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NCSoft and Paragon Studios have posted a new 'Sunset' FAQ surrounding the November closure of City of Heroes. In it, player questions are answered on topics including the exact end date, refunds of Paragon Points and much more.
When is City of Heroes closing?
The City of Heroes Freedom servers will shut off on November 30, 2012 at 12:00 AM PDT
Will I receive compensation for City of Heroes closing down?
We are processing refunds for unused game time that may have been applied to your account.
Can I create a free account and play until the end of City of Heroes?
Unfortunately new account creation has been disabled.
Am I able to upgrade my account to VIP untilt he end of City of Heroes?
Upgrading to a VIP account has been disabled
Read the full FAQ on the City of Heroes site.
Comments
Never did. Never will.
Money talks. Nothing more. Nothing less.
That's implying they had any credibility to begin with, or am I the only one that remembers when they waited until Tabula Rasa was having a big advertising blitz (and was having increased subs from it) and when Richard Garriott was up in space to announce it's cancellation and LB's "retirement" at a time and place when he wasn't in much of a position to protest?
Or what happened to Auto Assault?
Exactly.
Not paying for a game and then petitioning to keep it open once it is announced that it will shut down does nothing. Paying for the game in the first place does everything.
It is amazing how people think that a game will just keep on going if either they 1) aren't playing it at all or 2) are playing it while not paying for it in any way.
It is over as far as NC Soft goes, but it may not be for the game, if they sell it , which is what the main campaign is aiming for, not for NC Soft to reverse the decisoin, which they knew will not happen.
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Not going to happen. They had a lot less to lose from selling Tabula Rasa than they do by selling off the CoH IP, and they didn't even do that much. With CoH, they had already looked and planned for CoH2 and a movie, which shows they were pretty invested in the franchise at one point. What happened recently is anyone's guess, but the overall subs didn't dip very far post F2P conversion. It sounds more like internal politics and less like money, which everyone unfairly assumes is the reason anything ever happens.
It's more likely NCSoft will sit on the IP forever "just in case" they decide to do something with it. They may never, but if anyone else wants to, they'd have to pay NCSoft fees for the priviledge.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
Paragon Studios and NC Soft are still in discussions of what will happen to the game. They have not said they will not sell it yet, but at least they are considering the option.
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Wellif there is going to be any kind of transfer, NCSoft would need to dvest itself totally of anything having to do with COH. This is pretty normal so don't give up hope of seeing COH around in some way, shape or form.
I think for most players, the goal was not to have NCSoft keep the property anyways because between them and Nexon, they felt like it had no more use to them anymore. The goal is to get it into the hands of someone who wants it and appreciates everything it has to offer. The top choice would be that Paragon studios reforms under a new name and goes indy bu that obviously takes a lot of resources. I expect to see some kind of crowdfunding effort in the near future.
The point is, it looks bad but this was to be expected so don't give up hope if you want to see COH go on.
It's over! Just accept that fact and move on.
NCSoft has never sold any of their properties! There were plenty of people interested in resurrecting Tabula Rasa, as in it's core it was an amazing game, but NCSoft waved it away and burried the IP deep in their vault!
Hell, on a blue sunday, I think even Richard Garriott tried to get hold of the TR IP and lost in court. It was one of the disputes.
Same will happen with CoH. NCSoft will burry it in their vault and lock it away.
SoE announced they were going to close the EQMac server. After a public outcry they decided to keep it open
Gamefiorge took over the responsibility of running Aion in Europe from NC Soft
Until NC Soft say they are not selling COH, then there is every chance they might, as they are currently considering it.
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They didn't sell Aion to Gameforge! Gameforge only got publishing rights to run and maintain it in Europe. Big difference!
Selling publishing rights or selling the entire property is a HUGE difference!
I could not find any information outon that fact
Just because they have not done in the past does not mean they won't again, and Tabula Rasa was complicasted with their dispute with RG, and any other may not ahve been worth it
City of Heroes looks to be worth it, and they are considering it.
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We were paying, I just renewed a 6 month contract.
STOP ASSUMING PEOPLE!
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paragon studios forms a new company and starts working on a spiritual successor to CoH, the only worthwhile super hero themed MMO
if only..
