Once thought lost to the annals of cyberspace, the super-powered massively multiplayer online (MMO) game City of Heroes has flown back into the spotlight, with a newfound stability and official approval that promises to keep its dedicated fanbase soaring through its comic book-inspired world for the foreseeable future.
When City of Heroes was shut down in November 2012, it seemed to mark the end of an era for its loyal players. However, the flames of heroism were kept alive by a dedicated group of fans who refused to let their digital city fall into ruin. Operating under the radar, these fans established private servers where the caped and costume-clad could continue to battle evil wherever it lurked. Homecoming, one of these community-run servers, has become the beacon of hope for the City of Heroes community.
After years of operating in a legal gray area, Homecoming has achieved what many thought impossible: an official license from the game's intellectual property (IP) owners, NCSoft. This is a landmark event for not just Homecoming, but the entirety of the City of Heroes legacy, ensuring that the stories, superheroes, and supervillains that thrilled players for years can continue to do so without the looming threat of legal action.
The Homecoming team announced with palpable excitement that users' accounts and characters are secure, and they welcomed players old and new to join the ongoing adventures in Paragon City. To the relief and delight of the community, access to the game remains completely free, with the server's upkeep and development powered by voluntary player donations.
Homecoming isn't content to merely keep City of Heroes running as it was; they aim to inject new life into the game. The team has already introduced new features such as a new archetype, the Sentinel, alongside additional powersets and story missions. This content not only honors the original essence of City of Heroes but also paves the way for the game's growth and evolution.
This server's unique status as the only officially licensed fan-run server for City of Heroes puts it in a position to unite the fragmented fan servers into a cohesive whole. In this spirit, a new leadership group called the City Council is being formed. It will comprise the current Homecoming development team as well as representatives from other volunteer-run servers, working in tandem to steward the future of the game.
To facilitate its operation and expansion, Homecoming is on the lookout for more passionate volunteer developers and Game Masters. Moreover, the team has expressed intentions to register as a non-profit organization, a move that underscores their commitment to maintaining the game as a community-driven labor of love, free of commercial interests.
The game originally took the MMO world by storm back in 2004, developed by Cryptic Studios, and can boast of being one of the few games that united the founders of Rock Paper Shotgun before the inception of the popular gaming website. With its grounding in the superhero genre and its persistent world, City of Heroes became a touchstone of early MMO gaming, standing alongside titans like World of Warcraft.
In 2007, NCSoft took full ownership of the IP, with many developers from Cryptic transferring to a new studio, Paragon Studios. Paragon Studios carried on the City of Heroes torch until its shutdown in 2012, an event that rippled through the community and marked the end of an era.
Yet, that era wasn't quite as over as many thought. Today, the heroes of Paragon City have a secure home once more. Eager to don the cape and tights again? The Homecoming server awaits, and with it, a comprehensive Getting Started guide available on their website. It provides everything you need to know, from downloading the launcher to setting up your account. Calling all heroes: it's time to save the city once again.
You must be logged in to post a comment!
