Fairly predictable. WoW has been at the top since it's launch, and the rest are the most recent AAA titles to emerge. If you were to see some new AAA MMOs come out they would start knocking titles off that list until it would be WoW and more recent titles, as surely as that list contained games like SWTOR and LOTRO in the past.
Like others have said, I don't really trust that those numbers are accurate but I think the ranking results probably are in about the right places.
The death of new AAA titles has been most fortuitous for titles that would have been replaced by now.
I put 0 faith in their population numbers. Those numbers are far too high. FFXIV having 1M subs would be huge, when you consider EQ's peak was 650K or so and thats the number 2 sub game of all time (sustained peak that is). Also, if you take out accounts created in last 30 days no way BDO is anywhere close to 1M.
As for overall pop, 1 is obvious. 2-4 are also obvious, in some order.
Im curious just how big the gap is from 4 to 5. I would imagine FFXIV has 80-90% of ESO's population, but BDO more like 25% of FFXIV.
You owe me a new keyboard as you made me spew coffee all over mine. EQ is not even in the top 10 for highest population games ever.
In terms of western games, it absolutely is. It had over 500K several years after release. The only other games to top 500K outside of the initial launch rush are WoW, EvE, and probably FFXIV.
Now if you want to throw in eastern subs, Lineage, FFXI and Aion would pass it, and most modern games have a higher peak than EQ, but EQ's retention was stellar and it didnt peak until 5 years out while most modern games peak month 1.
There is no chance BDO is more active in the west for people than EQ was from 2001-2004. No chance at all.
The data has been collected and here are the results.
"Estimating the population of an MMO game is a daunting task, and publishers are not willing to share their numbers on these matters. The reason? I guess WoW’s population is so big, that the rest are embarrassed for their numbers.
So let’s dive in, and sort the most popular MMOs by their user base, with any and all (authority) data that is available on the subject."
I do not see any MMORPG in this list. That are MSO games. And all of them combined are much less popular than LoL. In fact even Diablo 3 has larger player base as it is a better MSO.
Also the information in the link is strongly misleading. it is pretty easy on monthly basis - WoW has about 5 millions players - they claim more than 7. ESO has less than 3 millions for sure. GW2 has more than 2 millions after the last expansion. BDO has less than 300 thousands of players, or more than a million - it depends if we count the mobile game as the same MMORPG. The data in this link is BS.
I think you missed the pattern on that list of games. All five games are MMORPGs, no MOBAS, no ARPGs, no nothing else. They are exclusively talking about MMORPGs. LoL and Diablo have no place in this discussion.
Regardless of how accurate or inaccurate the research is, it's about just one type of games.
The article does go on to list different numbers as given by different sources and as they say most companies don't share their exact numbers leaving everyone to speculate based on their data source estimates.
Yeah but making article about "guessing" using data as "good" as youtube video numbers is laughable.
Fairly predictable. WoW has been at the top since it's launch, and the rest are the most recent AAA titles to emerge. If you were to see some new AAA MMOs come out they would start knocking titles off that list until it would be WoW and more recent titles, as surely as that list contained games like SWTOR and LOTRO in the past.
Like others have said, I don't really trust that those numbers are accurate but I think the ranking results probably are in about the right places.
The death of new AAA titles has been most fortuitous for titles that would have been replaced by now.
So ESO, GW2 and FF14 are recent AAA titles.
Interesting...
It is not like those are years old and established games...
Fairly predictable. WoW has been at the top since it's launch, and the rest are the most recent AAA titles to emerge. If you were to see some new AAA MMOs come out they would start knocking titles off that list until it would be WoW and more recent titles, as surely as that list contained games like SWTOR and LOTRO in the past.
Like others have said, I don't really trust that those numbers are accurate but I think the ranking results probably are in about the right places.
The death of new AAA titles has been most fortuitous for titles that would have been replaced by now.
So ESO, GW2 and FF14 are recent AAA titles.
Interesting...
It is not like those are years old and established games...
Most recent being the key word. Care to name any more recent AAA titles?
I have never seen anyone post numbers about game populations that were not immediately given a raspberry. Is there no data that people were willing to treat as valid or close to valid?
<sighs> Ok I'll bite. Someone out there educate me on where to actually find TRUTHFUL sub numbers or in-game number that we may globally see as accurate. It does seem this is one of the two dozen, or so, topics that get covered ad infinitum. Folks please please for the love of accuracy at least attempt a truthful link we can rely on?
The only people who have an idea about "numbers" are the companies, themselves. None of them release that data to anyone. So we have thousands of datamining companies that try to guess, albeit an educated one, nut a guess nonetheless.
This quoted site used Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Twitch, and even Google Search terms. None of these are accurate, but may give an idea how popular a specific game may be.
I haven't gone to page 2, so hopefully this isn't a repeat
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
EverQuest peaked at 450k players and was only at that level for half a year.
