Even if they have 150k subs. That is a healthy number. Lotro is doing fine and it has an estimated 50k to 80k population. IMO age of conans flaw is the lvl cap. Lvl 80 is fine but not to start, I think you have to ease people into it. Other than that content is solid, graphics are excellent and it has a healthy population. So as long as it can keep over 100k and keep overhead low it will make money and thats why they made the game.
Even if it was only 100K that is 20 Million a Year! There isn't a publisher today that wouldn't kill for that type of Revenue! Not to mention the initial box sales of 35 Million and Change, You guys are nuts! If the OP's intention was to make AOC look bad he is an idiot. Again, Any Publisher would be blessed to have 55 Million in Revenue!
$20 mill anaually is gross revenue, many MMO devs claim 50% of a sub fee goes to cover bandwidth, FC has more than 300 employees and offices in atleast 3 countries. FC also claims to have spent upwards of $40 mill on the games development.
Not to mention AoC retail box can now be bought for $5 and time cards for 50% of their face value.
Not the exactly a stellar financial picture atm. I'll leave their stock price out of it.
Originally posted by Unfinished Not to mention AoC retail box can now be bought for $5 and time cards for 50% of their face value.
Please provide a link of time cards going 50% off their face value. All the sites I checked show 60 day time cards for 29.99 or very close to it.
I found one site selling them off for this price. They are just a no name store as well.
I do not think this is the issue. The poster is making it sound like AoC is the only game to do this. I know for a fact that LOTRO was just 9.99 after 6 months for the boxes, and they were pushing a special for 9.99 a month for returning players. Or new players could get 9.99 for 3 months bought in advance.
The fact is this is nothing new, and usually happens when a game has sold it's stock within enough of a range to have paid for the box sales...the rest equals pure profit.
In so many words, the poster believes this is doom, and this is not proof of that...unless of course you mark your game down to .99 cents (*cough* Tabula Rasa *cough*)...then you can start to say goodbye to the game.
i'm one of the ones that recently returned to AoC been having alot more fun than i did the first go, probably because i'm playing on a pvp server. at launch the pvp servers was an unplayable gankfest.i couldn't even get off the lil boat to whitesands without being gang raped by groups before i could even move, and then spawn camped at the rez point.thankfully the grievers quit the game so the rest of us can enjoy it playing real pvp.
i did notice in global chat, i've seen alot of people saying they just returned asking questions and what not. wether people come back and try it out again doesn't matter to me but some are and having fun not sure why the new trend is to hate on every game you don't play. why does it matter if others enjoy a game that you don't? short bus mentality i guess, doesn't need to make sense.
Even if they have 150k subs. That is a healthy number. Lotro is doing fine and it has an estimated 50k to 80k population. IMO age of conans flaw is the lvl cap. Lvl 80 is fine but not to start, I think you have to ease people into it. Other than that content is solid, graphics are excellent and it has a healthy population. So as long as it can keep over 100k and keep overhead low it will make money and thats why they made the game.
Where are you getting your LotRO numbers?
Last I heard, LotRO had 200k+.
Just wondering where you got those numbers.
PLAYING: NOTHING!!! PLAYED:FFXI, LotRO, AoC, WAR, DDO, Megaten, Wurm, Rohan, Mabinogi, RoM
Although I'm not the OP, I do think that the estimate is reasonable based upon the following:
(Disclaimer: I am neither a mathematician nor a statistician. I'm sure some of you can poke holes in the methods and reasoning used below. I'm not saying they're 100% rock-solid valid, but I think they're at least somewhat indicative. I did take stats in college, and I slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night...)
Using some "known" numbers (well, claimed anyway) as a starting point, and Xfire to draw some conclusions:
WoW subscribers: 11,000,000 Xfire "Hours Played": 408,232 11,000,000 / 408,232 = 26.9 users/hour who use Xfire with WoW
WAR subscribers: 300,000 Xfire "Hours Played": 12,108 300,000 / 12,108 = 24.8 users/hour who use Xfire with WAR
Although not identical, 26.9 and 24.8 are actually quite close, so I suspect that my method at least isn't complete nonsense.... let's average them together, and use 25.9 as a rough multiplier for all games...
AoC "Hours Played": 5,278 5,278 * 25.9 = 136,700 users... that's between 100-150k... OP might be right.
