I wonder if they count lifetime as active subscriptions? I mean, some people bought life time or one-year subscriptions and some might not be playing anymore. If these people are counted, even if they aren't playing, it can make the numbers seem higher than the actual people currently playing the game.
Do you really think that they got enough lifetime subs to make a big difference?
It depends. If I remember correctly, you can recoup the cost of a lifetime subscription in about 2 years. So say there are 50k people who bought a lifetime subscription. That pretty much means that Cryptic got 2 year's worth of subscriptions from 50k people before the game even went live.
Another benefit to this is that Cryptic can claim these lifers as active accounts until the end, regardless of whether or not the lifers are playing the game. However, if they do this, then it means that the number of active players is much lower than what they are saying. F2P games are known to do this. Since they have no monthly fee, they claim all accounts, active and inactive, as current, which bloats their numbers.
I believe that a lot of people bought into Cryptic's "limited lifetime" discount thing. I was pretty active on the official forums at the time and saw many people claim to be a lifer. Personally, I feel that it was dishonest of them to offer discounted lifetime memberships before the game launched but that's Cryptic for you, integrity is an option with them.
Just my opinion here... But I would be surprised if they got more than 1 or MAYBE 2 thousand lifetime subs.
I don't know about 1 or 2 thousand. A lot of people got the game because of the IP. STO really brought in a lot of first timers to MMOs. First timers who were not familiar with Cryptic's reputation. Besides that, a lot of people wanted the borg race. Not to mention the whole "limited time offer" crap.
Maybe 50k lifers is too much, I was just using that number as an example. But I believe that there are at least 10k lifers, whether or not all of them are playing or only a portion.
A lot of people might also be holding on for the common ground update, and that could decide if they stay or leave.
Played WOW (5 years), AOC, AO, EQ2,AC2, Horizons, Saga of Ryzom, SWG, CO, STO(Beta),ROM, Allods, and many other F2P titles. Asl been in beta for many of the main titles and played countless SP games. I have been gaming for 15+ years!
true the game sucked monkey nads but one thing to consider is matrix was a fad st has a cult following with ppl that dress like characters from the franchise matrix never even came close to lasting as long as st has
which is why its even more pathetic at least matrix online tried something new sto is just a rehash of cox with a st skin which really that shouldnt be
i dont really like st or star wars but i must say that if i did i would probably be pretty pissed about how crappy this game has come out
I actually bought into the whole sto hype despite my misgivings of cryptic due to both the co and coh launch. I heard rumors that they "turned over a new leaf and were a new cryptic" but as soon as they started their "superduper limited time only lifetime subs deal" I realized it was all bs. Some of the design decisions are just befuddling. They could have easily redesigned the crafting system from CO into a replicator system which would have been more consisten with star trek than the memory alpha/faction merchant bs that's there now. I guess they were hoping on a lot of first time buyers because it felt like I was playing CO in star trek world as soon as I started the tutorial. What's next bring in the crime computer mission system and call it the library computer?
A lot of people might also be holding on for the common ground update, and that could decide if they stay or leave.
I don't know if the update will be enough to keep them playing. I just looked at the engineering notes on the forums and about 80-90% of it is bug fixes. Some of them I don't know how they even made it past cb/ob. "Fixed spinning rocks" and "fixed sit height to match chair height" are not things that should be cropping up 2 months after release. I guess in order to get the game out in 2 years, cryptic decided to skip the QA process and let players pay to do it.
Just my opinion here... But I would be surprised if they got more than 1 or MAYBE 2 thousand lifetime subs.
Never underestimate the power of hype and fanboy-glasses. A lot of people convinced themselves that they'll be playing the game for years and years. There was a wall in front of their eyes that didn't let them see the game for what it truly was. Believe me, I tried to make some of them see past the 'Star Trek' name, but it was like talking to a wall. Just 2 months later they're not playing anymore.
Just my opinion here... But I would be surprised if they got more than 1 or MAYBE 2 thousand lifetime subs.
Never underestimate the power of hype and fanboy-glasses. A lot of people convinced themselves that they'll be playing the game for years and years. There was a wall in front of their eyes that didn't let them see the game for what it truly was. Believe me, I tried to make some of them see past the 'Star Trek' name, but it was like talking to a wall. Just 2 months later they're not playing anymore.
Try convincing one that cryptic is just as much to blame for the condition of sto as atari, even more so since they knew what they were releasing. Talk about running around in circles.
Just my opinion here... But I would be surprised if they got more than 1 or MAYBE 2 thousand lifetime subs.
Never underestimate the power of hype and fanboy-glasses. A lot of people convinced themselves that they'll be playing the game for years and years. There was a wall in front of their eyes that didn't let them see the game for what it truly was. Believe me, I tried to make some of them see past the 'Star Trek' name, but it was like talking to a wall. Just 2 months later they're not playing anymore.
Try convincing one that cryptic is just as much to blame for the condition of sto as atari, even more so since they knew what they were releasing. Talk about running around in circles.
Yup even though Cryptic is doing exactly what they told Atari they could do when they pitched themselves to Atari for purchase.Atari purchased Cryptic with Atari's,at the time, very limited funds and cashflow,because Cryptic said they could turn out MMOs cheaply and quickly with microtransactions built right nto the game.This is exactly what they ave done so they have lived up to their promises so far.The way STO was pushed out and the way Cryptic runs it with minimal server hardware to cover the current population(which is the real reason they investe din the one virtual server thing)...100K sales and subs is probably profitable enough for them to justify their existance and make Atari happy.
That's really awful for an AAA release with the Star Trek IP. Warhammer and AOC had at least double that 1.5 months in.
Someone was comparing Eve but Eve is an independent game with an unknown IP.
I can't find figures but I'm willing to bet Tabula Rasa and maybe even Matrix Online had better numbers 1.5 months later.
Also, people saying it means the game is profitible assume these 100k people are going to stay for a long time. Considering there is little to no endgame, and the game itself is incredibly repetative, that seems highly unlikely. It is possible they made a profit on box sales, but Cryptic/Atari took a big hit to their reputation. Who wants to join an MMORPG that is likely to be limping along after 3 months?
That's the record Cryptic is setting with Champions and now STO. There's no reason to believe their next game is going to be any different.
I seriously doubt the validity of over 100K subs.. Why? Most of the games that I know that are in the 100K, 200K, 500K or 1 million + subs have much better Xfire numbers.. Even SWG is ranked higher then STO and I bet has more active subs.. and SWG is around 50-100k sub range if I recall..
I can believe those numbers, even though i find it kind of hard. We shall see, if it continues to get higher... I don't think it will. Who knows though?
Who said this won't be perfect after all we know what is right And the sounds of bodies clashing is enough to make them cry. You know this cannot be perfect even when it is feeling right. And the sound of bodies crashing echo through the night.
That's really awful for an AAA release with the Star Trek IP. Warhammer and AOC had at least double that 1.5 months in.
Someone was comparing Eve but Eve is an independent game with an unknown IP.
I can't find figures but I'm willing to bet Tabula Rasa and maybe even Matrix Online had better numbers 1.5 months later.
Also, people saying it means the game is profitible assume these 100k people are going to stay for a long time. Considering there is little to no endgame, and the game itself is incredibly repetative, that seems highly unlikely. It is possible they made a profit on box sales, but Cryptic/Atari took a big hit to their reputation. Who wants to join an MMORPG that is likely to be limping along after 3 months?
That's the record Cryptic is setting with Champions and now STO. There's no reason to believe their next game is going to be any different.
I'm not saying will continue to be profitable but it has bene profitable...this game was made fast and cheap and probably generated enough profit from box sales and lifetime subs alone to show a good profit.Having the one virtual server means as their population dwindles they can get rid of hardware and onyl have enough to cover the populationt hey have,without haivng to shift that population from one server cluster to another liek other games with dwindling population.I would imagine this also keeps their hardware and admin costs down so can turn a profit for awhile yet before reaching the break even then loss point.
Yes this is purely conjecture givne that we'll never be given Cryptics number breakdowns but it seems reasonable,at least no less reasonable than the conjecture that goes on anywhere else ont hese boards.
There is no way this game today has 100K subs. Maybe the first 3 weeks it hit that but not since and never again. Its a safe bet that WAR, AOC and SWG all have less then 100K subs and all 3 of those are doing better on Xfire then STO which used to be consistently 20's 30's.
