City of Heroes Goes Rogue Once More; Multiple Servers Up and Running

Published: May 4, 2019 10:44 AM /

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City of Heroes lives once more!

Two weeks ago, we reported on the drama surrounding the revelation of a secret City of Heroes server, followed by the subsequent release of a public server over Easter, and the quick shut down of that said server after fear of reprisal from the parent company NCSoft.

As it turns out, the fear of reprisal was overblown, as the game is once again thriving for the diehard fans of City of Heroes. Over the past two weeks, a team of players, calling themselves the Homecoming Team, have taken it upon themselves to keep the servers afloat, adding three more map shards over the past two weeks to fill capacity for what is estimated to be over 107,000 different characters already populating the game from nearly 37,000 players, and roughly 3,000 players in the game concurrently. Demand has been so rampant to play the game, that a queue system was added to deal with server overload. In total, the shards of each server are capped at 2,000 people at a time.

The Homecoming Team has posted a note on their official forums regarding the state of the servers and the cost to run them. In short, anyone with the hardware that includes a modern processor, 64 cores, 96GB of memory and a stable connection can theoretically add to the game's servers. The Homecoming Team, based in Amsterdam, posted the following specs for themselves.

  • 1x Auth Server (4 cores, 8GB RAM)
  • 1x Web Server (4 cores, 8GB RAM)
  • 4x DB Servers (6 cores, 16GB RAM) (One per shard)
  • 5x Big Mapservers (32 cores, 64GB RAM)
  • 4x Small Mapservers (16 cores, 32GB RAM)
The cost for running these servers is apparently $4,700 a month, and for the Homecoming Team, it is about at the limit of what they can do to keep the game alive. They have publicly stated that at this time they will not be taking donations, but are interesting in making more shards for players, provided they meet the requirements above.
"Many people have been in touch asking if they can help support us with their hardware or resources. So far we’ve said no, but we’re reaching the limit of what we’re able to afford on our own. As such, we are now opening the doors for this kind of discussion. If you’re interested, and if you have or are able to acquire the following, please do get in touch!"
Players looking to play in these new City of Heroes servers can follow this guide here to sign up. Players should also be wary of anyone who solicits them for donations, as they are not associated with the Homecoming Team. Players should also play at their own risk.

Currently, NCSoft has been quiet over the nature of these new servers, though through the confusion of the past few weeks it is known that they have been in contact with several individuals linked to the various teams running the rogue servers. The fate of City of Heroes is still up in the air, but like any good superhero, the MMO keeps getting back up to fight another day.

What are your thoughts on all of this? Happy to see City of Heroes return? Leave your comments below.

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| Staff Writer

A longtime player of games, creator of worlds, and teacher of minds. Robert has worked many positions over the years, from college professor to education… More about Robert