Yes, the SWG 'killer' was the NGE, released in November '05 which caused the loss of over 200k accounts that were never recovered. There were only 200K people playing the CU, so how did they loose "over 200k subs" with the NGE? If that was the case then the number of people playing today would be in the negative (less than zero). LOL. Informed opinion puts the game around 75 thousand subscriptions today, which I admit is not that impressive, but certainly not "dead" (whatever that means). It has been on life support ever since. Gah, when will people stop parroting each other. Say something original. By the way, as a business, SOE would shut the game down FOR REAL if it was not turning a nice profit. AoC just seemed to push the declining numbers along, compounding the low population problem. Ha! People are leaving AOC in droves. Just look at the Vanguard forums and especially the AOC forums. SO you crap on SWG and defend AOC??? Damn bro, you should just go play console games if thats the case.
Also, not only would the game be shut down for real if not making a profit (which it clearly is), but SOE is bound by contract with LucasArts to develop the game, so there are in fact additions coming to the game on a regular basis (like the upcoming Hoth addition) and will be for years to come. If the game is "on life support" (Gah!) then why, pray tell, are they adding anything to it? It would logically cost money to do ANYTHING so how is this possible since it's so "dead?"
I miss the good ol' days when nerds were actually intelligent.
Don't hold your breath. The SOE Defense Squad gets really quiet when asked for proof that there are more than 7k SWG players.
Ok, PROVE that there are only 7 thousand players. Whats that? You can't? Oh, well...
If you think this game only has 7k subs, you are seriously delusional.
You are stating to believe you're own hype.
You call out others for lack of evidence, but provide none yourself.
Ironic, to say the least.
Honestly I think 7k is generous. On my last vet trial I logged on to about a dozen different servers (including the so-called high population servers) and tried to get a feel for how many people were playing. I never saw more than 12-15 people in any one place even during prime time hours. All the servers feel like ghost towns.
Anybody can download the trial and log on to any of the servers and see the same thing. There is simply a lack of players. If the game is doing as well as you, obraik and ummax say it is then it should be easy to post some screenshots or movies of hundreds of people playing. Obraik managed to post pictures of a pvp event that actually showed a decent sized crowd but that was a one-time event on one server--certainly not representative of the game as a whole.
Yes, the SWG 'killer' was the NGE, released in November '05 which caused the loss of over 200k accounts that were never recovered. There were only 200K people playing the CU, so how did they loose "over 200k subs" with the NGE? If that was the case then the number of people playing today would be in the negative (less than zero). LOL. Informed opinion puts the game around 75 thousand subscriptions today, which I admit is not that impressive, but certainly not "dead" (whatever that means). It has been on life support ever since. Gah, when will people stop parroting each other. Say something original. By the way, as a business, SOE would shut the game down FOR REAL if it was not turning a nice profit. AoC just seemed to push the declining numbers along, compounding the low population problem. Ha! People are leaving AOC in droves. Just look at the Vanguard forums and especially the AOC forums. SO you crap on SWG and defend AOC??? Damn bro, you should just go play console games if thats the case.
Also, not only would the game be shut down for real if not making a profit (which it clearly is), but SOE is bound by contract with LucasArts to develop the game, so there are in fact additions coming to the game on a regular basis (like the upcoming Hoth addition) and will be for years to come. If the game is "on life support" (Gah!) then why, pray tell, are they adding anything to it? It would logically cost money to do ANYTHING so how is this possible since it's so "dead?"
Hehe...seems like you are taking any critcism of SWG far too personally. By pointing out obvious issues with the current version of SWG was in no way also a personal attack on you, so please calm down.
If you are having such personal heartburn over the 200k+ numbers pre-NGE (which I feel are well supported), then maybe you can more easily digest the loss of as much as 75% or more of the playerbase due to the NGE. If you wish to deny that the NGE cost SWG a vast majority of accounts, then go right ahead - however, it is not a well shared view by most.
You defend SWG as if it were a 'stand-alone' game -making a 'nice' profit. It is a filler game to the $OE Station Pass Program, where other troubled games join collectively to make the 'profit' that makes the Station Pass games churn along. The flagship $OE games, the EQ series, are the backbone of the Station Pass whether you want to accept it or not. By the way, SWG could only dream of having 75k active players....20k is generous, and the dead/dying servers and cries for low population fixes (server merges, free tansfers. cancellations due to low numbers, poor PvP participation, etc.) attest to my numbers far better than yours. I will say that your 75k number is believable if you are including the inactive SWG Station Pass Accounts and trail (vet ot new) accounts.
Again, If you calm down and also take the time to reread what I posted, then you will acknowledge that I did not defend nor criticize AoC. I only suggested that it was more of a catalyst for the drop in subscriber numbers that are well aknowledged. AoC or any other new game just adds to the total SWG player attrition rate. If you reread my post, you will alos read that I did mention the poor population is a reason in itself for players leaving, and it will become more of an issue the longer $OE refuses to address the problem.
Any person who throws out sub numbers and treats it like it's a fact is just plain wrong. The only numbers that are true are when a dev says something.
FYI the last numbers of any type were when PEX stated that at 9:30am pst on a weekday there were 254 players at the Farstar servers "farewell to Pex" event a couple weeks ago.
Populations on most servers are drastically low. Period. No sense in contesting that.
That won't stop the SOE Defense Squad. They figure if they repeat their lies often enough people will believe them.
Even though it's very easy for anybody to verify that populations are drastically low by using a vet trial or signing up for a free trial, the usual suspects will continue spouting that the NGE is just fine, there are hundreds of thousands of people playing and the current dev team has everything figured out.