There is no way this game today has 100K subs. Maybe the first 3 weeks it hit that but not since and never again. Its a safe bet that WAR, AOC and SWG all have less then 100K subs and all 3 of those are doing better on Xfire then STO which used to be consistently 20's 30's.
nah, don't use Xfire as any measure for STO. Simply, STO is a game for carebears that run screaming 'mommy!' at the first sign that they could be losing 1 point of health. Certainly not the population that even knows what Xfire is. Also, add the fools that got scammed into buying lifetime, 6 month or even 3 month subscriptions (and are probably not playing anymore but still count as open subscriptions).
In any case, I think 100k subscriptions after 1 month is already a failure for an IP like Star Trek.
Maybe there is 100K people who are so blinded by the supposed Star Trek theme of the game to ignore...the lack of game. maybe there are. That's sad, because that makes Cryptic's business model right: Toss anything out the door every two years and you'll make money because we, as consumers are so fraking stupid.
You could create a Starfleet officer uniform in CO and just as much a Star Trek game, oops, except in CO, you can fly straight up and down!
Wonder what IP they will re-skin onto the engine for next year's 2-year wonder?
I would bet that this is almost spot on with how they feel behind closed doors.
true the game sucked monkey nads but one thing to consider is matrix was a fad st has a cult following with ppl that dress like characters from the franchise matrix never even came close to lasting as long as st has
which is why its even more pathetic at least matrix online tried something new sto is just a rehash of cox with a st skin which really that shouldnt be
i dont really like st or star wars but i must say that if i did i would probably be pretty pissed about how crappy this game has come out
I actually bought into the whole sto hype despite my misgivings of cryptic due to both the co and coh launch. I heard rumors that they "turned over a new leaf and were a new cryptic" but as soon as they started their "superduper limited time only lifetime subs deal" I realized it was all bs. Some of the design decisions are just befuddling. They could have easily redesigned the crafting system from CO into a replicator system which would have been more consisten with star trek than the memory alpha/faction merchant bs that's there now. I guess they were hoping on a lot of first time buyers because it felt like I was playing CO in star trek world as soon as I started the tutorial. What's next bring in the crime computer mission system and call it the library computer?
wouldnt be suprised but dont give em any ideas lol
Just my opinion here... But I would be surprised if they got more than 1 or MAYBE 2 thousand lifetime subs.
Never underestimate the power of hype and fanboy-glasses. A lot of people convinced themselves that they'll be playing the game for years and years. There was a wall in front of their eyes that didn't let them see the game for what it truly was. Believe me, I tried to make some of them see past the 'Star Trek' name, but it was like talking to a wall. Just 2 months later they're not playing anymore.
just one word and i know there is no lifetime sub for it but aion
No no no. They claimed one million accounts. They used that word on purpose. If they had one million subs or unit sales, they would have said that instead of the slight of hand they tried to fool people with, and apparently succeeded to some extent.
Anyway, 125k or whatever they have for a Star Trek MMO out less than 2 months is total fail, regardless of their stated goal of 100k subs. The fact they even brag about over 100k subs for a MMO of the 1st or 2nd largest Sci-fi IP EVER is just LOL pathetic. I bet they won't be able to say that come summer...
Wow they went from claiming a million subs at launch to 100k, this game isnt going to make it to summer
What they originally claimed was they had 1 million registered on the sto website. The way they announced it was misleading (? intentionally) so that people could interpret it to mean STO had 1 million subscriptions. The only number I heard around opoen beta was something like 400k, whether that was leaked by a dev somewhere or just players guesstimates Im not sure. If STO had 1 million subs at launch their servers would have turned into a pile of slag. They can barely handle the load that's on them now. IF the 400k number was in the neighborhood at launch, announcing they have "well over" 100k seems like things are thinning out.
Anyone see the prices they're charging on the c store for slots and respecs? 5 bucks for a respec and 6.25 for 2 character slots. The respecs you can get for free in game but the 2 character slots should have been in the game to begin with. What game gives you 2 character slots other than STO.
I did find it humorous that after the whole prepatch rigamarole, the patcher today deleted the prepatch and made everyone redownload the whole patch. Sounds like amateur hour over there.
That Ive seen so many people who assumed the 1 million subs, shows cryptic's ploy worked. "A million subs! STO must be awesome!" Sadly both are far from the truth.
Who wants to bet that next month they are bragging about 50k subs?
Sad thing is I think I recall an interview with the devs that stated that 100k would be profitable but they could "get by" with 50k. Guess it just shows how many resources they have actually invested. Cryptic: Aim for the horizon.
