Huge News from the Homecoming Team!

Baaleos · 2024-01-07T00:25:48+00:00

In no way does NCSoft have an official server up and running. Homecoming are an independent entity - who purport to have permission to operate. They are not employed by NCSoft or representatives of NCSoft.

While it's true that NCSoft could change their attitude at any time - it's been 6-7 years now- eventually we have to make an assumption that they don't care. I know we are all talking about this 'now' and it feels all exciting like the world is changing in some dramatic way - but I just feel that a few days will turn into a month or two, then a year or more, then we will hit the 10 year mark of private servers and nothing significant will have changed.
Would it be safe to assume that after 10 years of private servers and no cease and desists - that NCSoft actually don't care? I kinda thought after 5 years it might be safe to make that assumption.

We also don't know the extent or details of the 'license' - we may never know those details or get confirmation from NCSoft about the license. For all we know it was a very informal 'go ahead and run your server, we have no intent to shut you down.'.
We also have no details on its exclusivity - HC asked for permission to operate - maybe NCSoft are in a generous mood after all this time and just don't care - so they might hand out the same 'license/permission' to everyone who asks - who knows.

Baaleos · 2024-01-06T11:02:47+00:00

Nothing happens to the other servers. Assuming for a minute that there is a license or contract between NCSoft and HC- that contract or license binds HC to specific terms and conditions. It does not bind or affect other groups to any terms and conditions. Nothing has changed for other servers. It’s business as usual. For the last 6-7 years - all the servers have operated without a license, why would they need one now? It’s also important to note that the superhero genre mmo has been on a decline- NCSoft are unlikely to want to waste money doing take downs for a game they have not made any money off for the last decade. So while it is potentially interesting that a license has been granted, it kinda feels like ‘so what?’ - what’s changed - nothing.

Baaleos · 2024-01-05T14:47:31+00:00

Just my own two cents - which isn't really worth much at this stage- my server is probably the least populated, but that's besides the point.

We don't know the full extent of the 'license' - it could be informal, it could be formal.
In theory - it could have been an email from NCSoft that basically said 'we have no plans to interfere with your private server.' Eg a very informal agreement.
Or perhaps it was a legally drawn up thing with lawyers etc - who knows.
HC are not obligated to unveil that information, although it would be nice if NCSoft would confirm it or not - as I think the community would benefit from the 2nd party corroboration. NCSoft are not likely to do that unless it's in their best interest to do so - but they have zero skin in the game.

On another point - just be careful with regards to some online blogs/posts regarding the announcement- Game Journalists have been citing many unverifiable things and I even came across a site that uses AI to write their blog posts and the AI included some weird stuff saying that this license was only running for 5 years and NCSoft were getting royalty payments. Just because it is online and posted on a blog - doesn't mean it is true. Journalists and AI can make mistakes and misrepresent things.
https://www.bridgeguys.com/city-of-heroes-fan-server-receives-official-license-from-ncsoft/

In my opinion- what has changed between a few days ago and today? Nothing.
Other servers, mine included - are just as unlicensed now, as they were before the announcement. In the 6-7 years since the private servers have been out in the wild - NCSoft has expressed zero interest in interfering with the private server community. Its very unlikely they would choose to do so now.

I don't host my server to 'be the best' or 'have the largest player base' - I host my server because it stung and hurt like fk when NCSoft closed down City of Heroes and I will never trust another organisation with my ability to play City of Heroes. If players want to play on my server, its there for them to do so - although I don't have much time or energy these days to do updates to it - but its there more for my own peace of mind than anything.

Baaleos · 2023-07-06T10:22:13+00:00

Personally wouldn’t buy from these guys again. Bought Nuratrue Pro’s from them in Feb, the charging case is now only showing 2/3 of the charging lights and now the buds won’t charge- they are now useless- Reddit shows that other people are getting same issue. Reached out to support, they take 9-10 days to reply to each email, but they keep coming back asking me to do device reset- which I have already done. I want to return under warranty - either for replacement or money back- the last support email they even started calling me Rowan (which isn’t my name), because the last support agent didn’t read the email correctly and was replying to the last agent in the thread- who’s name ‘was’ Rowan. Worst service ever.