A few other of the top MMOs (just because I was curious, and have played all of them):
Of course I realize that Xfire numbers fluctuate daily... but at least as a point of reference, I think these numbers seem reasonable enough. None of this is proof, but it's another data point to consider...
EVE is only around 250k subs. CCP has never had any issue releasing their subscription numbers, but they've been growing since launch, something that only WoW can claim with them. They have a slightly higher xfire usage atm because there was an eve/xfire promo competition kinda like lotro is doing now i believe.
$20 mill anaually is gross revenue, many MMO devs claim 50% of a sub fee goes to cover bandwidth, FC has more than 300 employees and offices in atleast 3 countries. FC also claims to have spent upwards of $40 mill on the games development. Not to mention AoC retail box can now be bought for $5 and time cards for 50% of their face value. Not the exactly a stellar financial picture atm. I'll leave their stock price out of it.
First of all, FC still gets money from AO too, that should be enough for some employes at least. The box sales is the least income for a company.
And 50% to cover bandwith and employes are bull, 20-25% is probably a lot closer to the truth, they probably counts in the intrest rate of the cost to mke the game in the 50%.
As long as AoC have 100K subs they should be doing OK, and a lot of the money was put into the engine which FC will re-use into their next game.
We also have upcoming launch in Poland and Russia, together with what they got from the company licensing the game in Korea.
Things could have been a lot better but I doubt we see either AoC or WAR closing down this year. Both games do need to get more subs however.
My guess of AoCs subs would be something around 135K subs or so, most in EU but I think it will go up 50K or so with the Russian/polish launch soon. And the game have climbed a lot in X-fire statistics the last few months, from #65 to #43 so I don't see any disaster right now. I don't see the game becoming huge either however, it will stay like LOTRO, EQ2, Eve and many others.
Blackwell, usually your posts are well worth reading, and your assesment on Funcom and Age of Conan is right on spot. I mostly agree on your posts when "they" (fanbois, and I too suspect FC-employes at times) are posting obvious pr-stunts to help Age of Conan. To me it is at times just a disgusting PR-rant that further diminishes the companys chance for making the game even remotely interresting again. However, being a norwegian myself, i must speak up to what i can not see as utter nonsense from your part - this of course conserning your argument that Funcom has celebrity status in Norway, and norwegians poor english. Norwegians speaks very good english, if you want to find the true norwegian Funcom-fanboi-nutheads, then look for the well-phrased ones, cause thats where you will find them. Also, i must admit i resent the way some people dodge reasoning when they easily can attack people for lesser skills in what is not their first language - this i have seen so many times espescially towards posts made by our friends from easter europe. You are not just flat wrong about the reading/writing abilities of my countrymen, but you are walking down the road of utter ignorance. I agree if someone posts in sentences that is dead-right incomprehensible it is an issue, but do not bring a wrong stereotopy into a topic which concerns how Funcom has betrayed not only their fanbase, but continues to betraying and luring new mmo-players with false advertisement and lies. As for the celebrity status in Norway, let me point the fact that the press here has been very honest about the state of the company, and even raised new issues (concerning poor conditions for workers at Funcom, pointing out analytical reasons for why the game will fail at start and how they failed after). When i read statements like this, i get the smell of my own skeletons, and inside i get the smell of american ignorance. Keep the fight for the truth about Funcom and their lies - true. Don't mix your american-cultural-banana-milshake view on how we europeans reasons and react with stereotypical remarks that even are the wrong stereotypes. Stick to what your good at, namely revealing the lies and misconduct of the Funcom PR-machine.
$20 mill anaually is gross revenue, many MMO devs claim 50% of a sub fee goes to cover bandwidth, FC has more than 300 employees and offices in atleast 3 countries. FC also claims to have spent upwards of $40 mill on the games development. Not to mention AoC retail box can now be bought for $5 and time cards for 50% of their face value. Not the exactly a stellar financial picture atm. I'll leave their stock price out of it.
First of all, FC still gets money from AO too, that should be enough for some employes at least. The box sales is the least income for a company.
And 50% to cover bandwith and employes are bull, 20-25% is probably a lot closer to the truth, they probably counts in the intrest rate of the cost to mke the game in the 50%.
As long as AoC have 100K subs they should be doing OK, and a lot of the money was put into the engine which FC will re-use into their next game.
We also have upcoming launch in Poland and Russia, together with what they got from the company licensing the game in Korea.
Things could have been a lot better but I doubt we see either AoC or WAR closing down this year. Both games do need to get more subs however.