Apparently they did some forum changes for lifers:
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=143262 Wow $300 and I can change my forum name color too? Do people who buy life times have some deep seated desire to prove their "special" or better than other players this much? It will be interesting to see what color the forums light up in.
Who wants to bet that next month they are bragging about 50k subs?
Sad thing is I think I recall an interview with the devs that stated that 100k would be profitable but they could "get by" with 50k. Guess it just shows how many resources they have actually invested. Cryptic: Aim for the horizon.
Apparently they did some forum changes for lifers:
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=143262 Wow $300 and I can change my forum name color too? Do people who buy life times have some deep seated desire to prove their "special" or better than other players this much? It will be interesting to see what color the forums light up in.
Comments
I don't know about 1 or 2 thousand. A lot of people got the game because of the IP. STO really brought in a lot of first timers to MMOs. First timers who were not familiar with Cryptic's reputation. Besides that, a lot of people wanted the borg race. Not to mention the whole "limited time offer" crap.
Maybe 50k lifers is too much, I was just using that number as an example. But I believe that there are at least 10k lifers, whether or not all of them are playing or only a portion.
We're still in the honeymoon period. First 3 months of launch is always this way. If those numbers hold after month 3 then I'll be somewhat impressed.
Personally, I think the game will be closer to 60/70k after that time.
Alltern8 Blog | Star Wars Space Combat and The Old Republic | Cryptic Studios - A Pre Post-Mortem | Klingon Preview, STO's Monster Play
A lot of people might also be holding on for the common ground update, and that could decide if they stay or leave.
Played WOW (5 years), AOC, AO, EQ2,AC2, Horizons, Saga of Ryzom, SWG, CO, STO(Beta),ROM, Allods, and many other F2P titles. Asl been in beta for many of the main titles and played countless SP games. I have been gaming for 15+ years!
I actually bought into the whole sto hype despite my misgivings of cryptic due to both the co and coh launch. I heard rumors that they "turned over a new leaf and were a new cryptic" but as soon as they started their "superduper limited time only lifetime subs deal" I realized it was all bs. Some of the design decisions are just befuddling. They could have easily redesigned the crafting system from CO into a replicator system which would have been more consisten with star trek than the memory alpha/faction merchant bs that's there now. I guess they were hoping on a lot of first time buyers because it felt like I was playing CO in star trek world as soon as I started the tutorial. What's next bring in the crime computer mission system and call it the library computer?
I don't know if the update will be enough to keep them playing. I just looked at the engineering notes on the forums and about 80-90% of it is bug fixes. Some of them I don't know how they even made it past cb/ob. "Fixed spinning rocks" and "fixed sit height to match chair height" are not things that should be cropping up 2 months after release. I guess in order to get the game out in 2 years, cryptic decided to skip the QA process and let players pay to do it.
Never underestimate the power of hype and fanboy-glasses. A lot of people convinced themselves that they'll be playing the game for years and years. There was a wall in front of their eyes that didn't let them see the game for what it truly was. Believe me, I tried to make some of them see past the 'Star Trek' name, but it was like talking to a wall. Just 2 months later they're not playing anymore.
Try convincing one that cryptic is just as much to blame for the condition of sto as atari, even more so since they knew what they were releasing. Talk about running around in circles.
Yup even though Cryptic is doing exactly what they told Atari they could do when they pitched themselves to Atari for purchase.Atari purchased Cryptic with Atari's,at the time, very limited funds and cashflow,because Cryptic said they could turn out MMOs cheaply and quickly with microtransactions built right nto the game.This is exactly what they ave done so they have lived up to their promises so far.The way STO was pushed out and the way Cryptic runs it with minimal server hardware to cover the current population(which is the real reason they investe din the one virtual server thing)...100K sales and subs is probably profitable enough for them to justify their existance and make Atari happy.
That's really awful for an AAA release with the Star Trek IP. Warhammer and AOC had at least double that 1.5 months in.
Someone was comparing Eve but Eve is an independent game with an unknown IP.
I can't find figures but I'm willing to bet Tabula Rasa and maybe even Matrix Online had better numbers 1.5 months later.
Also, people saying it means the game is profitible assume these 100k people are going to stay for a long time. Considering there is little to no endgame, and the game itself is incredibly repetative, that seems highly unlikely. It is possible they made a profit on box sales, but Cryptic/Atari took a big hit to their reputation. Who wants to join an MMORPG that is likely to be limping along after 3 months?