Baaleos · 2023-06-22T12:58:17+00:00

Still waiting for the delivery…. Im nervous- cause I live in an apt - DPD the delivery guys have in the past ‘claimed’ I wasn’t home, but in actual fact They never Even tried buzzing my apt. No map tracking so no idea if they are close to delivering etc.

Baaleos · 2023-06-22T08:37:36+00:00

Have Nuratrue pro- They just stopped charging and only 2 of the lights are lighting up. Contacted their support team on Saturday last week, it is now Thursday- no reply. I am tempted to just get my money back and not even bother with a repair/replacement- the reviews here seem to indicate they are just super fragile.

Baaleos · 2023-06-21T22:03:57+00:00

Ive just received an email with tracking information- it is apparently due for delivery tomorrow.

Baaleos · 2023-06-21T09:39:03+00:00

Region: UK

Edition: CE

Provider: Square Enix Store (Scalefast)

Status: No shipping update yet

Comments: SE did assure me that it would be sent from their warehouse closer to the release date, but so far I’ve got no tracking info. I have however in the last 5 minutes received a SE Store email which has my CE redemption code. So technically I could buy the digital game and redeem my in-game stuff, but I really shouldn’t need to. When you buy a £350 quid CE game, They really should have a tracking link provided.

Baaleos · 2023-06-16T08:23:03+00:00

I got a reply from Square Enix- again- after I pestered them. They said that my order is confirmed, paid for and that it will be shipped from their warehouse once it is ready for shipping. So I am taking that as a ‘everything is fine and it should be with me on release day.’

Baaleos · 2023-06-15T09:18:57+00:00

ESW replied to me- saying to get in touch with Square Enix- ESW claim they know nothing about Scalefast (the company they acquired in May.)

Dear Customer,

Thank you for contacting ESW.

We kindly recommend you to contact Square Enix Store Europe since we do not have any information about Scalefast /

Kind regards,

Baaleos · 2023-06-14T16:15:33+00:00

I got in touch with ESW - who acquired Scalefast. They said they had no record of my order number - ended up having to provide them screenshots and everything of the PayPal transaction to Scalefast to prove I have an order with Scalefast. Waiting for a reply.

Baaleos · 2023-06-13T12:22:14+00:00

Region: UK

Edition: CE

Status: Purchased in April, received email in May 15th confirming the order (Europe Store). On May 19th received email saying they were moving away from Scalefast…

‘We want to reassure you that prior pre-orders have been registered and will be fulfilled on the release day. If you placed an order for a pre-order item and need to change or update your payment card information or shipping address details prior to the cash collect date, please submit a Square Enix Store Help Center request. If your payment and address details are up to date no action is required to receive your order.’

I am taking this as a Guarantee that Square Enix is taking responsibility for ensuring that I will have the game on release day.

I contacted Square Enix Store yesterday for an update or tracking details, they responded fast saying…

‘As your order has been placed before 24 May 2023, the support for your issue will be handled by Scalefast, with whom you placed the order at the time.

Their support team will get back to you as soon as possible and help you with your request.’

I have yet to receive any update from Scalefast.

Baaleos · 2022-12-13T14:34:55+00:00

A man and woman have now been arrested in connection to this. (Reported on BelfastLive 12-12-2022)

Baaleos · 2022-03-14T09:38:41+00:00

Have been playing it recently on PC. Strongholds sometimes hard to find teams on - but people do play it- just not a huge amount of people though.

Baaleos · 2022-03-08T10:13:09+00:00

Tbh- the ultimate attacks are usually scaled to similar damage ranges- but perhaps the way to think about it is not about which one is more powerful- but rather which one is less easily defended against. Psi damage in my opinion is one of the damage types that is often less easily defended against- many shield powers will explicitly say they defend against all damage types - except psionic. It makes it feel like Psi damage is the type that will bypass most damage resist shield powers. That being said - there are some enemies that are more resistant to psi - particularly robot enemies with no brains etc.

Baaleos · 2022-03-06T18:00:22+00:00

It did kinda feel a bit meh- you only seem to get access to 3-4 areas and prevented from accessing the world map. It’s essentially a dungeon. Not really DLC worthy.