My guess of AoCs subs would be something around 135K subs or so, most in EU but I think it will go up 50K or so with the Russian/polish launch soon. And the game have climbed a lot in X-fire statistics the last few months, from #65 to #43 so I don't see any disaster right now. I don't see the game becoming huge either however, it will stay like LOTRO, EQ2, Eve and many others.
yet the web traffic has dropped during that same time period, interesting isn't it. 50% more XFIre players yet less people visiting the site to read the news, forums, and find out about the game etc.
Even if it was only 100K that is 20 Million a Year! There isn't a publisher today that wouldn't kill for that type of Revenue! Not to mention the initial box sales of 35 Million and Change, You guys are nuts! If the OP's intention was to make AOC look bad he is an idiot. Again, Any Publisher would be blessed to have 55 Million in Revenue!
Just to clarify
AOC gets 15% of box sales for NA, and 20% in EU. Your 35M was actually closer to 8M - 10M and was already accounted for in the 2nd quarter when it sold most of it's boxes
Subscription fees - $7 goes to bandwidth/servers, another $1.50 goes for customer support. Both are handled by outside companies who charge a set fee per user per month. This does not include devs, QA or any other funcom costs. A highly successful MMORPG like WOW only has about a 40% profit margin on subscription fees. The lower the population gets, the more fixed costs (like salaries) eat into the profit margin.
Blackwell, usually your posts are well worth reading, and your assesment on Funcom and Age of Conan is right on spot. I mostly agree on your posts when "they" (fanbois, and I too suspect FC-employes at times) are posting obvious pr-stunts to help Age of Conan. To me it is at times just a disgusting PR-rant that further diminishes the companys chance for making the game even remotely interresting again. However, being a norwegian myself, i must speak up to what i can not see as utter nonsense from your part - this of course conserning your argument that Funcom has celebrity status in Norway, and norwegians poor english. Norwegians speaks very good english, if you want to find the true norwegian Funcom-fanboi-nutheads, then look for the well-phrased ones, cause thats where you will find them. Also, i must admit i resent the way some people dodge reasoning when they easily can attack people for lesser skills in what is not their first language - this i have seen so many times espescially towards posts made by our friends from easter europe. You are not just flat wrong about the reading/writing abilities of my countrymen, but you are walking down the road of utter ignorance. I agree if someone posts in sentences that is dead-right incomprehensible it is an issue, but do not bring a wrong stereotopy into a topic which concerns how Funcom has betrayed not only their fanbase, but continues to betraying and luring new mmo-players with false advertisement and lies. As for the celebrity status in Norway, let me point the fact that the press here has been very honest about the state of the company, and even raised new issues (concerning poor conditions for workers at Funcom, pointing out analytical reasons for why the game will fail at start and how they failed after). When i read statements like this, i get the smell of my own skeletons, and inside i get the smell of american ignorance. Keep the fight for the truth about Funcom and their lies - true. Don't mix your american-cultural-banana-milshake view on how we europeans reasons and react with stereotypical remarks that even are the wrong stereotypes. Stick to what your good at, namely revealing the lies and misconduct of the Funcom PR-machine.
Well Im sorry I offended you-and that was certainly not my intent.
All I am ever suggesting is that if you take a company like FC, and a game like AoC. With AoC being what its, and FC conducting business the way they do. I was simply trying to come to a conclusion that would justify it. National pride would be one of them.
I have nothing against Norwegians or anybody else who is from a different nation. I, myself am proudly from a country that leads the way in cultural diversity. In Canada our heritage and mind set emulates a European nation far more than the USA-although we have cultural influences by both. (Did you know that in Canada we still celebrate Queen Victoria's birthday because of our strong English heritage--It's a stat holiday and the only time of year home fireworks can be purchased).
Now, when I said celebrity status I simply was saying that they are known to be a household name as I understand it.If that is not true than I digress.
I was not trying to make-fun of anyone from a different place, and if I came across that way I sincerely apologize. I was simply trying to point out a pattern of behavior that seems suspect. I mistakenly used broken-english as a clue. I have caused you to feel personally insulted without cause.
Originally posted by Unfinished Not to mention AoC retail box can now be bought for $5 and time cards for 50% of their face value.
Really? Best Buy and other stores around here still try to sell 60day GTCs for 29.99 and the game itself for 39.99.
Been trying to find that myself. Would like a link on the cheap time cards. Think you just pulled that out of thin air.
