I play the game, (well, at least until Aug 19th) and trust me, if my server (Bloodspire) is at all representational of the game overall, then number of players is way down from 415K. Main cities are a ghost town, two entire guilds I belonged to with over 40 members each have vanished from the game.
Couple that with the fact Funcom presets all server loads at medium now and has disabled the /who command so you can't find out how many folks are online all point to much lower numbers than 415K.
Sorry, the game is contracting.... and I'm heading out the door on that note.
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
Just more of their Fluff and lies as always. At least they are not just scamming the community but the investors as well.
There is no possible way they can have 415k active accounts when July was the worst month for people leaving the game. My server turned into a ghost town in July, my guild collapsed and most of my friends quit.
this report is valid ! now show me where this report says " 415.0000 Customers per 14 august "
what has wow go to do with it, if your loosing a battle dont drag other companies down to try prove a point it just shows your loosing badly.
Making and example is not dragging down other companies as for trolls why did Funcom use 30. June ?
The game was released 20 May for US and 23 May for EU.
The fact is they sold the most copies with preorders and within first week so the best way for them would to use 30. May in that case there would be much much more then 400K as people did not cancle yet.
As for fraud it clearly say CUSTOMERS not SUBSCRIBERS do you see the difference ?
Well lets continue the flames as iam to bored atm to play conan ( dont fancy alts ... to early for raid ... not EU prime time so open world pvp is pointless as its hard to find any high level players. )
For flaming purposes: haha trolls you loose age of conan is the best just look 400K players -> servers are packed and no one is leaving
well loosing a valid discussion mate, so why bring wow to the table if we are talking about funcom financial matters? For your info im awaiting stress tests on some servers , so in the mean time im happly surfing the web so yes i have a life thanks , but why degrade to name calling ? your life bit hollow?
Hehe, you are also a funny guy. To loose a valid discussion as you point, well there must be at least two parts agreeing that they are discussing. I see someone presenting their points, and you automatically think you are on a discussion. Are you discussing with yourself?
"For your info im awaiting stress tests on some servers " Hehe, yes that what i would call a true real life, isn't at any point related to the virtual world. Just calm down m8, you are not wining a medal for saying that someone is loosing a discussion.. when he probably doesn't even know he's having one
this report is valid ! now show me where this report says " 415.0000 Customers per 14 august "
what has wow go to do with it, if your loosing a battle dont drag other companies down to try prove a point it just shows your loosing badly.
It is 415,000 per June 30th though, the numbers were not cleared for release until August 14th. On June 30th they had 415,000 subscriptions which was right around where people were guessing. Most guessed 350k-450. They have probably lost half of those and are sitting at around 200K now.
Funcom is not just AOC it is there financial year, you do not base financial reports on the release of one of your products.
Quote specop "For your info im awaiting stress tests on some servers " Hehe, yes that what i would call a true real life, isn't at any point related to the virtual world."
Its called a real world mate its what people do who work in systems development for large companys, you know the sort of people who pop by to say hello to you in macy dee`s.
The mass exodus from AoC happened in July and is still going on now. The 415k number is a complete fraud to try and keep the investors faith in the product.
Doesn't seem to be working too well though considering a -$4.50 to stock price this morning alone.
415k is the number they have in the Q2 financial report, which means those numbers are dated June 30th. All companies have a time buffer from the closure of the quarter to the release of the report. In that time they get the numbers together, and submit the report for reviewing and aprooval. For example when you close a financial year, you have a couple of months to release the reports, depending on the law of the country. Where I live for example, you have untill march next year to release the end of the previous year reports.
I was just about to point this out. The OP's figures were out of date before he started.
_________________________________________ You can walk the walk but can you talk the talk?
I actively still play the game, and even if those numbers don't mean anything to me, since it would be enough for me to have 1000 players active playing at anytime on the same server to be able and enjoy the game, i don't believe that anyone is expected to actually believe on the 450k number.
