Join the ongoing conversation on Discord: https://discord.gg/w6Tpkp2
Please read the current update for instructions on downloading the latest update. Players with Mac versions of the game will not be affected, but you will have a slightly longer wait for your version of the new maps. Please make a copy of your character folder before running the new update, just to make sure you don't lose any of your custom work.
It looks like we can give everyone a list of minimum specs for running City of Titans. Please keep in mind that this is 'for now' until we are able to add more graphics and other system refinements. Currently you will need :
Windows 10 or later required; no Intel integrated graphics like UHD, must have AMD or NVIDIA card or discrete chipset with 4Gb or more of VRAM
At least 16GB of main DRAM.
These stats may change as we continue to test.
To purchase your copy of the City of Titans Launcher, visit our store at https://store.missingworldsmedia.com/ A purchase of $50 or more will give you a link to download the Launcher for Windows or Mac based machines.
/em raises hand
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
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Avatar courtesy of [s]Satellite9[/s] [url=https://www.instagram.com/irezoomie/]Irezoomie[/url]
I guess not me, since my brother played COH since inception. I have stayed here out of loyalty to Jim Justice, with hope that you can create a community that allows creative exploration and time in-game without confrontation. We want to recreate our friendships with this new forum. We definitely want the opportunity to do that again.
We want to do battle and defend the "commons" in a cooperative way. At least, that would be my vision for us. Short and sweet, if you build that, we will come "en masse".
Rio
Good stuff. Once it clicks with people that they are purchasing a service rather than a product, how they relate to the game should change (for the better, I hope). For me, it drives home the point that with a subscription, and other purchases, I am supporting MWM and giving them my vote of confidence, not buying any kind of right to entitlement.
(Two little things: one, the link to the discussion is missing from the announcement. Two, "...it wouldn’t do to for us to make promises that we don’t know we can't keep, for example.")
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[font=Pristina][size=18][b]Hail Beard![/b][/size][/font]
Support [url=http://cityoftitans.com/comment/52149#comment-52149]trap clowns[/url] for CoT!
I actually, to my pleasure, found CoT by surprise. I googled City of Heroes and it was a few hits in!
[hr]
[color=red]PR, Forum Moderator[/color]
[url=http://cityoftitans.com/forum/desvipers-creative-impulsivity]My Non-Canon Backstories[/url]
Avatar by MikeNovember
It was the words 'Spiritual Successor' that brought me here. Two words that imply so much, promise so much.
That was enough to hook me.
Well said, Darth!
Spurn all ye kindle.
That brings up a few ideas. Will we have an easy to use Demo recorder in game system. If we can make easy videos there are a number of folks in the CoH community that made awesome videos.
Could hold a contest from time to time for a player made advertisement video.
A online video web series like Red vs Blue (http://roosterteeth.com/archive/?id=88&v=more&s=1) from Rooster teeth.
We can all remember how little to no advertising CoH got. It thrived by word of mouth.
-------------------------------------------
Personal rules of good roleplay
1.) Nothing goes as planned.
2.) If it goes as planned it's not good RP
Most of the best Eve Online videos for example are the propaganda videos from the Alliances, all using ingame tools to record the footage. ALthough there is no "demo record" feature in Eve Online, I think that this also shows how hard it can be, but that makes it possibly even more impressive.
CoH did get advertising around its expansion releases though. Although to be fair, this is one area that NCsoft was generally weak upon for its games in *general*, and nothing specific to City Of Heroes.
I would also like to think that more of the CoT playerbase would be willing to use social media to help spread the word amongst their friends as well. City of Heroes *tried* to increase its spread on City of Heroes via that facebook giveaway, but there was the vocal minority of the playerbase that opposed it...
And this was to *increase* the exposure of the game as well, and rewarding those who did it. Shame that it was met with enough opposition to make the developers not want to do it again.
Now whilst I will admit that City of Titans *might* not be able to do something like this from the get go, it is worth noting that word of mouth *doesn't* necessarily have to be with the people that you know in the real world. Whilst I played many other MMO's whilst City of Heroes was up and running, I would still mention it in the circle of friends that I was in.
I wouldn't necessarily *actively* promote it, but I would mention it in passing. use it in comparisons of features etc etc. If you are too forceful pushing it forward, people will get turned off.
