Creating an AAA title and failing to provide the correct scaffolding - working website, forums, password reset and effective support, to name just a few things - is a terrible mistake. However satisfied I am with the game, after 3 days of fighting the support over a hacked account (real life example from Ocho over at Casual Aggro) I'd be fed up with the company. Even the City of Steam team is doing this better, and they are a very small studio.
On the other hand, the demise of City of Heroes didn't really make me sad. I do feel sorry for the people who are now left without a job, and I am also sorry for the money that was spent on the latest update - which was mainly the reason why CoH was not really profitable in the last few years. But I am not sorry for the game itself. It was - in MMO years - very old, and it would require a total rejuvenation to stay alive instead of makeup. Anarchy Online took the other route, they are trying to upgrade it to use a new graphical engine. It is big enterprise, and they may still fail to do it, but if they don't, I think it will lure a whole bunch of new players to the game.
Not that I don't have memorable moments with CoH. The thing that made the deepest impression on me was the way Travel Powers work. First of all, they were really good for travelling, but all of them had a very different feel. But first and foremost, Jumping as a travel power was something I kept dreaming about for years. CoH, I believe, created the whole line of superhero games, and that is an admirable achievement, even if it needs to step down now, and let other, new, shiny games fight for players.
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