Discontinued City of Heroes MMO Private Server Gets Official Status From NCsoft

 

Some gamers, especially fans of superhero comics, will remember the "City of Heroes" MMO. It got attention partially for it's genre, being a superhero game when most MMOs at the time were science-fiction or Medieval fantasy, and partially for being the subject of a lawsuit by Marvel Comics, saying players were creating characters that infringed on it's copyrights. In 2012, it was shut down despite pleas from it's fans that NCSoft keep the game running. 

 

So what were the players to do? Many went to private servers where the game was kept running for those who wanted to keep heroing. Among these was one called Homecoming. One thing that was different about it was instead of trying to avoid attention from the game's corporate owners, from the start it was making an effort to negotiate with them. Finally on January 4, Homecoming made the following announcement in it's forums:

We’d like to thank you all for your patience over the past few years, and we’re incredibly thrilled to announce that it’s paid off: NCSOFT® has officially granted Homecoming a license to host City of Heroes™.

They went on to say that this meant the player and character accounts were now officially safe, there will continue to be more game content, and the game will continue to be free to those who want to play, "We will continue to be funded entirely through donations."

At a time in which corporations are quick to go to their lawyers, this is certainly a welcome development in the gaming world.

Sources: Wikipedia, Homecoming, Massively, Kotaku, Videogames.SI.com   

Bixyl Shuftan

City of Heroes MMO Closes

On Friday night on Nov 30th, one of the more unique multiplayer online games came to a close. "City of Heroes," the superhero MMO, was shut down after about eight years of running. The players didn't go down without a fight, and many stuck around on the final night late to the end.

Read more in Extra.

Video: "Save City of Heroes"

The effort by it's fans to save the City of Heroes MMO continues, one of whom made this video. More information can be read at http://www.savecoh.com/.

Video: Rally to Save City of Heroes

Footage of a demonstration in the City of Heroes MMO on Saturday Sept 8. The decision by NCsoft to shut down the game naturally isn't sitting well with the players. Many aren't just sitting down, but taking action to get the attention of the company behind the game and hopefully change their minds.

Massively writer Eliot LeFebvre who plays CoH is among the supporters of the protests, admitting the odds are against them, but, "at this point, 'winning' doesn't enter into it. The point is that was as players have to stand up and make it clear that this game is important to us, that whether it remains online or not, you can't just shut it down after three months with no warning. We have a voice; we need to make use of it. Sometimes you fight because you need to fight, not because you expect it to work."

More of LeFebvre's article can be found Here. You can also sign a petition to keep City of Heroes running, Here. There's also one particularly imaginative protest: sending capes and masks to one of the three NCsoft offices (find the forum thread Here).

A Resident Looks Back at City of Heroes

It was recently announced that "City of Heroes," the first superhero MMO, would be closing down before the end of the year. This was something of a surprise as while not the most popular online game it seemed to be doing well. For a few Second Life residents, this was sad news. Among them, DJ Alexandra "Lexi" Tymets, whom shared with Second Life Newser her adventures as a superhero there.

Read more in Extra.