The Statesman in MXM is a Disservice to City of Heroes Fans - Bill Murphy at MMORPG.com

SBFord · March 2017

The Statesman in MXM is a Disservice to City of Heroes Fans - Bill Murphy at MMORPG.com

I’m sure it came with noble intentions. NCSOFT knows how much hurt is still felt by the too-soon closure of Cryptic/Paragon’s City of Heroes. So when they saw a chance to bring a beloved character from that IP into their upcoming all-star MOBA, they probably leapt at the idea. “We can make those fans happy!” they said. “We can make this game appealing in the West at the same time!” they exclaimed. But that’s not quite how it’s being seen by the community.

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Scot · March 2017

I really doubt this is a sign that NCSOFT are bringing back any sort of CoH MMO, that's Bill the fan talking.

There are 3/4 indie CoH projects on the go? I hope they are not all 'MMO like', the fans want to all be in one game, that way it will be a success. I am a fan myself but never follow these things until launch, that way very little poisoned broth of disappointment is consumed.

Kyleran · March 2017

I guess this is why they haven't sold off the original game/franchise.

Gazimoff · March 2017

I never played the original MMO, but I knew many who have great memories of their time in-game. This seems to be in poor taste.

cheyane · March 2017

When they shut City of Heroes/Villains down they angered a lot of people . It would have been better if they had simply let sleeping dogs lie. Doing something like this will enrage the fans of this game and bring back all the memories and make them inclined to cause more bad remarks and outrage. Was it worth it I have to ask?

Banegrivm · March 2017

Here is the thing about the CoH shutdown. It was still profitable. Yes that's right. They shut down a game that was still, BY THEIR OWN ADMISSION, making them money. Now what kind of business man throws away free money? Seriously. The reason for the shut down of the game was because it's profit margins slipped 3 percent. Yes, 3 whopping percent. So when they saw that they just decided to shut it down declaring it dead, yes for a whole 3 percent. What they did and how they handled it was a big slap in the face to everyone who had played or was playing. Now they pull this? Salt in an open wound. Very poor taste. The only way this wouldn't be such a thing is if they were planning on bringing back CoH. Last I heard there was a dev studio that was talking about buying it. I think that might have been the team working on City of Titans if I recall correctly.

Nanfoodle · March 2017

Smart play from their side, wonder if it will miss the mark and just upset CoH fans over warming their hearts.

Wellspring · March 2017

Would we even be talking about MXM right now if it wasn't for them adding the Statesman to the game? Sounds like their PR stunt is working...

Sovrath · March 2017

Banegrivm said:

Here is the thing about the CoH shutdown. It was still profitable. Yes that's right. They shut down a game that was still, BY THEIR OWN ADMISSION, making them money. Now what kind of business man throws away free money? Seriously. The reason for the shut down of the game was because it's profit margins slipped 3 percent. Yes, 3 whopping percent. So when they saw that they just decided to shut it down declaring it dead, yes for a whole 3 percent. What they did and how they handled it was a big slap in the face to everyone who had played or was playing. Now they pull this? Salt in an open wound. Very poor taste. The only way this wouldn't be such a thing is if they were planning on bringing back CoH. Last I heard there was a dev studio that was talking about buying it. I think that might have been the team working on City of Titans if I recall correctly.

You must not work for a large company.

3% is a big deal when they most likely needed "more percent".

It's not enough for something to be profitable it must meet their targets/predictions. If they don't meet their targets overall for the year then that could be bad for the stock price.

Additionally, a company spends "x amount of dollars" for a project/product and expects/needs to get "x amount of dollars" in return for that money spent. If a project/product is not making what they need it to make and they can take the same amount of money and make more on something else then that's what they are going to spend it on.

Now, on topic, I don't think they should have used this character and its clear they are a bit out of touch with their fan base.

JakeSim · March 2017

Honestly who cares? It allows people to play a character they once loved or possibly still do love. Why does it automatically have to mean it's a disservice? Honestly I love that they added him he'll probably be my main character. This made me even more hyped for this game. People shouldn't be so sensitive to these kind of things. Have fun with it

dotdotdash · March 2017

You mean like how the Lost Vikings being in Heroes was a disservice to Lost Vikings fans?
...

It's a tribute. They know that there are fans of Cities out there, who this will have traction with. That draws players into their new moba through franchise association. It's not different to, for example, Kingdom Hearts or the many, many, many franchised fighting games that use long-dead or underused comic book villains and heroes to generate buzz. Cities fans should be pleased they are being recognised with this, that NCSoft think it valuable enough to warrant this, rather than seeing it as a poke in the eye cause you don't have an MMO.

