TSO dieing?

Zentox · January 2005

I see the cities less populated these days and just gave up my other 2 accounts, i used to have 3. The cheating in this game is really what ruined it for me, and i think i might get rid of my sub if this new idea that is coming out is not worth it. ::::03::

crossmr · January 2005

was it ever alive?

Zentox · January 2005

It was back last year. Now its dieing out.

Zentox · January 2005

See the thing is I have alot of rl money invested into game money so Thats why i cant give up my sub so easily. It was stupid of me to waste $500+ on game money, i got really addicted.

GameDoggy · January 2005

New city betaville came out today, allowing you to simultaniosly player up to for sims just like the Original Sims, they also have freewill mode like the original, its a little wacky but at least they are working on the game. User subscription surely has dropped but the amount of people that came back for the winter has picked things up again

Zentox · January 2005

Ill be sure to check it out.

Darkbackward · January 2005

The sims was fun, the sims online was not.

That is why the sims online is dieing.

Wicca wicca boom boom wicca wicca boom

Veran · January 2005

Originally posted by Darkbackward

The sims was fun, the sims online was not.

That is why the sims online is dieing.

Wicca wicca boom boom wicca wicca boom

now how was the sims online NOT fun

Scaris · January 2005

Originally posted by Zentox
I see the cities less populated these days and just gave up my other 2 accounts, i used to have 3. The cheating in this game is really what ruined it for me, and i think i might get rid of my sub if this new idea that is coming out is not worth it.

What do you mean cheating? I played it casually for about a year but I was never aware of any way to cheat with it.

aeric67 · January 2005

The major problem with the online version that broke the "fun mechanic" of the non-online version was the inability to compress time, in my experience. A secondary thing would be the lack of a "sandbox" ability (read: cheat codes) so you can play out scenarios without a ton of invested time first.

NuclearDraft · January 2005

I played awhile back and it wasn't really for me...too many immature players. But I guess that is to be expected from a spin off of the Sims which has such a diverse following. Its begining to age a bit so I can see it losing population, I mean there is only so much you can do in this game...

lgnki · January 2005

I work a hotel that services alot of hospital patients, and last night this 60+ year old lady came in and shes like "Do any of ya'll play the sims online?" I had to resist my urge to start in a discussion on the current state of mmorpgs. She probably just stole it from her grand kids anyway.

Greatness · February 2005

Zentox, if you bought in game money, even though it is wrong, why not sell it again?

Katheryne · February 2005

Originally posted by Zentox

See the thing is I have alot of rl money invested into game money so Thats why i cant give up my sub so easily. It was stupid of me to waste $500+ on game money, i got really addicted.

You spent half a grand on in-game currency??? Hon, that's not addiction; that's insanity!

What good is a goal anyways if you're just going to fast-track your way to it?

At any rate, TSO is not dying out. Our subscription numbers have been pretty stable over the past year. In-city population shifts happen when large-scale new features come out, such as the opening of Dragon's Cove, and the testing of Betaville. Sims like me are prone to frequent city-shifting anyways, so I never put too much stock on city population fluctuations.

Babe- · February 2005

yeah, over the past year I went from Test Center only, to pretty much Alphaville only and now I'm visiting Test Center and Calvin's Creek more for the events in those cities on Mondays and Saturdays. There was a month where I really didn't visit anywhere but Betaville ::::33:: cuz I was so addicted to the new version. I've settled now into a new routine of visiting Alphavile mostly, but giving Test Center and Calvin's Creek their due, while going to test Betaville when there's a new update.

sometimes my mood just determines where I want to play

Louisa364 · February 2005

alive and kickin

karaokegod73 · February 2005

He bought $500 in game money and complains about the cheating? He's the very reason the cheaters exist! And in my book the money buyers are cheaters too.

EmmaLouise · February 2005

There is something seriously wrong if the only thing you can think to spend $500 on is pretend money lol. I'd have given it a good home ::::39::

TowelieTSO · February 2005

Just because someone sells simoleans, does not mean they cheat.

I sell simoleans, and I have been for about 6-8 months now. I have never resorted to cheating, scamming, tricking, etc. ever. However, I have found a good way to make simoleans and to sell them.

