Originally posted by xplororor Elnator and Alderon, do you both LIKE AC? Did you both have fun when you both played AC? When was the last time you both played AC? For how long did both of you played AC? From these questions we, and you both, can see if you both ultimatly agree you both DID have fun in AC when you both played.
Oh, and you're wrong. If you go look at www.mmorpgchart.com you'll notice that DAOC didn'tslow EQ's growth atall. In fact EQ continued to grow at a steady pace even when DAOC was experiencing rapid growth. EQ didn't experience its first dip in subscribers until SWG came out. Might want to check your facts.
I did look at it, and it shows the same thing right now, I saw before:
Before DAoC came out, EQ was exploding higher and higher. Every 6 months it was exploding with 50k new players every 6 months! After DAoC came out, EQ stopped growing the way it was growing before. Stopped exploding higher and higher. From July 01 to July 03, EQ never ever jumped another 50k players. That is a whopping 2 years EQ stalled dead in the water. It did gain another 50k players during those 2 years time, due to players finding out DAoC was another EQ clone until one reachest the highest levels before one could engage on RvR with the best chances to win. (DAoC even allows players to skip levels LOL!).
The fact that EQ went from gaining 50k players every 6 months (100k players a year) to.... after DAoC came out........ spending 2 years just to gain 50k players (That's 25k players a year!) shows DAoC smacked EQ and hard!
SWG later came out, which did not hurt EQ. (right before July 03) It slowed EQ's growth even more. But one can say Ragnarok Online was the real cause of slowing EQ even further - Look what RO did to DAoC's growth heheh. RO came out very close to SWG coming out (RO came out a few months before SWG.) In fact, EQ had a tiny bit of growth during SWG's explosion.(right on July 03, or a bit after July 03)
When SWG dropped, EQ also dropped. (Jan 04, and again at July 04) But EQ really nosedived after EQ2 came out.
SWG's main target market was Star Wars fans who had never played a MMORPG before. SWG is also 100% different from EQ. (Not including the sci-fi setting either.) SWG is 100% skill based. EQ is Level Based.) DAoC on the other hand is a 95% EQ clone until one reaches the highest level, then hardcore RvR takes place. Heck, I still remember SWG, and EQ, fans posting on the SWG, and EQ forums about how much DAoC was an EQ clone heheh.
BTW I personally like both EQ and DAoC heheh. So I am not trying to badmouth either. I had fun in both. I am just stating the facts. DAoC hit EQ very hard. DAoC did indeed slowed EQ's growth signifigantly - EQ went from gaining 100k players per year to gaining 25k players a year...
DAoC has certain features that are intresting, like the quickie quests that pop up suddently and last for 1-5 mins. (Like when I had to protect a young maiden who suddently ran up to me, from some bullies and robbers. She latter rewarded me. )
Hmmm no I'm seeing EQ starting to plateau about 5 months before DAOC came out. In around January of 01 EQ's curve started to plateau and when DAOC came out in September/October EQ continued on the same plotline that it had been from January to September until almost June of 02. In June of 02 the plotline appears to flatten a little more which appears to coincide with FFXI and RuneScape. When RO comes out EQ actually shows a slight increase in growth. It's hard to tell exactly why it has it's first real dip in subscribers unless you look at the 120,000+ chart where you see that Lineage II came out exactly when EQ has it's first small dip in subscribers. You're right, it wasn't SWG, it was probably Lineage II that caused that first small dip.
Then EQ appears to recover and grow again a bit and then has a large spike right around the time COH came out then had a huge drop... Maybe COH brought in new gamers and when the game didn't live up to expectations EQ picked up a bunch of players? I dunno... Can't figure out that sudden jump to 500k subscribers.
Then, as you said around the time EQ2 & WoW came out EQ really starts to drop.
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And, point of fact, I liked DAOC better than EQ. So I don't have any reason to talk it down either. It's an awesome Fantasy MMORPG and is one of the best implementations of consentual PVP in an MMO to date, imo. If it weren't for the fact that I got married and my playstyle was forced to change because of it I'd probably still be playing DAOC. Unfortunately I don't have the time that DAOC, EQ, Lineage II and other more traditional MMO's require in order to feel a sense of accomplishment or progress. SWG allows me the ability to log on for an hour (or less) and still feel like I got something accomplished while still having a larger and deeper game underneath that I can enjoy when I do have time to play for longer periods. It's not perfect but, for my playtime/style it fits perfectly.
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online. Sig image Pending Still in: A couple Betas
I suggest you to try EQ2. It has a free trial and it is nice.
I played Wow for 3 months and after that time I quit because the came becomes really boring. Now I have tested EQ2 and it seems much better than Wow by far.
I don't get it. Here we go again with the chart measuring so called population of games. Is there something cool in saying you play this game and it has x amount of players?
