those who couldn't live yesterday (pt. IV)

(Continued from part III.)

[Help] Stormitron: we can do this!
[Help] tweterdfg: well looks like the "Occupy Paragon" movement is in ull wing...
[Help] Beestyle: So just hang out around the steps of City Hall, or if you want to, go to Atlas Park 11 if you can get in, where Massively is recording.
[Help] Figment Malaise: How can we hack the activists to say "Save CoH, Take a Flyer"?
[Help] Liquid Platinum: As a 6 + year vet, could I get a title?

I don't think anyone's left to give out titles, now.

[Help] Tanelorn: ok, what the heck is going on? why are there so many atlas's

There's always one who doesn't read the memo.

[Help] Teide: there was a save cox rally at 5pm est
[Help] Fragdoll: Time to head out. Work tonight. Thank you, all of you, sincerely, for such a strong show of support and for being such an awesome community.
[Help] MainBattleTank: Server flood
[Help] Lady of Broken Toys: there was a rally. there was a huge queue.
[Looking For Group] Electo-nerd: What do we want?
[Looking For Group] Mr Davis: Pizza?

Yeah, okay, I think in the short term, too. Pizza would be nice.

[Looking For Group] Electo-nerd: when do we want it?
[Looking For Group] Mr Davis: Now?

Anytime after now.

[Help] Matt Millionaire: 11 may be full, but contest is just to show support, nobody in 11 gets any prize that somebody else wouldn't. Hang out in some Atlas of your choosing and somebody will be by to look. If they like it, they may opt to hand out some knicknack.
[Help] Teide: There were 33 APs, a 300 queue to join virtue then freedom filled, then onto infinity plus other AP rallies in other servers
[Looking For Group] Electo-nerd: .... close enough [Help] Nephele: If anyone hasn't been involved with Titan Network before and wants to get started, now's the time. IM me if you want help getting plugged in to the Save Paragon City efforts!
[Help] Blood Eidolon: the power of love will save City of Heroes!

No, no it won't. But it's a good thought.

[Help] Lady of Broken Toys: [Help] I dunno, the power of love is usually pretty sticky.

That too.

[Broadcast] O r i g i n: How's the protest coming?
[Broadcast] Literal Lass: Tapering down. But Massively put up their rally coverage already: http://www.twitch.tv/massivelytv/b/331522098
[Looking For Group] Surge280: everyone should be dancing on the steps in our native people's dance, the Monkey, till we've saved CoH!
[Help] Socrati: power of love? lol.. more like power of money
[Help] Valdis Verdandi: Apparently Freedom is the same
[Looking For Group] Increbidle Hulk: Hulk like game

Apparently Hulk not like spelling, though. Which is a shame, since Hulk very intelligent, just very angry.

[Looking For Group] Mini Slowa: Yo Dawg, I heard you like city of heroes soundstracks and livestream, so I put the city of heroes soundtrack in my livestream. WHEEEEEEEW
[Looking For Group] War Witch: I heard someone say something about pizza...
[Help] SAVE.COH: just read the recap of TonyV's speech on the main forums. I'm glad to see that our efforts aren't going unnoticed. I'm proud of this community.
[Looking For Group] Moondreams: My controller is rocking the "Last Line of Defense" badge.
[Help] Lord Azazel: apparently we filled up virtue and freedom at the start
[Looking For Group] Sovereign Savior: I'm also last line of defense
[Looking For Group] Trollkin Claws: Credible Hulk appreciates the game for it's diverse character creation tool.
[Help] Teide: Masterpost of how to save Cox what you can do to help http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=296401
[Looking For Group] Burp: HELL NO WE WONT GO!!! HELL NO WE WONT GO!!!!
[Help] Jenie in a Bottle: FB n Twitter all the way... :)

There was a lot of Facebook and Twitter action today. For one solid hour during the protest, #saveCOH was in the top ten trending topics WORLDWIDE. That's impressive.

[Looking For Group] Mini Slowa: Credible hulk has credibility.
[Help] Agent Naomi: Don't forget to bookmark http://www.cityofheroveterans.com/ - Keep in touch with your global friends!

That's what's been so amazing to me about this--most people really aren't going "wah, they're taking away my toys". Instead, they're mourning over the inevitability of friends drifting away (because they're long-distance friends), and astounding each other with how much positive, social good the game has done.

Don't believe me? There are people who went to AA after talking to friends in City of Heroes. There are people who dealt with the deaths of pets, children, siblings, spouses and parents, and got through it because of City. Hundreds of people met their loves, moved in with them, and married them.

Sound familiar? Second Life, anyone? But this goes deeper--there were supergroups devoted solely to having fun and helping people, over just leveling up and PvP. There were folks who played priests and doctors not out of any desire to cyber with other people, but to hear confessions and give medical support. (Not advice, support--things like, "Well, I'm a doctor and I'd start looking on this site" or "here's the number of the Dial-a-Nurse service in your area").

There was at least one supergroup who started because they wanted a place where any female hero was welcome--and they didn't draw the line at beyond-the-screen differences. (I know that, because that was the supergroup I was in.)

Want more? Second Life became a resource center within hours of Hurricane Katrina touching down--but so did City of Heroes. City of Heroes held multi-supergroup gatherings to get people in touch with each other in the Occupy movement. And there were innumerable people who realized the power of playing a hero could transition to other realms, and started getting active in charities locally.

This was not just another MMO.

[Help] Teide: They had 20 APs an hour before the start
[Help] Afro-Fist: Exalted representing
[Looking For Group] Xaladin: Face your death with some courage.
[Looking For Group] Atlas Park Bum: Spare change?
[Help] Temple Divine: I prefer my love in pills. easier to swallow.
[Looking For Group] Vis Viva: Ho-Ho Hey-Hey CoH has got to stay!
[Looking For Group] AmygdaIa: Going to head back to Champion for a server picture. Good luck folks. :)
[Looking For Group] Increbidle Hulk: closing CoH hurt Hulk
[Help] Electric T: Tell me its not true

And this keeps happening. People who just logged in for the first time in a few weeks, or months, even, and suddenly are hit with the game's closing. Some of these people just collapse; we've at least got the luxury of having dealt with it for longer.

[Looking For Group] Savage Protest: Link to TonyV's forum repose please?
[Looking For Group] River Guardian: How we lookin?
[Looking For Group] Xaladin: Lets hope this game stays online
[Looking For Group] Schwarzen Strike: http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php/topic,5017.msg46826.html#msg46826
[Looking For Group] Sparkus Saberus: Tnx for the link
[Looking For Group] Fairfield: We'll fight til the end, either way. Because that's what we do.

Yeah. It is.

[Help] Icy Pop: This was a very successful day even if Freedom did not fill up. Virtue was packed with 33 AP's and 350 in queue
[Looking For Group] Vis Viva: If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die with my cape on!
[Help] Star of Destiny: Amen!
[Help] Blood Eidolon: guys, if you want to really help CoH, send physical letters to NCsoft

Yeah, if you want to support the game, do not send emails. Send actual, physical letters. This is a page of direct NCSoft contact addresses, worldwide. And, if you want to write Nexon, the current major shareholders for NCSoft, and mention this to them, too, here's how to do that.

[Help] Electric T: Why are they shutting it down
[Help] Minde Bender: profits
[Help] O Sheet Lightning: realignment...
[Help] Haze of Fury: It's the "Coming Storm" we were warned about...
[Help] TameDragon: cause Aion and GW2 fail so hard they shutting down the one that actually makes them profit....
[Help] Dev-stiny: unknown reasons. Conjecture is non-income related reasons.
[Looking For Group] Final Alternative: wearing my 7 Year Vet title with pride
[Looking For Group] Smoking Mirrors: This is the world we live in. And these are the hands we're given. Use them and let's start trying. To make it a place worth living in!
[Help] Hell NO WE won't GO: CoX profits were, NCsoft were not
[Help] XIII Mastermind: Aion lost more money and GW was a hit
[Help] Rakuzion: stop the aoe heals the server already crashed once [Help] Literal Lass: Well, and don't forget "we need to shore up Aion, which lost 2 million in sales in three months"
[Looking For Group] Surge280: I'm just gonna say it now, the end of City of Heroes is the end of the world this year. Just saying...

It feels like that, yeah.

[Help] Hell NO WE won't GO: they spend millions on 'Blade and Soul' launch for Korea, development for GW2 and Wildstar.. things that do not show a return investment yet
[Looking For Group] MattPositronMiller: thank you phil collins
[Looking For Group] Cimerian Nova: this is our home not ncsoft s
[Help] Jay Dove: GW2 is doing so well they had to stop online sales for a while because they had no more room to put people on their servers.
[Help] Temple Divine: Radio Noise Zrrrt ." This is Temple Divine . . .I am standing by . .until . . well as long as it takes. As long as we have. There are survivors. Portal Corp has opened a gateway. .Zrrzzzt Radio Noise** ((Shards of Virtue SG Champions))

So far I've heard of two diaspora groups in Champions: "Shards of Virtue", and "Paragon Refugees".

[Help] Hell NO WE won't GO: plus, NCsoft has been showing decline in profit for a while now
[Looking For Group] Socrati: this feels like Armageddon :/
[Looking For Group] Kozzma: Thank you WW and all the Dev's for supporting US in City.
[Looking For Group] Star Ranger 4.0: Nooo... they took away your super dev buttons already ms Bianco??? ting , everyone.
[Looking For Group] War Witch: I know right???? I could have sworn they were RIGHT HERE....

And this bears its own little pain, because admittedly, I'd been looking forward to news of the devs, lurking. Throwing up design ideas in the D that never saw the light of day before now, and never will again past this point. (I'll be posting pics later, of at least the Nemesis Warhorses.)

But now, they have no admin powers. There may be nothing they can do past this point. Not to sound overly fatalistic, but I'm not sure the game's going to survive until November 30th, even, at this point.

[Looking For Group] Blue Gem: Lincoln Davis, NCsoft West director of corporate communications said....
[Looking For Group] Blue Gem: ..... "Both NCsoft and Paragon Studios are incredibly proud of the success of City of Heroes, but ....
[Looking For Group] Blue Gem: .... unfortunately, the continued support of the franchise no longer fits within our long term goals for the company

Yeah. That's depressing as hell, too.

[Looking For Group] Fairfield: Even if it is, we'll go down fighting.
[Help] Electric T: If they do cancel COH they can go out with a bang
[Looking For Group] Finnish: keep it real
[Looking For Group] Nessanthra: Thx to rvryone for coming out today. I hope the peeps at NCsoft are listening :)
[Space Vixens]Neo-Gabi: HI-K4R1 (Hologram 2): We had 318 in queue when I logged in today. O_O
[Space Vixens]Forever Zer0: Yeah, Freedom became the overflow server, then Defiant or something.
[Space Vixens]Neo-Gabi: HI-K4R1 (Hologram 2): Also people on infinity and champs last I heard.

Wait, people in Champions Online were protesting? ...Okay, that's kind of cool. I'll see if anyone posts about it, if true.

[Space Vixens]Hellslinger: {Stampede Sally}: Hiya Bell!
[Space Vixens]Literal Lass: Is a MIRACLE, I got in. :)
[Space Vixens]Forever Zer0: Hiya :)
[Space Vixens]Forever Zer0: I know people were here for this 12 hours ago.
[Space Vixens]ThunderCrest: me too and i wanted to slap them
[Space Vixens]Forever Zer0: I figured, I'd log on about an hour and a half early, get my cape and costume for Beyonda on blueside soe others can recognize Bell
[Space Vixens]Forever Zer0: After doing that, with 40 minutes to go, I got in AP 22...
[Broadcast] Witty Librarian: whats next
[Broadcast] Nuclear Gecko: The Cape supports Titan Network, Paragon Studios, and The Players trying to #SaveCOH. Tune in on your media player for a Heroic Soundtrack!
[Broadcast] Proteas: Well, I guess the server load is starting to lighten up a bit, my computer's fan isn't running at full speed and the graphics aren't lagging anymore.
[Broadcast] Witty Librarian: yay
[Broadcast] Witty Librarian: good luck, virtue server!
[Space Vixens]Forever Zer0: Bellonda: WEll, I'm back.
[Local] Razaar: Hello LIteral ...nice to see you again.

Yeah, I'm schmaltzy, I kept this in even though it's personal. Razaar is the big horned goof who married my wife (he married one of her Minotaur characters in City of Heroes; she's my wife RL).

[Local] Literal Lass: Hello there!
Stampede Sally lights the Afk on fire
Razaar smiles

It meant a lot to me, just to put this down in print, that he stood beside her during the protest. She's been a wreck through this whole thing, and needs all the support she can get. I'm grateful and honored that Razaar understands this.

[Space Vixens]Forever Zer0: Bellonda: Ok all, I'm logging off for the day. take care everyone.
[Space Vixens]Forever Zer0: Bellonda: Remember to help out on our Guild Portal Forums with names and such!

A lot of the bigger supergroups are turning over their forums to contact information posts--where people are going, what their names are there, what their RL names/locations are, should they choose to divulge that. The diaspora has begun, but many are pledging to still remain friends and in contact after the game departs. And who knows, they may be right.

[Local] Razaar: Yes i was keeping track....It has been cool to be involved.
[Local] Stampede Sally: Me too
[Local] Razaar: It has been a glorious event.
[Local] Literal Lass: Dunno if it will change anything, but no one can say that over the past few weeks, we haven't TRIED.
[Local] Razaar: I agree....Though I hear Ncsoft is watching.

Let's hope they are. And keep in mind, for a while (at least on Twitter), the world was watching. I still believe that makes a difference.