More than one small game retailer posted dirt cheap time cards on the official forums, they were desperate to get rid of them. And a lot of folks have been finding cheap cards and boxes on e-bay (yes unopened, and worked fine).
Just because you are uninformed, doesn't make everyone else a liar
First of all, FC still gets money from AO too, that should be enough for some employes at least. The box sales is the least income for a company. And 50% to cover bandwith and employes are bull, 20-25% is probably a lot closer to the truth, they probably counts in the intrest rate of the cost to mke the game in the 50%.
AO subs? Errf unless a lot of the accounts are 'sleeping' AO has maybe 15-20K players, it's never made much money. hence it's extremely slow dev cycles, upside small games make for close knit communities, AO's best feature.
I would never have guessed that MMOs have to spend that much on bandwidth, it seems ridiculous, but multiple Dev Houses have made that statement over the past few years.
Originally posted by Unfinished Not to mention AoC retail box can now be bought for $5 and time cards for 50% of their face value.
Really? Best Buy and other stores around here still try to sell 60day GTCs for 29.99 and the game itself for 39.99.
Been trying to find that myself. Would like a link on the cheap time cards. Think you just pulled that out of thin air.
More than one small game retailer posted dirt cheap time cards on the official forums, they were desperate to get rid of them. And a lot of folks have been finding cheap cards and boxes on e-bay (yes unopened, and worked fine).
Just because you are uninformed, doesn't make everyone else a liar
I looked on ebay, half.com, several other sites that I would trust giving credit card info. Most were if not all 29.99. And you still didn't provide proof...
Originally posted by Unfinished Not to mention AoC retail box can now be bought for $5 and time cards for 50% of their face value.
Really? Best Buy and other stores around here still try to sell 60day GTCs for 29.99 and the game itself for 39.99.
Been trying to find that myself. Would like a link on the cheap time cards. Think you just pulled that out of thin air.
More than one small game retailer posted dirt cheap time cards on the official forums, they were desperate to get rid of them. And a lot of folks have been finding cheap cards and boxes on e-bay (yes unopened, and worked fine).
Just because you are uninformed, doesn't make everyone else a liar
I looked on ebay, half.com, several other sites that I would trust giving credit card info. Most were if not all 29.99. And you still didn't provide proof...
Ohh he's just one of those worn out haters. Check his post history. I general it consist of a series of extreme negativity, and there is never proof for any of the stuff he claims. No proof = Bullsheit .
And BTW, if there is a cheap timecard site, for the love of god, paste it in here so we all can get some.
Originally posted by Unfinished Not to mention AoC retail box can now be bought for $5 and time cards for 50% of their face value.
Really? Best Buy and other stores around here still try to sell 60day GTCs for 29.99 and the game itself for 39.99.
Been trying to find that myself. Would like a link on the cheap time cards. Think you just pulled that out of thin air.
More than one small game retailer posted dirt cheap time cards on the official forums, they were desperate to get rid of them. And a lot of folks have been finding cheap cards and boxes on e-bay (yes unopened, and worked fine).
Just because you are uninformed, doesn't make everyone else a liar
I looked on ebay, half.com, several other sites that I would trust giving credit card info. Most were if not all 29.99. And you still didn't provide proof...
Ohh he's just one of those worn out haters. Check his post history. I general it consist of a series of extreme negativity, and there is never proof for any of the stuff he claims. No proof = Bullsheit .
And BTW, if there is a cheap timecard site, for the love of god, paste it in here so we all can get some.
see post #63 20 bucks for 60 days cheap enough for you?
Originally posted by Unfinished Not to mention AoC retail box can now be bought for $5 and time cards for 50% of their face value.
Really? Best Buy and other stores around here still try to sell 60day GTCs for 29.99 and the game itself for 39.99.
Been trying to find that myself. Would like a link on the cheap time cards. Think you just pulled that out of thin air.
More than one small game retailer posted dirt cheap time cards on the official forums, they were desperate to get rid of them. And a lot of folks have been finding cheap cards and boxes on e-bay (yes unopened, and worked fine).
Just because you are uninformed, doesn't make everyone else a liar
I looked on ebay, half.com, several other sites that I would trust giving credit card info. Most were if not all 29.99. And you still didn't provide proof...
On E-Bay right now
Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures 60 day Card , bidding started at $4.99 atm it's $10.55 . No I will not link it, advertising goes against the RoC here.