Leiloni · March 2017

Wellspring said:

Would we even be talking about MXM right now if it wasn't for them adding the Statesman to the game? Sounds like their PR stunt is working...

Yes because it has tons of other characters that the rest of us care about and it's supposedly a good game. I couldn't care less about this CoH character. This game has already been talked about a lot honestly.

Leiloni · March 2017

Sovrath said:

Banegrivm said:

Here is the thing about the CoH shutdown. It was still profitable. Yes that's right. They shut down a game that was still, BY THEIR OWN ADMISSION, making them money. Now what kind of business man throws away free money? Seriously. The reason for the shut down of the game was because it's profit margins slipped 3 percent. Yes, 3 whopping percent. So when they saw that they just decided to shut it down declaring it dead, yes for a whole 3 percent. What they did and how they handled it was a big slap in the face to everyone who had played or was playing. Now they pull this? Salt in an open wound. Very poor taste. The only way this wouldn't be such a thing is if they were planning on bringing back CoH. Last I heard there was a dev studio that was talking about buying it. I think that might have been the team working on City of Titans if I recall correctly.

You must not work for a large company.

3% is a big deal when they most likely needed "more percent".

It's not enough for something to be profitable it must meet their targets/predictions. If they don't meet their targets overall for the year then that could be bad for the stock price.

Additionally, a company spends "x amount of dollars" for a project/product and expects/needs to get "x amount of dollars" in return for that money spent. If a project/product is not making what they need it to make and they can take the same amount of money and make more on something else then that's what they are going to spend it on.

Agreed. Also in general CoH fans talk about this game constantly. This dead horse has been beaten to a pulp and just needs to be left alone. It's just a game people. It's time to move on. You'll feel a lot better if you do.

IceAge · March 2017

Bunch of QQ'ers . CoH was shut down because was doing very bad. The ones who believe otherwise , have no sense of management, which .. it's kinda understandable if they still hate on NcSoft.

However, adding a CoH char into MXM it's awesome. Stop hating. You will still not play MXM with or without Statesman , so why hate on something which you are not interested in the first place ?!

Alverant · March 2017

Don't fool yourself, Bill. This isn't about being nice to the CoH fans. It's about using an IP they own for legal purposes. It's not a tribute, it's a checkmark.

Sovrath · March 2017

dotdotdash said:

You mean like how the Lost Vikings being in Heroes was a disservice to Lost Vikings fans?
...

It's a tribute. They know that there are fans of Cities out there, who this will have traction with. That draws players into their new moba through franchise association. It's not different to, for example, Kingdom Hearts or the many, many, many franchised fighting games that use long-dead or underused comic book villains and heroes to generate buzz. Cities fans should be pleased they are being recognised with this, that NCSoft think it valuable enough to warrant this, rather than seeing it as a poke in the eye cause you don't have an MMO.

Well, let's put it this way, it depends on how the larger portion of City of Heroes fans feel about the game closing.

I mean, this is clearly going to predominately speak to City of Heroes fans. So if the majority of them are "ok" and look at this as a bit of an homage, then you are most likely correct. If the majority of them are still annoyed at the game's closing then this might backfire.

And clearly one just can't tell from forum posts as the most die hard fans are going to be posting on forums over the larger portion of the City of Heroes player base.

Kelador · March 2017

IceAge said:

Bunch of QQ'ers . CoH was shut down because was doing very bad. The ones who believe otherwise , have no sense of management, which .. it's kinda understandable if they still hate on NcSoft.

However, adding a CoH char into MXM it's awesome. Stop hating. You will still not play MXM with or without Statesman , so why hate on something which you are not interested in the first place ?!

Actually thanks to a bitter employee at the time of the closure of COH and Paragon Studio's they posted up financial figures and projections which showed since the game had gone F2P like 12 months before its closure it was making money and was increasing profits each month at a steady pace, NCSoft even gave said the reason for closing the game was not Financial and was due to the game not fitting in with the direction they was taking the company.

In the long run this doesn't really effect me I guess I hate MOBA's and hate the trend of every company out there pushing out their own MOBA.... these games are just cash grabs.

Warlyx · March 2017

dotdotdash said:

You mean like how the Lost Vikings being in Heroes was a disservice to Lost Vikings fans?

...

