I Do Love the CoX

Some of the pictures in this post are a little on the large size in full resolution. I am too lazy to change them. Also, all of the art was done by myself once upon a time and are of characters created by other players. The screenshots are of a couple of my characters.

Hex Girl

City of Heroes/Villains, or CoX as we called it once upon a time before ban warnings made that acronym unusable on the forums, was a game that practically consumed my life. The vast majority of the people in my life are either people I have met in the game, through groups associated with the game, or were introduced through people I met because of CoX. If you were to go through my list of Facebook friends, the largest group would be those I know because of this game with a distant second being people I went to school with followed by people that play Marvel games on Facebook, family, and then those I have met locally since moving to Fresno, CA twelve years ago.

Flux

Let's go back to January 2004. My school funding had fallen through in spite of my being disabled and on the Dean's List. I had no job at the time because I was on disability and unable to get around on my own so was taking online classes in hopes I could find some work to do from home. My disability was getting worse so I actually saw my academic career failing as both a blessing and a curse at the time. I am fairly certain now that I would not have been able to keep up, but I did have a strong start and nothing in my academic records at the time showed I was incapable of doing the work online.

Caesura

I was building a super hero themed MUD at the time. It was a project between semesters that I could construct over time and possibly use as hands on experience in game design and team management. I did not want a MUSH or a MUX or a MOO. I wanted a game where people could craft their own powers from hard coded bits instead of by simply describing what a power did every time it was used.

So I was working on some code when a friend asked me yet again over ICQ (digitized smoke signals) if I had tried World of Warcraft yet. I responded that I did not have the time, but promised I would get a copy. I then proceeded to spend the next couple of weeks hunting down a copy of World of Warcraft as it was apparently sold out everywhere.

 

I was in a local Walmart that February on another failed attempt to track down a copy of the elusive World of Warcraft. Sitting there on the shelf was a collector's edition copy of City of Heroes. Basically this meant a copy of the game with an included Heroclix figure, black and white comic book, a real manual, and in game glowing pink slide run power. Throw in the fact they were offering a free monthly comic with the subscription back then and I was sold. I told myself I was getting it for research purposes to make certain my MUD was not doing anything too closely related, but the real reason is I have been a comic book fan since before the time I was permitted to be a comic book fan.

Fraggle

For the next two years I did not buy another video game, miniature, or role playing product. I did not go to the theatre. I saved a metric bankton of money. My acrylic paints literally went to brick form in this time as I did not touch them and they were mostly the Citadel black flip top paints that never sealed properly. I continued to play CoX for many more years after that, but during those two years I played nothing else.

Yes, the game was fun, but it was the connections that kept me going. Even when I was not playing the game I would log into either the game or the forums to talk with people. I met so many wonderful people and the various little communities were vibrant with lives of their own.

Scurvy Dog and Scurvy Princess

CoX shut down in November of 2012. I do miss it even though I was not playing it much at the end. There are people still trying to resurrect it, recreate it, or build a spiritual successor. Some celebrities stepped forward publicly as having played the game in hopes that their influence might help the game remain open. Mercedes Lackey was particularly visible during this time, although she was far from being alone amongst all the voices.

I did join in the torch holding ceremonies at the end. The community I used to be a part of embraced me once again for a short time as I was again a part of it. This was a community that in the end came together not to protest the closure, but to remember what the game meant to them. It was our vigil for the end of our home and community. I do not hate NCSoft for their decision to close CoX. Neither do I understand it, but they did give us a few months to say goodbye.

Irresistible Force

Many people that played the game still share screenshots they had taken. Some of them seem to have hard drives full of screenshots. Going through my collection of pictures, I have one screenshot of my level fifty from the character select screen, a few of the second character I made for the game (the first was deleted early on), and a smattering of shots of other characters. I have some CoX art I have drawn, but most of it is of other people's characters. I am happy I took the time to make something for friends, but kind of wish I had taken the time to record some of my own memories as that is all they are now. Memories.

So what brought on this bout of nostalgia? There are screenshots and talk about the game shared to my Facebook feed practically every day. No, the trigger for this post was a spammer selling sunglasses that tagged a friend of mine I met in game.

