pushing out crazy amounts of microtransactions and gating features that used to be free
This was one of the biggest things that pissed me off about how City of Heroes turned out.
Originally it was your standard monthly sub MMORPG that didn't even charge for the regular updates/issues. The 3/4 expansions they released were purchases [City of Villains, Good Vs Evil, Going Rogue] similar to WoW, and new expansions requiring purchases, but the majority of content was still free. And the community was both engaging and rewarding in addition to treating players well. Of the many months I played back during their Live years quite a few of those months were for free due to compensation for server issues, competitions players took part in, and general gifts from player meets IRL. Which was practically the game taking money they'd normally be charging you and giving it back.
Burnout meant I stopped a few times and after coming back one time the Paragon Market had been added with a whole list of MTXs that included full on p2w features, aesthetic unlocks, and what I consider one of the worst things: locking previously free archetypes/classes that had been in game since launch behind a paywal.
These were features that had been there since day 1 of CoH and CoV being in beta.
As of Issue 21, access to Controllers [originally added in issue 0/CoH launch] required VIP status, purchase on the Paragon Market, or 13 Reward Tokens in the Paragon Rewards Program.
After Issue 21, access to Masterminds [originally added in issue 6/CoV launch] required VIP status, purchase on the Paragon Market, or 13 Reward Tokens in the Paragon Rewards Program.
This requirement no longer exists on Homecoming [and other private server groups]
This wasn't adding something to the game with a price tag. This was actively taking something away players had for years and putting it behind a paywall.
The entire Paragon Market was a bloat of MTXs where they would try end charge for absolutely everything and remains to date one of the reasons I will never, ever have anything to do with the companies that ran the game [into and under the ground with greed] then.
Currently several different private groups operate "private servers" anyone can join and play on with the specifics of what content is available varying. Some remain closer to the content of the game at shutdown, some have edited and added new content.
However, if any of the private server groups end up affiliating with the original companies in the future I'll drop my interest in them like the hottest of potatoes 🔥 🥔
This was one of the biggest things that pissed me off about how City of Heroes turned out.
Originally it was your standard monthly sub MMORPG that didn't even charge for the regular updates/issues. The 3/4 expansions they released were purchases [City of Villains, Good Vs Evil, Going Rogue] similar to WoW, and new expansions requiring purchases, but the majority of content was still free. And the community was both engaging and rewarding in addition to treating players well. Of the many months I played back during their Live years quite a few of those months were for free due to compensation for server issues, competitions players took part in, and general gifts from player meets IRL. Which was practically the game taking money they'd normally be charging you and giving it back.
Burnout meant I stopped a few times and after coming back one time the Paragon Market had been added with a whole list of MTXs that included full on p2w features, aesthetic unlocks, and what I consider one of the worst things: locking previously free archetypes/classes that had been in game since launch behind a paywal.
These were features that had been there since day 1 of CoH and CoV being in beta.
This wasn't adding something to the game with a price tag. This was actively taking something away players had for years and putting it behind a paywall.
The entire Paragon Market was a bloat of MTXs where they would try end charge for absolutely everything and remains to date one of the reasons I will never, ever have anything to do with the companies that ran the game [into and under the ground with greed] then.
Full list of the things they'd charge for: https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Paragon_Market
Currently several different private groups operate "private servers" anyone can join and play on with the specifics of what content is available varying. Some remain closer to the content of the game at shutdown, some have edited and added new content.
However, if any of the private server groups end up affiliating with the original companies in the future I'll drop my interest in them like the hottest of potatoes 🔥 🥔