Well, this sucks :-( · 10:37pm Sep 1st, 2012
On Friday, Paragon Studios announced that it was closing its doors. Part and parcel with that is the shutdown of my favorite PC game of all time, City of Heroes.
I'm sure NCSoft has reasons for the move, but the news was dropped like a ton of bricks on the game's developers as suddenly as it was on the players. "Oh, by the way guys, you're all being let go in 3 months."
Even though I haven't found much time to play the game in the past couple months (and I therefore let my VIP subscription lapse this past July), I still have a strong love for the game, and I'm still a developer with the Titan Network (an extremely large fan community responsible for the game's wiki and several third party applications and websites). TonyV, head of the Titan Network, is looking to obtain the City of Heroes IP and codebase from NCSoft and the Cryptic engine from Perfect World, batting for the fences with a plan for a fan-run version of the game. It might be unlikely to achieve (NCSoft is known for a 'salt the earth' stance towards torpedoed games, and there's speculation that Perfect World purposefully hindered the renewal of the Cryptic engine's lease to NCSoft in order to cut the competition for Champions Online), but it's probably the City's only hope.
The long and short of it is that I'm now kinda depressed, and writing is going to be difficult for me in the near future (hopefully not too long, but I make no guarantees). In the distant future, there's also a chance that I'll be involved in the development and/or maintenance of a fully-fledged MMORPG. For obvious reasons, that will cut into writing time.
On the other hand, one of my story ideas I've jotted down was a crossover with the COH "Menders"; the Menders of Ouroboros (lead by Mender Silos) maintain the timeline, and in "present day" of the COH storyline, they've warned the heroes (and villains) of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles about "The Coming Storm". Little has been revealed about what exactly The Coming Storm is, although the Shivans (radioactive protoplasmic aliens) seem to be its vanguard, and "The Battalion" is the main force. It's also suggested that The Battalion is the alien race that uses Kheldians (a race of energy beings which need to play symbiote or parasite with another creature in order to survive for any extended length of time) as a power source to fuel their ships.
Throughout the time-traveling missions both with and without the Menders' knowledge, the player also runs across mysterious messages directed to him/her...
Dear Twilight Sparkle...
Again, I apologize for my inability to meet with you in person. You may find these clandestine letters frustrating, but it is the safest way for both of us to communicate until we are ready to act. Silos and Ouroboros are dangerous beyond measure and while I have asked you to be vigilant regarding their intentions, I still do not know which side will you choose.On the topic of Mender Silos, I will say only this:
He is a silver-tongued serpent in a garden full of innocents with an orchard of apples at his disposal. Do not trust him; he will have you cast out. Do not raise a hand to him; he will strike you down before you can react. Play your part in their garden and claim your innocents, but keep your eyes open to the truth.
Twilight Sparkle, I pray you have found my letters and you have taken them to heart. It is my hope that you remain quiet and patiently await the appropriate moment to strike. If you have not found my other letters, please search for them. Hopefully, they will reveal the truth behind Ouroboros and guide you towards my path. Ultimately, the choice will be yours.
As always, look for me in the Pillar. I will make myself known when the time is right.
The fact that "Mender Silos" is an anagram of "Lord Nemesis" (the game's token Chessmaster villain) can't possibly mean that there's anything suspicious going on with the Menders of Ouroboros. The other Menders are totally on the level, too:
- Mender Lazarus from the year 7740 AD, has time traveled so frequently that his sense of cause and effect is sometimes reversed.
- Twilight's Son, the last of the Kheldian race from his timeline. The rest were burned up as fuel (presumably by The Battalion), but how exactly did he escape the same fate? He claims he escaped via time travel...
- Mander Meg "Tessie" Tesseract, who sends you on a mission to assassinate President Marchand and ensure that the supervillain Lord Recluse comes to power in the Rogue Isles (and there are implications that Tessie is Lord Recluse's daughter).
- Mender Ramiel, who pushes your character into becoming an Incarnate... with uncertain implications for your relationship with the Well of Furies.
Anyway, just a heads up. My Little Exalt is still my number one project, but the upcoming week at least is going to be difficult for me.
