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.
Wednesday November 28 was the last day the Wildstar Massive Multiplayer Online game was up and running. In September, NCSoft made the decision to shut it down. The game had gotten attention for ir's cartoony look and being one of the small number of sci-fi MMOs taking place in space and an alien planet with most being on fantasy worlds. But it wasn't enough.
Why did Wildstar fail? Some people I talk to put the blame on NCSoft, which a few years ago had shut down the superhero MMO "City of Heroes" despite please from its fans, some vowing never to play another game from them. An article by MMOS World blamed mismanagement by it's developers Carbine Studios, lack of substantial content compared to other MMOs, lack of promotion and marketing, and more. In any event, the news was sad news for the games casual and core fans, hundreds of whom stuck around on the game for it's last few hours until the lights went out.
Longrem Smalls, one of my virtual neighbors on an extended hiatus from Second Life, had been a fan of the game, playing it for some time. He filmed his last few hours for a youtube.
I am deeply saddened to upload this video, a recording of the last
hurrah of Wildstar from my point of view. This was a very emotional
time for me, because Wildstar has given me some very fond memories.
This was the first MMO since Star Wars Galaxies where I was so
enthralled that I dove in deeply and actually tried to join the
community. I made a lot of new friends that I will take with me even
though the game itself is gone. We roleplayed together, we quested, we
dungeoned, we raided, we worked on housing and explored... Everything
about this game will be missed deeply, by myself and many others. I can
only hope that a similar game with deep lore, exciting combat, and
amazing housing will come out again.
Some technical details:
The Sunset party was held at Wigwalli Village in Whitevale so both the
Exiles and Dominion could be in one place. Attendance was over 450
players, nearing 500 at some points, and I know there were plenty who
wanted to attend but could not. The devs were having some zany fun,
turning us into rowsdowers, cupcakes, various NPCs from the game, and
even changing our sizes from ginormous to miniscule. This event also
pushed my computer pretty hard, dropping my FPS to single digits at
times, but it held up. Toward the end there are a few major lag spikes
on the server side, so the video will appear to glitch out and freeze
for up to half a minute, but it does come back, so please be patient.
And yes, there were also weird changes in the music being played, or
sound cutting out, just because there was so much going on.
This was recorded so that those who could not make it could at least get
a sense of closure and watch it when they get a chance, and has not
been edited in any way.
And so, the final sunset has fell on Wildstar, a unique MMO that no doubt will be missed.
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.
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).
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.
