It's THIS attitude that destroys communities, not the loss of old posts and avatars and a few name changes.
Don't pack up and leave the forums. None of us wants these changes. I doubt the folks at Cryptic wanted to force these changes on us either. But they're stuck. Corporate says "do" and they must. PW says "adapt" and we must.
The alternative is to destroy that most important thing, our community. For now, We can know each other by our signatures. Custom avatars are being lobbied for. All the old posts will be will be searchable for the information, and all the old posts that need to be maintained in the first post(s) can and will be remade. Those who lose their names, as frustrating as it is, will become known to us again quickly by their new names.
And those we lose due to PW's laundry list of "do not accept" countries.. we will sorely miss.
I never said that in the balance, this deal would be overall good for us. I said that there were SOME positives. But if you're a user of the STO forums, you'll know that after a week, things are back to about 75% of normal. A few of the names have changed a little, but for the most part, we're all in there again, building our postcounts, playing old and new forum games, and trying to keep our community alive.
Many people who are forced into a name change put their old name, joined-date, and old avatar in their signatures. and some have taken to actually working their old avatars, or images similar to them, into their new signatures that fit the new image size (500x100).
It's going to suck, especially as we wait for some people to come back, and make their new names known to us. And it won't be easy. But we can get through this if we stay together.
Please, don't leave.
No, no, and NO. So now *I'M* supposed to start jumping thru hoops creating a new name, signature, and CORE profile in an attempt to undue the **** they did? Why the hell should I? What's in it for me? To every day be reminded of what's been lost as I stare at forum posts with that ****ing retarded share box constantly floating down, blank avatars, and I name I don't want? No thanks. If you like what's coming, if you think it's a great thing, hey, more power to ya, and I hope you enjoy it. I want no part of it. By accepting it and continuing on it's essentially saying "I'm okay with these changes". Well I'm NOT okay with these changes, I'm NOT okay with what PWE and Cryptic are doing, and I'm NOT okay with what's been going on with the game the past few months.
I can't make them stop. I can't make them undo what they've done. But I sure as **** am not gonna pat them on the back and congratulate them on a job well done and say "oh, it's ok, we'll go on". No, just no. I'm going to walk away with my name intact, and not reward them for their ********.
I don't know if I will. I have my name, I just don't know if I have the energy when we lose so much so needlessly and capriciously.
I'm currently evaluating my continued posting on the forums in light of this, and the fact that a number of the people I actually enjoy reading posts by (let alone having discourse with) are leaving as well.
Well, and I'm losing this name and using an older one I'm less fond of. But that's an incredibly minor concern (for me - I know for others that it's more serious because of attachment, and I respect that). I can weather the loss of my established reputation (which I doubt is really all that positive). It's whether I have the energy at this time to basically start over.
I don't want to bail, because that's a disservice to the community, but at the same time... So much is changing that I can't feel good about it, and there's little real explanation as to why.
Carry on or move on are the options on the table right now. S'a tough call.
No, no, and NO. So now *I'M* supposed to start jumping thru hoops creating a new name, signature, and CORE profile in an attempt to undue the **** they did? Why the hell should I? What's in it for me? To every day be reminded of what's been lost as I stare at forum posts with that ****ing retarded share box constantly floating down, blank avatars, and I name I don't want? No thanks. If you like what's coming, if you think it's a great thing, hey, more power to ya, and I hope you enjoy it. I want no part of it. By accepting it and continuing on it's essentially saying "I'm okay with these changes". Well I'm NOT okay with these changes, I'm NOT okay with what PWE and Cryptic are doing, and I'm NOT okay with what's been going on with the game the past few months.
I can't make them stop. I can't make them undo what they've done. But I sure as **** am not gonna pat them on the back and congratulate them on a job well done and say "oh, it's ok, we'll go on". No, just no. I'm going to walk away with my name intact, and not reward them for their ********.
Okay, bye then.
Your choice here is to adapt to change (grudgingly or not), or to leave. You won't be able to post in the forums after today if you don't link to a Perfect World account. It's just that simple.
If you choose not to participate in the forums after today, it's not Cryptic or PWE who loses. It's you, and those of us who are commited to staying.
I can weather the loss of my established reputation (which I doubt is really all that positive)..
You might be surprised.
Someone who can post positives without being a fanboi (or fangurl), and can post negatives without being a hater or troll, is invaluable to a community.
Well normally I'd say "he's losing the Champions Community"... but now that I think about it, I don't think there really *IS* much of a community here. All the QQing people are doing about "PW is destroying the community" the reality is that there isn't one to destroy, if people like this can just walk away because their forum name lost it's underscore.
We.. that is myself, and th3gr4ndnagu5 (formerly The.Grand.Nagus - he's the only STO player I know here too) and others, will be losing him.. and others like him.. for whom an underscore, or a capital P, or a 100x100 icon is more important than "the community" to them.