Learn 2 WebSearch
Also search the MMORPG.com AoC forums, there have been mulitple threads in the last 30 days about where you can get the box under $10.
Originally posted by Unfinished Not to mention AoC retail box can now be bought for $5 and time cards for 50% of their face value.
Really? Best Buy and other stores around here still try to sell 60day GTCs for 29.99 and the game itself for 39.99.
Been trying to find that myself. Would like a link on the cheap time cards. Think you just pulled that out of thin air.
More than one small game retailer posted dirt cheap time cards on the official forums, they were desperate to get rid of them. And a lot of folks have been finding cheap cards and boxes on e-bay (yes unopened, and worked fine).
Just because you are uninformed, doesn't make everyone else a liar
I looked on ebay, half.com, several other sites that I would trust giving credit card info. Most were if not all 29.99. And you still didn't provide proof...
On E-Bay right now
Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures 60 day Card , bidding started at $4.99 atm it's $10.55 . No I will not link it, advertising goes against the RoC here.
Learn 2 WebSearch
Also search the MMORPG.com AoC forums, there have been mulitple threads in the last 30 days about where you can get the box under $10.
Twist and turn again. Nothing on ebay and you still did not givr proof... Sheezz, dude...
Originally posted by Unfinished Not to mention AoC retail box can now be bought for $5 and time cards for 50% of their face value.
Really? Best Buy and other stores around here still try to sell 60day GTCs for 29.99 and the game itself for 39.99.
Been trying to find that myself. Would like a link on the cheap time cards. Think you just pulled that out of thin air.
More than one small game retailer posted dirt cheap time cards on the official forums, they were desperate to get rid of them. And a lot of folks have been finding cheap cards and boxes on e-bay (yes unopened, and worked fine).
Just because you are uninformed, doesn't make everyone else a liar
I looked on ebay, half.com, several other sites that I would trust giving credit card info. Most were if not all 29.99. And you still didn't provide proof...
Ohh he's just one of those worn out haters. Check his post history. I general it consist of a series of extreme negativity, and there is never proof for any of the stuff he claims. No proof = Bullsheit .
And BTW, if there is a cheap timecard site, for the love of god, paste it in here so we all can get some.
see post #63 20 bucks for 60 days cheap enough for you?
Pretty good, just that the total still is getting 29.xx with shipping (which is still kind of the same as if I was walking over to nearest gamestore). Anyways, I tried to buy it after signing in to that site, and it did not recognize the product as if it was sold out or something. Are you getting the same stuff?
Originally posted by Unfinished On E-Bay right now
Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures 60 day Card , bidding started at $4.99 atm it's $10.55 . No I will not link it, advertising goes against the RoC here. Learn 2 WebSearch Also search the MMORPG.com AoC forums, there have been mulitple threads in the last 30 days about where you can get the box under $10.
I don't care about the boxes. Any game box can be found cheap if you look. Those ebay time card auctions will probably go above your so called 50% off the face value claim. Two auctions ... two... and you're going to tell me AoC is a sinking ship because two auctions are selling time cards less than their value?
Comments
Even if they have 150k subs. That is a healthy number. Lotro is doing fine and it has an estimated 50k to 80k population. IMO age of conans flaw is the lvl cap. Lvl 80 is fine but not to start, I think you have to ease people into it. Other than that content is solid, graphics are excellent and it has a healthy population. So as long as it can keep over 100k and keep overhead low it will make money and thats why they made the game.
Even if it was only 100K that is 20 Million a Year! There isn't a publisher today that wouldn't kill for that type of Revenue!
Not to mention the initial box sales of 35 Million and Change, You guys are nuts!
If the OP's intention was to make AOC look bad he is an idiot.
Again, Any Publisher would be blessed to have 55 Million in Revenue!
$20 mill anaually is gross revenue, many MMO devs claim 50% of a sub fee goes to cover bandwidth, FC has more than 300 employees and offices in atleast 3 countries. FC also claims to have spent upwards of $40 mill on the games development.
Not to mention AoC retail box can now be bought for $5 and time cards for 50% of their face value.
Not the exactly a stellar financial picture atm. I'll leave their stock price out of it.
Please provide a link of time cards going 50% off their face value. All the sites I checked show 60 day time cards for 29.99 or very close to it.
.. .... .- - . - .-. --- .-.. .-.. ... .-- .... --- .-. . .--. --- .-. - .-.-.-
--------------------------------------------------------
Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.
Please provide a link of time cards going 50% off their face value. All the sites I checked show 60 day time cards for 29.99 or very close to it.
I found one site selling them off for this price. They are just a no name store as well.
I do not think this is the issue. The poster is making it sound like AoC is the only game to do this. I know for a fact that LOTRO was just 9.99 after 6 months for the boxes, and they were pushing a special for 9.99 a month for returning players. Or new players could get 9.99 for 3 months bought in advance.
The fact is this is nothing new, and usually happens when a game has sold it's stock within enough of a range to have paid for the box sales...the rest equals pure profit.
In so many words, the poster believes this is doom, and this is not proof of that...unless of course you mark your game down to .99 cents (*cough* Tabula Rasa *cough*)...then you can start to say goodbye to the game.
Cheers
i'm one of the ones that recently returned to AoC been having alot more fun than i did the first go, probably because i'm playing on a pvp server. at launch the pvp servers was an unplayable gankfest.i couldn't even get off the lil boat to whitesands without being gang raped by groups before i could even move, and then spawn camped at the rez point.thankfully the grievers quit the game so the rest of us can enjoy it playing real pvp.
i did notice in global chat, i've seen alot of people saying they just returned asking questions and what not. wether people come back and try it out again doesn't matter to me but some are and having fun not sure why the new trend is to hate on every game you don't play. why does it matter if others enjoy a game that you don't? short bus mentality i guess, doesn't need to make sense.
Where are you getting your LotRO numbers?
Last I heard, LotRO had 200k+.
Just wondering where you got those numbers.
PLAYING: NOTHING!!!
PLAYED:FFXI, LotRO, AoC, WAR, DDO, Megaten, Wurm, Rohan, Mabinogi, RoM
WAITING FOR: Dust 514
EVE is only around 250k subs. CCP has never had any issue releasing their subscription numbers, but they've been growing since launch, something that only WoW can claim with them. They have a slightly higher xfire usage atm because there was an eve/xfire promo competition kinda like lotro is doing now i believe.
Really? Best Buy and other stores around here still try to sell 60day GTCs for 29.99 and the game itself for 39.99.
Probably explains why they looked a little dusty.
Really? Best Buy and other stores around here still try to sell 60day GTCs for 29.99 and the game itself for 39.99.
Been trying to find that myself. Would like a link on the cheap time cards. Think you just pulled that out of thin air.
.. .... .- - . - .-. --- .-.. .-.. ... .-- .... --- .-. . .--. --- .-. - .-.-.-
--------------------------------------------------------
Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.
Really? Best Buy and other stores around here still try to sell 60day GTCs for 29.99 and the game itself for 39.99.
Been trying to find that myself. Would like a link on the cheap time cards. Think you just pulled that out of thin air.
I just found the time cards for 20 bucks by googling. just typed in ages of conan time card and clicked the shopping tab
www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp
here is a link for you
cheapest I could find the game itself new is $12.00 USD shipped ( $8.99 + $3.80 shipping USD)
I miss DAoC
First of all, FC still gets money from AO too, that should be enough for some employes at least. The box sales is the least income for a company.
And 50% to cover bandwith and employes are bull, 20-25% is probably a lot closer to the truth, they probably counts in the intrest rate of the cost to mke the game in the 50%.
As long as AoC have 100K subs they should be doing OK, and a lot of the money was put into the engine which FC will re-use into their next game.
We also have upcoming launch in Poland and Russia, together with what they got from the company licensing the game in Korea.
Things could have been a lot better but I doubt we see either AoC or WAR closing down this year. Both games do need to get more subs however.
My guess of AoCs subs would be something around 135K subs or so, most in EU but I think it will go up 50K or so with the Russian/polish launch soon. And the game have climbed a lot in X-fire statistics the last few months, from #65 to #43 so I don't see any disaster right now. I don't see the game becoming huge either however, it will stay like LOTRO, EQ2, Eve and many others.
First of all, FC still gets money from AO too, that should be enough for some employes at least. The box sales is the least income for a company.
And 50% to cover bandwith and employes are bull, 20-25% is probably a lot closer to the truth, they probably counts in the intrest rate of the cost to mke the game in the 50%.
As long as AoC have 100K subs they should be doing OK, and a lot of the money was put into the engine which FC will re-use into their next game.
We also have upcoming launch in Poland and Russia, together with what they got from the company licensing the game in Korea.