More Jedi than Bounty Hunters. Iconic and totally fitting for the time period. As for the numbers - thanks for the info. Your time and effort are appreciated.
The numbers were gathered by one of Gorath's infamous greedy crafters and former senators.I just posted link and pasted numbers.
Comments
Also, not only would the game be shut down for real if not making a profit (which it clearly is), but SOE is bound by contract with LucasArts to develop the game, so there are in fact additions coming to the game on a regular basis (like the upcoming Hoth addition) and will be for years to come. If the game is "on life support" (Gah!) then why, pray tell, are they adding anything to it? It would logically cost money to do ANYTHING so how is this possible since it's so "dead?"
I miss the good ol' days when nerds were actually intelligent.
Ok, PROVE that there are only 7 thousand players. Whats that? You can't? Oh, well...
If you think this game only has 7k subs, you are seriously delusional.
You are stating to believe you're own hype.
You call out others for lack of evidence, but provide none yourself.
Ironic, to say the least.
Honestly I think 7k is generous. On my last vet trial I logged on to about a dozen different servers (including the so-called high population servers) and tried to get a feel for how many people were playing. I never saw more than 12-15 people in any one place even during prime time hours. All the servers feel like ghost towns.
Anybody can download the trial and log on to any of the servers and see the same thing. There is simply a lack of players. If the game is doing as well as you, obraik and ummax say it is then it should be easy to post some screenshots or movies of hundreds of people playing. Obraik managed to post pictures of a pvp event that actually showed a decent sized crowd but that was a one-time event on one server--certainly not representative of the game as a whole.
Also, not only would the game be shut down for real if not making a profit (which it clearly is), but SOE is bound by contract with LucasArts to develop the game, so there are in fact additions coming to the game on a regular basis (like the upcoming Hoth addition) and will be for years to come. If the game is "on life support" (Gah!) then why, pray tell, are they adding anything to it? It would logically cost money to do ANYTHING so how is this possible since it's so "dead?"
Hehe...seems like you are taking any critcism of SWG far too personally. By pointing out obvious issues with the current version of SWG was in no way also a personal attack on you, so please calm down.
If you are having such personal heartburn over the 200k+ numbers pre-NGE (which I feel are well supported), then maybe you can more easily digest the loss of as much as 75% or more of the playerbase due to the NGE. If you wish to deny that the NGE cost SWG a vast majority of accounts, then go right ahead - however, it is not a well shared view by most.
You defend SWG as if it were a 'stand-alone' game -making a 'nice' profit. It is a filler game to the $OE Station Pass Program, where other troubled games join collectively to make the 'profit' that makes the Station Pass games churn along. The flagship $OE games, the EQ series, are the backbone of the Station Pass whether you want to accept it or not. By the way, SWG could only dream of having 75k active players....20k is generous, and the dead/dying servers and cries for low population fixes (server merges, free tansfers. cancellations due to low numbers, poor PvP participation, etc.) attest to my numbers far better than yours. I will say that your 75k number is believable if you are including the inactive SWG Station Pass Accounts and trail (vet ot new) accounts.
Again, If you calm down and also take the time to reread what I posted, then you will acknowledge that I did not defend nor criticize AoC. I only suggested that it was more of a catalyst for the drop in subscriber numbers that are well aknowledged. AoC or any other new game just adds to the total SWG player attrition rate. If you reread my post, you will alos read that I did mention the poor population is a reason in itself for players leaving, and it will become more of an issue the longer $OE refuses to address the problem.
Any person who throws out sub numbers and treats it like it's a fact is just plain wrong. The only numbers that are true are when a dev says something.
FYI the last numbers of any type were when PEX stated that at 9:30am pst on a weekday there were 254 players at the Farstar servers "farewell to Pex" event a couple weeks ago.
I am calm.
You are just imagining that I am not.
I mean, we are discussing MMO's, it's not stressful.
I miss the good ol' days when nerds were actually intelligent.
Populations on most servers are drastically low. Period. No sense in contesting that.
AC (retired); EQ (retired); DAoC (retired); Horizons (retired); EQII (retired); CoH (retired); AC II (tested); Lineage II (beta); Neocron (tested); Saga of Ryzom (beta); SWG (retired)...
That won't stop the SOE Defense Squad. They figure if they repeat their lies often enough people will believe them.
Even though it's very easy for anybody to verify that populations are drastically low by using a vet trial or signing up for a free trial, the usual suspects will continue spouting that the NGE is just fine, there are hundreds of thousands of people playing and the current dev team has everything figured out.
forums.station.sony.com/swg/posts/list.m Numbers taken on Gorath,supposedly a medium pop server. It doesn't seem too healthy.
Times are central time.
6/20/2008
9:40 pm
Bounty Hunter 8
Commando 18
Entertainer 12
Jedi 12
Medic 10
Officer 1
Smuggler 2
Spy 2
Trader-Domestic 2
Trader-Engineering 2
Trader-Munitions 4
Trader-Structures 2
Total 75
6/23/2008
12:00 pm
Bounty Hunter 15
Commando 43
Entertainer 14
Jedi 45
Medic 5
Officer 12
Smuggler 5
Spy 3
Trader-Domestic 5
Trader-Engineering 4
Trader-Munitions 11
Trader-Structures 11
Total 173
More Jedi than Bounty Hunters. Iconic and totally fitting for the time period.
As for the numbers - thanks for the info. Your time and effort are appreciated.
The numbers were gathered by one of Gorath's infamous greedy crafters and former senators.I just posted link and pasted numbers.
not surprising
That video in the first post could have been of any of the servers. Kauri is not the only one that's empty these days.
Almost every server I have seen including Bloodin looks close to that...
lol SWG = AA or E&B. Only SOE hasn't gotten the hint yet.