In my mind, there is *nothing* bad about saying "This games does it X way, I prefer doing it Y way instead, like I did in CoX". It gives a starting point for people to talk with. And you might well get people interested in it.
I know that I got people who had heard of City of Heroes to play it, and this was in Rift. Now granted, not everyone *knows* about every game out there.
The other thing to remember, is that since the decline of printed magazine, the main focus now is on the web. But more and more people seem to be running with ad-block software, to remove those *intrusive* adverts that more and more websites seem to be using.. and unfortunately, this could also remove YOUR adverts from being seen as well.
But getting websites up and talking about the game, getting them ONTO your side is also useful.
One of the things that some CoX players complained about was the "lack of coverage" that City of Heroes had on websites, and it only picked up once the game was closing down.
However, Massively had a *weekly* column running for a few years that *focused* on the Superhero genre, and City of Heroes got mentioned a lot in that, not to mention as well the amount of print space that Massively/MMORPG (for example) gave to City of Heroes for when new issues/expansions were being released, it just showed how few players of City of Heroes actually looked at how the game was represented at large.
Sure it might not have had a LOT of large adverts to flash out at people,
You also have to remember that even with all that coverage, the players might well have tried the game and found something about it that they *just didn't like*.
Case in point here: I know someone that hated the combat system from City of Heroes, but enjoyed the combat system ON A PC for Champions Online/DCUO. They loved the character builder from City of Heroes, but they felt too restrained by the combat system.
And by having so many different power sets and AT's to choose from, they were NOT going to spend 300 hours trying to find the correct set for them. Too much choice to decide on what to play and to find what fitted "right for you".
I remember the facebook thing. CoH offered the Faceplant emote via Facebook promo. To get the emote you needed to sign up to facebook or have a facebook account already. Many like myself didn't want to sign up for Facebook (thought I did for the emote) I didn't use it till after shutdown. So it was a reward everyone wanted (or a lot wanted) but not all of the players wanted to sign up for something they didn't want.
The reward idea I have for the advertisement video is this. The video gets submitted to the MWM. MWM will post it on the website and other medias. The player never needs to post anything or sign up for anything just submit the file to the Devs. The reward could be in game tokens for the game shop and a title for your character.
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Personal rules of good roleplay
1.) Nothing goes as planned.
2.) If it goes as planned it's not good RP
A few thoughts,
1. The MMO-as-social-network idea is spot on as far as I'm concerned. We WANT to build a community. I fully intend to pay a sub and since my Kickstarter support level is supposed to get me a second account (I think) I will most likely give that to a friend of mine. Speaking of word of mouth, quick story, I was running my weekly Pathfinder game last night and this friend said to me "I hope (our mutual friend) Joe isn't playing WoW again, because every time those guys get me back into a game, they quit it like a month later." To which I responded "Dude, when I get my second account from City of Titans, you can totally have it, and I played CoH for like 8 years." So there's one, and the Kickstarter is to thank for it.
2. While I think that the idea of treating the game as a social network is good, I hope we're taking about making the game itself it's own, self-contained social network. I would really not want it to be required of me that I get a Facebook or Twitter or Tumblr (or whatever) account to be able to play CoT. For one thing, people (celebrities) are always publicly embarrassing themselves on those sites, or saying things that get you arrested or sued, etc. For another, I find it demeaning to have a hard number that tells me how many "friends" I have. I don't want there to be a quantifiable way of comparing myself to other people in terms of popularity, and that's all that does. Back in the day, you could be mildly annoyed with someone and you didn't have to make a yes/no decision of "Do I still want to be friends with this person?" and then make a move notifying them of the friendship being over. Also, when someone you know said or did something stupid or embarrassing, you weren't automatically guilty by association just because you knew that person and were listed as one of their many friends. Whenever someone exhibits their very human, very tragic flaws, all their so-called "friends" bail on them. I don't want to have to actively scour the internet every day to make sure I can still officially be friends with everyone, and I sure as heck don't want to have to cut people loose when the stuff hit's the fan.
R.S.O. of Phoenix Rising
1. Thank You. Call it the instinct of someone who makes a living studying the unconscious elements of human behaviour, but it was something that just seemed obvious to me. It *was* fairly difficult convincing others that I was making the right call, however. :)
2. An MMO is really a graphically-powered MUD, so it would not at all be like Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr. It would be more accurate to describe the sort of social network that an MMO builds to be much closer to a clan. You need not actually *like* the members of your clan, but you certainly stand by them even when it would cost you dearly. I've seen that happen many times in City of Heroes (like a leader betraying his SG/VG, looting everything, and then abandoning the group for its equivalent in the other faction - smart players would recognize the RP value in such a turn of events, which is exactly what happened).
