Announcement here


Time. What a funny thing. In retrospect it seems like it was only just yesterday to recall my first posts on the forums. Yet, when I fill in everything that ensued over the last two years, a collage of details swims up at me: Issue 8, Veteran Rewards, lewtz!, Aliens, comics, Fanzines, flashbacks, player events, Trade shows, City Scoops, articles, all the awesome people at NCsoft I’ve had the opportunity to work with, and so much more. Yet through it all – it’s been you, the game’s community, which stands out to me the most. When I’m in game playing and see a new player getting advice in /help or a global channel, when I read threads on the forums or when I open e-mail or private messages, I’ve always been impressed at the quality and caliber of people that make up this game’s community.

However, this world we live in is not a static place. If anything, one certainty we have is the knowledge that things change. It is with this in mind that I write you today to say that I’m making a change. I have decided to pursue other opportunities outside of NCsoft.

Even having said this, I’m still excited to for the future of the City of Heroes franchise. Having been privy to some of the many plans that are in work, know that I will be right there beside you playing and enjoying the fruits of the Development Team and NCsoft’s hard work. I leave knowing that you are in good hands.

I want to wish you all the very best for everything the future holds in store.


- Lighthouse

So the prevailing rumor that I'm hearing is that he was forced to resign because of a statement he made re: pvp, for which he posted a retraction here. Sigh. I've only been playing a year and a half, but I always thought he was a very good CRM. I think this is a shame.

Current Mood: sad

Of COURSE this happens the day after I let my account lapse so I can't give him farewell wishes on the O.B.

But we all know that the devs read this community, so I'll say it here:

I've not always agreed with your decisions, but when you've been wrong, you've been good enough to admit it, and you've stood by all the decisions you've thought were right, no matter how much shit some players piled on you. Good luck. I, for one, will miss you.

Reading the announcement thread, someone there posts this:
Is it just me or is the sign that a community rep is truly awesome is that they leave? Cuppa, Cricket and now Lighthouse?

What a bittersweet tradition!

I think they might be on to something.

Well, with Cuppa it was technically a promotion at the time, right? They thought she could really help them fire up the Tabula Rasa community. I thought Cricket left because NCSoft and Cryptic were transitioning control of the official boards?

I wonder if either of them would apply...

Doesn't matter "why" they leave - only that they do it before the community is ready to relinquish them. :p

That sucks, he was a good CM. Not quite up their with CuppaJo or Bridger in the "fun" factor but he certainly wasn't the worst I've seen by a wide margin.

: (. Farewell Mighty Manager! *hug*

@UE)*@)!!!! What the hell! I demand an explanation for this tomfoolery!*

Of course I can't demand anything of the like, I just don't like the news... :( Kuso is a sad panda at hearing this news.

Sigh...

I wouldn't be surprised if this had to do with the PVP comment.

Yet another reason why I think PVP has ruined CoX.

What PvP comment was this?

It's the link that I posted right below the announcement

No, your link is LH's farewell. The PvP comment has long since been buried, but LH's retraction is: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=12440173&an=0&page=2#Post12440173 which includes a quote of his original statement.

Yes I know, and I posted the link to that in my original post below the announcement, under the cut.

ahh, sorry, didn't see the hyperlink in the text.

Yes, please explain what PVP comment you are talking about. Someone else said it was sad to see him go because Posi is such a d. and that ... was not only ambiguous, but suggestive of things that I'm not sure I trust anyone on the forum to actually know anything about, and it would be nice to de-tinfoil-hat the conversation.

It's the link that I posted right below the announcement here

Ah, so it is. I must've been blinded by the hypnotic stare of your icon.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=12440173&an=0&page=2#Post12440173

It would be especially sad if this was the result of corporate fallout for telling the simple truth:

We knew that the current PvP community wasn't likely to react well to the changes as they wern't who we were making changes for, so it's understandable that there is continuing complaints from that segment.

Yup, this was the comment I was referring to.

I had a feeling something was up too when I saw that Ex Lib was the one who posted the last two patch notes on the Test Server forum. Usually LH is the one who does it.

What a tempest in a teapot. His statement may not be what PvPers wanted to hear, but it's correct. The current PvP changes on Test -are- for the purpose of attracting more non-PvPers. Duh. Typical of the PvP kiddies for jumping down his throat for saying something true instead of something popular.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that Lighthouse got a job offer that
a) Paid better
b) was in a better locale
c) didn't have to deal with half the fucktards (Note, this means the idiots there, not everyone. As Ery, Sapphy, and Agge are all awesome, as are the other LJers who actually go to the forums) that dwell in the forums.