Anyone from China, Hong Kong, Korea, Macao, Russia, Taiwan, or Vietnam will simply not be able to log in at all..
Hm, from what I've seen this is the same ip block applied to PW (and probably some other games), but that's because some of those countries have their own version of the game. Considering CO is global, and the Cryptic account will still be 'there' (at least from what I could understand) will there really be an ip block for it?
CO is global, thats the thing. They blocked those regions for a "reason" and since there isn't CO for those regions, all those people will be tossed out.
Well normally I'd say "he's losing the Champions Community"... but now that I think about it, I don't think there really *IS* much of a community here. All the QQing people are doing about "PW is destroying the community" the reality is that there isn't one to destroy, if people like this can just walk away because their forum name lost it's underscore.
Benefit of experience with the subject matter in question equates to a viewpoint quite different from the one you hold.
There's a community here, and it's not really the worst thing ever. The current changes (from new forum rules to forced name changes), however, will probably cause enough of a negative impact there that no matter what... This community is done.
Some of the people will probably stay. A new community will form (because that's how communities work - a collection of people sharing some common interest) as a result. But, it'll likely never really be the same. Which is kind of a shame in and of itself.
Well normally I'd say "he's losing the Champions Community"... but now that I think about it, I don't think there really *IS* much of a community here. All the QQing people are doing about "PW is destroying the community" the reality is that there isn't one to destroy, if people like this can just walk away because their forum name lost it's underscore.
We.. that is myself, and th3gr4ndnagu5 (is this someone I should know ?) and others, will be losing him.. and others like him.. for whom an underscore, or a capital P, or a 100x100 icon is more important than "the community" to them.
You mean when their personal identity was taken away from them ?
You can try to trivialize it by referencing a single capital letter or underscore, but people are having their names taken away and others imposed on them.
Take away individual identity and any community is no longer a collection of individuals coming together for a common purpose. It becomes a faceless mob.
For what its worth, I defend your right to your opinion about the existence of a community here, but I do take with a grain of salt teh opinion of someone who has been here for less than three months, in this regard.
Well normally I'd say "he's losing the Champions Community"... but now that I think about it, I don't think there really *IS* much of a community here. All the QQing people are doing about "PW is destroying the community" the reality is that there isn't one to destroy, if people like this can just walk away because their forum name lost it's underscore.
We.. that is myself, and th3gr4ndnagu5 (formerly The.Grand.Nagus - he's the only STO player I know here too) and others, will be losing him.. and others like him.. for whom an underscore, or a capital P, or a 100x100 icon is more important than "the community" to them.
The only ones responsible for any collapse of the CO community are the ones who created this situation. DO NOT blame those that choose not to accept these changes for any potential demise. I am not a child, I am under no obligation to continue to allow a company to kick me in the balls and just suck it up so I can chat with friends. Besides, there is always the proboards, and I'm sure I'll be turning up there once in awhile as, guess who, captainfabulous.
I fully encourage anyone who chooses to opt out of the new forum to head over to http://champions-online.proboards.com and create an account where you'll get the same name you have now, unlike the new CO forums. And then we can all chat it up there while giving PWE and Cryptic the middle finger they deserve.
Benefit of experience with the subject matter in question equates to a viewpoint quite different from the one you hold.
There's a community here, and it's not really the worst thing ever. The current changes (from new forum rules to forced name changes), however, will probably cause enough of a negative impact there that no matter what... This community is done.
Some of the people will probably stay. A new community will form (because that's how communities work - a collection of people sharing some common interest) as a result. But, it'll likely never really be the same. Which is kind of a shame in and of itself.
Agreed. I'm not naive or full of myself enough to think that us leaving is going to mean the complete collapse of the CO forums. It won't. It'll probably flounder for awhile and then evolve into something else. And that's fine. I simply do not want to be a part of whatever it becomes. I'd rather leave on a high note than have to endure the rubble of the aftermath where every single interaction is going to enrage me.
I mean, the writing has been on the wall for awhile now. I've felt less and less desire to play CO, I've been very unhappy with the changes in the On Alert patch, and now this is like the final nail in the coffin. And like any game if I'm not enjoying the experience I'm simply going to move on to something else.
We've just launched the new Star Trek Online website, so now's a great chance to link your account to access both PWE and Cryptic options. Linking your accounts will make it faster to log into all your favorite games, and easier to link up with your friends in other games.
Read on below for an overview of how to link accounts and what the benefits are.
How do I link my accounts?
Navigate to https://my.perfectworld.com/sto, and login. This will take you through the linking flow. Be sure to select the correct radio button for your account type.
Why are we linking accounts?
By linking your Perfect World Entertainment and Cryptic accounts, you will enjoy a more streamlined process in accessing your information and logging into your favorite games. Doing so will also allow the friends you play with to find you more easily in other titles.
How do I purchase ZEN?