All four of these games have vast areas to explore. I played all four games and all four were fun. I'm currently a AC2 and COH subscriber. Seriously play what you find fun.
Comments
Oh, and you're wrong. If you go look at www.mmorpgchart.com you'll notice that DAOC didn't slow EQ's growth at all. In fact EQ continued to grow at a steady pace even when DAOC was experiencing rapid growth. EQ didn't experience its first dip in subscribers until SWG came out. Might want to check your facts.
I did look at it, and it shows the same thing right now, I saw before:
http://www.mmorpgchart.com/Chart2.html
Before DAoC came out, EQ was exploding higher and higher. Every 6 months it was exploding with 50k new players every 6 months! After DAoC came out, EQ stopped growing the way it was growing before. Stopped exploding higher and higher. From July 01 to July 03, EQ never ever jumped another 50k players. That is a whopping 2 years EQ stalled dead in the water. It did gain another 50k players during those 2 years time, due to players finding out DAoC was another EQ clone until one reachest the highest levels before one could engage on RvR with the best chances to win. (DAoC even allows players to skip levels LOL!
).
The fact that EQ went from gaining 50k players every 6 months (100k players a year) to.... after DAoC came out........ spending 2 years just to gain 50k players (That's 25k players a year!
) shows DAoC smacked EQ and hard! 
SWG later came out, which did not hurt EQ. (right before July 03) It slowed EQ's growth even more. But one can say Ragnarok Online was the real cause of slowing EQ even further - Look what RO did to DAoC's growth heheh. RO came out very close to SWG coming out (RO came out a few months before SWG.) In fact, EQ had a tiny bit of growth during SWG's explosion.(right on July 03, or a bit after July 03)
When SWG dropped, EQ also dropped. (Jan 04, and again at July 04) But EQ really nosedived after EQ2 came out.
SWG's main target market was Star Wars fans who had never played a MMORPG before. SWG is also 100% different from EQ. (Not including the sci-fi setting either.) SWG is 100% skill based. EQ is Level Based.) DAoC on the other hand is a 95% EQ clone until one reaches the highest level, then hardcore RvR takes place. Heck, I still remember SWG, and EQ, fans posting on the SWG, and EQ forums about how much DAoC was an EQ clone heheh.
BTW I personally like both EQ and DAoC heheh. So I am not trying to badmouth either. I had fun in both. I am just stating the facts. DAoC hit EQ very hard. DAoC did indeed slowed EQ's growth signifigantly - EQ went from gaining 100k players per year to gaining 25k players a year...
DAoC has certain features that are intresting, like the quickie quests that pop up suddently and last for 1-5 mins. (Like when I had to protect a young maiden who suddently ran up to me, from some bullies and robbers. She latter rewarded me.
)
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Hmmm no I'm seeing EQ starting to plateau about 5 months before DAOC came out. In around January of 01 EQ's curve started to plateau and when DAOC came out in September/October EQ continued on the same plotline that it had been from January to September until almost June of 02. In June of 02 the plotline appears to flatten a little more which appears to coincide with FFXI and RuneScape. When RO comes out EQ actually shows a slight increase in growth. It's hard to tell exactly why it has it's first real dip in subscribers unless you look at the 120,000+ chart where you see that Lineage II came out exactly when EQ has it's first small dip in subscribers. You're right, it wasn't SWG, it was probably Lineage II that caused that first small dip.
Then EQ appears to recover and grow again a bit and then has a large spike right around the time COH came out then had a huge drop... Maybe COH brought in new gamers and when the game didn't live up to expectations EQ picked up a bunch of players? I dunno... Can't figure out that sudden jump to 500k subscribers.
Then, as you said around the time EQ2 & WoW came out EQ really starts to drop.
=================
And, point of fact, I liked DAOC better than EQ. So I don't have any reason to talk it down either. It's an awesome Fantasy MMORPG and is one of the best implementations of consentual PVP in an MMO to date, imo. If it weren't for the fact that I got married and my playstyle was forced to change because of it I'd probably still be playing DAOC. Unfortunately I don't have the time that DAOC, EQ, Lineage II and other more traditional MMO's require in order to feel a sense of accomplishment or progress. SWG allows me the ability to log on for an hour (or less) and still feel like I got something accomplished while still having a larger and deeper game underneath that I can enjoy when I do have time to play for longer periods. It's not perfect but, for my playtime/style it fits perfectly.
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
Sig image Pending
Still in: A couple Betas
I suggest you to try EQ2. It has a free trial and it is nice.
I played Wow for 3 months and after that time I quit because the came becomes really boring. Now I have tested EQ2 and it seems much better than Wow by far.
I don't get it. Here we go again with the chart measuring so called population of games. Is there something cool in saying you play this game and it has x amount of players?
All four of these games have vast areas to explore. I played all four games and all four were fun. I'm currently a AC2 and COH subscriber. Seriously play what you find fun.
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Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.