That's the record Cryptic is setting with Champions and now STO. There's no reason to believe their next game is going to be any different.
I seriously doubt the validity of over 100K subs.. Why? Most of the games that I know that are in the 100K, 200K, 500K or 1 million + subs have much better Xfire numbers.. Even SWG is ranked higher then STO and I bet has more active subs.. and SWG is around 50-100k sub range if I recall..
I can believe those numbers, even though i find it kind of hard. We shall see, if it continues to get higher... I don't think it will. Who knows though?
Who said this won't be perfect after all we know what is right
And the sounds of bodies clashing is enough to make them cry.
You know this cannot be perfect even when it is feeling right.
And the sound of bodies crashing echo through the night.
I'm not saying will continue to be profitable but it has bene profitable...this game was made fast and cheap and probably generated enough profit from box sales and lifetime subs alone to show a good profit.Having the one virtual server means as their population dwindles they can get rid of hardware and onyl have enough to cover the populationt hey have,without haivng to shift that population from one server cluster to another liek other games with dwindling population.I would imagine this also keeps their hardware and admin costs down so can turn a profit for awhile yet before reaching the break even then loss point.
Yes this is purely conjecture givne that we'll never be given Cryptics number breakdowns but it seems reasonable,at least no less reasonable than the conjecture that goes on anywhere else ont hese boards.
There is no way this game today has 100K subs. Maybe the first 3 weeks it hit that but not since and never again. Its a safe bet that WAR, AOC and SWG all have less then 100K subs and all 3 of those are doing better on Xfire then STO which used to be consistently 20's 30's.
nah, don't use Xfire as any measure for STO. Simply, STO is a game for carebears that run screaming 'mommy!' at the first sign that they could be losing 1 point of health. Certainly not the population that even knows what Xfire is. Also, add the fools that got scammed into buying lifetime, 6 month or even 3 month subscriptions (and are probably not playing anymore but still count as open subscriptions).
In any case, I think 100k subscriptions after 1 month is already a failure for an IP like Star Trek.
I would bet that this is almost spot on with how they feel behind closed doors.
You think I'm joking?
Your fail comment, failed.
Jack is always good for a few laughs.
wouldnt be suprised but dont give em any ideas lol
just one word and i know there is no lifetime sub for it but aion
Wow they went from claiming a million subs at launch to 100k, this game isnt going to make it to summer.
No no no. They claimed one million accounts. They used that word on purpose. If they had one million subs or unit sales, they would have said that instead of the slight of hand they tried to fool people with, and apparently succeeded to some extent.
Anyway, 125k or whatever they have for a Star Trek MMO out less than 2 months is total fail, regardless of their stated goal of 100k subs. The fact they even brag about over 100k subs for a MMO of the 1st or 2nd largest Sci-fi IP EVER is just LOL pathetic. I bet they won't be able to say that come summer...
What they originally claimed was they had 1 million registered on the sto website. The way they announced it was misleading (? intentionally) so that people could interpret it to mean STO had 1 million subscriptions. The only number I heard around opoen beta was something like 400k, whether that was leaked by a dev somewhere or just players guesstimates Im not sure. If STO had 1 million subs at launch their servers would have turned into a pile of slag. They can barely handle the load that's on them now. IF the 400k number was in the neighborhood at launch, announcing they have "well over" 100k seems like things are thinning out.
Anyone see the prices they're charging on the c store for slots and respecs? 5 bucks for a respec and 6.25 for 2 character slots. The respecs you can get for free in game but the 2 character slots should have been in the game to begin with. What game gives you 2 character slots other than STO.
I did find it humorous that after the whole prepatch rigamarole, the patcher today deleted the prepatch and made everyone redownload the whole patch. Sounds like amateur hour over there.
That Ive seen so many people who assumed the 1 million subs, shows cryptic's ploy worked. "A million subs! STO must be awesome!" Sadly both are far from the truth.
Who wants to bet that next month they are bragging about 50k subs?
Sad thing is I think I recall an interview with the devs that stated that 100k would be profitable but they could "get by" with 50k. Guess it just shows how many resources they have actually invested. Cryptic: Aim for the horizon.
Apparently they did some forum changes for lifers:
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=143262 Wow $300 and I can change my forum name color too? Do people who buy life times have some deep seated desire to prove their "special" or better than other players this much? It will be interesting to see what color the forums light up in.
Basically