City of Heroes has just shut down.
Crio, Hadron, Flechette, Piezoelectric, Tumult, Yew and Kesoth from Paragon City, and Tropane, Ankhare, Shantak and Fermion from the Rogue Isles are now gone.
I'm actually quite sad.
I liked those guys. Even the villains had personality that made them - well, likeable.
And that's not to mention their friends and team-mates. Hadron and Tumult will no longer team up with Winterwych, Blaize, Higgs or Overcast as the Spears of the Realm. There will be no more comments from Higgs about Hadron's cap being on backwards, or how Blaize's boobs were perfectly shown off by her fiery aura or her bolero jacket, while Winterwych taps her foot impatiently at the two men for acting like boys.
They won't talk to Meatball or David Pyrons, or team up with Fast Fighter, Noodlecat, Jade Falcon, Miragena, Funky Synth (Awwww... YEAH!), Astral Viper, Damselfy, Sayiir or anyone else for that matter.
No more dedications to characters in the middle of a cave system fighting the Circle of Thorns over the internet radio.
No more looking in broken vending machines, and seeing that the Rikti have stolen all the Twix.
Nothing will go Wommm... Wommm... Wommm... to let you know you're nearly there.
Ankhare will no longer be able to outdo the Tanks and Brutes at their own game, and leap into the middle of a mass combat, take all the attacks and give out so much more than she's getting.
Yew won't be there, perched on top of a stack of containers, her bow strung and her quiver full of arrows ready to rain death and distraction* down on her foes.
No-one will broadcast "SQUID UP!" across the server any more, and trigger a wave of people heading for Independence Port.
I'm going to miss it.
It was fun. It kept me sane at a very low point in my life. When I felt like I couldn't do anything right, I could be a hero. Or take out my frustrations and smash things up villainously.
Farewell, Paragon City.
The Rikti were invading, with citizens running in fear.
But you've got a lot of good people there to defend you.
*Yes, distraction. No, really.