Inspired by This: http://leilasledger.blogspot.ca/2012/10/save-city-of-heroeswhy-it-matters.html blog post.
Hey, I know my blog isn't the most traffic heavy blog on the internet. Heck I don't even know how many parents of Special Needs kids read this. But, I'm gonna challenge you. We are warriors for our kids. If you play City of Heroes/Villains with your special needs kids, SPEAK OUT. Blog about it, share it with your blogsphere. Howl it far and wide how NCsoft is taking away one of your most key tools out of your toolbox!
We all know how challenging it is to raise kids that have needs that are out of the ordinary. I have a daughter who has Autism. We know that every tool is a treasure in the box when we find one that actually WORKS to help our kids be...KIDS.
City of Heroes and Villains gives these kids who have enough challenges to begin with, be kids. They allow them to be heroes! Villains (Without getting punished! hehe) Or just plain free to do whatever they imagine! These kids are housebound due to severe allergies, or other form of challenges, so they have no real friends.
Humans are social creatures, kids even more so. This game gives these kids such a chance they never would have had otherwise.
NCsoft is taking away something very unique, from kids with special needs. We need their parents, to really rattle some cages. Take a game from a bunch of paying adults...no one bats an eye. Take something from kids that have challenges, OH you got a nasty PR mess on your hands. So please...please Blog, share your blog with TonyV and Victoria Vitrix over on The Titan Forums Or on TonyV's twitter https://twitter.com/thetitannetwork Tweet you name it.
Warrior Mammas...activate.
Click here to sponsor me for Extra-Life's 24hr City of Heroes Game A thon on Oct 20th
Click here to sign the petition to keep this wonderful safe community alive!
I'm in!
ReplyDeleteAlready sending out those letters...and variations thereof.
ReplyDeleteDear NCSoft Board of Directors,
On August 31st, you announced the sudden shut-down of the game City of Heroes, and the closing of Paragon Studios. On October 2nd, you announced, effectively, that there were no further plans to sell the IP in any way. This is a game which has proven beneficial to children with autism and speech disorders, in large part because of the game's subject materials. Children care about superheroes. They look up to them, and see them as role models.
The parents of autistic children struggle daily to find something that will help their children in the world. We had one of those resources in City of Heroes. Those heroes who inspired my child, and may have inspired other autistic children, to start speaking and communicating again, will be gone on November 30th.
Of course, there are other games we can look to as possible therapeutic aids. The autism community speaks regularly about new suggestions and therapies which might help our children. When we search for those therapies, we have to ask ourselves a question. "Is this possible benefit worth the risk?" It's often a very hard question to answer due to expense and time. For the $15 a month cost of an MMO subscription, that answer may well be yes. For a $60 game with no subscription fee, and perhaps an occasional purchase in the store, that answer may be yes.
Our children react very poorly to sudden changes. This is one of the diagnostic criteria of autism. And so I find myself asking a very hard question of NCSoft now. You have made the decision to shut down a thriving, active game. This was an extremely sudden, unexpected decision. You have further made the decision that you will not sell or release the IP for that game at this time. And so I ask myself, and I ask the NCSoft Board of Directors and shareholders:
Why should I trust that you will not do this to another game?
I am looking at a company that has just released a new game, and plans to release other games within the next year. Some of these games look very attractive, possibly interesting to children and teenagers. But there is still a very crucial question to be answered.
How can I say to the parent of another autistic child "Yes, try NCSoft's new game. It might help."
When a company has a long history of closing games down suddenly, a practice that could be quite harmful to progress an autistic child has made while playing that game, why should I speak positively of that company? I would like to recommend some of these games, but I cannot in good conscience tell the autistic community, the large and growing autistic community, that I can trust NCSoft not to repeat what they have done with City of Heroes and Paragon Studios.
Please help me find a reason to recommend your games to the thousands of parents of autistic children. Please demonstrate that we can trust your products to remain stable and continuous, even when those products no longer meet the direction of your company. Please reconsider your decision to release City of Heroes, so that I can continue to tell the autistic community that NCSoft can be trusted to support tools that help our children learn and grow.
We are heroes, so our children can become their own heroes. This is what we do. Show us that you're willing to be heroes as well.