TOR sub stablizes at 1.7M subs .. what is the impact on the MMO market?

RefMinor

Originally posted by Wicoa


Originally posted by MMOGamer71


Originally posted by nariusseldon


http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/09/mass-effect-ships-3-5-million-worldwide-890-000-sold-in-na-swt/
I guess players are NOT leaving in mass when the sub charge kicks in. So this shows there can be more than 1 big AAA, sub-based MMORPGs in the west.
 
 
 

"the "vast majority" of players have passed the free 30 day trial period that comes with new copies of the game, meaning they are now paying subscribers."

The vast majority of players 30 day trial was up 3 months ago, VGA charts indicate boxes sales plummenting.

 

So SWTOR has one of the three going for it:

1) Unheard of retention rate

2) Incredible digital download sales

3) Books are cooked.

+1

 

Unheard of retention rates - And yet most anecdotal evidence is of empty servers, people leaving, new players being rerolls from light servers etc,, "everyone I know who stated with me has quit" quotes, not scientific, but hardly indicative of a game that has unheard of retention rates.

Ramonski7

The only impact I'm hoping that SWTOR has on the mmorpg genre is that it's still worth investing in using the sub model and maybe then one day I will get to play a mmo that I can really sink my teeth into for a year or two. I mean don't get me wrong, the F2P and B2P models are fine for the budget conscious and for big populations. But I actually enjoy the unrestricted experiences found in sub based mmo models. (i.e. not paying for bag spaces, trading options, AH access, character slots, in-game mail options, currency limits, etc., etc. etc.)

korvass

Originally posted by Thorbrand

First off the number are about as real as Blizzards claim for the last 5yrs.

No impact on the market at all.

SWTOR by definition isn't even a MMO, single player action adventure that plays like Dragon's Lair.

Hell it isn't even a RPG, Unless you are NA gamer.

So the supposely 1.7Million are not MMO players anyway.

Now you're just being silly. TOR has every single element required to fill the definition of a MMORPG. How you feel about said systems is irrelevant. TOR is a MMORPG.

Wicoa

Originally posted by Raijukin

why do people even still care about this?

People will move on soon another month or two GW2 summer etc diablo even

Gruug

All I know is that I AM enjoying SWTOR and do not plan on cancelling anytime soon. I play everyday solo AND with up to 4 of my online bubbies AND with guildies. Now, how does not make this an MMO I will never understand. I have played many an MMO and they all have meant that same criteria.

Is SWTOR perfect? No. Never has it been. Is it fun? Yes. Enough so that I would say that only trolls would attempt to sling mud at the game. I really think it has something to do with them not wanting their ox to be gored. Go figure.

 

korent1991

Originally posted by nariusseldon

Originally posted by korent1991

 

Yes we are... the basis of the disagreement is simple... If almost every server was on population status full/high and had around 2M sold boxes, then if it has 1.7M now the drop of server populations shouldn't be THAT drastic... Only 2-3 server have high population status in it's peak hours. So it's either manipulation of numbers or someones really missed the calculation.

Don't rage so much over this, it's not the first time something like this happened in the world of MMO...

First, you don't have a historical record of server population status. That is your impression. Second, they did not anounce actual server pop .. only a status. Thirdly, people play more when a new game is out. The same number of subs play less now. That may not be an indication of sub numbers.

Look at WOW. When CATA is out . i played night and day to get to 85. Now i play a lot less hours but i am still a sub/active player. So what you said has little to do with sub numbers.

That is, you have no basis to doubt their numbers except but vague impression and your opinion.

for the 1st - I do have a record of server status because I played it on launch and I tried it again on friends account, who has 60 day game time card still on it (but doesn't play), like 2-3 days ago with hope they fixed what I had issues with and that I might come back. So I saw what's the server population like nowadays and how it was at launch (I played for 2 days and played around 6-8 hours each day including peak hours). I choose the most populated server at peak hours, and had no trouble playing at those hours, but when I logged in too early or too late then I couldn't even find a group for a simple quest. It's a disaster, so it's impossible they kept so many players. Maybe they have subscriptions, but 60% of those subscribers won't resub and aren't playing atm.

