Meta’s Verse: Beginning the End
By Meticulous Meta, OnRPG Paragon Reporter
For anyone who does play, used to play, or worked on City of Heroes, this weekend was an emotional train wreck. For anyone who missed the news and is wondering why you’re seeing a Meta’s Verse on the the wrong day I have some sad news for you. Paragon Studios has been shut down. All production, everything we have been looking forward to in the future is dead. You can play it on the beta server if you really want to know. More importantly though, City of Heroes is closing. Other websites are reporting a closure date of November 30th, I haven’t been able to confirm this yet with any of Paragon Studios’ former staff. It looks like more information will be coming on Tuesday, hopefully. I was fortunate enough to log in just before news hit. So I got to see the community react in real time. Shell shock is the only way to describe it. I’ve only played for 6 years, but I know there are many people out there who have been with City of Heroes from the start. For a lot of people City of Heroes is a home away from reality, myself included. The community is crushed. It has been said by the fans for a long time and I have to agree, City of Heroes has…had the best community and dev team in the industry.
Speaking of the dev team, Paragon Studios is gone. As I understand it yesterday was the last day of Paragon Studios. All of those wonderful people lost their jobs yesterday. Right before Labor Day weekend. I know there isn’t any good time for bad news, but there are bad times and this was one of them. I attempted to get in touch with my contact at Paragon Studios, a contact I had just made before Gamescom and I had so much planned. But it seems that they no longer have access to their email. So the answers I had hoped to get won’t come. I know though, that I speak for the entire community when I say that we’re sorry we have to say goodbye to you all. We love you and will miss you. Our hearts especially go out to Melissa “War Witch” Bianco and Matt “Positron” Miller who have been with City of Heroes longer than anyone else. I have no doubts that they will be able to find jobs elsewhere in the industry. But I also know that for them, and all of the development team, City of Heroes is and always will be more than just a job. We’re a family.
So, what about the future of Meta’s Verse? Well, I’m going to keep cranking out articles for as long as I can. There is still a lot to talk about. I will still be playing City of Heroes up until they turn off the lights. And whatever it is that the community has planned on Virtue I will be there. Taking screenshots, trying my best not to cry and saying a final goodbye to the game I love so much with the community I love.
As for the future of City of Heroes, a few of our favorite red names have spoken up. Positron, Matt Miller has said that next week assuming they still have access to the forums he will be hosting an ask me anything about the lore. They will answer absolutely any questions people have about lore. If they don’t have answers they will create answers. I really, really hope this happens. There is just so much we don’t know. Zwillinger, aka Andy Belford has said he would try to get the ski slopes opened up for us next week for a final goodbye to a part of the game that has always been so popular with everyone. Several red names have expressed a desire for the players to get answers. Hopefully, whoever is left behind to watch over the game will be able to give us a few answers. We may never learn the why though. This is a fact I’ve come to terms with and I think everyone else needs to as well. This isn’t the time for anger, this is the time to tell all of your friends. Get everyone to come back. I want to see City of Heroes go out with a bang.
For anyone who doesn’t see the point in continuing in City of Heroes, the point is the memories. For anyone who complained about having just subbed up, I’m sorry you’re out your money but for so many of us this is an emotional time. The next couple of months will be depressing to say the least. I have a very big project ahead of me, something I know many people also have. I plan to get screenshots, videos, and write full biographies of all 60 characters I have ever kept. As well I plan to get screenshots of my favorite places in City of Heroes, greet all the old friends who are coming back to say goodbye while trying to get my one and only Tank to 50.
If anyone plays on Virtue and wants to team up, or even just say hello send me a message, @Maressa is my global name. Keep an eye out for Meta’s Verse every Wednesday until the end. I’ll be talking about all things City of Heroes, doing a few interviews and well, if I have any time left after that I’ll start making stuff up.
