Well, my many successful months of resistance to the evil addiction sweeping the land (that virulent plague known as “City of Heroes”) have proven for naught. Finally, the last free man on Earth has succumbed.

I have a dislike of multiplayer gaming with people that I don't know personally (one perusal of the City of Heroes forums should indicate why), and I'm also not overly fond of allowing further incursion of the subscription model into my entertainment. On top of that, I am somewhat biased against the Superhero genre (because of a semi-complex set of associations and perceptions of the comic industry and the genre itself).

Nevertheless, this resistance can only take you so far when 1) nearly all of your friends have been constantly playing since the beta and are no longer available on IM most of the time, 2) a large proportion of in-person conversation with said friends revolves around the game, 3) you don't have to make the initial cash outlay for the game, 4) the subscription is at least reasonably priced (first month free, then $15 per month, including the subscription to the print-comic), and 5) one of your friends twists your arm.