Yeah, I've always thought people oversell the EQ numbers too. If anything Lineage has held a pretty consistent 1M sub base over the years. Sometimes it's dipped down and it's been a lot higher at points but even in the last few years it has. And it's generated more revenue every year than GW2 and half their other IPs combined. It gets left off or forgotten because it's not published in NA anymore.
Lineage is an eastern game though, this site is for western gamers and whats popular in the east (Aion, Lineage for example) does not due well here.
MMOData had EQ over 400K for a 4 year period, for what thats worth. So if its 400K and not 500K that doesnt really change the argument.
WoW is in a league of its own. FFXIV, ESO, GW2, EQ and EvE are the next group of *sustained* MMO successes. Those are your top 6 western MMORPGs of all time. FFXI possibly in that club too. After that its probably a pretty big drop off. Games like SWTOR, WAR, and even Rift had 1-2 month peaks greater than most of those, but fell off fast. 400K truly active players for more than 1-2 months is a big deal in the west.
Some of the others that some thought should be there on the list don't fit. If you look at the ones listed they are world like and some that are suggested to be there of more like MOBAs. So I would say that the person who set up the list probably excluded MOBAs fro consideration. They focused on those that unlike MOBAs, more like WoW and BDO and such.
Some of the others that some thought should be there on the list don't fit. If you look at the ones listed they are world like and some that are suggested to be there of more like MOBAs. So I would say that the person who set up the list probably excluded MOBAs fro consideration. They focused on those that unlike MOBAs, more like WoW and BDO and such.
Well, some folks are terribly confused over what games are MMOs and MMORPGs, and one poster in particular has absolutely no clue, living on the planet Zod, or wherever he comes from.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Possible deadly accurate. But, it is all characters per a server, not players. Personally, I have about 20 characters on various servers in WoW.
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
Possible deadly accurate. But, it is all characters per a server, not players. Personally, I have about 20 characters on various servers in WoW.
Well when the article says 7m+- for WoW and WoW census lists 1.5m characters active in the last 30 days where is the huge 5.5m disparity? The numbers are more than a little off...
edit, from the article as well(
Another great source for WoW population metrics, is WowProgress.com. Their numbers differ on that:
They offer data on unique accounts, and not characters. So they can reflect the player number better.
But, they only count accounts that have a) a 110 character that
killed anything in Tier 20 Heroic Mode or b) a 110 character in a guild
that killed anything in Tier 20 Heroic Mode.
Based on that I can only conclude that numbers are being pulled out of someones ass.
Pretty much. Only Blizzard knows what their p;layer population is and they aren't sharing. Conjecture, though, abounds
Heck that US population site even had the caveat: "* Population - amount of unique players that meet any of the two conditions:
- has a level 110 character that killed something in Tier 20 Heroic Mode
- has a level 110 character in a guild that killed something in Tier 20 Heroic Mode"
What do they mean "unique players?" Characters, or paying customers? How about "accounts?" Notice the lack of specificity in those pretty lists.
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
Comments
Like others have said, I don't really trust that those numbers are accurate but I think the ranking results probably are in about the right places.
The death of new AAA titles has been most fortuitous for titles that would have been replaced by now.
Now if you want to throw in eastern subs, Lineage, FFXI and Aion would pass it, and most modern games have a higher peak than EQ, but EQ's retention was stellar and it didnt peak until 5 years out while most modern games peak month 1.
There is no chance BDO is more active in the west for people than EQ was from 2001-2004. No chance at all.
None of the 5 are actually F2P.
Interesting...
It is not like those are years old and established games...
"classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon
Love Minecraft. And check out my Youtube channel OhCanadaGamer
Try a MUD today at http://www.mudconnect.com/The only people who have an idea about "numbers" are the companies, themselves. None of them release that data to anyone. So we have thousands of datamining companies that try to guess, albeit an educated one, nut a guess nonetheless.
This quoted site used Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Twitch, and even Google Search terms. None of these are accurate, but may give an idea how popular a specific game may be.
I haven't gone to page 2, so hopefully this isn't a repeat
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
"classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon
Love Minecraft. And check out my Youtube channel OhCanadaGamer
Try a MUD today at http://www.mudconnect.com/Philosophy of MMO Game Design
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
Another great source for WoW population metrics, is WowProgress.com. Their numbers differ on that:
Based on that, they report 900K players on US realms, and 1 million players on EU realms.
);
Based on that I can only conclude that numbers are being pulled out of someones ass.
"classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon
Love Minecraft. And check out my Youtube channel OhCanadaGamer
Try a MUD today at http://www.mudconnect.com/Heck that US population site even had the caveat:
"* Population - amount of unique players that meet any of the two conditions:
- has a level 110 character that killed something in Tier 20 Heroic Mode
- has a level 110 character in a guild that killed something in Tier 20 Heroic Mode"
What do they mean "unique players?" Characters, or paying customers? How about "accounts?" Notice the lack of specificity in those pretty lists.
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR