Sunday, September 16, 2012

Is This The End of Paragon City?



On this, the One Year Anniversary of the last time I properly updated this blog, I thought I'd write about something that's been hitting me a lot harder than maybe it ought to: the end of City of Heroes. For those who are unfamiliar, CoH is a super hero themed MMORPG, and the first online game of its type that I ever explored. The characters I created, the friends I made, and the adventures I had still mean so much to me... more than some of the other nonsense I've played since. Back when I was actually properly updating this blog, I did a sketch or two of my favorite characters (and my friends'). Wozar still appears in the banner for this blog.

 I'm not the only person who feels this way: the CoH community has rallied in a big way, organizing petitions and writing impassioned pleas to save Paragon City. Last week I was able to take Wozar into The City and join a rally to protest the closure (as seen above). My server had a decent-sized turnout, but the main rally was massive (as shown in the video below).

If you're curious what all the hubbub is about, City of Heroes went free-to-play earlier this year; if you've ever wanted to try it or you have an old account gathering dust, log in and see what the game has to offer. Those of us with special memories of the game can sign the petition to save it here, but I think the best thing to do is try to get some playtime in before the servers all go dark at the end of November. Paragon City was never perfect, and there are more polished experiences to be had, certainly, but (in my opinion) none that match the feel and the community of CoH. It will be missed.


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