Also, if you want, I will buy back some of your simoleans. I can't pay you what you paid (sounds like you got ripped off) but, any money back is money saved.

Buying and Selling Simoleans is perfectly legal in TSO, I just wish they would fix the exploits.

Katheryne · February 2005

Originally posted by EmmaLouise

There is something seriously wrong if the only thing you can think to spend $500 on is pretend money lol. I'd have given it a good home

No kidding! I could buy one helluva nice graphics card for that much, and still have change to spare!

Romy · February 2005

Originally posted by Katheryne

At any rate, TSO is not dying out. Our subscription numbers have been pretty stable over the past year. In-city population shifts happen when large-scale new features come out, such as the opening of Dragon's Cove, and the testing of Betaville. Sims like me are prone to frequent city-shifting anyways, so I never put too much stock on city population fluctuations.

Well, I am not sure that is quite accurate. As Cocoanut posted on the Stratics TSO site:

TSO has not been the runaway success EA had hoped for -- they initially projected 400,000 subscribers by the end of 2003, then they cut their expectations to 200,000 by the end of the year shortly after the game came out, and then again to only 125,000 players by May of 2004. The disappointing subscription figures for the game have been widely reported in various news articles, although with some conflicting numbers that took me a while to sort out. After reaching a peak of 105,000 subscriptions began dropping dramatically. An article in the New York Times published in April 2004 quotes EA as providing an official number of 57,500; since then sources indicate that number has fallen further to 35,500 subscribers as of January 2005.

Her numbers are close to what I have read/seen as well. BTW - her website source, which seems to be fairly reliable, is here: www.mmogchart.com

I will be really interested to watch what happens to TSO over the next several months. EA canceled two other games when they hit the 35k mark. The Sims is a flagship of sorts for EA, so TSO may be spared that fate - I hope so, anyway. But only time will tell.

Katheryne · February 2005

The peak of 105k subscribers happened around October-November 2003. It fell sharply to around 57k by April 2004, and has been fairly steady ever since. I say this even though the graph shows a decline, because it's been a very slow decline - nothing like the sharp drop experienced at the end of 2003. Although I really don't have any hard data to prove it, I believe the subscription rate leveled out late last year, as it's been hovering around the 35-40k mark since then.

It's important to note that the 105k spike happened right around when the trial accounts began, as these trial accounts became heavily abused, with many people snapping up hundreds of accounts each just to get their neighborhood names on city view, to farm startup funds from the trial sims, and to circumvent bans due to flagrant ToS violations. Since credit card numbers became mandatory for registering a trial account, abuse - and raw subscription numbers - plummeted.

I do have to wonder where the reported numbers came from, however, since EA is extremely tight-lipped about its subscriber rates. It leaves me to wonder if every city was monitored over a period of time to gauge activity, and the numbers came from that. I don't really know. If this is true, then the survey failed to take into account the number of subscriptions that are in good standing (being paid), yet are inactive for any number of reasons.

Without figures from EA, it all amounts to nothing more than educated guesswork. At any rate, Maxis has not shown any signs that it intends to pull the plug on TSO any time soon -- In fact, it's been ramping up operations lately. It's not like EA to continue to spend money on something they intend to cancel really soon.

Romy · February 2005

Well, I cannot predict what EA will do, and I am not playing TSO at the moment, although I do maintain an account, so I am not sure what they have or have not done to ramp up. I do know Tiggs bailed for SWG, which I viewed as a sign that the future of TSO was not assured.

Still, The Sims offline has been such a success and such a mainstay of EA, that I rather wonder if they will not give TSO every chance to succeed, longer perhaps than other games they have pulled the plug on. I hope so - as you say, it is one of a relatively few number of games (although by no means the only one) where you can play purely to socialize and not engage in EQ-style fighting/leveling - and I know from personal experience, it can be a lot of fun if you are willing to put the time and effort and creativity into it.

Babe- · February 2005

I do know Tiggs bailed for SWG, which I viewed as a sign that the future of TSO was not assured.

heh... maybe they just pay her more

melca · February 2005

Its only a matter of time before EA shuts its down the way they shut down their other games.

Scaris · February 2005

Na, TSO isn't going anywhere, EA will keep it open regardless just to continue to feed the entire Sim's franchise and keep it as marketable as possible.

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