The 415k number comes from Funcoms 2ND QUARTER report to it's investors. This would encompass April, May, and June.
According to what I've read the average MMO loses 30% after the free month is up, Age of Conan on the other hand lost 50%.
In July the backlash really started and gained momentum. Since about Mid July I've seen a major decline on Doomsayer and Bane. This gives me the impression that Funcom has lost an additional 50%, and I think the number of subs they list on the Q3 report will be closer to 150k - 200k.
*EDIT*
Yes IKShadow, Age of Conan is the most important "product" they have. If Age of Conan goes under, Funcom will probably follow.
Originally posted by Bazanko Its called a real world mate its what people do who work in systems development for large companys, you know the sort of people who pop by to say hello to you in macy dee`s.
Hehe, feeling better now that you said to everyone to read that you work on system development for large company's? You getting funnier by the minute. Calm down, i don't care what you do for a living.. you could affirm to be the president of your country. Working on/to a virtual environment, isn't what i meant with real life. I don't even understand why you automatically remembered work. Does that title you given yourself makes you feel bigger than other? We don't care
Its called a real world mate its what people do who work in systems development for large companys, you know the sort of people who pop by to say hello to you in macy dee`s.
Hehe, feeling better now that you said to everyone to read that you work on system development for large company's? You getting funnier by the minute. Calm down, i don't care what you do for a living.. you could affirm to be the president of your country. Working on/to a virtual environment, isn't what i meant with real life. I don't even understand why you automatically remembered work. Does that title you given yourself makes you feel bigger than other? We don't care
[quote][i]Originally posted by Bazanko[/i] get a job mate you can have a title too [/quote]
I don't need a job, going to beach, making barbecues with my friends, you know, having fun in real life... that's my title. While you are there stressing closed on your virtual environment... Must be frustrating
You really should go out and see the world outside, but beware your boss may be watching you
Since this gone way too far off topic, tis my last post in this thread, have given you already way too much of my attention and time, don't want to share from your frustration, i point has already been made
The mass exodus from AoC happened in July and is still going on now. The 415k number is a complete fraud to try and keep the investors faith in the product. Doesn't seem to be working too well though considering a -$4.50 to stock price this morning alone. Way to go Failcom.
calm down, take your pills..
the 415k is from june 30th it is not a lie, 50% retention is what i expected
the trolls are all eagerly awaiting Q3 cause thats where the hits will fall
btw aoc closes? haha.. ao has 12k subs and has been running for years getting tons of new content and fueling aoc developement (for a part, fc gained a lot of funding they got like 30m 2 months before aoc launch. i dont think they are working on any other mmo it would be bad for their financial situation
MMOs currently playing: - About to play: Lord of the Rings Online Played: Anarchy Online (alltime favorite) and lots of f2p titles (honorable mentions: 9Dragons, Martial Heroes, Dekaron, Atlantica Online)
the 415K number is still better than I expected in all honesty. AOC will survive no matter what as MMORPG's never really die they just fade away into the background.
My prediction for Q3 with some competition coming out and providing AOC stays on the same course as far as patching and content additions, the game will sit at around 200 - 250K active subscribers.
People will go to extraordinary lenghts to prove this game a failure wont they haha! me i would just wait and see rather than make myself look foolish, if by the next quarter the game has been proved a complete failure and closed then you will all be correct, but if it's still going with decent subs then it's time to just leave and go try prove another game is a failure.
Just for the record i think the game after level 50 is utterly boring and have not renewed my subs.
