Having my doubts
Before I get started, I want to make it clear that I'm very happy for the news involving the City of Heroes IP. Though talks are still in progress, if the game itself does come back in a sort of maintenance mode, it will be exactly what everyone was asking for.
But. I don't think it's really what we all want.
Well, I can't say that for any degree of certainty. But I can say I don't think it'll be exactly what I want.
It's been 2 years now and really longer than that for me. I had been in and out of the City in the last couple of years due to RL things that I won't bother getting into at this point, but suffice to say I missed the closing. In that time and since then, I've floated between MMOs, even spent a good deal of time flittering between Minecraft servers. In all that time, what I've found is that I can't find what I'm looking for. I'm not looking for a game to replace City of Heroes. I'm looking for a community. But keep in mind, the community and the game both fed off of and built each other. The style and the pacing of the game molded the community's mindset. I think the lack of PvP at the outset did a lot to help bind us all together and because the community mentors were shaped by that, whatever attitudes that created were passed down to the later generations. There was a helpfulness for its own benefit, not because of some immaterial digital reward. And don't get me wrong, the competitive spirit isn't a bad thing, but it is a sort of toxic glue. It will bind people together and it will poison things as well.
Let's get away from that. This isn't a dig at PvP. This is... a reflection on what we may not have realized we've already lost. How many people have moved on? How many people won't come back? How many people will come back and in the cold light of day finally realize what they're coming back to; an outdated game with a broken (albeit steadfastly stubborn) community? The game, in a maintenance mode, will be nice, but I honestly don't expect it to stay active more than a year beyond the point where it comes back online. Part of the draw was the novelty, the "free updates" in an age where WoW was spitting out a $30 expansion pack every other year. The die-hards will stay on, but I doubt the community will see any kind of growth, and without that, it will wither away and die.
The licensing of the IP to the "spiritual" successors however, that may be a solid middle ground. If the newer games can create the kind of community we had before and that community can propagate the culture that had been built before, that I at least loved, maybe then I can find the family I've been looking for. I know, no one really left. Scattered though we may be, the Titan forums have been a literal Rock to gather around. But it's not the same environment. It's not the same interaction. It's just not what I've been looking for.
I remain hopeful for the recent news, but continue to search, to see if I can find some niche of some community to wedge myself into with my odd, unreliable hours and weird personality, to be happy again.
But. I don't think it's really what we all want.
Well, I can't say that for any degree of certainty. But I can say I don't think it'll be exactly what I want.
It's been 2 years now and really longer than that for me. I had been in and out of the City in the last couple of years due to RL things that I won't bother getting into at this point, but suffice to say I missed the closing. In that time and since then, I've floated between MMOs, even spent a good deal of time flittering between Minecraft servers. In all that time, what I've found is that I can't find what I'm looking for. I'm not looking for a game to replace City of Heroes. I'm looking for a community. But keep in mind, the community and the game both fed off of and built each other. The style and the pacing of the game molded the community's mindset. I think the lack of PvP at the outset did a lot to help bind us all together and because the community mentors were shaped by that, whatever attitudes that created were passed down to the later generations. There was a helpfulness for its own benefit, not because of some immaterial digital reward. And don't get me wrong, the competitive spirit isn't a bad thing, but it is a sort of toxic glue. It will bind people together and it will poison things as well.
Let's get away from that. This isn't a dig at PvP. This is... a reflection on what we may not have realized we've already lost. How many people have moved on? How many people won't come back? How many people will come back and in the cold light of day finally realize what they're coming back to; an outdated game with a broken (albeit steadfastly stubborn) community? The game, in a maintenance mode, will be nice, but I honestly don't expect it to stay active more than a year beyond the point where it comes back online. Part of the draw was the novelty, the "free updates" in an age where WoW was spitting out a $30 expansion pack every other year. The die-hards will stay on, but I doubt the community will see any kind of growth, and without that, it will wither away and die.
The licensing of the IP to the "spiritual" successors however, that may be a solid middle ground. If the newer games can create the kind of community we had before and that community can propagate the culture that had been built before, that I at least loved, maybe then I can find the family I've been looking for. I know, no one really left. Scattered though we may be, the Titan forums have been a literal Rock to gather around. But it's not the same environment. It's not the same interaction. It's just not what I've been looking for.
I remain hopeful for the recent news, but continue to search, to see if I can find some niche of some community to wedge myself into with my odd, unreliable hours and weird personality, to be happy again.