We haven't decided exactly how much the "social network" aspect would extend outside of the game, but I suspect that it would be comparatively minimal compared to what some others have done.
It is only when we stand up, with all our failings and sufferings, and try to support others rather than withdraw into ourselves, that we can fully live the life of community.
[color=#ff0000]Business Director[/color]
Oh agreed, I don't think NOR expect to have a social network account to be able to play the game.
However, I am surprised as to how many former CoX players (who at the time refused to get a facebook account) got one to stay in touch with other people. In fact, the EU CoX player re-union is *intially* organised over facebook, although word still gets out for those who are NOT on social media sites (because the organiser doesn't necessarily have the contact details of *everyone* who wants to show up, however due to word of mouth and friendship rings, I am fairly certain that if need be, the player meet details would spread to those in the US, and the former PS staff).
Social media sometimes has its advantages (although it was a shame that the former EU staffers were unable to make the last CoX player meet :( But that was more of a problem with them trying to get the time off)
I pay *no* attention to "how many friends" I have on facebook, nor to how many followers I have on twitter. However, it has enabled the CoX player base to stay in touch with each other.
How many players of CoX regularly check the Titan Network forum so that they are aware of the status of the game? Or to just stay in touch with each other?
If it isn't facebook, it would be a set of forums. If it isn't a set of forums, it could just be a group of people who chat together on skype/MSN/AIM/Gtalk etc etc.
However, using any or ALL of these methods is spreading it via "word of mouth".
The last part is *very* true as well... because of the action of ONE person on the Titan Network forum, I decided to delete all my posts over there, because I didn't want to be "guilty by association". Hell, right now... amongst some friends of mine, I barely mention that I still follow what is happening over on the Titan Network because they believe that some of the posters over there are mad (or at least for some of them, in need of some help).
Hell, when the person that I am a full time carer for (and yes, I was with them at the time) gets called "delusional" by an ADMIN of the Titan Network, because she just so happens to believe the same things as me... that REALLY doesn't put a good tone onto the Titan Network.
If anything, this just goes to show that you don't even need to be on a social network for this to happen. It can happen *wherever* you are online... even in a game.
This idea of service vs product is one that the whole MMORPG industry needs to adopt to survive. Slash and burn is not a sustainable business practice. We see it in the music industry all of the time where companies "create" the Next Big Thing and start looking for the next before the corpse of the last one is cold. You don't get the Beetles or U2 or the White Stripes out of that--you get Justin Bieber.
Jack "a game is all it will ever be at launch " Emmert, as well as most of the MMORPG industry, focus on the "Next Big Thing" and it shows. It leads to slash-and-burn game building where games never get--even if they deserve it, which "The Next Big Thing" usually doesn't--the time or development they need to become a truly rich and mature game.
Matt "Posi" Miller saved CoH with a "game as an organically growing and maturing long-term service" approach, and we all know how awesome that turned out :D.
FIGHT EVIL! (or go cause trouble so the Heroes have something to do.)
Even if CoT were to have a web-based element of it that was a lot like Facebook, that would be fine by me. I'm mostly just saying for the record that I do not what to be forced to participate in any external third party social networking site as a requirement for playing CoT. For what it's worth, I don't think anyone else wants that either, and I can't imagine why it would be necessary even in an hypothetical, but this important enough to me to mention it.
I would also add that as far as marketing goes, there's not an actual playable game yet, so the marketing of such would be hobbled by that no matter what kind you were going to use. Also, the weekly updates are a great way to maintain interest among us the fans, so I don't want to see them go away.
R.S.O. of Phoenix Rising
That is the plan, and you see part of it with the kickstarter badges starting to show up.
Technical Director
Read enough Facebook and you have to make Sanity Checks. I guess FB is the Great Old One of the interent these days... - Beamrider
I agree. I want to play CoT not Facebook or (insert social media here). I'm all for co-operative ad campaigns (post your video on youtube and get a pretzel costume in CoT) but they should not include a requirement of sign in to youtube to play CoT.
One thing I loved about RIFT was that you could link your game account to a social media account. And then set the game to post to your social media account under certain conditions. For example, whenever I earned an in-game achievement, RIFT would automatically take a screenshot and post something like "[CharacterName] achieved [BadgeName]" along with the screenshot on Twitter. I think you could even choose the hashtag. You could also manually tweet with a slash command in the chat box.
This was of course optional and didn't gave any in-game rewards, and I loved it! It worked kind of like a diary for the character. (I keep separate "gaming" accounts on Twitter and FaceBook, so I don't spam my real-life friends with this stuff.)
City of Titans should consider similar sort of links to outside social media. But to be [u]really[/u] awesome, I think there should be an in-game (or on CoT's website) social media. Let us make "TitanTome" pages for our heroes. Where we can write detailed bios and post screenshots about each of our characters. Let us have settings where our hero automatically posts whenever completing a mission or getting a badge/title. Give us links to our character's in-game friends. And give supergroups their own pages, too. Ideally, all this would be accessible both inside the game client and outside on the web. All optional, of course.
Bottomline: friends lists, guilds, etc are old-school social networking. Give us modern social networking in the game.
[size=1]Kickstart Backer # 771[/size]
Some people have been asking for something like this for their characters, anyway, so definite bonus points if such a 'TitanTome' mirrored a real webpage (even if the two are not linked in some way).
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[font=Pristina][size=18][b]Hail Beard![/b][/size][/font]
Support [url=http://cityoftitans.com/comment/52149#comment-52149]trap clowns[/url] for CoT!
I'm pretty sure that quote was specifically in relation to trying to add player vrs player to a game which wasn't designed for it, though. And I'm pretty sure he's speaking from experience; I don't recall them having terribly much more luck with it after Matt took over, either.
It stands to reason that if this game is created with it in mind, PVP and PVE will both benefit from that foresight.
Longtime City of Heroes player, longtime writer. :) Working in Nebraska.
COT: Mission tips writer, studying Cinema 4D animation program
My analogy has always been that we are making a comic book company - it's just that comics have changed, and they're a lot more interactive these days. I remember letter columns - with people's addresses in them so you could be penpals. I remember the Merry Marvel Marching Society and FOOM and Marvel Zombies.
I remember No-Prizes.
THAT is a social network.
Social Networks have been part of comics for as long as there have been comics - longer. Look up H. P. Lovecraft and his writing circle. But remember, the Avengers were formed because of Rick Jones' friends and their Ham Radios 'tweeting' a message out.
And Captain America in the Gruenwald Era basically invented Facebook as a series of dial up BBSes that would pass messages along to his attention.
(Yeah, Cap was computer savvy. To heck with MySpace.)
Wherever there are fans, wherever people will argue if Superman or the Hulk are stronger, that is part of a social network.
You don't need computers, and you don't need Facebook. You just need a shared love for comics and heroes.
But I got some plans on how to make your Nemesis _really_ personal, and how to give you your own Rogue's Gallery that could only be done by working with who your friends are.
Think about it. And hey. Let's have fun out there.
[color=#ff0000]Project Lead[/color]
I'm pretty sure it wasn't specifically about PvP -- http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17549 -- though it's obviously also about PvP as well. And Matt did specifically give exactly the opposite advice to CoT -- http://www.fanboysanonymous.com/2013/10/missing-worlds-media-launches-city-of.html#.U2vuhfldVIo.
You can really see Emmert's build-and-abandon attitude at work in how he handled Champions and other games since. And however much experience he may have had with CoH, PvP in Champions didn't turn out much better.
True, CoH PvP didn't fare much better under Matt, but everything else did. I totally agree with you, though, that if PvP isn't baked into the game at launch, it's ice skating up hill to implement it after that. Not impossible, but a virtual miracle (virtual, get it?).
FIGHT EVIL! (or go cause trouble so the Heroes have something to do.)
Sorry to double post and fanboy out, but the idea of approaching a Superhero MMORPG as virtual online comic book company makes me tingle in places that it shouldn't.
I want this game, now.
PS- I remember No-Prizes, and while the weakest incarnation of Superman isn't as strong as the strongest incarnation of the Hulk, overall Superman curbstomp even though I'm more of a Marvel guy.
And they're both just plot devices anyway :P.
FIGHT EVIL! (or go cause trouble so the Heroes have something to do.)
Grammar Nazi alert: we're gonna fix the type in the title, right! :p
[hr]
[color=red]PR, Forum Moderator[/color]
[url=http://cityoftitans.com/forum/desvipers-creative-impulsivity]My Non-Canon Backstories[/url]
Avatar by MikeNovember
If you mean the font, I'm not seeing anything wrong with it..
If you mean the extra "c" in "discuss", there's an "e" in "typo" we need to talk about as well. ^_^
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
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Avatar courtesy of [s]Satellite9[/s] [url=https://www.instagram.com/irezoomie/]Irezoomie[/url]
Fixed.
This is why, children, multiple tabs can be your enemy.
Yeah, but if you fix it, it breaks the link in the KS post that can't be edited. So... broken again!
And look! Custom URL setting... so fixed again! Whee!
[color=#ff0000]Project Lead[/color]
But now the [url=http://cityoftitans.com/forum/discuss-once-upon-time-business]link[/url] VDG fixed in [url=http://cityoftitans.com/content/once-upon-time-business]the forum copy[/url] is broken :(
(I know. It can be unfixed, which will fix it ^_^)
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
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Avatar courtesy of [s]Satellite9[/s] [url=https://www.instagram.com/irezoomie/]Irezoomie[/url]
Funny.. I'm looking for a publisher...
Crowd Control Enthusiast
I won't go so far as Empyrean's tingles (lol) but this kind of post really does get me excited about the future of CoT because it says so much about the vision behind it -- as well as giving us a couple of cruel game-mechanic teases at the end. :-)
Also, the whole typo/broken link sequence gave me a good Friday morning laugh. Thanks!
Spurn all ye kindle.
MWM will have at least one product out there: the avatar builder. At least, I'd view it as a product rather than a service. If that happens to get tied in to another app for sharing character models/costumes, and possibly other social media aspects, then I shan't complain.
It is good to see that our devs have mastered the art of forum PvP.
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[font=Pristina][size=18][b]Hail Beard![/b][/size][/font]
Support [url=http://cityoftitans.com/comment/52149#comment-52149]trap clowns[/url] for CoT!
I started Playing COH a few months after it started.A friend of mine introduced me to it and i never stopped playing it until it was no longer up .
I loved that game .I hope that The Phoenix Project COT becomes as good or better .
Ross854
I've seen some rather robust fan machinima made via Unreal engine's movie maker (matinee) but haven't worked directly with it, and I've yet to find out if there would be a way to use just that tool without the licensing agreement that's part of the whole development kit.
I suspect that this would be the resource available to fan videomakers (or fancomic makers hoping to customize scenes impossible in-game)
I have thought about it and until there is a definitive description it worries me.
I really hope when you say 'only be done by working with who your friends are' it does not mean the nemesis system can only be available with facebook or another social network site. I'm fine with social networking to be used to enhance the system but a requirement of one for the other would be a disappointment.
I am surprised no one has spoken up about this....makes me think I am missing something obvious to everyone else and I am about to be embarrassed.
Overall good writeup, Terwyn, and I agree wholeheartedly with your description of this as a service. I'm glad to see the distinction made early, as I've seen many places that don't get that strategy thoroughly ingrained- they "develop it like a service. market it as a product and support it like an illegitmate stepchild..". or some other combination of the 3. Good to hear that this has been set early on.
I do suggest setting up a "Terwyn Task Force" when you're ready- a place where fan-made-media fans can gather, share ideas (maybe even machinima tutorials, pitfalls, etc) to maximize the evangelical effect that these people can have in spreading the word in their own special ways and expanding the social network.
I can't speak to any details, but we have started to have discussions on how things should be set up to ensure that things run smoothly in that regard.
It is only when we stand up, with all our failings and sufferings, and try to support others rather than withdraw into ourselves, that we can fully live the life of community.
[color=#ff0000]Business Director[/color]
The marketing for this game is poor. I have seen zero mention of this on media sites. Until COH had its 10 year anniversary i had to scrap for details from here and there to even figure out that your were you and not the other game in production. You are not on MMORPG.com list of upcomming game except for a brief mention in the COH anniversary blog. You have a way to go in production of this game, but most games you at least get info on from some of the major players and updates on how production is going. Ten Ton Hammer etc. This game is relatively unknown except for those die hard COH fans. You have alot of work in front of you, but so far, no very effective strategy to even get your name out there, When COH had its big 10 year anniversary, besides a small video, i expected something more that would grab my attention, nothing did, but i hope you have a plan going forward because your logo is 1980's style and looks poorly done. I have played some pretty crappy games because their logo pulled me in or a great promo video usually a year or two out, but so far, interest in this game is slowly becoming less looking forward to and more disappointing as time passes. Good Luck, i hope things improve.
Remember the fallen
So sayith the troll.
Troll? No.
Found the forum, created an account, and began posting in 'dev threads' without informing himself about any aspect of what's going on here? Yes.[color=red]*[/color]
[br]
[color=red]*[/color] I suppose I am making the distinction because he does not strike me as mean-spirited. In other circumstances I would most likely also consider that a troll post, or at the very least a borderline case. In any event, it is clear that CoT is not the game for him and I hope he does not feel the need to go beyond the two posts telling us so.
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[font=Pristina][size=18][b]Hail Beard![/b][/size][/font]
Support [url=http://cityoftitans.com/comment/52149#comment-52149]trap clowns[/url] for CoT!
Gotta stand by my statement. He may be an uninformed troll or even unintentional troll. He may not mean to but his points are bait for argument not discussion.
Your friends are the people you play with. While we will probably make it easy for you to tweet screenshots out, or something like that, social networking accounts will not be needed to play City of Titans. Or even requested.
[color=#ff0000]Project Lead[/color]
The gentleman is correct in that we do need to step up our marketing game, but we'd really rather focus on making sure the playable game is running before we start igniting the airwaves, right?
Relax. Keep the faith. We'll build it, and we'll spread the word. But we're going to need your help to do so.
It's YOUR capability!
[color=#ff0000]Project Lead[/color]
I would also be worried about the lack of marketing if there were something to show. Until there is something to demo (say, at least a presentable version of the avatar builder) any marketing would fall rather flat. Sure, MWM could pump out a few pretty videos, but right now that would be nothing but hype. I am quite happy to wait for them to market what they have rather than have them worry about blowing smoke up posteriors.
(Rhetorical question? Wut?)
Aye, such is the price of ignorance.
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[font=Pristina][size=18][b]Hail Beard![/b][/size][/font]
Support [url=http://cityoftitans.com/comment/52149#comment-52149]trap clowns[/url] for CoT!
Warcabbit's got the right priorities here.
One of the differences you can have in the "product vs service" can be how you approach marketing and building up hype, particularly when approaching launch.
When you look at the stereotypical launch of an MMO, its usually "surge and decline"-- you place a lot of hype very early, almost make it seem to be the next big thing to get as MANY people to want to play at launch. You hype the release date as the second coming, dangle "early access" promises in front of their noses, and really really care more about shipping boxes than sustaining relationships.
Yes, you gotta sell the game, and yes, a popular launch feeds the news cycles, but many of those people will blast through whatever they can and then leave- heck, exit interviews suggest that many of those people never planned to stick around the game long enough to get a subscription charge to their credit card. They're the same class of people that preorders a game, plays it as fast as possible, and trades it back as quickly as possible to get the best trade-in price. Many more will NOT be tolerant of bugs or "lack of content" in comparison to their favorite MMO that's got 7 years of "live" development behind it. They're going to leave, and thier word of mouth for a game that they no longer play will not be very favorable to a newcomer.
If you're selling a product, you don't care. You got their money up front and convinced as many people as possible to spend before their social networks could work against you.
From a service perspective, that model can be problematic. You DO want a critical mass of users at launch, but too many of these "flash in the pan" users mean there's a need for MUCH more robust hardware at a time when your game's guaranteed to be the least tested. it means that you're combating AGAINST these people in their social network in the upcoming months, ("I tried it... it was buggy/ I got bored... I left.") It means that the people that you're trying to build a long-term-relationship with have to work harder to find other long-termers and may get frustrated and leave as "erveryone else they've friended" has left.
The service model looks to the long haul- building relationships that will lead to positive referrals that will lead to more relationships. A few MMO's, like Eve Online, had a much softer launch and gradually grew from there. The people who were there at launch were their most dedicated fans that were willing to tolerate kinks in the system and stick around. When THEY talk about the game in the months after launch, your relationship to them means that they'll be your biggest advocates. Your post-launch marketing and player evangelism means that latecomers get greeted by a playerbase that encourages others to stick around a game that's got a few patches, more stability, and more content than it had at launch. While Eve certainly isn't without issues, their initial growth strategy reflected more of a service approach.
