City of Heroes

City of Heroes was and is known for having one of the most dedicated and often highly esteemed MMO communities in the history of the genre. The game has been gone for almost 7 years and still there are communities of players in different games and people keeping in touch online to this day. There are also various projects like City of Titans, Ship of Heroes, the Paragon Chat and the SEGS programs, etc, trying to continue on.

So, imagine everyone's surprise when the long heard rumors that there was a secret CoH server out there running were found out to be true.

There's a lot of controversy over how the server started, in what manner it's been run over the years, and how and why it was exposed. There were and are a lot of confused and hurt fans out there with this revelation.

To me the important takeaway from this is not that the code exists for the game or that even some of the data to restore character and what not is out there. It's not even that some people have been playing the game in secret for about half a decade. I know I've had a bit of an emotional rollercoaster to ride in dealing with some of this.

No, the important, and great, thing to take away from this is the community. Since this has come to light, in a matter of days, many people have gotten past whatever internal conflicts they've had and started finding solutions. The code is both being taken care of and dispersed. People are talking. Plans are being made and support is being given. All with the goal of not having to sneak around behind NCSoft's back and getting the game back out there for the fans.

CoH is an old game, older than EQ2. It's clunky and weird by many player standards. It's an a-typical MMO experience. But, it's one a lot of people have loved. A game that has been at the core of one of he best online community experiences a lot of people have ever had.

Hopefully some months from now people will be able to play it again without any secrets or hiding in the dark. And, with this whole experience largely about the community more than the game itself, the CoH experience will continue to be a standard I measure the rest of the genre by.

 

Prepare yourself. If that server hosting becomes a thing, we're doing it. So there's that.

I would play COH again in a heartbeat over many current mmos even though it's dated and bit clunky, and not just for nostalgia. The game play is interesting and fun, setting and genre are a refreshing change from the glut of fantasy titles, it has base decorating that you can do some pretty kick ass stuff with once you wrap your head around the interface (think EQ2 without using the layout editor).

This is the second best news I've gotten this week. The first being an appointment for next Monday to meet a dogdog we want to adopt.

 

I played City of Heroes for a bit... though Statesman did is best to screw things up more than once. The guild I was in went from being super active to almost nobody logging in after the first major change.
I had a good time playing with folks, but it palled for me solo.
The super hero genre didn't do a whole much for me, but I did get tired of the 'alternate universe' jaunts it constantly went on.

 

Yeah, City of Heroes had its share of change/nerf/change problems, though I think it's pretty fair to say few - if any - were on the scale of EQ2 in the past 5(ish) years.

Enhancement Diversification was the most significant and in the long run actually turned out to be good for the game and game play. That said, it took me a few years to make the change from SO enhancements to IO enhancements

I tend to give a pass on storylines, as long as they're fun. Otherwise literally everything in literally every game gets old quick. How many times have the gods in Norrath died/been banished/other trope and been resurrected/rediscovered? For me it's all about the storytelling. In all the games, some of the stories are more engaging than others.

What might be coming out now has nothing to do with the original dev team (Statesman moved on long before the game shut down) or NCSoft - may the company crash in a destitute hell of their own making. It's the game code that has made it's way into the hands of fans, and will be run by fans.

 

I loved CoH, but moved on years ago. Seeing this news is...bittersweet, I suppose. One old home descending into crap, another seemingly back from the dead...just as I'm settling in to a new one.

Maybe I'd check it out. Maybe not. Time marches on.

 

There was a server. It was great. Then it exploded. Drama and tomfooleries everywhere. The game is lurking for a bit, but it then it will pull a savior figure and rise again.

 

It's back up. And down and...I played for an hour and a half today.

I went home. Swore I wouldn't do this, but I went home.

Damn, I missed that game.

 

They're having some launch pangs, as 8000+ people try to play the game at once. I doubt very much they expected that.

But from what I've seen they're handling it better than some 'professional' teams in current games.

I've been able to log in and play with some old powersets, as well as the new one they put together from some of the bits and pieces of code, Sentinel.

It's all the nostalgia, as well as still so freaking fun!

 

It's amazing. The gameplay holds up relatively well even in 2019. Yeah, lots is dated, but still...the soul of the thing is there, even now.

 

I'm happy.

Right now I'm trying to be patient and supportive as the kinks are worked out. When the time comes I will try to be supportive with my wallet as well.

 

Ok, things are fairly stable now. There are four servers up and the code has largely been dispersed. People are toying with private servers. So long as the corporate overlards don't mess things up it's looking like there is a future for CoH.

 

I found out today that base editing is in, and it's no cost, at least right now. It is for much happy making.

AND. You can set the highest ceiling to 'open sky'. There will be skylights, courtyards and rooftop gardens in my future.

 

WOOT! Grand Hall of Poorly Applied Retribution Masquerading As Justice, here I come!

 

Questions:

1. Do you have to already have the game files on your computer, i.e. have played it before?
2. Where do you find this server? I'd like to give this a go. DM me if you don't want to put details in the thread.

Thanks!

 

No. You'll need to DL and install "Tequila", which is also the launcher for Paragon Chat. It pretty much sets itself up. Then you set up your account and you're off to the races. I don't have the site addresses in front of me, but IIRC they're stickied on reddit (/r/Cityofheroes).

 

Been playing over the weekend and all week with no problems.

The initial shot of nostalgia has worn off, and it's still more fun than anything else I've played recently, with the exception of building a world in Conan Exiles.

 

I've made a character and got the starting quest, but that's as far as I've got. With a PhD thesis due for submission to the examiners in 11 weeks, playtime is going to be somewhat erratic for the next wee while.

 

that sounds intimidating, good luck!!

CoH is one of the easiest and most forgiving games to dip in and out of.

 

Thanks, Tekka - it was a moment of madness during a mid-life crisis 3 years ago!!

 

https://massivelyop.com/2019/09/04/...s-have-rolled-almost-a-million-toons-to-date/

It's all just nostalgia, really.