Things could have been a lot better but I doubt we see either AoC or WAR closing down this year. Both games do need to get more subs however.
My guess of AoCs subs would be something around 135K subs or so, most in EU but I think it will go up 50K or so with the Russian/polish launch soon. And the game have climbed a lot in X-fire statistics the last few months, from #65 to #43 so I don't see any disaster right now. I don't see the game becoming huge either however, it will stay like LOTRO, EQ2, Eve and many others.
yet the web traffic has dropped during that same time period, interesting isn't it. 50% more XFIre players yet less people visiting the site to read the news, forums, and find out about the game etc.
I miss DAoC
Just to clarify
AOC gets 15% of box sales for NA, and 20% in EU. Your 35M was actually closer to 8M - 10M and was already accounted for in the 2nd quarter when it sold most of it's boxes
Subscription fees - $7 goes to bandwidth/servers, another $1.50 goes for customer support. Both are handled by outside companies who charge a set fee per user per month. This does not include devs, QA or any other funcom costs. A highly successful MMORPG like WOW only has about a 40% profit margin on subscription fees. The lower the population gets, the more fixed costs (like salaries) eat into the profit margin.
Well Im sorry I offended you-and that was certainly not my intent.
All I am ever suggesting is that if you take a company like FC, and a game like AoC. With AoC being what its, and FC conducting business the way they do. I was simply trying to come to a conclusion that would justify it. National pride would be one of them.
I have nothing against Norwegians or anybody else who is from a different nation. I, myself am proudly from a country that leads the way in cultural diversity. In Canada our heritage and mind set emulates a European nation far more than the USA-although we have cultural influences by both. (Did you know that in Canada we still celebrate Queen Victoria's birthday because of our strong English heritage--It's a stat holiday and the only time of year home fireworks can be purchased).
Now, when I said celebrity status I simply was saying that they are known to be a household name as I understand it.If that is not true than I digress.
I was not trying to make-fun of anyone from a different place, and if I came across that way I sincerely apologize. I was simply trying to point out a pattern of behavior that seems suspect. I mistakenly used broken-english as a clue. I have caused you to feel personally insulted without cause.
Again, please forgive my over zealousness.
Really? Best Buy and other stores around here still try to sell 60day GTCs for 29.99 and the game itself for 39.99.
Been trying to find that myself. Would like a link on the cheap time cards. Think you just pulled that out of thin air.
More than one small game retailer posted dirt cheap time cards on the official forums, they were desperate to get rid of them. And a lot of folks have been finding cheap cards and boxes on e-bay (yes unopened, and worked fine).
Just because you are uninformed, doesn't make everyone else a liar
AO subs? Errf unless a lot of the accounts are 'sleeping' AO has maybe 15-20K players, it's never made much money. hence it's extremely slow dev cycles, upside small games make for close knit communities, AO's best feature.
I would never have guessed that MMOs have to spend that much on bandwidth, it seems ridiculous, but multiple Dev Houses have made that statement over the past few years.
Really? Best Buy and other stores around here still try to sell 60day GTCs for 29.99 and the game itself for 39.99.
Been trying to find that myself. Would like a link on the cheap time cards. Think you just pulled that out of thin air.
More than one small game retailer posted dirt cheap time cards on the official forums, they were desperate to get rid of them. And a lot of folks have been finding cheap cards and boxes on e-bay (yes unopened, and worked fine).
Just because you are uninformed, doesn't make everyone else a liar
I looked on ebay, half.com, several other sites that I would trust giving credit card info. Most were if not all 29.99. And you still didn't provide proof...
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Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.
Really? Best Buy and other stores around here still try to sell 60day GTCs for 29.99 and the game itself for 39.99.
Been trying to find that myself. Would like a link on the cheap time cards. Think you just pulled that out of thin air.
More than one small game retailer posted dirt cheap time cards on the official forums, they were desperate to get rid of them. And a lot of folks have been finding cheap cards and boxes on e-bay (yes unopened, and worked fine).
Just because you are uninformed, doesn't make everyone else a liar
I looked on ebay, half.com, several other sites that I would trust giving credit card info. Most were if not all 29.99. And you still didn't provide proof...
Ohh he's just one of those worn out haters. Check his post history. I general it consist of a series of extreme negativity, and there is never proof for any of the stuff he claims. No proof = Bullsheit .
And BTW, if there is a cheap timecard site, for the love of god, paste it in here so we all can get some.
Really? Best Buy and other stores around here still try to sell 60day GTCs for 29.99 and the game itself for 39.99.
Been trying to find that myself. Would like a link on the cheap time cards. Think you just pulled that out of thin air.
More than one small game retailer posted dirt cheap time cards on the official forums, they were desperate to get rid of them. And a lot of folks have been finding cheap cards and boxes on e-bay (yes unopened, and worked fine).
Just because you are uninformed, doesn't make everyone else a liar
I looked on ebay, half.com, several other sites that I would trust giving credit card info. Most were if not all 29.99. And you still didn't provide proof...
Ohh he's just one of those worn out haters. Check his post history. I general it consist of a series of extreme negativity, and there is never proof for any of the stuff he claims. No proof = Bullsheit .
And BTW, if there is a cheap timecard site, for the love of god, paste it in here so we all can get some.
see post #63 20 bucks for 60 days cheap enough for you?
I miss DAoC
Really? Best Buy and other stores around here still try to sell 60day GTCs for 29.99 and the game itself for 39.99.
Been trying to find that myself. Would like a link on the cheap time cards. Think you just pulled that out of thin air.
More than one small game retailer posted dirt cheap time cards on the official forums, they were desperate to get rid of them. And a lot of folks have been finding cheap cards and boxes on e-bay (yes unopened, and worked fine).
Just because you are uninformed, doesn't make everyone else a liar
I looked on ebay, half.com, several other sites that I would trust giving credit card info. Most were if not all 29.99. And you still didn't provide proof...
On E-Bay right now
Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures 60 day Card , bidding started at $4.99 atm it's $10.55 . No I will not link it, advertising goes against the RoC here.
Learn 2 WebSearch
Also search the MMORPG.com AoC forums, there have been mulitple threads in the last 30 days about where you can get the box under $10.
Really? Best Buy and other stores around here still try to sell 60day GTCs for 29.99 and the game itself for 39.99.
Been trying to find that myself. Would like a link on the cheap time cards. Think you just pulled that out of thin air.
More than one small game retailer posted dirt cheap time cards on the official forums, they were desperate to get rid of them. And a lot of folks have been finding cheap cards and boxes on e-bay (yes unopened, and worked fine).
Just because you are uninformed, doesn't make everyone else a liar
I looked on ebay, half.com, several other sites that I would trust giving credit card info. Most were if not all 29.99. And you still didn't provide proof...
On E-Bay right now
Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures 60 day Card , bidding started at $4.99 atm it's $10.55 . No I will not link it, advertising goes against the RoC here.
Learn 2 WebSearch
Also search the MMORPG.com AoC forums, there have been mulitple threads in the last 30 days about where you can get the box under $10.
Twist and turn again. Nothing on ebay and you still did not givr proof... Sheezz, dude...
Really? Best Buy and other stores around here still try to sell 60day GTCs for 29.99 and the game itself for 39.99.
Been trying to find that myself. Would like a link on the cheap time cards. Think you just pulled that out of thin air.
More than one small game retailer posted dirt cheap time cards on the official forums, they were desperate to get rid of them. And a lot of folks have been finding cheap cards and boxes on e-bay (yes unopened, and worked fine).
Just because you are uninformed, doesn't make everyone else a liar
I looked on ebay, half.com, several other sites that I would trust giving credit card info. Most were if not all 29.99. And you still didn't provide proof...
Ohh he's just one of those worn out haters. Check his post history. I general it consist of a series of extreme negativity, and there is never proof for any of the stuff he claims. No proof = Bullsheit .
And BTW, if there is a cheap timecard site, for the love of god, paste it in here so we all can get some.
see post #63 20 bucks for 60 days cheap enough for you?
Pretty good, just that the total still is getting 29.xx with shipping (which is still kind of the same as if I was walking over to nearest gamestore). Anyways, I tried to buy it after signing in to that site, and it did not recognize the product as if it was sold out or something. Are you getting the same stuff?
I don't care about the boxes. Any game box can be found cheap if you look. Those ebay time card auctions will probably go above your so called 50% off the face value claim. Two auctions ... two... and you're going to tell me AoC is a sinking ship because two auctions are selling time cards less than their value?
Thanks Jackdog for the link btw.
.. .... .- - . - .-. --- .-.. .-.. ... .-- .... --- .-. . .--. --- .-. - .-.-.-
--------------------------------------------------------
Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.