I don’t know if I’ll ever miss a game as much as City of Heroes, but I don’t know if that’s exactly what you’re looking for in this thread. It obviously wasn’t some kind of prerelease thing that was denied an official release, it was just a MMORPG that couldn’t make it in the long run.
But man, I miss it so much.
Yep, definitely this. Btw, thanks for that link! Very cool to see those again.
Yes!!! I miss CoH so much, and so regret bailing on it when WoW hit (though I did play it a bit thereafter, my peak time playing CoH was April through November 2004). Criminal that it isn’t around still. To this day I still remember my characters from that game more than any other MMO –
Nine Lives, a claws scrapper in a purple catsuit with a 9 emblazoned on the chest
Category Five, a weather controller looking like a weather caster with hair in a bun, glasses, and a business suit
Dust Devil, a dust? scrapper
War Crime, a tank in WW2 uniform and pale gray skin
HMO Diablo, a healer type with nurse outfit and devil’s horns and tail
…and countless others. Loved that game, loved the lore, loved the veteran rewards, loved the villain groups. Miss it soooooo much. Would dearly love a standalone server.
Shame your Cat Five weather controller never met up with my storm defender, Force Nine.
“There’s a storm front coming, Bone Daddy!”
As to other things:
Mythica. I still have my t-shirt with Odin on the back that says “Only you can prevent Ragnarok”. Just wore it a couple of days ago, actually. Man that game was going to be so cool, but Microsoft pulled the plug. Can’t really blame them, since most MMOs not named WoW weren’t doing spectacularly.
The sequels planned for Darklands. When you got to certain places on the edge of the map or in certain ports it showed choices for other countries to go to. Do you want to go down the Danube toward Hungary and Turkey? East to Poland and Moscow? West into France and the Hundred Years’ War? Across the Alps into Italy?
But they’re all grayed out. It’s been 25 years now and I’m still waiting.
Also, poking around in the game files I found that a large part of the game had been cut. There were going to be revolutions in the cities and you could manipulate the guilds and other factions to fight for or against it.
Back then I took it for granted that there would always be honest, competent game reviews available. I had no idea it was just a passing phase.
I very much miss Warhammer Online. I spent so much time in Tier 1 and Tier 2, figting over castles and keeps - I still remember holding the shieldwall for 4 hours as Elven swordsman, against the hordes, and it was one of the grandest PVP, and gaming experiences of my life.
I still say, if they took out their battlegrounds and made it a game unto itself, where you fought a capture the flag 8 vs 8, you’d have a game EVERYONE would love to play.
In a sense I was always sad that the Worlds of Ultima series didn’t go further. It seemed so full of promise in 1990 – take the Ultima VI engine and apply it to all manner of new settings, genres, etc. However, my regret is in the abstract, as I never even played Savage Empire or Martian Dreams (I tried the latter many years later via Dosbox, but as is often the case with old games you didn’t play the first time around, it was tough going). I just liked the idea of this great cross-genre empire of Ultima-style games, a sort of digital GURPS.
I miss the fun old flight games, from Crimson Skies via Aces of the Pacific to Falcon. It died when the rivet counters took over and only the russians wanted to build games for those guys.
Guardians: Agents of Justice. I still remember my excitement upon seeing the print ad on PC Gamer. And then the bummer of the cancellation news.
Another beloved oldie that never got the sequel (actually more of an expansion) it deserved was Origin’s BioForge.
Yeah I had a wonderful time with that game. Some members of the Jason Lute’s group, the Guardians of the Golden Age:
Captain Kodiak - an ice/ice tanker from Alaska with an eye patch and an attitude
DC Dynamo - electric blaster from WW2
Sister Sibyl - mind/empathy controller from an ancient age
MechLords, the follow on game after Master of Orion/Magic by Simtex. You played as a noble in a feudal galactic empire, using ground combat to take over planets, scheming against other nobles, eventually having the opportunity to try and make yourself emperor.
I miss Mechwarrior 4, which I played in competitive online leagues for ages.
On a related note, I am sad that FASA never got to really finish Shadowrun. When it was released in an obviously unfinished form, it was still an impressive shooter with some very cool mechanics.
Right to the depths of my heart right there. They were the hook that drew me in.
Adding to the thread though:
Might and Magic at its heyday (Xeen timeframe)
When limited turns were fun (Looking at you, Trade Wars 2002)
Ascendancy (before I learned the AI just plain sucked)
Hot seat games with friends
Co-op flight simming because of the complex keyboard overlays
And how can anyone forget:
Massive game manuals and maps
I miss, 1Up, specifically the weekly video show. That was great stuff!
Yeah, exactly the kind of stuff you guys are adding to the thread, that’s what I had in mind. Of course I’m not a guy who adheres too closely to a single discussion myself so it’s cool if anyone strays from the script. Maybe you miss Max Headroom - it’s ok, I do too.
And you know, I’m sure Arkane will make a great game, just not what I wanted to play.
I’m with you. Microprose was my jam.
Shit yeah, miss them every day, I do.
I second (third and fourth) SSI, Microprose, Wizardry and Might and Magic.
And wish Sega would give us Phantasy Star 5.
Oh man, I’d lose it if there was a new Phantasy Star