My god we will have to go through this ll again soon when WAR is launched lol. Why am i so sad i can't find anything else to do other than frequent these forums lol. Please something save us...darkfall maybe?
yea lol at all the ppl who claim fc is going belly up, they got 86m in their bank ;s
anyway, im not here to defend aoc and im only at these forums cause i was checking for WAR news but this thread was screaming for a reply, anti-fc ppl their better then anti SOE
MMOs currently playing: - About to play: Lord of the Rings Online Played: Anarchy Online (alltime favorite) and lots of f2p titles (honorable mentions: 9Dragons, Martial Heroes, Dekaron, Atlantica Online)
3on1 - It would be easier to read your whole posts if you cut back on the "lol". Once in awhile is alright, but use it every other line and some can't take you seriously.
1) Firstly, these numbers come from AT THE LATEST, June 30th, 2008.
2) They state CUSTOMERS, not SUBSCRIBERS.
3) This is still a win-win at the moment for numbers, but you can clearly see the "haters" as you all like to label them, winning. What I mean is that even if it were 415,000 subscribers it looks great on paper and internet forums. Most MMORPGs do not reach these numbers. But, this also comes from the fact that they sold over 800,000 boxes since launch day, right? This means from the fact the numbers were June 30th that not even two full months later around 385k people quit the game and chose not to retain or pay a monthly fee for this. 48% of the box sales are gone already. This is almost HALF! This does not look into how many left from July or now August but it is a fairly resonable trend to believe that subscriptions for this game are still on the decline, not the incline.
4) Right in this report it says the average playtime per individual is lower than expected. Most games when launched during the first few months are at their highest playtime during their first year, or up until an expansion comes out. FunCom tries to explain their playtime per individual is down because the average age of a subscriber is apparently 29 years old.
5) FunComs current stock is at a three year low.
6) FunCom is creating a localized version of Age of Conan for Russia and Poland. As well as having talks with the Asian market to get their game over there, all the while working on the 360 version. If you think things are getting fixed soon, for the most part, don't hold your breath. Things don't happen smooth and fast when you spread your development team on two more localized versions of AoC, a 360 version, an Asian version, an AoC expansion, and resources for another MMO, The Secret World.
7) They claim in this report they launched without any major technical issues. Things like the memory leak, crash to desktop, running at 9 fps on a great machine, sieges being unplayable at first, no DX10 among other issues are not considered major. So for future companies you can have your end game be broken and unplayable, and in your Financial report, you can state nothing major was wrong.
8) This is not for todays date. If the OP would actually read the report instead of scouting for numbers it reads at the bottom:
The unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements of the Group for the six months ended 30 June 2008 were approved for issue by the supervisory board on 14 August 2008.
Then, right below that it reads:
This means that these interim financial statements do not include all information and disclosures required in annual financial statements but only selected significant information.
This means that this report was done on the results up to June 30th, it was okayed to be shown on August 14th. The second part means that information is missing and this was selected information by FunCom that they felt was alright to show. This isn't an unbiased report, they left things out.
Agree templarga. who cares? lets just see, if it fails then it fails, which for me doesn't make any difference as i am not playing anymore. If it ends up pulling it back, which to be honest i would bet it will level of at one of the top subbed games, then lets just accept they did a good job! still...it's so much fun watching people try to explain it all away.
Dont know if i am more confused with it all or if i have learnt a lesson in finance lol.
Comments
I play the game, (well, at least until Aug 19th) and trust me, if my server (Bloodspire) is at all representational of the game overall, then number of players is way down from 415K. Main cities are a ghost town, two entire guilds I belonged to with over 40 members each have vanished from the game.
Couple that with the fact Funcom presets all server loads at medium now and has disabled the /who command so you can't find out how many folks are online all point to much lower numbers than 415K.
Sorry, the game is contracting.... and I'm heading out the door on that note.
"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
Just more of their Fluff and lies as always. At least they are not just scamming the community but the investors as well.
There is no possible way they can have 415k active accounts when July was the worst month for people leaving the game. My server turned into a ghost town in July, my guild collapsed and most of my friends quit.
Funcom =Liecom
Taken from a power point presentation, made into a PDF document. which is as valid as monopoly money as currency
So what reports are valid ?