YOU paid. What about thousands of other? Doubt so even if they say "Im hard-core fan and i paid just 1k for something". And the facts are already out, no profit = no game.
The game was making a profit, otherwise Paragon Studios would not bother with trying to save/sell it. Why would any one sell it if it was not making a profit? You just assume it is being shut down because it was making no profit, well you are WRONG
The importance of saving COH is bigger than the game itself. The game may have been released 8 years but it was only converted to F2P last year, which is no simple thing. For them to shut the game down now, just kills any longevity any F2P/B2P etc type game has.
If City of Heroes shuts down, I am not putting any more time into MMOs, especially free to play ones and Nc Soft ones for certain, as now they can shut down after about a year.
If City of Heroes shut down last year, instead of going F2P, we may have wondered why they didn't turn it F2P, but certainly would not leave doubt in peoples minds of how long a game will last.
Before COH was announced to close, I would say there will be a 30% chance of SWTOR shutting down in 2013, following its change to F2P, but now after COH has shut down, I say SWTOR has a 90% chance of being shut down in 2013. They say the game needs 500K subs to break even, but it does not have that now, so they hope that millions will play but get at least 500K subs. The reason why most quit was that they did not want to pay, and I do not see people paying much after it goes F2P, so now its chances of closure next year are now extremely high.
I have seen plenty of positive posts about GW2, as it is free, and people do not need to spend any money in the store, yet COH needed people to spend in the store.
Even if GW2 has millions of people, if none are spending in the store, then that is still $0. No profit = no game
With sub based games, you know the game is getting money, and you know it will last, which is why WOW will still succeed. It is popular, still has millions of players ALL paying, it is safe and secure and no worries of getting shut down.
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Hmm on the right track but not quite.
It's more like everyone bemoaning the closure of a local well-remembered grocery store, when in reality most of them now shop at the supermarket and don't bother with the local store anymore because the deals are much better at the supermarket.
COH was a highly innoviative MMO for it's time, I truly loved it for four years, (was following the development two years before release). Everything has it's day in the sun though and I feel they botched up the F2P side and the game just became very old looking compared to it's competitors.
These boards have always had champions for this game, perception is reality to them, (if you believed everything you read here you'd think RIFT was one of the biggest MMO's in the world, if you don't like GW2 you should speak professional help, and that SWTOR died months ago), so they've always put a positive spin on the game regards of the last few years when it started to sink, (Going Rogue was rather crappy IMO, as well as some of the issue patches, content-wise, from what I hear).
I have to thank COH really. I'd always been fastinated by MMO's but never really got into them before COH, (I'd played EQ out of nessesity because of a girlfriend at the time). COH was the first one I really, 'got', and the first that lived up to my own hype. I'd probably never have met half the people, or spent anymore time in MMO's as a serious player, if it wasn't for COH.
So for that thank you, all good things....
This looks like a job for....The Riviera Kid!
The game was NOT making a profit, otherwise NCSoft wouldn't have shut it down!
[mod edit]
NCSoft isn't going to just shut down an entire studio that generates income.
The only time they ever did that was with Tabula Rasa, due to the dispute with Richard Garriott.
They have kept CoX running far longer than any expected! They have given this game more than enough chances to survive!
Hell, they even created an entire new studio for it. They gave it a second chance by making it Free 2 Play!
But there comes a time when enough is enough, and when the game goes into the black figures a second time (even after F2P conversion) .... it's simply time to pull the plug.
I've yet to see any information anywhere that says they are in talks and considering anything. The only information I've found is that the studio, Paragon Studios, is being dissolved. Gone entirely. And despite any supposed talks, if they're having any, they've come out and set an actual date the game closes. None of that sounds like they're considering other options. If you're referring to protests and staff of PS trying to convince them otherwise, that's not 'talks', which would suggest negotiating, that's just plees for help. I'd like it to be true as much as the next person though, so if you have source links for any negotiating going on behind the scenes, you should post it in here.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
Got any proof that it was not making a profit other than your opinion? If not then quit negativity and move on yourself
There is plenty evidence showing that it was. People have posted quarterly figures in the millions that it was generating, and why would Paragon Studios go to the effort of seeing if they can sell it and encourage us to keep up our efforts to petition etc when it is not making a profit and all a waste of time and all a lost cause?
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