Alt for Irresistible Force

This friend was shot in the back multiple times in 2011. As far as I am aware the police still do not know who shot him nor why. His family never attempted to take down his Facebook page and leave it there for those of use who knew him online. Some of my other friends have met him in person. Muad Dib could be an angry, yet passionate person that would speak up for anybody or against anything if he felt the need. We butted heads sometimes as we could both let passion blind us at times, but he had a good heart. Heck, he was practically all heart, both the good and the bad. He never tried to hide who he was when online and always, and I mean always spoke his mind.

My Oldest Character

It got me to thinking about other friends that I only met through the game or forums that left us before the game itself ended. I do not know how many people actually remember Malibu Sally, and most seem to hate her, but that bitch sure knew how to have some fun. Ascendant is another that is no longer with us. I never met Coyote as he was a member of the community before my time, but I did have the good fortune to meet his brother who only joined the community after hearing about the tribute to his brother in game.

My Level Fifty

It is all a bitter reminder that life is too short. I need to get out there and find new communities. I need to make some new friends. I need to live a little again. Thank you random sunglasses spammer for making me angry enough to wake up and think about life again.

What Happened to the Romulans?

The Star Trek original universe Romulans that is. The recent movies raised a lot of questions as to how much they impact the original universe and when exactly events occur.

A lot of this pulls from the MMO from Cryptic. There is some debate as to whether the MMO is considered part of the original universe or is an alternate reality similar to the recent films. The events from the various television series and older movies happen in the MMO universe. Cryptic has to have CBS sign off on all storylines they introduce via the game as well. For this post I will work under what may prove to be the false assumption that the MMO is canon, but please realize that while it currently follows in the footstep of the original timeline it is also easily ignorable by CBS whenever they decide to produce another television series in the original universe. It is probably best to read this post as conjecture rather than fact because of this.

This post will be done with very broad strokes. My hope is to provide information to those interested in the original Star Trek timeline that might not want to play the game. Because of this there will be many spoilers from the game. If you have a desire to play the game and find out what happens for yourself then I recommend not reading this post.

Yes, you can have this top in game. I have yet to make a Romulan look this good.

The game confirms the events of the recent films. Romulus is indeed destroyed. So is Remus as well as planets from many other systems. Spock is amongst those counted dead as a result from being within the radius of the explosion. The explosion occurs roughly a year after the return of Voyager to the Alpha Quadrant, and the game opens twenty years after that. Approximately two years passes between the game opening and the start of the Legacy of Romulus expansion where we start to get some real explanations as to what exactly happened. While it is also not canon (although it may become so), the pilot in production for Star Trek Renegades occurs roughly ten years after the destruction of Romulus. I think it is fairly safe to assume at this point CBS considers the destruction of Romulus to be an actual part of the original timeline. At the very least it will be something they can not easily ignore.

The destruction of so many systems core to the Romulan Empire created a power vacuum in the video game universe. While Romulans were spread throughout the Alpha Quadrant and some into other quadrants as well, their central government was all but wiped out. Five different individuals stepped forward claiming to be the rightful Emperor/Empress, but who was the true heir was not something easily determined as nobody had records detailed enough to prove anything once that far out from the family tree.

The Romulan Empire shared borders with not only Federation space, but the Klingon Empire as well. The Klingons saw a chance to expand into what was once Romulan space with little resistance. In the twenty years between the destruction of Romulus and the opening of the game there was no true centralized Romulan government, but there was the remnants of the military attempting to reform the Romulan Empire. There are portions of the old Romulan Empire not claimed by the Klingons and Federation, but it is a shadow of its former self.

"This is your Empress. We need to talk."

Fast forward two years of game time through which the Federation and Klingon Defense Force are still at war. A new power is on the rise, the Romulan Republic with D'Tan as its leader. D'Tan grew up a Unificationist and was a pupil of Spock. For those unfamiliar with the Unificationists, they were Romulans that wanted Romulans and Vulcans to coexist before anyone knew about the impending destruction of Romulus. They were not a very popular faction of the Romulan Empire, espeically amongst those in power and tended to live in the shadows. The Romulan Republic's goals during the game are to build a home where Romulans and those allied with them can be left alone to simply live their lives.

The remnants of the old military trying to rebuild the Romulan Empire, the Tal'Shiar allied with the Iconians, practically push the civilian population into joining the Romulan Republic by trying to force all Romulans into service under their banner. They literally kidnap Romulans trying to colonize whatever world they can find that nobody else wants. The biggest threat to a Romulan finding any peace at all is not the Federation, the Klingon Defense Force, or even the Thollians. The biggest threat to peace is the Tal'Shiar.

