The Sun Sets on Paragon City
Tonight at 11:59 PM Pacific time, the servers for the City
of Heores will shut down. This is a
pretty big thing for me. For the past 8
years, I’ve been playing this game – since December 12, 2004 to be exact. At first, I played with a few friends.
Eventually, my husband also got an account.
We even made a special “super hero date night” where Mike and I would
create and work on characters that we played as superhero duos.
CoH allowed me to get my geek on and I was always a big
comic book geek. I loved being able to take on a persona and (virtually) fight
crime and stand up for Justice and those who couldn’t protect themselves. As silly as it might seem, I think that
playing this game made me a better person.
At least once a week for the last 8 years, I was able to remind myself
of “doing good”; that sometimes the RIGHT thing to do wasn’t necessarily the
easiest thing to do; that choices that we make have repurcussions; that
sometimes the only reward we get is knowing that we did good.
I enjoyed making costumes, coming up with names that not
only reflected my characters’ powers but also said something about the “person”
behind the super powers. Not my first
charcter but certainly my most beloved is (was) Lumin. In game terms, she was a
Dark/Dark Defender. That means that all
of her powers were designed primarily to keep the team alive through debuffing
the enemy. Don’t get me wrong, she could hold her own when soloing but her
primary purpose was to support the team of the other heroes that she grouped
with. All of her powers were “Dark” such as fear, paralysis, tentacles to grasp
and immobolize foes, summoning shadow servants, and a smattering of
healing. This is her brief back story:
Laura Hope was once a famous Medium and spiritualist until
she made contact and began to channel the spirit of an ancient Knight who had
been a Service of Light. He taught her how to contact her Indwelling Spirit and
use it for Justice. Releasing the Light of her Spirit, she takes the villainous
energy of evil-doers and reflect it back onto them. Using their own power
against them, she brings villains to justice as well as heals and aids those in need. Thus
was the hero Lumin born to stand in her silver and black armor as a shining
example of Justice.
Over the years, Lumin became a founding member of the League
of Champions. When the SuperGroup got too large, she as HeadMistress spun off
the Academy of Champions to train new heroes (and players).
Silly, I know but special to me. Here are a few pics of my 3 favorite
characters and some video links.
It’s been a fun ride and I’ll remember all the good people I
met because if this wonderful game. Goodbye City of Heroes and Good Run to the
Champions.
The League of Champions by Honorbound - http://youtu.be/U7Rtv4PtaYU
The League of Champions vs. Maestro by Honorbound - http://youtu.be/c7XzGvcJEYY
Lumin:
Caelestes Lux:
Caurus:
I don't think it's silly, and it's not simple or mindless entertainment. It's a way of exploring who we and other people are in different circumstances. Avatars are an expression of identity--not always mapping identically onto the player, because then there's no aspect of exploration. Do I want to know how it really feels to cut something apart with a sword? No, I don't. But do I want to slay pixels in a spectacular fashion? Sure!
ReplyDeleteI think it's also a way of being in relationship with others where the physical stakes are low but the emotional ones are high, for better or for worse. Gaming in general requires the ability to work together, to be patient, to defer gratification, to keep trying again and again, and to acknowledge the side of you that wants to do the wrong thing, even if you don't. Lumin requires you to be willing to step back and not be the one out front with the flaming sword (yeah, yeah...) It also requires good problem solving skills and, in some cases, a fine fashion sense.
It's a big loss. I'm so sorry.