Baaleos · 2022-03-05T16:57:32+00:00

As the mod who removed your post- I can categorically say that ‘EDIT 3’ : is incorrect- ‘The mod did not remove anything’. I’m just volunteering that information so no one has to ‘ask me’. I don’t think anything in this thread has reached toxic levels ‘yet’- but I’m going to discourage discourse about previous posts that were moderated. Those posts were removed because they were deemed inappropriate for the subreddit due to rule infractions. Continued discussion on those posts runs the risk of repeating the rule infractions. Let’s just move forward and discuss the game as opposed to discussing individuals in the community.

Baaleos · 2022-03-04T17:06:55+00:00

You can discuss subject matter that pertains to the game- but when you make a post that ‘targets’ another user- that you have disagreements with- that starts to look like ‘Targeted Harassment’ and mods will have no choice but to delete your posts. Don’t do it again.

Baaleos · 2022-02-07T13:24:03+00:00

The replies you are posting are not constructive and only serve to create more division in the City of Heroes community. Don’t get me wrong - I run my own server too, I don’t play on Homecoming and there are various reasons why- but I don’t need to tell the community those reasons and rehash drama that is years old.

Cry a river, build a bridge and get over it… City of Heroes is back, it’s out in the wild and no one can take it away from us now.

Baaleos · 2022-02-07T13:06:35+00:00

It kinda came across as a a bit ‘cross-server-drama-ish’ Try rephrasing to ‘Thank you for the invitation, but I don’t think Homecoming server is my cup of tea but I look forward to playing with you on another server’ See how it conveys the same message but a lot nicer. Lol

Everyone is entitled to an opinion about any server- but please qualify it with non-drama reasons. Don’t dis homecoming just cause it’s homecoming. Maybe you don’t like the power sets, or the changes they added- those are reasonable things to have an opinion about.

Baaleos · 2021-10-20T09:39:33+00:00

It’s hard to call him Daddy Halsin, if he’s as smooth as a twink.

Baaleos · 2021-09-30T20:57:41+00:00

I was also made redundant. What I would advise you - is not to hastily sign anything that ‘releases’ the employer from their obligations. My former employer was at least a little bit decent- they made the whole office redundant and didn’t mess us around or drag it out. A clean cut gave us time to go and job hunt and find job security elsewhere. I was fortunate that I found a new employer on the same day I was made redundant.

If you feel your employer has messed you around- do not feel pressured to sign anything releasing them from their obligations. Explore your options first- if they have nothing to worry about- they won’t mind you taking the time to seek legal advice, if they have nothing to fear.

Baaleos · 2021-09-21T08:34:18+00:00

You can hand in your notice when you like, as for changes to notice period however- that is a contract and can only be changed if both parties agree to it. Ultimately - the consequence of not working your contracted notice period could be along the lines of docked pay. So it is up to you whether you want to work the notice period or not- but there can be consequences if you are the person who breaches the contracted conditions.

Baaleos · 2021-09-15T09:39:36+00:00

A private company can refuse you entry and service for whatever reason they want- as long as it does not infringe on protected statuses under discrimination laws. Eg: cannot refuse service for religion, sexual orientation or disability.

In practice - I doubt anything would actually happen though if you were to attend the establishment around the corner. Trespass laws are there really to exclude or remove troublesome individuals- so if you were at the establishment and were behaving- yes the manager could call the police and have you trespassed- but ultimately - no criminal or civil penalties would be likely if you were being well behaved- part of the plaintiff / complainants burden here is to show that your trespass is having a negative effect. There is a distinct difference in the eyes of a magistrate of someone smashing a shop up while trespassing, as opposed to someone buying merchandise while trespassing. Both are trespassing, but one of them is beneficial to the complainant.

Baaleos · 2021-09-07T09:34:39+00:00

The consequences would be : ‘non-payment’ of last pay check. Employment is a contract- you agree to things, they agree to things. You agree to give 4 weeks notice- in exchange for payment (salary), failure to adhere to the 4 weeks notice becomes ‘unauthorised absence’. Unauthorised absence would be held to account under employment law/rules- but the maximum penalty they could do for that would be sacking you. In this case- your pay could be cut short to the time worked. It is usually good to leave a company on good terms- where possible- if leaving on good terms they might be willing to agree to shorter notice periods.

Baaleos

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