The End of an Era (Good-bye City of Heroes)

Tonight I fought my way through an alien invader's mighty defenses and struck at the heart of their stronghold on Earth. I traveled back to ancient Rome to defeat time-traveling Nazis from launching an all-out assault on history itself. I stopped a mugging. I flew through a donut. And I shared it all with a group of strangers who, collectively, make up the greatest online gaming community I have ever known. I'll never do any of these things again, and it makes me sad... but also glad. Tonight was an amazing end to a fantastic gaming experience. Thank you to everyone who worked with me tonight or in the past; thank you especially to dear friends, whom I miss all the more tonight.

"We built this city... we built this city..."

Back to Base X

I want to share another City of Heroes story: One of my most cherished memories of CoH was working with my (small but tight-knit) super group to create a (small but functional) super group base that we could all be proud of, and enjoy hanging out in. As a lapsed player stuck at free status for these final months, I've been incredibly disappointed that I would never be able to see the base again... my friends are long gone from the game, and I had no way to pay the rent.

I should have known better, though! Tonight I logged in and asked in Help Chat if anyone could help, and I was almost immediately flooded with replies from friendly VIPs. I had access to my base again in minutes, with a new friend running over from across the city to join my Super Group and pay the rent for me. It might have seemed like a small thing to that person, or to any of the MANY other people who quickly offered to help, but it means so much to me. THIS is what I will miss most about CoH, this community of fun-loving, helpful, heroic people. Sure, it was a small thing, but it was indicative of the experience I've only been able to find in the City of Heroes.

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.