It's a tribute. They know that there are fans of Cities out there, who this will have traction with. That draws players into their new moba through franchise association. It's not different to, for example, Kingdom Hearts or the many, many, many franchised fighting games that use long-dead or underused comic book villains and heroes to generate buzz. Cities fans should be pleased they are being recognised with this, that NCSoft think it valuable enough to warrant this, rather than seeing it as a poke in the eye cause you don't have an MMO.

i can play Lost vikings now ....awesome game! , but i cant play COH/COV

and yeah it feels like "a slap in the face" , and to me like a cruel joke ,different ppl different feelings i guess Ncsoft can do whatever they want...bringing back Statesman sure go ahead add more if u think players want that...

Dreamo84 · March 2017

I think it's pretty awesome to bring back Statesman like that.

LucienRene · March 2017

I played COH from beta. I had one max level character and a truck load of alts. I played pretty regularly for about a year, year and a half. Bought the COX expansion. Stopped subbing when my daughter lost interest (outgrew). I don't consider myself a fan boy. At all. I don't care that NCSoft is exploiting their intellectual property.

I also think, that if you didn't support the game with your wallet, but now want to call this a disservice, you might want to look in the mirror. That's what I call fake outrage. You didn't care enough to pay, just enough to complain when it means nothing.

In regards to the game being shut down, and whether or not it was making money, look at the bigger picture. How long did NCSoft carry what was for years, an unprofitable game? Remember, Paragon Studios was developing other game(s?) toward the end. If I were NCSoft, I would have pulled the plug too. Throwing good money after bad is how you get a vote of no confidence in a publicly traded company.

knightaudit · March 2017

I was a huge fan of COH ... and would pay money to play again, be it the old or a new version. I Hate playing MOBAs, it is not an MMO it is a competitive game and goes against what an MMO is.
I think of this as a slap in the face by NCSoft to do this to the fans of the game, but till COH Comes back or they give the IP to someone who will use it ... You will not see a dime from me.

GladDog · March 2017

This whole thing is not about gaining popularity with former CoH fans. Adding Statesman (& I bet he is the first of many CoH NPCs that will be added) was merely a warning to the CoH successor projects to watch how close they get to THEIR IP. Because NCsoft STILL OWNS that IP, even if they really have nothing much they want to do with it.

As far as myself, a stalwart CoH fan goes, not sure whether my red face is from anger or the slap in the face...

Nilden · March 2017

Sovrath said:

Banegrivm said:

Here is the thing about the CoH shutdown. It was still profitable. Yes that's right. They shut down a game that was still, BY THEIR OWN ADMISSION, making them money. Now what kind of business man throws away free money? Seriously. The reason for the shut down of the game was because it's profit margins slipped 3 percent. Yes, 3 whopping percent. So when they saw that they just decided to shut it down declaring it dead, yes for a whole 3 percent. What they did and how they handled it was a big slap in the face to everyone who had played or was playing. Now they pull this? Salt in an open wound. Very poor taste. The only way this wouldn't be such a thing is if they were planning on bringing back CoH. Last I heard there was a dev studio that was talking about buying it. I think that might have been the team working on City of Titans if I recall correctly.

You must not work for a large company.

3% is a big deal when they most likely needed "more percent".

It's not enough for something to be profitable it must meet their targets/predictions. If they don't meet their targets overall for the year then that could be bad for the stock price.

Additionally, a company spends "x amount of dollars" for a project/product and expects/needs to get "x amount of dollars" in return for that money spent. If a project/product is not making what they need it to make and they can take the same amount of money and make more on something else then that's what they are going to spend it on.

Now, on topic, I don't think they should have used this character and its clear they are a bit out of touch with their fan base.

Kinda curious considering Wildstar is still running and made 1/3rd what City of Heroes did at shutdown on the last NCSoft financial report.

Sovrath · March 2017

Nilden said:

Sovrath said:

Banegrivm said:

Here is the thing about the CoH shutdown. It was still profitable. Yes that's right. They shut down a game that was still, BY THEIR OWN ADMISSION, making them money. Now what kind of business man throws away free money? Seriously. The reason for the shut down of the game was because it's profit margins slipped 3 percent. Yes, 3 whopping percent. So when they saw that they just decided to shut it down declaring it dead, yes for a whole 3 percent. What they did and how they handled it was a big slap in the face to everyone who had played or was playing. Now they pull this? Salt in an open wound. Very poor taste. The only way this wouldn't be such a thing is if they were planning on bringing back CoH. Last I heard there was a dev studio that was talking about buying it. I think that might have been the team working on City of Titans if I recall correctly.

