New Efforts To Get NCSoft To Reopen?

Beyorn · April 2019

While I’m very excited about all the City of Heroes news lately, I don’t want to play on rogue servers ;(. I would be afraid that my new characters would be taken away at any time. SOOOOOOOO I was thinking, maybe we can use this to get NCSoft to start up the servers again.

Maybe restart them with only minimal support and no new content except bug fixes. Does this sound feasible? I have a feeling there are a lot of players like me. I don’t care about my old characters; I don’t care about new expansions. I just want to fly around in COH again ;(.

Is there any way to reach out to NCSoft? Or do you all think this is a lost cause once they send out the C&D letters ;(.

Azaron_Nightblade · April 2019

Beyorn said:

Is there any way to reach out to NCSoft? Or do you all think this is a lost cause once they send out the C&D letters ;(.

Very much a lost cause. Tons of people have tried it years ago, NCSoft ignored them all.

They're not going to change their minds now.

Panther2103 · April 2019

Beyorn said:

While I’m very excited about all the City of Heroes news lately, I don’t want to play on rogue servers ;(. I would be afraid that my new characters would be taken away at any time. SOOOOOOOO I was thinking, maybe we can use this to get NCSoft to start up the servers again.

Maybe restart them with only minimal support and no new content except bug fixes. Does this sound feasible? I have a feeling there are a lot of players like me. I don’t care about my old characters; I don’t care about new expansions. I just want to fly around in COH again ;(.

Is there any way to reach out to NCSoft? Or do you all think this is a lost cause once they send out the C&D letters ;(.

It's definitely not going to happen. NCsoft hasn't ever opened up a server for a game they have shut down. On top of that, the game wasn't developed by them, so it would take a lot more effort on their end to bring it up again than would be worth it. There's a community that would likely go back if they did end up bringing it back, but the monetary value of it probably isn't worth it to them.

Hellscream · April 2019

They are so stupid they don't see the door is open here with this game they are sitting on a gold mine and are too damn dumb to see it Honestly they are blind.

Sovrath · April 2019

Hellscream said:

They are so stupid they don't see the door is open here with this game they are sitting on a gold mine and are too damn dumb to see it Honestly they are blind.

I'm fairly certain that if it was an actual goldmine of opportunity they would be mining it.

Theocritus · April 2019

They must know something that fans of the game do not.

Sovrath · April 2019

Rhoklaw said:

Theocritus said:

They must know something that fans of the game do not.

They know people still pick pennies up off the ground for good luck, but NCSoft would rather step over a $20 bill than waste time and energy bending over to pick it up.

More than likely the effort to pick up that $20 would be better yet walking over to a larger basket of cash.

To the point, why should a company spend x amount of dollars for a small profit when they can spend x amount of dollars for a larger profit?

The obvious answer is to still sell to one segment of their customer base. But at some point, if selling to that customer base and making a small profit is to their detriment, they are going to discontinue that product.

Not the first time a company has discontinued a product.

Mendel · April 2019

I can't see NCSoft reopening a shuttered game. There *might* be all sorts of startup costs just to continue providing the server service. They *may* have cut data communication capacity in order to save money. Employees experienced with their game servers *might* have moved on. The physical servers *may* have been repurposed or used for parts. There's a definite cost beyond setting up a server alongside an operating server, no one but NCSoft is likely to ever know what that cost may be.

Would I like to see COH again? Yes. Does that mean it makes financial sense for NCSoft to resume that service? Unknown.

Darkness5080 · April 2019

Idk i think ncsoft could make some $$ from this, nostalgia is really big right now (look at all the classic/progression server stuff going on). If they reopened a server and charged a monthly fee to play on it I can see it be profitable. I mean just look at EQ, their classic progression servers are doing pretty well and that game is much older then COH. COH also has the advantage that it is fairly unique and the superhero mmorpg genera is pretty stagnant atm and they really don't have much competition.

If they really wanted to capitalize on the classic server craze they could run the game starting at issue 1 and release the remaining issues every couple of months like EQ is doing, it keeps people playing as they want to experience the content all over again, but again that might take a little too much time and resources. Let's also not forget the fact that if they just release a server, i24 is basically done and never actually got release so there would be new content and they could run the game on a skeleton crew as they wouldn't need to develop anything new and could just cash in on the nostalgia factor for a few years till it's not profitable anymore.

Right now would be a good time too with all the coverage it is getting due to this private server scandal. They would most definitely get many of the old players back but also cash in on the people who have never played wanting to try it out and see why everyone is so up in arms over it and if it's worth a go, seeing as far as mmos go right now there's not much new on the horizon.

idk just my 2cents

Arglebargle · April 2019

More would be there, but you can't get on right now.

Makes no sense for NCSoft to restart things. But licensed public servers would be reasonable.

Ridelynn · April 2019

Rhoklaw said:

Sovrath said:

Rhoklaw said:

Theocritus said:

They must know something that fans of the game do not.

They know people still pick pennies up off the ground for good luck, but NCSoft would rather step over a $20 bill than waste time and energy bending over to pick it up.

More than likely the effort to pick up that $20 would be better yet walking over to a larger basket of cash.

To the point, why should a company spend x amount of dollars for a small profit when they can spend x amount of dollars for a larger profit?

The obvious answer is to still sell to one segment of their customer base. But at some point, if selling to that customer base and making a small profit is to their detriment, they are going to discontinue that product.

Not the first time a company has discontinued a product.

This isn't just about them ignoring small profits. It's the fact they won't release the copyright on a game they obviously no longer care about. So tell me, why would they care about a private CoX server? Definitely not because of any financial reasons, right? Since you just made that point loud and clear.

I don't exactly blame them for not releasing the IP.

I mean, that's property they have a significant investment in. Why should they just give it away? And there is a very real chance that the folks who are using the IP now could damage it via reputation, which would eliminate the possibility for NCSoft to ever use that IP in the future.

NCSoft isn't a charity. If someone wanted to ~buy~ the IP to reopen a new server, I bet NCSoft would talk, and we could debate over what the value of that payout should be. But to expect that a company should allow it for free is ... not a very realistic expectation.

Don't get me wrong, I think it would be awesome, and I would love to see CoH reopen. I'm willing to pay. But to make NCSoft out to be the bad guys here isn't exactly correct either. They made a business decision. It breaks my heart, just like seeing the McRib go away every year. But I understand why it must be done.

MadFrenchie · April 2019

Ridelynn said:

Rhoklaw said:

Sovrath said:

Rhoklaw said:

Theocritus said:

They must know something that fans of the game do not.

They know people still pick pennies up off the ground for good luck, but NCSoft would rather step over a $20 bill than waste time and energy bending over to pick it up.

More than likely the effort to pick up that $20 would be better yet walking over to a larger basket of cash.

To the point, why should a company spend x amount of dollars for a small profit when they can spend x amount of dollars for a larger profit?

The obvious answer is to still sell to one segment of their customer base. But at some point, if selling to that customer base and making a small profit is to their detriment, they are going to discontinue that product.

Not the first time a company has discontinued a product.

This isn't just about them ignoring small profits. It's the fact they won't release the copyright on a game they obviously no longer care about. So tell me, why would they care about a private CoX server? Definitely not because of any financial reasons, right? Since you just made that point loud and clear.

I don't exactly blame them for not releasing the IP.

I mean, that's property they have a significant investment in. Why should they just give it away? And there is a very real chance that the folks who are using the IP now could damage it via reputation, which would eliminate the possibility for NCSoft to ever use that IP in the future.

NCSoft isn't a charity. If someone wanted to ~buy~ the IP to reopen a new server, I bet NCSoft would talk, and we could debate over what the value of that payout should be. But to expect that a company should allow it for free is ... not a very realistic expectation.

Don't get me wrong, I think it would be awesome, and I would love to see CoH reopen. I'm willing to pay. But to make NCSoft out to be the bad guys here isn't exactly correct either. They made a business decision. It breaks my heart, just like seeing the McRib go away every year. But I understand why it must be done.

Disagree on the reputation of the IP. I've yet to see a private server, accepted or otherwise, that has truly damaged the "reputation" of the IP.

That seems more like a talking point for the IP holders that's not based on a serious reality.

Ridelynn · April 2019

MadFrenchie said:

Ridelynn said:

Rhoklaw said:

Sovrath said:

Rhoklaw said:

Theocritus said:

They must know something that fans of the game do not.

They know people still pick pennies up off the ground for good luck, but NCSoft would rather step over a $20 bill than waste time and energy bending over to pick it up.

More than likely the effort to pick up that $20 would be better yet walking over to a larger basket of cash.

To the point, why should a company spend x amount of dollars for a small profit when they can spend x amount of dollars for a larger profit?

The obvious answer is to still sell to one segment of their customer base. But at some point, if selling to that customer base and making a small profit is to their detriment, they are going to discontinue that product.

Not the first time a company has discontinued a product.

This isn't just about them ignoring small profits. It's the fact they won't release the copyright on a game they obviously no longer care about. So tell me, why would they care about a private CoX server? Definitely not because of any financial reasons, right? Since you just made that point loud and clear.

I don't exactly blame them for not releasing the IP.

I mean, that's property they have a significant investment in. Why should they just give it away? And there is a very real chance that the folks who are using the IP now could damage it via reputation, which would eliminate the possibility for NCSoft to ever use that IP in the future.

NCSoft isn't a charity. If someone wanted to ~buy~ the IP to reopen a new server, I bet NCSoft would talk, and we could debate over what the value of that payout should be. But to expect that a company should allow it for free is ... not a very realistic expectation.

Don't get me wrong, I think it would be awesome, and I would love to see CoH reopen. I'm willing to pay. But to make NCSoft out to be the bad guys here isn't exactly correct either. They made a business decision. It breaks my heart, just like seeing the McRib go away every year. But I understand why it must be done.

Disagree on the reputation of the IP. I've yet to see a private server, accepted or otherwise, that has truly damaged the "reputation" of the IP.

That seems more like a talking point for the IP holders that's not based on a serious reality.

Well, let’s imagine

Someone decides to start allowing nude mods.
Someone decides to rename the factions Muslims vs Christians
Someone decides to mod powers into hentai tentacles
Someone decides to start charging money for access to registration info
Someone starts distributing malware payloads via client downloads

It hasn’t happened - that I know of. But shareholders have very good imaginations when it comes to risk, and they will see boogeymen in every shadow, even if it hasn’t ever happened.

DabOnThem · April 2019

Lets to honest, City of heroes was the only good superhero mmo to ever release. I am certain there is room for them to reclaim their fame. The game was profitable, more than anyone can say for any other superhero mmo. It is not out of the realm of possibility for NCsoft to get behind the mmo once again. Now may be a gauging of the interest moment.

I too doubt it, but it is not out of the realm of possisblity to see some City of heroes content released from the IP in the near future.

Amathe · April 2019

*ring, ring*

"NCSoft support line, Rumplestiltskin speaking. How may I assist you?"

"Can we have CoH back?"

"No, no, a thousand times no."

knightaudit · April 2019

Yes they have servers up and running .. it is not perfect but it is good to see it back. Having a blast. Ahhh the memories.

Cryomatrix · April 2019

I actually played yesterday for the first time ever. I could see the charm the game had to some people. It has wonderful customization options, probably more than all the other MMO's. Not just in skill but how the characters look.

However, it is an old MMO with the same formula no one has changed since the beginning of time. I probably won't go back to playing it. The only MMO I can foresee myself playing is Entropia and that is because of the real cash economy which makes it unique enough.

Cryomatrix · April 2019

Also, if you think about CoH. If they release a server and let's say they charge $15 per month for it.

Let's say they have 5k users per month for 1 straight year. (we know that is unlikely to be true). That's about 75k x 12 which puts them at $900,000 for the year. Let's say for one quarter it is $225,000.

In q4 of 2018, their revenue was $354 million. So you are asking NCsoft to put resources into something that will, at best case scenario, make $225k in a quarter vs what they make.

There is a concept in economics (actually can be used in any field) called Opportunity Cost. It's the cost you give up for doing something.

For example, I'd love to be a part-time streamer, but as my brother says, all i need to do is work a few hours at my job and I'll make more money than I ever would as a streamer. So my opportunity cost is huge.

Likewise, the resources NCsoft puts into the CoH server, may actually cost them money.

Then again, I think they could hire one person and buy a couple of servers and make the servers pay for the employee and some, but you never know what else there is to it.

gervaise1 · April 2019

Cryomatrix said:

I actually played yesterday for the first time ever. I could see the charm the game had to some people. It has wonderful customization options, probably more than all the other MMO's. Not just in skill but how the characters look.

However, it is an old MMO with the same formula no one has changed since the beginning of time. I probably won't go back to playing it. The only MMO I can foresee myself playing is Entropia and that is because of the real cash economy which makes it unique enough.

CoH had a lot going for it - and remember it was pre-WoW.

As you say the character creation; the dual skill line choices made for interesting character class combinations. "Full screen" graphics, a buddy system that worked both ways allowing low levels to play with higher or vice versa (useful if you outleveled something), great quest arcs with interesting enemy "cults/mobs" and a clever use of both zone phasing and quest instancing. Some of the "instanced" quests didn't feel instanced since they "took place" - you might be ambushed in your current open world location say.

Quarterly content drops as well.

Today though - as you say - its an old mmo.

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