Navigate to our billing page https://billing.perfectworld.com/charge. You'll be able to purchase ZEN in a number of ways, including prepaid ZEN cards, credit cards and PayPal.
How do I transfer ZEN to a server?
When you buy ZEN, it gets added to your wallet, which you can view at https://billing.perfectworld.com/mywallet. From there, you'll be able to select which game, then which server you want to transfer ZEN to.
What if I don't want to link?
Account linking will soon be non-optional. If you have a Cryptic account and link now, you can claim a special item in Star Trek Online. Also, the sooner you link, the better chance you have of getting your preferred account name and display name.
Hmm I wonder I wonder I wonder....
Does anybody seriously believe that I might possibly be permitted to visit my characters page with this new forum and all?
Gonna take a wild guess here and say that I will still not be able to view my characters but my ability to complain about it will be lessened.
Hmm I wonder I wonder I wonder....
Does anybody seriously believe that I might possibly be permitted to visit my characters page with this new forum and all?
Gonna take a wild guess here and say that I will still not be able to view my characters but my ability to complain about it will be lessened.
PodSix has been here since April and very clearly doesn't know the community and hasn't been around to know what it was like.
I understand where he's coming from tho. He's recently joined and has been enjoying the forum community and doesn't want it to change. The problem is it's gonna change no matter who stays or goes, so there really is no avoiding the inevitable.
Hmm I wonder I wonder I wonder....
Does anybody seriously believe that I might possibly be permitted to visit my characters page with this new forum and all?
Gonna take a wild guess here and say that I will still not be able to view my characters but my ability to complain about it will be lessened.
I highly doubt the character pages are going to exist in the new forums. Just one more thing lost to the community. And again, for what? So we can all better engage with the PWE friends we don't have and the PWE games we don't want?
I understand where he's coming from tho. He's recently joined and has been enjoying the forum community and doesn't want it to change. The problem is it's gonna change no matter who stays or goes, so there really is no avoiding the inevitable.
She, actually.
I've been with Cryptic since I joined STO during it's beta in 2009. (Lifetime subscriber before the game even went live actually). It's certainly true however that I'm new to Champions.. it was the Free-to-play switch that made me willing to try it, and the "On Alert" announcement email that went out to STO players that made me finally download the program to try it.
My point was just that this community can't be too important to people if they're willing to abandon it so easily. Avatar icons and display names aren't the end-all-be-all of one's identity. We do get to keep signatures, and the STO community has found some neat ways to use those signatures as improvised forum avatars.
Anyways, at this point, the issue is moot. we don't get a say, or a vote, and all we can do is adapt or leave. I'm planning to adapt, because I've enjoyed the Champions forums... also, it gives me another excuse to make a new signature (which I love doing). I've also enjoyed seeing your avatar, and stjobe's as well, pop up now and again, and I hope you'll all choose to limp through this change with the rest of us.
Well normally I'd say "he's losing the Champions Community"... but now that I think about it, I don't think there really *IS* much of a community here. All the QQing people are doing about "PW is destroying the community" the reality is that there isn't one to destroy, if people like this can just walk away because their forum name lost it's underscore.
We.. that is myself, and th3gr4ndnagu5 (formerly The.Grand.Nagus - he's the only STO player I know here too) and others, will be losing him.. and others like him.. for whom an underscore, or a capital P, or a 100x100 icon is more important than "the community" to them.
WOAH THAR Poddy Pod Pod \o/
CO has one of the best communities of any MMO. I would say its CO's main selling point and PWE taking a hatchet to it wont do CO any favors .
Ive played MMO's since forever and you will find me in hardly any of their forums...
Whats different about the CO forums..the awesome people here thats what.
...snip...(for me - I know for others that it's more serious because of attachment, and I respect that)...snip...
Oh, its more than just attachment in my case (though, thats also a big part of the reason for me). My old PW name from the single time I tried the PW MMO is sort of an abreviation of my real name and last name. I had to use that because VisionStorm was already taken when I tried the name (this was well over a year or more before CO launched) and I couldn't come up with anything more imaginative than that, plus figured it would have no bearing or impact at the time since it was only a F2P game I wasn't even sure I'd like (and I didn't), and I also didn't think back then that having a user name with elements of my real name in it might not be the best idea (but I do now).
Couple of years later, it turns out it would have more impact than I ever imagined... :rolleyes:
You're just blaming the victim for not being happy about the crime. And there used to be a community here, you just haven't been around long enough to see the amount of crap we've had to put up with Cryptic leading up to this. IMO there's more to what's going on here than just a "name change". People have been getting worn down for a while with stuff like this. This is just the straw that broke the camel's back, only its more like a huge massive pile of straws.
So the community's so valuable to you, that you'd rather splinter it. Interesting.
Well thats pure bawls and BS saying its the same people there without their online identities screwed with I dont want anything splintered thats BS.
Yup not pulling punches with that one.