You must not work for a large company.

3% is a big deal when they most likely needed "more percent".

It's not enough for something to be profitable it must meet their targets/predictions. If they don't meet their targets overall for the year then that could be bad for the stock price.

Additionally, a company spends "x amount of dollars" for a project/product and expects/needs to get "x amount of dollars" in return for that money spent. If a project/product is not making what they need it to make and they can take the same amount of money and make more on something else then that's what they are going to spend it on.

Now, on topic, I don't think they should have used this character and its clear they are a bit out of touch with their fan base.

Kinda curious considering Wildstar is still running and made 1/3rd what City of Heroes did at shutdown on the last NCSoft financial report.

Not at all. We don't know what contract is in place for Wildstar or what they want to accomplish with keeping it open.

Carbine is a subsidiary of NC Soft so obviously NC Soft calls the shots. However, maybe there is an agreement in place that Wildstar can't be canceled until x, y and z happens. Or maybe they figured out that they can keep Wildstar open for "x amount of time" make back the investment and then close it.

Or maybe they figured out that they can use Wildstar as some sort of "write off". Additionally, because Carbine is a subsidiary it doesn't automatically pass on its losses to NC Soft, NC soft just owns a larger portion of the shares (or all the shares).

I guess what I'm saying is that there is a lot that is probably going on here and it's not black and white.

IceAge · March 2017

Torval said:

Why was it a stupid idea for NCSoft to do this? Because it's a reminder that a game that didn't absolutely need closing was closed despite the outcry from the core fanbase. Now they expect that fanbase to embrace some cheap knock off moba? How dense of them.

You got it wrong.

First, NcSoft is not stupid , even if you or some CoH lovers around here, thinks otherwise. Secondly , hello? They pretty much knows that Statesman is anything but NOT targeted to CoH fanbase you are referring to. They wanted to make a buzz? Well maybe. But is their right to do that. Their IP , their game.

...and let me adding something to the already "but they closed the game even if it was "profitable" " : Players like you would have been the first to say " CoH is awesome but the lack of players and content made me stop playing" . I mean, look at Wildstar. A lot of people are wondering how that game is still surviving and if the game will close right now , most will be like "..about time" . That .. would have happened to CoH too , but the ignorance in some of you , makes you think that they did a bad thing. No .. they did the right thing , or .. they did the best thing which any company with a bit of brain, would have done the same thing.

Kyleran · March 2017

Nilden said:

Sovrath said:

Banegrivm said:

Here is the thing about the CoH shutdown. It was still profitable. Yes that's right. They shut down a game that was still, BY THEIR OWN ADMISSION, making them money. Now what kind of business man throws away free money? Seriously. The reason for the shut down of the game was because it's profit margins slipped 3 percent. Yes, 3 whopping percent. So when they saw that they just decided to shut it down declaring it dead, yes for a whole 3 percent. What they did and how they handled it was a big slap in the face to everyone who had played or was playing. Now they pull this? Salt in an open wound. Very poor taste. The only way this wouldn't be such a thing is if they were planning on bringing back CoH. Last I heard there was a dev studio that was talking about buying it. I think that might have been the team working on City of Titans if I recall correctly.

You must not work for a large company.

3% is a big deal when they most likely needed "more percent".

It's not enough for something to be profitable it must meet their targets/predictions. If they don't meet their targets overall for the year then that could be bad for the stock price.

Additionally, a company spends "x amount of dollars" for a project/product and expects/needs to get "x amount of dollars" in return for that money spent. If a project/product is not making what they need it to make and they can take the same amount of money and make more on something else then that's what they are going to spend it on.

Now, on topic, I don't think they should have used this character and its clear they are a bit out of touch with their fan base.

Kinda curious considering Wildstar is still running and made 1/3rd what City of Heroes did at shutdown on the last NCSoft financial report.

I think its likely NC invested more money into WS than COH.

That or someone on the WS team has compromising photos of NC execs..

(maybe with animals even) O.o

j/k

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The Statesman in MXM is a Disservice to City of Heroes Fans - Bill Murphy at MMORPG.com

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Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

The world is going to the dogs, which is just how I planned it!

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

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The Statesman in MXM is a Disservice to City of Heroes Fans - Bill Murphy at MMORPG.com

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Comments

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

The world is going to the dogs, which is just how I planned it!

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV