After eight years, City of Heroes is being shut down for good by publisher NCSoft. It was the first comic book-themed MMORPG on the market, and it came with the most open-ended character creation systems and flexible skill development systems of its day. Initially developed by Cryptic Studios (Champions Online, Star Trek Online, Neverwinter Nights), City of Heroes had a rough road and still managed to keep things going longer than dozens of other second and third generation MMOs. The game launched around the same time as Lineage 2, Everquest 2, and World of Warcraft (4/7/04 for L2, 4/27/04 for CoH, 11/8/04 for EQ2, and 11/23/04 for WoW). Early development decisions, class structure changes, and balance changes (Enhancement Diversification, I9...I'm looking at you) splintered the playerbase, driving veterans away and bringing new diehards in. Troubles at Cryptic Studios led to the fragmentation of the development house, the creation of Paragon Studios, and NCSoft taking over full control of City of Heroes.
And that's when I left. I was bitter and butthurt over NC's attitude towards the massive RMT problems in Lineage 2 (the result of a badly-handled beta to live transition, and a good thing for me to file away for a later rant), so I picked up my toys and went to Everquest 2. Or was it WoW that time? Anyway. I played City of Heroes for close to two years before leaving, and that time stands as some of the best fun I've had in an MMORPG.
Few games have given players as much freedom to create the characters they want to play as City of Heroes did. With their TRULY revolutionary character creation system, you could have an electric blue Internet Fairy that decided rather than attack the darkness, she'd attack people WITH the darkness (Skrypt, dark/dark defender later reborn as an elec/sorcery pvp character in Champions Online); or a super-speeding, plasma-manipulating legal student who rebelled against the teachings of her professors to bring justice to the streets (Bayside Brawler, sonic/energy blapper of awesome)... I saved the world alongside cowboys, robots, mutants, gods, little kids with awesome toys, aliens... And yes, vampires, werewolves, catgirls, and all manner of other things. CoH was the first game that actually invited me to roleplay, and create unique characters with complete histories and a role in the world that was more than just Hail, Adventurer! I am in need of plague rat tails for my mystical potions! And for those of us that played it, it set the bar VERY high for customization in future games.
City of Heroes had, during its heydey, one of the coolest and most open communities around. There were avid guide writers, number crunchers, and some truly creative artists and writers. The group that made the biggest impression on me, and which I think has had the biggest impact on MMORPG culture in general, were the Offenders. There were a few hundred of us back in the day: defenders and controllers (support classes) that saw the secret synergies between powersets that let us turn "weak" characters into powerhouses. The whole attitude of healers and controllers changed once they played City of Heroes, and discovered the Offender way of life. Just being able to keep your team alive wasn't enough: it was about what else you could do. How much damage could you contribute through buffs, debuffs, and use of your own offensive abilities? What combinations of buffs could you use to turn your group into an unstoppable force of nature in PvP? Sure, they were silly, replacing the word "heal" with "fruit salad' in every post on the forums and turning the Wiggles into a bizarre cultural icon, but... To this day I wander around healer communities (and even dps and tank boards) and see names I recognize, or attitudes.
So...yeah. I'm going to miss City of Heroes, and I wish all the folks from Paragon Studios the best of luck in the future. I really look forward to seeing what those guys and gals come up with next.
And yes, a sick part of me is hoping that the displaced players from CoH head over to Champions, and bring us all that creativity, innovation, and spirit that made CoH so amazing an experience.
Servers go down for good on November 30, 2012. That's going to be a very, VERY sad day in the Roxcave.
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