*you edited yours so i will edit mine -.-*
Please point in what bit of previous post I attempted to troll you. Please dont try to troll me thats a whole load of randomness you dont wanna stir up. I only pointed out why the community is so awesome and why PWE cant no matter what it does break it up.
Hm, from what I've seen this is the same ip block applied to PW (and probably some other games), but that's because some of those countries have their own version of the game. Considering CO is global, and the Cryptic account will still be 'there' (at least from what I could understand) will there really be an ip block for it?
Yes, people in the banned regions cannot create or log into PWE accounts, with this merger forum access, customer service access, billing service access, etc. will be locked behind a PWE login; "soon" after that, Cryptic credentials will stop being an option for logging into games and you must use a PWE credential.
It's a lazy, sloppy system implemented by a company that never expected to have an MMO with global publishing rights. Now that they do have such an MMO, they aren't making any signs of changing it.
So the community's so valuable to you, that you'd rather splinter it. Interesting.
We're not splintering it, PWE and Cryptic are, by forcing unwanted and unwarranted changes upon the playerbase, and do it in such a way as to upset and enrage people enough to make them not want to participate. And please don't presume you know how difficult or easy a decision this is to make.
As VisionStorm has pointed out, if this were the only problem it likely wouldn't be an issue. But it's not. It's the culmination of a long pattern of callous abuse and neglect, and we're just not willing to put up with it any more. Enough is enough. One can only take so much BS before you're done. And I'm done.
I was able to read it before you did and so did others . You tried to make out I wanted to break up this community, a community that I have been part of for over a year now. Damage was done retractions mean nothing to me.
I may at most times seem silly and stupid, but that is only my Nepht character I am a roleplayer after all. People who have been in the forums for any length of time know how ruthless and cold I can be with my replies when provoked but then again you weren't here for wiki gate.
Boys and girls, I can assure you, losing my capital letters and that little picture that once upon a time graced the space next to my words will do nothing to remove my individuality. I yam what I yam, and that's all what I yam, and I'm me whether I'm posting here as JonSills (or jonsills), at SJGames.com as Irish Wolf, on the SCP Foundation as Deacon_Blues_117, at David Brin's blog, Contrary Brin, as Jonathan S., or at Peter David's blog as Jonathan (the other one).
And I will not be driven from here just because somebody thinks we need to change the forum software. I post on Blogger boards, I post on vBulletin boards - heck, back in the bad old days, I was known to post on AOL, and helped run a custom BBS on a C-64! I will adapt to whatever software is used here, learn its tricks, and employ them to my advantage. The Man can't hold me down, man!
D*MN THE MAN! SAVE THE EMPIRE! - wups, got caught up in the moment, but I'm better now...
I was able to read it before you did and so did others . You tried to make out I wanted to break up this community, a community that I have been part of for over a year now. Damage was done retractions mean nothing to me.
Well for that, I apologize. As I said, I thought better of it moments after posting, and did what I could to retract it.
I may at most times seem silly and stupid, but that is only my Nepht character I am a roleplayer after all. People who have been in the forums for any length of time know how ruthless and cold I can be with my replies when provoked but then again you weren't here for wiki gate.
Much Regards.
No, I wasn't. But I've certainly been through my share of cryptic BS with Star Trek Online (recalling one ridiculously draconian moderator who was issuing infractions for using the wrong image file format in signatures). There have been a lot of missteps from Cryptic in terms of forum and community management, not even mentioning game management.
I've already been through this change once this week, WITHOUT the benefit of forewarning. I'm just trying to tell those people who are going into this for the first time.. it's not going to be a total cake-walk.. but it's hardly worth quitting the game over.
If you (anyone) have got other reasons for leaving, well they're your reasons, and you can decide what's enough or not. But the rest of the community who does stay, will be the poorer for your leaving.
Well normally I'd say "he's losing the Champions Community"... but now that I think about it, I don't think there really *IS* much of a community here. All the QQing people are doing about "PW is destroying the community" the reality is that there isn't one to destroy, if people like this can just walk away because their forum name lost it's underscore.
We.. that is myself, and th3gr4ndnagu5 (formerly The.Grand.Nagus - he's the only STO player I know here too) and others, will be losing him.. and others like him.. for whom an underscore, or a capital P, or a 100x100 icon is more important than "the community" to them.
Please don't trivialize this. I've been a part of this community for three years, reading and posting here just about every day. These people are my friends. They've put in a lot of hard work to make the game more fun, easier to understand, and more colourful. Saying people are leaving "because of an underscore" is missing the mark so much it might be in a different state.
While it's true that our little corner of the Internet has seen better days, it's still a tight-knit little group of dysfunctionals that I cherish. Don't for a moment think that I'm taking the decision on whether to walk out on that lightly.
Please don't trivialize this. I've been a part of this community for three years, reading and posting here just about every day. These people are my friends. They've put in a lot of hard work to make the game more fun, easier to understand, and more colourful. Saying people are leaving "because of an underscore" is missing the mark so much it might be in a different state.
