatars just look so cool. I know I’m always comparing every character creation system to CoH, but that’s because it’s the best. They just got it right and still set the standard. Who wouldn’t want to play in a city full of super heroes, leaping, transporting and flying through the air like a speeding bullet?
You may think, ‘it’s only a MMOG,’ but that’s where you’re wrong. You weren’t there man. You have to have played it to feel just how sad this news is.
I shall be following the last days of CoH and hoping that the heroes can win one final battle against all the odds.
Join the fight to save City of Heroes!