You mean when Blizzard say 10m subscribers and counting the chinese cyber cafe's that pay 0.75$ / month is valid ?
Thats the only "official" numbers we have, so they count as much as any other MMO subs numbers.
http://www.funcom.com/funcom/frontend/files/CONTENT/Funcom_Q208_report.pdf
this report is valid ! now show me where this report says " 415.0000 Customers per 14 august "
what has wow go to do with it, if your loosing a battle dont drag other companies down to try prove a point it just shows your loosing badly.
Making and example is not dragging down other companies as for trolls why did Funcom use 30. June ?
The game was released 20 May for US and 23 May for EU.
)
The fact is they sold the most copies with preorders and within first week so the best way for them would to use 30. May in that case there would be much much more then 400K as people did not cancle yet.
As for fraud it clearly say CUSTOMERS not SUBSCRIBERS do you see the difference ?
Well lets continue the flames as iam to bored atm to play conan ( dont fancy alts ... to early for raid ... not EU prime time so open world pvp is pointless as its hard to find any high level players.
For flaming purposes: haha trolls you loose age of conan is the best just look 400K players -> servers are packed and no one is leaving
Futilez[Do You Have What It Takes ?]
Hehe, you are also a funny guy. To loose a valid discussion as you point, well there must be at least two parts agreeing that they are discussing. I see someone presenting their points, and you automatically think you are on a discussion. Are you discussing with yourself?
"For your info im awaiting stress tests on some servers " Hehe, yes that what i would call a true real life, isn't at any point related to the virtual world. Just calm down m8, you are not wining a medal for saying that someone is loosing a discussion.. when he probably doesn't even know he's having one
Cheers,
Taken from a power point presentation, made into a PDF document. which is as valid as monopoly money as currency
So what reports are valid ?
You mean when Blizzard say 10m subscribers and counting the chinese cyber cafe's that pay 0.75$ / month is valid ?
Thats the only "official" numbers we have, so they count as much as any other MMO subs numbers.
http://www.funcom.com/funcom/frontend/files/CONTENT/Funcom_Q208_report.pdf
this report is valid ! now show me where this report says " 415.0000 Customers per 14 august "
what has wow go to do with it, if your loosing a battle dont drag other companies down to try prove a point it just shows your loosing badly.
It is 415,000 per June 30th though, the numbers were not cleared for release until August 14th. On June 30th they had 415,000 subscriptions which was right around where people were guessing. Most guessed 350k-450. They have probably lost half of those and are sitting at around 200K now.
Quote specop "For your info im awaiting stress tests on some servers " Hehe, yes that what i would call a true real life, isn't at any point related to the virtual world."
Its called a real world mate its what people do who work in systems development for large companys, you know the sort of people who pop by to say hello to you in macy dee`s.
The mass exodus from AoC happened in July and is still going on now. The 415k number is a complete fraud to try and keep the investors faith in the product.
Doesn't seem to be working too well though considering a -$4.50 to stock price this morning alone.
Way to go Failcom.
I was just about to point this out. The OP's figures were out of date before he started.
_________________________________________
You can walk the walk but can you talk the talk?
I actively still play the game, and even if those numbers don't mean anything to me, since it would be enough for me to have 1000 players active playing at anytime on the same server to be able and enjoy the game, i don't believe that anyone is expected to actually believe on the 450k number.
Cheers,
IKShadow,
Let me school you son, before you hurt yourself.
The 415k number comes from Funcoms 2ND QUARTER report to it's investors. This would encompass April, May, and June.
According to what I've read the average MMO loses 30% after the free month is up, Age of Conan on the other hand lost 50%.
In July the backlash really started and gained momentum. Since about Mid July I've seen a major decline on Doomsayer and Bane. This gives me the impression that Funcom has lost an additional 50%, and I think the number of subs they list on the Q3 report will be closer to 150k - 200k.