While it's true that our little corner of the Internet has seen better days, it's still a tight-knit little group of dysfunctionals that I cherish. Don't for a moment think that I'm taking the decision on whether to walk out on that lightly.
Then change your mind, and stay. At least give the forums a week or two to settle after the change, before making the decision.
And lets not forget that there's also more to this than just people loosing an underscore or a capital leter (or in my case being forced a user name I don't want only because I randomly created a PW account YEARS ago and PW happened to buy Cryptic years after), there are people that are missing far more than that over this... like access to the entire game.
Then change your mind, and stay. At least give the forums a week or two to settle after the change, before making the decision.
I think for a lot of people it is a culmination of things. While I think most of understand that you've had wonderful experiences with Cryptic over on the STO side of things, they are way worse over here.
So on top of no actual content added in 2 years, things taken away, major revamps, half-ased itemization, lack of communication and now this and region blocks, it's a lot to absorb, cope and deal with. Some of the community members have given their heart and soul and it's a much smaller community and when some of the pillars of the forum community are having changed forced upon them to the point where some identities will change and loose access entirely, it's almost to the point where camel...back...straw.
It's just a lot.
On top of all of this is the frustration that many of us feel because we do love CO very much, but it's been horribly neglected and there is so much want on our behalf and so much stupid that we have to put up with.
To be fair, the pro-boards have been around for a very long time already, as it was (correct me if I am wrong) made to let silver players to connect, since they used to not be able to post on the official forums.
Funneh story . I never said I was leaving I only pointed out that for over a year now The Grand Nagus has been running a rather nifty non official fan forum for over a year now.
Most of us have been posting both here and there. And these new forums changes are easier to take because there are forums that PWE cant screw with.
For me the main issue are the unfair region blocks.
Then change your mind, and stay. At least give the forums a week or two to settle after the change, before making the decision.
I just want to point out, again, that I haven't decided anything.
I just don't know if I can stomach the blatant disregard for the community that PWE/Cryptic displays with this.
As Lohr says, it's been a long and winding road, and we've already lost so much.
Well it's been a rousing discussion, and I've learned a few things too.
I just want to say to everyone in this thread, I certainly hold no animosity towards you for the words we've exchanged, and I hope the same is true for you all too.
Since this forum only has a few more hours to live, I'd rather end on a positive note, and wish you all, all the blessings life has to offer you. I sincerely hope everyone will have a wonderful rest of the day today, and a good vacation from the forums tomorrow.
To those of you who will be coming back, I'll see you on the other side.
To those who will be moving on.. may you have calm seas, and may the wind be at your back, and may you find happiness wherever your travels take you.
Well it's been a rousing discussion, and I've learned a few things too.
I just want to say to everyone in this thread, I certainly hold no animosity towards you for the words we've exchanged, and I hope the same is true for you all too.
Since this forum only has a few more hours to live, I'd rather end on a positive note, and wish you all, all the blessings life has to offer you. I sincerely hope everyone will have a wonderful rest of the day today, and a good vacation from the forums tomorrow.
To those of you who will be coming back, I'll see you on the other side.
To those who will be moving on.. may you have calm seas, and may the wind be at your back, and may you find happiness wherever your travels take you.
*puts on clown nose and squeaky shoes*
But we're in June...
*Ba Dum Tissssshhhhh* (What? I was a clown most of the time, had to finish as one, no?)
Well it's been a rousing discussion, and I've learned a few things too.
I just want to say to everyone in this thread, I certainly hold no animosity towards you for the words we've exchanged, and I hope the same is true for you all too.
Since this forum only has a few more hours to live, I'd rather end on a positive note, and wish you all, all the blessings life has to offer you. I sincerely hope everyone will have a wonderful rest of the day today, and a good vacation from the forums tomorrow.
To those of you who will be coming back, I'll see you on the other side.
To those who will be moving on.. may you have calm seas, and may the wind be at your back, and may you find happiness wherever your travels take you.
These sentiments are shared at my end. I wish you all the best.
Bad communication abound, here is what I found out about what may be happening. From a the Captain's Log from Massively:
So your name may be reserved by PW for you but if you make a new account then you are locked out of using your own name because they didn't tell us. Yeah. "praise the new overlords and all"
edit.
just to make sure that I don't get censored or anything I am referring to what may be happening to our names that we don't have access to over at the new forms. I said my piece and I am a bit squinty eyed at the Neverwinter beta access after I went to the site. I need to make a PW account there to long in and I can log with my Cryptic one. So that smell a bit like a covert way to convert people.
Now as of today I don't like the idea and thing it is one of the most mind numbingly bad things as ED was in CoH. However you have a chance: Total transparency. Make a detailed sticked post about the change and what we can do to have our say in it, because we are the community and all.
