Requiem For Paragon

On Saturday, December 1, 2012 at 3:07am EST, the gaming community bid a fond and sad farewell to City of Heroes.  Paragon and the Isles have been my virtual home since early 2006. 

I actually didn’t start out on Virtue.  My first toons were on the Champion server.  My very first, Sanjoru, was a MA/SR stalker…so you see, I love me some villains.   A few weeks later, I rolled an Invul/SS tanker who, after a server move and two rename/reboots, became Priest. 

It’s hard to pinpoint what hooked me at first.  The game mechanics were ok, but I wasn’t really impressed until I got my first travel power and the world opened up to me.  I think it was probably the story more than anything.  I really got into the idea of my cyborg assassin Sanjoru working to make a name for himself in the streets of the Isles.  It felt gritty and real to me – well, for a comic-book type game, anyway. :P 

I stopped playing for a while…I got into another game but I forget which.  When I returned in 2008, I poked around the forums and found that Virtue seemed to have the most active RP community, so I logged in, and decided to roll a mercenary telepath who lived in Paragon but was only looking out for number 1.  My first couple names were already taken, so I settled on Mindstryker.  He quickly ran into a demon called Herashi who was looking for mortal allies to help him seize power.  I know, not the most original of ideas, but I decided to roll with it, and Mindstryker joined forces with him.  Then Herashi’s player introduced me to a little thing called AE, and four days later, Mindstryker was 50.

(Yeah, Jack was an AE baby. *shrugs* The problem most people had with AE babies was that their players didn’t know how to do anything.  Anyone who’s teamed with me knows I’m not THAT bad.)

I also moved my tanker to Virtue, rechristened him as Blue Alpha, and joined Jadewire.  Those guys were fun as hell, and I wound up spending the majority of my time with them.  By the time I got back to Jack, Herashi was gone, and Jack was alone.  I decided to find him another SG and eventually wound up in Villains of Paragon City, where I met Raina Sylvir, Grimaulkin, Red Komodo, Rusted Man, and Kalius.  I’ve covered those days before, but if anyone cares and wants a recap, let me know.  As Safe Havens grew, I met other players who had an influence on making me who I am now, especially Petite Le Morte.

After the Havens fallout, I eventually joined Titan Industries with Tommy Cortex, and met awesome people like Andy (Titan Girl), Mel, Kalen, Junior, Entropy’s Hammer, Epsicon, Fulgin, DevilTiger, and others I’m sure I’ll remember later.

I learned so much about myself and others in this game.  I learned that what I say and think matters.  I learned to always strive to be self-aware.  I learned to recognize when I was being ‘played’, and some of the methods that people use to manipulate others.  I learned that there is no real, absolute truth…perception really is reality.  I learned how bad it could hurt to lose a friend, and how painful it can be when there was no other choice.  I learned that I can only give so much of myself with no recompense.  I learned to be a storyteller, a leader, an advocate, and a friend.

I’m sad to see City go, but I had enough time to make my peace with it, so I’m doing all right.  I said goodbye to the people I needed to, and will keep in touch with them.  I took gobs of screenshots, and made provisional plans for those characters I felt needed closure.  Speaking of screenshots, I’m going to wrap this up with a few that I took over the last few days.

Mindstryker at Portal Corp.  Jack decided he couldn't abandon the hero gig entirely.  So he hopped a gate to...

DCUO!  Here's Jack, chilling in the Watchtower.  Yes, THAT Watchtower. :D

Meet Dom aka Never Broken.  He's joined Primalis, Lue, and Priest in CO.  For now.

Ah, Erik.  You deserved so much more of a story.  Maybe someday.

TI's last hurrah.  I laughed and cried so much.  I <3 all of you guys!!

 This is the fabled Matrix Room.  I didn't even know this place existed until Kalen mentioned it at like 2:00 am.  I think it's a pretty appropriate place to wait out the end of the world.  And while you're waiting on the world to end....

You might as well bust a move!! MONKEY DANCE!!!