Or some combination of those.

Well, that just sucks. Not only because I think LH did a good job, but because LH was our "go-to" guy in the base forum, and now we're back to having no one as a liason. Fuck.

Wait, what? A comment acknowledging that some people don't like the changes is the equivalent of Watergate at NC Soft? Seriously?

but I think it may have been more like,

Somebody Important:

"Telling the players that something they are going to dislike will be happening solely because Somebody Upstairs wants it to be that way, is not Good Community Relations."

Or, from the Extremely Negative Viewpoint

Somebody Important: "Oh no, they (the players) are going to figure out this was all my idea, and I am going to catch hell and be seen as a Bad Person. I will now give you endless crap until you quit."

Or, from the Extremely Positive Viewpoint

LH: "Hey guys? I got this incredible job offer! You know I love you and all, but I just gotta take it."

Somebody Important: "We'll miss you!"

Bearing in mind that there are, unfortunately, people who just like to cause trouble and gossip out there, I wouldn't take the comment too seriously at this point.

Totally unrelated, Patrickat, but I LOVE your avatar.

Michelle
aka
Samurai_ko

Lighthouse should have just responded with a riff on the ol' "if you're going into a PvP zone..." chestnut. Something like "If you're going on the PvP forums, expect to be PvP'd. Sorry I've got a 1337 Redname build, but you just got PWNZ0r0xx0r'd. Don't like it? Go to another forum. lolz."

Well I'm certainly sorry to see him go. He's been a fabulous guy to have on the City team, but I can understand if he's just tired of dealing with the jerks and/or he received a better offer elsewhere. I do wish the best for him.

With CuppaJo gone, I was kinda hoping Lighthouse was a stayer. After all he's a community guy and that requires some 'liking' (and I just started to really like LH T.T ). You know, a bond. I guess now I know now to never expect people like them to stay. Kinda feels like we'll never going to have that good of a bond as with CuppaJo and LH... And you would almost think the i13-whiners was too much for him, lol.

Anyway I hope the best for his new career.

Having met LH in person, it's even more distressing to see him go. :-( I really hope he didn't get blackballed over his PvP comment, but the cynical part of me says that's the case.

Damn I'm going to miss him. I met him in person at HeroCon (and got hugged) and had good fun chatting with him. He's also always been a gentleman in helping me as I worked on videos, facilitating communication between me and the devs when I needed help or had questions or whatnot.

:(

And his birthday is coming up, too.

Michelle
aka
Samurai_ko

OK, liking PvP does not mean that you are automatically some rude 15 year ol, I do realize this. I also realize that despite the fact PVP seems like a waste of time to me, there are some who love it, and who do so without being jerks Ok.

That being said, PvP does attract a lot of the people I try I came to this game to AVOID. Let's be real honest here, many of the PvP types are the sort whose main kick is making sure other people do NOT have a Good time. In the long run, these folks are bad for ANY business, because they will make messes, be rude to other customers and drive over people off. Let's also look at another fact, the people who will make this game MONEY are the people that will but bells and whistles like costume packs. If I spend that money, only to find that the ruder players make my game unplayable, I will be ticked off.

I understand there is pressure to bow down the PvPers, namely because Jack Emmert is polishing Champions, and also focusing directly to CoH players that feel that the current game does not do PvP to their liking. I am sure someone could post the links where he said he would do PvP so much better since it would be in the game from the get go. Well, maybe Jack, but since you are advertising to malcontents, it also says that people who LIKE this game may not be happy with you. Remember Jack Emmert (aka Statesman) left on bad terms with most players here, exasperated due to his abuse of Nerfs. The point is, NCSoft cannot always listens to the people who shake pitchforks and brandish torches, because those are not always the people whose approval you need. In the long run, the people that will feed and protect your business are the people you build a personal, somewhat complex relationship with, and that is where Lighthouse and Jo did their jobs wonderfully.

Again, to those that do PvP without being jerks, I salute you, But, just like I have to realize that I am not the only member of the "audience" the devs need to lsiten to, so do many of you. Cyberspace is littered with the graves of crappy MMos that focused on whiz-bang features, but had little in the way of a personal touch. Even the folks at Blizzard realize there is more to games than PvP. Yes, we have a right to complain, but we also need to realize that it is very very easy to destroy something we care about.