I implore you all, this is gonna end bad. Worse than you all project will happen (I know you did it because you are all nonchalant with the communication) the playerbase is different from STO here. We have a very Very strong investment in identity.
You take that away and a crapstorm of epic proportions will happen and all of those dedicated players that stuck by Cryptic since 2008 will middle finger you all and move on to greener pastures.
Edit 2
Well I should read the first post more often.:o
We'll see. Right now I can not link accounts. I created a PWE account because Cryptic's answer to locking me out was to have me log in to a customer service site with a locked out user id and password.
Now if I try to link to the PWE account I created it wont do it and if I try to log in with my Cryptic user ID as if it were a PWE id I get error messages about an invalid user id/password.
We all knew this change was coming sooner or later, but who would have thought this was going to be done in such a half assed and unprofessional manner.
Once PWE sorts things out and I can verify that my credit card info has been deleted from their side its time to walk away from this.
Its a pity there wasn't a decent tights and fights game out there to go to.
Hey toad there is an easy way do you have twitter? if you do get in contact with this guy its easy to make one @PWE_BranFlakes he has been very helpful and answerd my qustions he might be able to help you with this to
Comments
No, no, and NO. So now *I'M* supposed to start jumping thru hoops creating a new name, signature, and CORE profile in an attempt to undue the **** they did? Why the hell should I? What's in it for me? To every day be reminded of what's been lost as I stare at forum posts with that ****ing retarded share box constantly floating down, blank avatars, and I name I don't want? No thanks. If you like what's coming, if you think it's a great thing, hey, more power to ya, and I hope you enjoy it. I want no part of it. By accepting it and continuing on it's essentially saying "I'm okay with these changes". Well I'm NOT okay with these changes, I'm NOT okay with what PWE and Cryptic are doing, and I'm NOT okay with what's been going on with the game the past few months.
I can't make them stop. I can't make them undo what they've done. But I sure as **** am not gonna pat them on the back and congratulate them on a job well done and say "oh, it's ok, we'll go on". No, just no. I'm going to walk away with my name intact, and not reward them for their ********.
I'm currently evaluating my continued posting on the forums in light of this, and the fact that a number of the people I actually enjoy reading posts by (let alone having discourse with) are leaving as well.
Well, and I'm losing this name and using an older one I'm less fond of. But that's an incredibly minor concern (for me - I know for others that it's more serious because of attachment, and I respect that). I can weather the loss of my established reputation (which I doubt is really all that positive). It's whether I have the energy at this time to basically start over.
I don't want to bail, because that's a disservice to the community, but at the same time... So much is changing that I can't feel good about it, and there's little real explanation as to why.
Carry on or move on are the options on the table right now. S'a tough call.
Okay, bye then.
Your choice here is to adapt to change (grudgingly or not), or to leave. You won't be able to post in the forums after today if you don't link to a Perfect World account. It's just that simple.
If you choose not to participate in the forums after today, it's not Cryptic or PWE who loses. It's you, and those of us who are commited to staying.
You might be surprised.
Someone who can post positives without being a fanboi (or fangurl), and can post negatives without being a hater or troll, is invaluable to a community.
What is he losing due to his choice ?
I know what PWE/Cryptic are losing: someone who has supported the game and provided positive word of mouth advertising in the past.
What they are gaining is more people spreading negative word of mouth about the game and the companies behind it.
Well normally I'd say "he's losing the Champions Community"... but now that I think about it, I don't think there really *IS* much of a community here. All the QQing people are doing about "PW is destroying the community" the reality is that there isn't one to destroy, if people like this can just walk away because their forum name lost it's underscore.
We.. that is myself, and th3gr4ndnagu5 (formerly The.Grand.Nagus - he's the only STO player I know here too) and others, will be losing him.. and others like him.. for whom an underscore, or a capital P, or a 100x100 icon is more important than "the community" to them.
Hm, from what I've seen this is the same ip block applied to PW (and probably some other games), but that's because some of those countries have their own version of the game. Considering CO is global, and the Cryptic account will still be 'there' (at least from what I could understand) will there really be an ip block for it?
Benefit of experience with the subject matter in question equates to a viewpoint quite different from the one you hold.
There's a community here, and it's not really the worst thing ever. The current changes (from new forum rules to forced name changes), however, will probably cause enough of a negative impact there that no matter what... This community is done.
Some of the people will probably stay. A new community will form (because that's how communities work - a collection of people sharing some common interest) as a result. But, it'll likely never really be the same. Which is kind of a shame in and of itself.
You mean when their personal identity was taken away from them ?
You can try to trivialize it by referencing a single capital letter or underscore, but people are having their names taken away and others imposed on them.
Take away individual identity and any community is no longer a collection of individuals coming together for a common purpose. It becomes a faceless mob.
For what its worth, I defend your right to your opinion about the existence of a community here, but I do take with a grain of salt teh opinion of someone who has been here for less than three months, in this regard.