*EDIT*
Yes IKShadow, Age of Conan is the most important "product" they have. If Age of Conan goes under, Funcom will probably follow.
http://www.funcom.com/funcom/frontend/files/CONTENT/FuncomRiskFactors.pdf
Dependence on success of Age of Conan
Funcom’s future income is highly dependent on the success of the Age of
Conan MMO. In itself, Age of Conan is expected to contribute with
significant revenues and earnings, and if Age of Conan attains low
subscriber numbers there will be a negative impact on future cash flows
and the valuation of Funcom. Furthermore, the game is intended to be one
of the funding sources for the development of other titles, and lower cash
inflows than expected could also have an indirect effect in terms of reduced
revenues, earnings and cash flows from other games and the future funding
requirements of the Company.
*Second Edit*
Looks like we won't be getting sub numbers again:
Funcom will, as previously stated, for marketing and
competitive reasons in the future not on a regular
basis disclose information about subscriber
numbers and also not provide detailed financial
guidance. Due to Q208 being the first quarter
following the introduction of the Age of Conan
game, the Company has decided to provide such
information.
Hehe, feeling better now that you said to everyone to read that you work on system development for large company's? You getting funnier by the minute. Calm down, i don't care what you do for a living.. you could affirm to be the president of your country. Working on/to a virtual environment, isn't what i meant with real life. I don't even understand why you automatically remembered work. Does that title you given yourself makes you feel bigger than other? We don't care
Cheers,
real players
low low low
1 months = 800k
june = 450k
august = 200k
Hehe, feeling better now that you said to everyone to read that you work on system development for large company's? You getting funnier by the minute. Calm down, i don't care what you do for a living.. you could affirm to be the president of your country. Working on/to a virtual environment, isn't what i meant with real life. I don't even understand why you automatically remembered work. Does that title you given yourself makes you feel bigger than other? We don't care
Cheers,
get a job mate you can have a title too
[quote][i]Originally posted by Bazanko[/i] get a job mate you can have a title too [/quote]
I don't need a job, going to beach, making barbecues with my friends, you know, having fun in real life... that's my title. While you are there stressing closed on your virtual environment... Must be frustrating
You really should go out and see the world outside, but beware your boss may be watching you
Since this gone way too far off topic, tis my last post in this thread, have given you already way too much of my attention and time, don't want to share from your frustration, i point has already been made
Cheers,
calm down, take your pills..
the 415k is from june 30th it is not a lie, 50% retention is what i expected
the trolls are all eagerly awaiting Q3 cause thats where the hits will fall
btw aoc closes?
haha.. ao has 12k subs and has been running for years getting tons of new content and fueling aoc developement (for a part, fc gained a lot of funding they got like 30m 2 months before aoc launch. i dont think they are working on any other mmo it would be bad for their financial situation
MMOs currently playing: -
About to play: Lord of the Rings Online
Played: Anarchy Online (alltime favorite) and lots of f2p titles (honorable mentions: 9Dragons, Martial Heroes, Dekaron, Atlantica Online)
the 415K number is still better than I expected in all honesty. AOC will survive no matter what as MMORPG's never really die they just fade away into the background.
My prediction for Q3 with some competition coming out and providing AOC stays on the same course as far as patching and content additions, the game will sit at around 200 - 250K active subscribers.
So let me get this straight. People are asking me to now believe FunCom?
People will go to extraordinary lenghts to prove this game a failure wont they haha! me i would just wait and see rather than make myself look foolish, if by the next quarter the game has been proved a complete failure and closed then you will all be correct, but if it's still going with decent subs then it's time to just leave and go try prove another game is a failure.
Just for the record i think the game after level 50 is utterly boring and have not renewed my subs.
My god we will have to go through this ll again soon when WAR is launched lol. Why am i so sad i can't find anything else to do other than frequent these forums lol. Please something save us...darkfall maybe?
