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Rift population using xfire data
Darkheart00
Member Posts: 521
in Rift
Disclaimer: xfire is not most accurate way to measure population but does give you good sense of the player population when comparing xfire data between games.
That said Rift has held steady but did not make any gains in xfire for last 2 weeks unlike AoC or Warhammer which saw their number decline weeks after release so that is one good sign. The numbers are similar to what Aion had at its peak so they should allow us to estimate box sales. Currently it is ranked at no 5.
Comments
I don't use XFire nor does anyone I know. I'm not sure what those numbers really show anymore.
Firstly not everyone uses Xfire and secondly its notorius for grossly missleading numbers.
Xfire isn't the best source, but Rift has been number 5 every day for a while now. I agree that isn't a very good way to show what the population is playing since 99% of people don't use it, but it is a good sign compared to the other mmo's.
XFire numbers have actually been oddly accurate with regard to the player activity trends of any particular game.
Can you give us some concrete examples of grossly misleading numbers?
Hell hath no fury like an MMORPG player scorned.
/facepalm
Not this thread again. ok to save us 36 pages in this thread guys. We agreed on this last time.
X-fire is a very small sample size and is not accurate enough to show solid numbers, BUT it can be used to show small trends in a game.
It's not a very good source for comparing games to other games, but methinx it's a decent trend indicator for a game in itself. If you have a game like DCUO, for example, which had decent numbers in the first week or so, but has been in freefall ever since, I'd say that's a good indication that a game is in trouble. On the other hand, if Rift keeps these numbers for 3-4 months, or does better, I'd say that'll be a sign that it's doing pretty well.
Trion should be pretty happy with their numbers. Now they just need to keep them.
Same here. I don't bother with it. I also do not know anyone who does these days. One wonders what the motivation of some of these posters is.
If I compare Xfira and raptr and use games like SC2 and WoW, I come to the conclusion that Rift have solf 992 457 copies since release/preorder. Of course that includes downloads but not upgrades from standard to CE edition.
I'm so broke. I can't even pay attention.
"You have the right not to be killed"
As has been said in this thread (and others) is that while xfire is terrible at measuring absolute numbers, its pretty good at measuring trends. If they game is declining on xfire you can be pretty certain the game is declining over all.
x-fire simply can not tell you why. Like if you see a drop in Rift is it because of the pve or pvp? That is where to take forum qq + those numbers = rough idea of what is going on.
That's easy. Perception management is the province of the forum warrior, who make up a significant minority on meta-MMO boards like this one. Population - or at least managing a perception of population based on one's particular bias - is listed on the first page of the Forum Warrior's Handbook.
Did you think this was a place for actually discussing the ins and outs, the content, or the nuts and bolts gameplay of a game? Come now.
Hell hath no fury like an MMORPG player scorned.
"Certain"? This flies in the face of even basic statistics, but I guess people will believe what they wish to...<shrug>
I use Xfire and so do all of my friends, even my mother (though she is actually using it to communicate with me for work purposes).
I've tried others like Playxpert & Raptr, but I find they never seem to be implemented in game as well and don't track my hours as well.
It is better than using VGChartz numbers and basing that for pop numbers.
Peoples fascination with population numbers that don't come from official sources makes me laugh in all honesty. I play Rift but I don't use Xfire, likewise I know of at least 12 guildies of mine that don't use it, so the numbers showing on Xfire are not the true reflection of a games population so why bother looking at these things in the first place?
^This
Not that they ever meant anything to begin with, Xfire has never been popular.
I dont see why more people don't use Xfire? :S
Shit support, shit community, shit game updates. Waiting weeks for a big game to be added is not the way to go for a service that is there to track games. I used it for years but no more.
Does XFire even support Rift? Last time ive checked i had to manually add it because it was not supported yet
Anyone with half a brain will understand that when doing a survey, people use a sample and they don't question every single person in the WORLD. That being said, the data shown by Xfire is a sample, which is a small portion of the whole thing. Whether or not it is skewed by the possibility that people using Xfire show a different "trend" than the average game doesn't matter, because the chance of that is extremely small.
Therefore, the data shown by Xfire can give you an idea of a pattern in the market by comparing the pattern in the sample. For example, if the sample (Xfire in this case) shows a downward trend, then there is a high probability that the pattern in the entire market is a downward trend. No one should ever use the numbers as a reference when using a sample such as this, just take a look at the pattern to get an idea.
Anyone claiming otherwise is wrong, as in most cases statistics don't lie (when they aren't biased).
-Computer specs no one cares about: check.
-MMOs played no one cares about: check.
-Xfire stats no one cares about: check.
-Signature no one cares about: check.
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-Narcissism: check.
All new games have a peak in their first few weeks of start on xFire. After a couple of months you'll see the numbers even down to a 'normal' usage state on xFire. Then and only then you can draw conclusions from xFire numbers, and not right now.
Just look at Age of Conan (highest #4), Lord of the Rings online (highest #8) and Star Trek online (highest #19). All highests are just a couple of months after release (LotRo after going Freemium) and all dropped down (LotRo not that much though).
Actually it is not extremely small. In most "samples" the sample is achieved randomly in a variety of ways, the worst bias you can achieve in most of these samples is getting a high percentage of people who like to be polled. Xfire does not go out and poll but rather relies upon people deciding to use their service, this inherently means that its sample will always have a skew since people are the ones who seek out Xfire and not the other way around.
Before you call me wrong check out issues with systemic bias. I have not horse in the Rift race or any other race where Xfire might be involved, but the statistics that Xfire provides are not an adequate sample of the entire gaming population to gather statistics on anything other than Xfire users, to extrapolate them further is poor use of the data.
I have a theory. Notice Rift was at #4? Now could this be caused by the fact that this game HEAVILY appeals to a WoW population angry at Blizzard?
I know x-fire was popular with WoW and the idea goes that if they move then they carry x-fire with them.
Leo is correct the people who use x=ire choose to use x=fire they are not randomly selected therefor u get a biast opinion. If xfire randomly seclected people playing games and forced them to use it, but did the selection at random then u'd have a fair assement
Fyi, AoC actually dropped to 10 within a month of release.