The only ones responsible for any collapse of the CO community are the ones who created this situation. DO NOT blame those that choose not to accept these changes for any potential demise. I am not a child, I am under no obligation to continue to allow a company to kick me in the balls and just suck it up so I can chat with friends. Besides, there is always the proboards, and I'm sure I'll be turning up there once in awhile as, guess who, captainfabulous.
I fully encourage anyone who chooses to opt out of the new forum to head over to http://champions-online.proboards.com and create an account where you'll get the same name you have now, unlike the new CO forums. And then we can all chat it up there while giving PWE and Cryptic the middle finger they deserve.
Agreed. I'm not naive or full of myself enough to think that us leaving is going to mean the complete collapse of the CO forums. It won't. It'll probably flounder for awhile and then evolve into something else. And that's fine. I simply do not want to be a part of whatever it becomes. I'd rather leave on a high note than have to endure the rubble of the aftermath where every single interaction is going to enrage me.
I mean, the writing has been on the wall for awhile now. I've felt less and less desire to play CO, I've been very unhappy with the changes in the On Alert patch, and now this is like the final nail in the coffin. And like any game if I'm not enjoying the experience I'm simply going to move on to something else.
Is this a new policy, perhaps implemented within the last couple of days ?
Does anybody seriously believe that I might possibly be permitted to visit my characters page with this new forum and all?
Gonna take a wild guess here and say that I will still not be able to view my characters but my ability to complain about it will be lessened.
God I hope so, I love the forum game.
I understand where he's coming from tho. He's recently joined and has been enjoying the forum community and doesn't want it to change. The problem is it's gonna change no matter who stays or goes, so there really is no avoiding the inevitable.
I highly doubt the character pages are going to exist in the new forums. Just one more thing lost to the community. And again, for what? So we can all better engage with the PWE friends we don't have and the PWE games we don't want?
She, actually.
I've been with Cryptic since I joined STO during it's beta in 2009. (Lifetime subscriber before the game even went live actually). It's certainly true however that I'm new to Champions.. it was the Free-to-play switch that made me willing to try it, and the "On Alert" announcement email that went out to STO players that made me finally download the program to try it.
My point was just that this community can't be too important to people if they're willing to abandon it so easily. Avatar icons and display names aren't the end-all-be-all of one's identity. We do get to keep signatures, and the STO community has found some neat ways to use those signatures as improvised forum avatars.
Anyways, at this point, the issue is moot. we don't get a say, or a vote, and all we can do is adapt or leave. I'm planning to adapt, because I've enjoyed the Champions forums... also, it gives me another excuse to make a new signature (which I love doing). I've also enjoyed seeing your avatar, and stjobe's as well, pop up now and again, and I hope you'll all choose to limp through this change with the rest of us.
I don't think you have near enough data to speculate on how hard or easy this is for some people.
WOAH THAR Poddy Pod Pod \o/
CO has one of the best communities of any MMO. I would say its CO's main selling point and PWE taking a hatchet to it wont do CO any favors .
Ive played MMO's since forever and you will find me in hardly any of their forums...
Whats different about the CO forums..the awesome people here thats what.
But you know what PWE cant break that up heck we dont even need Champions Online anymore we have this http://champions-online.proboards.com/index.cgi
Oh, its more than just attachment in my case (though, thats also a big part of the reason for me). My old PW name from the single time I tried the PW MMO is sort of an abreviation of my real name and last name. I had to use that because VisionStorm was already taken when I tried the name (this was well over a year or more before CO launched) and I couldn't come up with anything more imaginative than that, plus figured it would have no bearing or impact at the time since it was only a F2P game I wasn't even sure I'd like (and I didn't), and I also didn't think back then that having a user name with elements of my real name in it might not be the best idea (but I do now).
Couple of years later, it turns out it would have more impact than I ever imagined... :rolleyes:
You're just blaming the victim for not being happy about the crime. And there used to be a community here, you just haven't been around long enough to see the amount of crap we've had to put up with Cryptic leading up to this. IMO there's more to what's going on here than just a "name change". People have been getting worn down for a while with stuff like this. This is just the straw that broke the camel's back, only its more like a huge massive pile of straws.
Well thats pure bawls and BS saying its the same people there without their online identities screwed with I dont want anything splintered thats BS.
Yup not pulling punches with that one.
*you edited yours so i will edit mine -.-*
Please point in what bit of previous post I attempted to troll you. Please dont try to troll me thats a whole load of randomness you dont wanna stir up. I only pointed out why the community is so awesome and why PWE cant no matter what it does break it up.
Yes, people in the banned regions cannot create or log into PWE accounts, with this merger forum access, customer service access, billing service access, etc. will be locked behind a PWE login; "soon" after that, Cryptic credentials will stop being an option for logging into games and you must use a PWE credential.
It's a lazy, sloppy system implemented by a company that never expected to have an MMO with global publishing rights. Now that they do have such an MMO, they aren't making any signs of changing it.
We're not splintering it, PWE and Cryptic are, by forcing unwanted and unwarranted changes upon the playerbase, and do it in such a way as to upset and enrage people enough to make them not want to participate. And please don't presume you know how difficult or easy a decision this is to make.
As VisionStorm has pointed out, if this were the only problem it likely wouldn't be an issue. But it's not. It's the culmination of a long pattern of callous abuse and neglect, and we're just not willing to put up with it any more. Enough is enough. One can only take so much BS before you're done. And I'm done.
I *retracted* mine because I thought better of it.
I was able to read it before you did and so did others . You tried to make out I wanted to break up this community, a community that I have been part of for over a year now. Damage was done retractions mean nothing to me.
I may at most times seem silly and stupid, but that is only my Nepht character I am a roleplayer after all. People who have been in the forums for any length of time know how ruthless and cold I can be with my replies when provoked but then again you weren't here for wiki gate.
Much Regards.
And I will not be driven from here just because somebody thinks we need to change the forum software. I post on Blogger boards, I post on vBulletin boards - heck, back in the bad old days, I was known to post on AOL, and helped run a custom BBS on a C-64! I will adapt to whatever software is used here, learn its tricks, and employ them to my advantage. The Man can't hold me down, man!
D*MN THE MAN! SAVE THE EMPIRE! - wups, got caught up in the moment, but I'm better now...
Well for that, I apologize. As I said, I thought better of it moments after posting, and did what I could to retract it.
No, I wasn't. But I've certainly been through my share of cryptic BS with Star Trek Online (recalling one ridiculously draconian moderator who was issuing infractions for using the wrong image file format in signatures). There have been a lot of missteps from Cryptic in terms of forum and community management, not even mentioning game management.
I've already been through this change once this week, WITHOUT the benefit of forewarning. I'm just trying to tell those people who are going into this for the first time.. it's not going to be a total cake-walk.. but it's hardly worth quitting the game over.
If you (anyone) have got other reasons for leaving, well they're your reasons, and you can decide what's enough or not. But the rest of the community who does stay, will be the poorer for your leaving.
Fight the system \o/...wait can we halt the revolution I broke a nail
While it's true that our little corner of the Internet has seen better days, it's still a tight-knit little group of dysfunctionals that I cherish. Don't for a moment think that I'm taking the decision on whether to walk out on that lightly.
Then change your mind, and stay. At least give the forums a week or two to settle after the change, before making the decision.
I think for a lot of people it is a culmination of things. While I think most of understand that you've had wonderful experiences with Cryptic over on the STO side of things, they are way worse over here.
So on top of no actual content added in 2 years, things taken away, major revamps, half-ased itemization, lack of communication and now this and region blocks, it's a lot to absorb, cope and deal with. Some of the community members have given their heart and soul and it's a much smaller community and when some of the pillars of the forum community are having changed forced upon them to the point where some identities will change and loose access entirely, it's almost to the point where camel...back...straw.
It's just a lot.
On top of all of this is the frustration that many of us feel because we do love CO very much, but it's been horribly neglected and there is so much want on our behalf and so much stupid that we have to put up with.
Most of us have been posting both here and there. And these new forums changes are easier to take because there are forums that PWE cant screw with.
For me the main issue are the unfair region blocks.
I just don't know if I can stomach the blatant disregard for the community that PWE/Cryptic displays with this.
As Lohr says, it's been a long and winding road, and we've already lost so much.
I just want to say to everyone in this thread, I certainly hold no animosity towards you for the words we've exchanged, and I hope the same is true for you all too.
Since this forum only has a few more hours to live, I'd rather end on a positive note, and wish you all, all the blessings life has to offer you. I sincerely hope everyone will have a wonderful rest of the day today, and a good vacation from the forums tomorrow.
To those of you who will be coming back, I'll see you on the other side.
To those who will be moving on.. may you have calm seas, and may the wind be at your back, and may you find happiness wherever your travels take you.
But we're in June...
*Ba Dum Tissssshhhhh*
(What? I was a clown most of the time, had to finish as one, no?)
Meredy, marry me!! :eek:
These sentiments are shared at my end. I wish you all the best.
Prepare to assume the position, you know the one.
We'll see. Right now I can not link accounts. I created a PWE account because Cryptic's answer to locking me out was to have me log in to a customer service site with a locked out user id and password.
Now if I try to link to the PWE account I created it wont do it and if I try to log in with my Cryptic user ID as if it were a PWE id I get error messages about an invalid user id/password.
We all knew this change was coming sooner or later, but who would have thought this was going to be done in such a half assed and unprofessional manner.
Once PWE sorts things out and I can verify that my credit card info has been deleted from their side its time to walk away from this.
Its a pity there wasn't a decent tights and fights game out there to go to.