Thats awesome. AoC really took it in the teeth.
yea lol at all the ppl who claim fc is going belly up, they got 86m in their bank ;s
anyway, im not here to defend aoc and im only at these forums cause i was checking for WAR news but this thread was screaming for a reply,
anti-fc ppl their better then anti SOE
MMOs currently playing: -
About to play: Lord of the Rings Online
Played: Anarchy Online (alltime favorite) and lots of f2p titles (honorable mentions: 9Dragons, Martial Heroes, Dekaron, Atlantica Online)
Yes, they are working on new MMOs:
• Funcom’s casual game-initiatives are progressing
according to plan. Two casual MMO games are
expected to be released in 2009.
• The Secret World, Funcom’s next full-fledged MMO
is progressing according to plan. The team size of
The Secret World is currently being ramped up.
The Secret World: www.youtube.com/watch
*Edit*
3on1 - It would be easier to read your whole posts if you cut back on the "lol". Once in awhile is alright, but use it every other line and some can't take you seriously.
A couple of things here as others have stated:
1) Firstly, these numbers come from AT THE LATEST, June 30th, 2008.
2) They state CUSTOMERS, not SUBSCRIBERS.
3) This is still a win-win at the moment for numbers, but you can clearly see the "haters" as you all like to label them, winning. What I mean is that even if it were 415,000 subscribers it looks great on paper and internet forums. Most MMORPGs do not reach these numbers. But, this also comes from the fact that they sold over 800,000 boxes since launch day, right? This means from the fact the numbers were June 30th that not even two full months later around 385k people quit the game and chose not to retain or pay a monthly fee for this. 48% of the box sales are gone already. This is almost HALF! This does not look into how many left from July or now August but it is a fairly resonable trend to believe that subscriptions for this game are still on the decline, not the incline.
4) Right in this report it says the average playtime per individual is lower than expected. Most games when launched during the first few months are at their highest playtime during their first year, or up until an expansion comes out. FunCom tries to explain their playtime per individual is down because the average age of a subscriber is apparently 29 years old.
5) FunComs current stock is at a three year low.
6) FunCom is creating a localized version of Age of Conan for Russia and Poland. As well as having talks with the Asian market to get their game over there, all the while working on the 360 version. If you think things are getting fixed soon, for the most part, don't hold your breath. Things don't happen smooth and fast when you spread your development team on two more localized versions of AoC, a 360 version, an Asian version, an AoC expansion, and resources for another MMO, The Secret World.
7) They claim in this report they launched without any major technical issues. Things like the memory leak, crash to desktop, running at 9 fps on a great machine, sieges being unplayable at first, no DX10 among other issues are not considered major. So for future companies you can have your end game be broken and unplayable, and in your Financial report, you can state nothing major was wrong.
8) This is not for todays date. If the OP would actually read the report instead of scouting for numbers it reads at the bottom:
The unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements of the Group for the six months ended 30 June 2008 were approved for issue by the supervisory board on 14 August 2008.
Then, right below that it reads:
This means that these interim financial statements do not include all information and disclosures required in annual financial statements but only selected significant information.
This means that this report was done on the results up to June 30th, it was okayed to be shown on August 14th. The second part means that information is missing and this was selected information by FunCom that they felt was alright to show. This isn't an unbiased report, they left things out.
<a href="http://dailysurveypanel.com/?r=Varking"><img src="http://b01.dailysurveypanel.com/dsp_468x60.gif"; border=0></a>
Agree templarga. who cares? lets just see, if it fails then it fails, which for me doesn't make any difference as i am not playing anymore. If it ends up pulling it back, which to be honest i would bet it will level of at one of the top subbed games, then lets just accept they did a good job! still...it's so much fun watching people try to explain it all away.
Dont know if i am more confused with it all or if i have learnt a lesson in finance lol.
This comment had me crying with laughter. What? Are you suggesting business reportings are entirely accurate?
http://www.allaboutgod.com/