2nd... They don't have to ann. the actual server population because you don't need that information, you only need to see the server population status to see if it's even worth playing on that server. 

3rd. Ofc more ppl play the game when it's out... They played it to try it, and since you had to activate a sub to get 30 days you have 60 days on your acc... So the real numbers will be available after 90 days of release, somewhere around that.

I played wow untill CATA, when CATA was out I played 1 month and quit, didn't even play most of the days... My guild and 2 other guilds which were top on the server fell apart because too many people left after CATA... You can't compare a new release of a new game with a new release for an old game

 

EDIT: added 2nd and 3rd  )

Ceridith

I find it amusing that people keep saying "But they can't lie, it's illegal!"

First of all, if you think companies don't lie because they would get in trouble... wake up. Companies lie all the time, even if there are penalties for doing so. The catch is that there are different degrees of lying with regards to legality.

For example, willingly misrepresenting numbers on an official quarterly statement or annual report for shareholders, can mean very severe fines if not jail time if it's considered bad enough. On the other hand, 'misrepresenting' or otherwise deceptive wording about company performance in 'unoffical' statements, much like the statement about how the population has "stabalized at 1.7 million", is a slap on the wrist at worst if you actually get caught.

Now I'm not saying that EA or Bioware are misrepresenting or lying about the active sub numbers... but I will say that they definitely have motivation to do so, and the penalty for stretching the truth outside of official statements isn't as serious as most people think.

nariusseldon

Originally posted by Wicoa

Originally posted by Raijukin

why do people even still care about this?

 

 

Because there were a lot of predictions of doom and gloom ... of how subs will drop through the floor .. at the 30 days mark after the free 30 days is up.

I assume those made the predictions are interested to see if they are correct or not. Apparently they don't like to face the music.

RefMinor

Originally posted by Ceridith

I find it amusing that people keep saying "But they can't lie, it's illegal!"
First of all, if you think companies don't lie because they would get in trouble... wake up. Companies lie all the time, even if there are penalties for doing so. The catch is that there are different degrees of lying with regards to legality.
For example, willingly misrepresenting numbers on an official quarterly statement or annual report for shareholders, can mean very severe fines if not jail time if it's considered bad enough. On the other hand, 'misrepresenting' or otherwise deceptive wording about company performance in 'unoffical' statements, much like the statement about how the population has "stabalized at 1.7 million", is a slap on the wrist at worst if you actually get caught.
Now I'm not saying that EA or Bioware are misrepresenting or lying about the active sub numbers... but I will say that they definitely have motivation to do so, and the penalty for stretching the truth outside of official statements isn't as serious as most people think.

 

This, plus I would hope any CEO worth his salt would be able to spin a positive feel out of any situation without directly lying, that's how they reached the top.

Xiaoki

What I find funny is that people are using the subscriber defense for TOR which has been disregarded for years for WoW.

argument
"WoW must be good it has X million subscribers"

counter
"Just because it has X million sheep doesnt mean its good"
"WoW is like Britney Spears or McDonalds, everything popular is bad"
"It doesnt have that many Blizzard is lying to us, 90% are Chinese gold farmers anyway"

korent1991

Originally posted by Xiaoki

What I find funny is that people are using the subscriber defense for TOR which has been disregarded for years for WoW.

argument

"WoW must be good it has X million subscribers"

counter

"Just because it has X million sheep doesnt mean its good"

"WoW is like Britney Spears or McDonalds, everything popular is bad"

"It doesnt have that many Blizzard is lying to us, 90% are Chinese gold farmers anyway"

 

haha... well, to be honest, you might have something on that last quote... WoW really does have majority of subs in china

Amana

Locked as duplicate and moved to SWTOR forum.