Very well put, Chase.
Spurn all ye kindle.
I love you.
+1 Darth, Chase and Cinnder.
CoT is a very different game, but if we can follow what Eve did right (not what they did wrong) and build up to anywhere near their longevity, playerbase, and quality, we'll be in great shape.
And a marketing campaign that slowly builds in pace with the actual development of the game and that crescendos at the right time--NOT too early--is critical.
It's not time to cut loose yet.
FIGHT EVIL! (or go cause trouble so the Heroes have something to do.)
Its is worth noting that Eve Online at *launch* was so bad and buggy that it almost didn't survive. The developers admit that they were lucky in the early days and it was the pure (almost fanatical) dedication of the staff and the player base that made it last through that troubled period of its life. Hell, it took me 5 trial accounts (or something like that) over a period of time for something to *stick* in my head and I enjoyed the game for 5 or so years.
Whilst 3000-5000 players online might seem at lot at *peak* time... when there are over 1000 systems, you could very easily find yourself "along in the big bad world", with very few people out there. So it was a game as well that *heavily* relied on word of mouth to grow.
When Eve Online gets [url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25944837]mentioned[/url] [url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23489293]by[/url] [url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8545268.stm]the[/url] [url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7905924.stm]BBC[/url] just because of the *actions* of the player base, then you know that something interesting is happening. And that is about as much free advertising as you can get... and quite a few players of Eve Online have said that they *started* playing the game because of the reports that gaming websites gave about these actions.
Initial reviews of the game were "middling* in terms of how good it was. But due to how its character progression was designed, it meant that you *had* to stay subscribed even if you were not playing. Stop subscribing for a month? Then you would be a *month* behind those players who did stay subscribed. No if's no buts... you would be further behind with NO way to catch up (at least in terms of skill points... but skill points in Eve Online isn't everything).
In a way, it was lucky, And since its launch it has been one of the *FEW* MMO's out there that seems to have had an ever increasing subscriber base for a number of years. I think however that in the past couple of years, its playerbase as probably *peaked* in terms of numbers (500K active subscriber accounts).
But one thing that they have done as well, is they have over the years (since they stopped chasing the shiney shiney of new features), is going back over old/broken systems and refreshing them to make them better/more attractive not just for NEW players, but also easier for OLDER players to do.
And this is talking about just Eve Online, and not including DUST 514 (kinda died on PS3), EVE Valkyrie (Occulus Rift), and Project Legion (PC FPS/PvE/PvP styled concept right now) in terms of how they are trying to increase the playerbase to different players and their preferences.
But it is worth noting that over time, CCP had a vision, and as technology and developer experience improved they have tried more and more to bring it in.
They are also not averse to recruiting employees from their player base either (for better or for worse).
But just like World of Warcraft, it is an anomaly in terms of game launch and if it launched in a similar state NOW.. it would have died a quick death. Players in general are expecting MORE in terms of quality when they launch. They are also expecting *similar* levels of content when compared to older games (for better or for worse...)
I would just like to mention that City of Titans is in a very unique situation of having been in the public eye from the moment of inception.
Conversely, City of Heroes had quite an ample amount of production time (Since 1999, if I remember correctly) before it was marketed or showed their first trailer.
So we hope you enjoy this ride and we're happy to have all of you with us for it.
God knows, if we screw something up, we'll know about it before we even finish making the mistake. :)
It is only when we stand up, with all our failings and sufferings, and try to support others rather than withdraw into ourselves, that we can fully live the life of community.
[color=#ff0000]Business Director[/color]
Never interrupt your enemy while he's busy making a mistake. Your friends, OTOH, might appreciate an interruption. ^_^
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
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Avatar courtesy of [s]Satellite9[/s] [url=https://www.instagram.com/irezoomie/]Irezoomie[/url]
I do appreciate the comments. I would point out that marketing for any game in pre-production is typically light, and it starts ramping up once the game hits the second half of production. So, as we are finishing up pre-production, I would not expect a heavy marketing campaign to be in effect. Honestly, the teaser trailer we put out for the 10th was not for our own benefit, but for all of you. It took time to develop and build it which could have been used elsewhere, but it is important for all of you to have some visual, some image, some foresight of what is coming down the pipe.
Technical Director
Read enough Facebook and you have to make Sanity Checks. I guess FB is the Great Old One of the interent these days... - Beamrider
I do appreciate the comments. I would point out that marketing for any game in pre-production is typically light, and it starts ramping up once the game hits the second half of production. So, as we are finishing up pre-production, I would not expect a heavy marketing campaign to be in effect. Honestly, the teaser trailer we put out for the 10th was not for our own benefit, but for all of you. It took time to develop and build it which could have been used elsewhere, but it is important for all of you to have some visual, some image, some foresight of what is coming down the pipe.
Technical Director
Read enough Facebook and you have to make Sanity Checks. I guess FB is the Great Old One of the interent these days... - Beamrider
Don't listen to that guy. We all know it's not time to ramp up marketing until you have something to show, and that you want marketing to build up to launch and not before. When it's time to start ramping it up, we'll be there for you.
FIGHT EVIL! (or go cause trouble so the Heroes have something to do.)
im not a troll. I am not starting an argument. I am trying to understand the vision of this game. I played COH since the start with my wife and eventually both my kids, my father in law, and six of my fellow co workers. I just was asking the question about how they plan to differentiate this game from every other game and how they plan to market this more effectively.
Remember the fallen
i am not ignorant. I don't have every day to look online to seek out new information on this game. I am an active duty officer with a family. I loved COH as well did my family and friends, WE ALL are asking the same question, is this just another remake of the COH or a COH inspired game.
Remember the fallen
i appreciate the response.
Remember the fallen
I appreciate your service CertifideAngus. Advertisement for the game is poor true given there isn't a Game yet to advertise. Most games nowadays have over 5 years of development and one of the hardest to produce and most expensive is MMOs. It's a huge task MWM is undertaking and so far it been little over a year in production a lot of that time spent organizing and setting up the business end.
They are just exiting the Pre-production stage, they are using every time cutting idea they can and still put out a worthy product and service. It's hard, but we just have to wait.
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Personal rules of good roleplay
1.) Nothing goes as planned.
2.) If it goes as planned it's not good RP
and
Ok, I am sorry for calling you a troll.....still not sure how you missed the link that answered many of your questions....but ok your not a troll.
I am not sure what it is you exactly want then. All the information about the game that has been released so far is in neat little posts in this section of the forum.
I was in CoH for 3 months, bought a good number goodies along the way expecting to have a long play history on the game. Then I was told that the game was shutting down and I had spent a good deal of money on a awesome game that would soon be tread-underfoot. Felt quite cheated, not sure if more-so than the vet players or not. At least they had memories of the game.
I don't get mad, I restructure the laws of quantum physics and resolve the situation with temporal engineering.
A former boyfriend turned good friend told me that a new game was coming out that I might enjoy. He told me in April 2004, I got the game & installed it May 23, 2004 & never looked back :) Hooked for life!!
@Tessa (Confirmed Altoholic w/no wish for recovery)
Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company. - Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain)
Hey guys first post in here.
First of all good luck everyone working in this project.
For the question at hand... Yes I heard about City of Titans from an old CoH buddy. We still playing different games with bunch of CoH friends so hearing things is easy for me.
Another aspect is I know, as an old CoH player what would CoT can be like.
However word of the mouth might be a little weak when it comes to CoH virgins. I mean trying to describe it non CoH person would be like trying to describe colors to a blind person.
So perhaps another question should be... what made you start playing CoH?
My usual answer was "a gaming mag gave some trial code, tried and loved the game so stick with it". Thought this is not how I wanted to try the game, how I became aware of the City of Heroes.
Comics and products related to them is more visually linked than say fantasy fiction or science fiction (unless they are not spawned by movies).
First time I thought I must play this game was when I saw pre launch video of the game. All those heroes start moving with the mark of Statesman... clicked something in. Like game is promising to be part of something greater (with great community of CoH that is proved to be so right).
Also there were those comic books. You can't have a comic book game without comics right? Even with their well known universe and heroes, DC launched comic books linked with their game.
Hope I didn't step any toes or cross any bounds. As I said first post here.
Good luck and stay safe.
Knightly
Glad to have you Knightly!
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Personal rules of good roleplay
1.) Nothing goes as planned.
2.) If it goes as planned it's not good RP