The Romulan Republic can not fight the Tal'Shiar on their own. The Tal'Shiar is the bulk of what is the old military power after all. Even if the Romulan Republic outnumbers them man to man they simply do not have the combat experience nor the armament and are only really starting to build their own single flotilla. The Romulan Republic turns to both the Federation and Klingon Empire for aid. Neither is willing to assist them as they are at war with each other and they see no benefit for doing so. Also, the Romulan Republic does not have a world to call its own and is a group of ships that travel a sector of space together for protection. Nobody is willing to recognize their rights as a civilization of their own.

Borgs for the Borg Gods

If you make a Romulan character in the game one of the things you do is search for a new homeworld for the Romulan Republic. You find a world that used to be irradiated that nobody had settled. Some of the plant and animal life on the planet has greatly reduced the radiation levels on the planet in less time than anybody would have expected making it habitable. You find what appears to be an ancient Romulan artifact on the planet from when the Romulans first left Vulcan to find their own home. The main problem with the planet is the Thollians have an interest in it, particular ancient ruins found on the planet. Other than the Thollians and spots of higher radiation levels the planet is an ideal location for a new home.

You go on many merry adventures. I won't go into all of the episodic content for Romulans here, but pull a little from all of them. Along the way however you discover what caused the explosion which took out so many systems. There is a research station in the Hobus system next to the star that exploded which managed to survive enough to be rebuilt and have some of its information recovered.

On the station is one of the individuals responsible trying to find a way to either undo the damage or make things right somehow. Acting under the direction of one of the higher ranking members of the current Tal'Shiar she deployed a device into the star. She was led to believe this would help the Romulan Star Empire gain greater power than it already had. The resulting reaction caused an explosion that ripped through subspace to destroy many star systems. You never get to discover what all she has learned in the two decades since the explosion of the Hobus star as she escapes hostile forces by stepping through an Iconian gateway located on the station.

I think every Romulan ends up getting one of these.

The long story made short for where the Romulans are now is this. The Romulan Republic claims the discovered planet (previously Dewa III) as the new centralized home for the Romulan people. The Tal'Shiar cause problems, but with the new alliances the Romulan Republic is making the Tal'Shiar has less power than before yet are still dangerous. The Thollians are a concern as well as they try to unearth secrets under the surface while attempting not to draw too much attention to themselves. Thankfully they are sending small expeditionary forces at this point. Player characters have the option of working more closely either with the Federation or the Klingons as part of the new alliances, but the best ships from both factions are not available to them while the Romulan Republic is making their own ships that the Romulan captains may fly for either side. Nobody really trusts the Romulan Republic yet, but a foundation is being built for the future. There is a cease fire between the Federation and Klingon Empire that started just this Summer in game for those players that have advanced that far through the storyline so members of the Romulan Republic working for one side are no longer expected to fight other members of the Romulan Republic if met in certain places.

There is more to the story. Both already in game, and yet to come. I have simply made a general review of things. There are characters whose stories were never fully resolved and are still out there somewhere. One of the main driving forces behind the Tal'Shiar is probably dead although he has left many people loyal to him and his vision. Empress Sela was dragged through a portal by Iconians and can be practically anywhere and in any condition. We still do not know what the Iconians want other than we know they use Romulans to cultivate soldiers. Some characters that have been in the story are still alive with the potential to shift events yet again. There is too much left open to call this story done yet.

None of the images in this post are owned by myself. Some of the information for this post is pulled directly from quests in the game. This primarily references material from the From the Ashes, Allies, In Shadows, Wasteland, Vengeance, and Freedom episodic content as well as the New Romulus reputation content. Other information is from the Path to 2409 lore sections of the game.

Path to 2409 Volume 8, Chapter 5 – Q: Which group first detected radiation fluctuations in the Hobus star? A: Romulan Mining Guild

Path to 2409 Volume 8, Chapter 7 – Q: How long did the Romulan military report it would take to evacuate the home world? A: Six weeks

Path to 2409 Volume 10, Chapter 1 – Q: How many Romulans attempted to take over as Emperor in 2389? A: 5