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Does XFire Numbers Matter ?
XeoMatrix00
Member Posts: 39
People playing WOW or GW2 start talkig the Xfire numbers to compare stats. But isnt Xfire a client that a user needs to use similar as Steam. That doesnt mean this are real numbers. Why ppl use this as evidence WoW has more in Xfire or GW2 has more or both declining. I install the client and is really not worth having it. What do you think ?
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Comments
XFire cannot give you actual user numbers but is useful for showing the population trend over time within a single game.
did this really need a whole new thread.
I disagree with this, it's like taking a survey and then missing out 2/3 of the demographic.
I find it an odd thing that people use to see trends, and yet I know noone that uses Xfire.
M
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That's strange, as no survey ever taken bar the odd national census has ever surveyed over 1/3 of the demographic, most statisticians would be delighted with a survey of even 1%.
the fact you use the none of my friends use XFire argument clearly shows you know nothing about this subject.
It’s odd how some people use it to support what they want then turn around and say it doesn't matter if it doesn't support what they want.
I think that it is a "yard stick" of sorts but should be taken with a grain of salt. It is the main source of instant proof for everyday players to gauge how something is doing. Is it the best method? No. Is it the most accurate method? No. Is it better than just making up random crap? Yes!
Z.
That's strange, as no survey ever taken bar the odd national census has ever surveyed over 1/3 of the demographic, most statisticians would be delighted with a survey of even 1%.
the fact you use the none of my friends use XFire argument clearly shows you know nothing about this subject.
To answer your first question, all XFire topics in individual forums break down into a discussion about the validity of XFire itself. Mike B himself suggested a general XFire topic be created, and if it seemed appropriate, it could even be stickied.
To continue the discussion: The number of people surveyed is not nearly as important a everything else done to make sure a poll or survey accurately answers the question being asked. People keep bringing up how many people XFire 'surveys', and it doesn't matter.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Well it matter for showing trends, but people care and follow trends too much.
Unless someone's server is getting dead or it is vital for someone to find someone else to play immedietaly then no idea why anyone care if game have 300 k or 5 million users.
Unless someone is playing mmorpg in same way like League of Legends or similar games and is playing via matchmaking - then it might be important if you find "game" / group in fast or that if it take long. Then very high population matter. Wait...seem like I answered myself.
I cannot relate though as I don't play and don't want to play that way in mmorpg's. Kinda explain why I cannot find mmorpg for myself.
Only now, when it's about another game, GW2 where the same happens the mmorpg.com mods come into action while having condoned it for the past year before?Wow... talk about double standards much :-)
Yes, if you are interested in the gaming habits of those who use xfire.
Silly voyeurs.
I want a mmorpg where people have gone through misery, have gone through school stuff and actually have had sex even. -sagil
I've never been called up and asked who I would vote for and yet I see polls on TV constantly about which candidate is leading.
I've never been in a study on if video games are addicting, yet scientific research comes out on studies that were done on the topic.
Why suddenly gamers think that the only way to measure anything is with the whole group is baffliing and shows a lack of understanding. Many things are constantly measured with a smaller group that represents the whole, and yes a small group of MMO players represents the larger group of MMO players.
It is really that simple. It might not be so controversal if people would also have the knowledge that less people will play an MMO as time goes on. There is no need to be defensive that the game you currently like is trending down in XFire.
There is NO miracle patch.
95% of what you see in beta won't change by launch.
Hope is not a stategy.
______________________________
"This kind of topic is like one of those little cartoon boxes held up by a stick on a string, with a piece of meat under it. In other words, bait."
There are currently around 22m XFire users, this means there are plenty of users who may play completely diffence games to each other. It certainly does not demonstrate that that they roam from game to game.
If you are interested in trends, yes they do. Professional analyst seem to think so.
http://www.dfcint.com/wp/?p=322
X-fire is like a double sided blade to me.
I don't like it because I think a "majority" of the players that use it, are on the more hardcore side of the spectruum of gamers. So I don't think it exactly fairly represents the entire MMO populace, but rather that of which the more intensive gamers are doing. Again, that's in my opinion.
The other side to that is it is the only thing we have to gauge certain games with. I think that x-fire isn't a reliable source (do you believe all the polls you see on certain news stations?), but it's kind of the only source we have. Other than waiting months and months and hope that the developers release statistics (which probably won't happen).
So I don't care for it, but it's also the only thing we really have to some-what represent the community. Does it matter? Nah not really, but if you're into these kinds of things, where else will you find that info?
The "Youtube Pro": Someone who watches video's on said subject, and obviously has a full understanding of what is being said about such subject.
Wow ... the irony
Anyone else find it absolutely hilarious how many "poll" threads have come up about the validity of XFire? So .. you want to take a tiny self selecting sample of mmo elitists and ask their mostly undeducated opinion about the statistical validity of XFire, and treat the results of such a poll as meaningful ... amazing.
even better, no xfire threads about RIFT, SWTOR, or TSW were ever locked.
The problem is, these are the only numbers they can currently get, so they are using them.
X-fire is only useful if you know the population of a game that is using X-fire. Without that, the numbers are absolutely meaningless. It would be like the statistics used thin this sketch - http://youtu.be/ZArgEvK2R1s
We don't even know the % of the gaming population that is using X-fire, let alone for each game. As an example, If Game A has 20K Xfire users at X time with 10% of the Game A's population using Xfire compared to Game B 20K Xfire users with 1% of it's population using Xfire - that is useful. Saying these many people are using it, with out the definitions is absolutely useless.
[quote]Originally posted by RefMinor
[quote] Originally posted by Leethe IF X-fire user number are stable then all all these threads demonstrare is that X-fire users tend to roam from game to game pretty frequently.There are currently around 22m XFire users, this means there are plenty of users who may play completely diffence games to each other. It certainly does not demonstrate that that they roam from game to game.
There have been studies on XFire gamers themselves. The median time played per game is 3 hours. That means half of the games played by XFire players were played for 3 hours. The mean time played was about 40 hours. You have a small number of players playing a LOT of hours, skewing the statistics. Everyone else plays for a short time, then moves to another game.
** edit **
http://www.st.ewi.tudelft.nl/~iosup/xfire-overview11mmve_online.pdf
Study was copyrighted in 2011. It was a study of XFire player statistics, not XFire game statistics.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
No one with any sense is using XFire to predict actual population size, however it does have a degree of accuracy in determining the population trend within a game. In fact the post you replied to specifically states "trends" so your argument is irrelevant.
It would be useful to post a link to these studies as many people pull such "studies" out of their ass when they want to sound authoritative.
Actually my point is Xfire numbers are irrelevant to a gaming population as a whole. It is only useful to trend Xfire users.
Not only that, but we would have to see the median time played within a specific game to determine if x-fire players play more or less than "normal" players. As I don't think any company has every published these numbers we can only guess whether or not x-fire players play more.
No, they are a sample, reasonably sized, of the game population as a whole, and as such are relevant.