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Current Graphs Showing Decline - (Found something interesting).
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BAHAHAHHAHAHAH thanks bro, you made my day
I don't fully agree. Of course, when a game or expansion launches or a content update, then there's enough to grab your full available MMO time to keep busy, however after a while you reach a point where you have seen a lot of the content you were interested in, and based on your interests often no fulltime commitment is required anymore. For example, if you're not a hardcore raider, then you don't have to be raiding every day that you play, but it can still be the case that you want to hang around with guildies and friends ingame. In those low times, it's very possible to spend MMO time on other MMO's without fully abandoning your guild and friends in your current main MMO you're playing.
You won't ever hear me saying that GW2 won't have an impact on player activity in other MMO's. However, there are 2 considerations that play a role, time and money. GW2 in contrast to other P2P MMO's makes it possible to stay subbed to a P2P MMO even if the time people'll be in there will be 10-20% of the usual, where as when it's about a P2P MMO many people who don't want to maintain 2 subs, will have to consider to drop the one that they would be playing less for a few months.You dont need graphs or statistics, its just normal that after a free month a part of the player unsubscribe. Nobody claims that these graphs are correct, but they show a trend which you know without any statistics anyway
Yet, they also follow the same method of measurement as swtorarena. They use population loads for servers, not actual population figures.
They show server load trends, not actual population trends. Thus, what you are trying to claim by showing them is completely dishonest and makes your agenda crystal clear.
I claim nothing, I just post links from this webpage...you guys want to claim something about me. I dont care about the graphs, because I know without them that after a free months player numbers will decrease...of course they show server load trends, do you think he is counting the individual players ingame.
Well spoken sir, well spoken
Consider a second factor though...
Even if GW2 does not affect actual subscription numbers becuase of the ability to keep a sub
How long will that last?
It will still affect logged in populations. Personally I think that it will affect logged in Populations a WHOLE lot.
So swtor may continue to have their projected 800k subs for the first few months just because its easy to keep the sub when you dont have to pay one for Gw2.
However, if only a little bit of people are actually logged in everytime you hop on the game.. how long before you stop paying for that sub due to lack of active population.
Exactly what are people tolerences for it. At what point will people say to themselves... "you know what? I barely ever play this game anyway... and evertime I do there is no one on."
The real question is exactly how much fun will GW2 be? Becuase if it's too fun then I feel that it will DEFINATLY be the downfall of many current MMO's.
"Don't mistake a fun game for a good game... Checkers is fun to play but its not exactly the highest point of gaming design... and definatly not worth $60 plus $15 a month"
mhmmm, yet so many people refuse to acknowledge that
http://www.swtorarena.com/topic/210-swtor-statistics-tool-faq/
"Can I make guesses on overall subscription count based on these graphs?
No you shouldn't be relying on them to make so guesses."
http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=60893
"Population caps are being gradually raised on these servers, but raising them too fast will create an influx of new players and perpetuate the problem."
http://twitter.com/Rockjaw
"Rockjaw Stephen Reid
Again on queues: we're monitoring and adjusting server caps constantly. That doesn't mean queues will disappear immediately."
http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=13418
"We'll be adding new servers throughout Early Game Access as we look at the demand and player numbers."
So what we can easily and logically derive from that barrage of quotes is that with the addition of new servers and the increase in server caps, there has to be a decline in the graphs unless their growth greatly exceeds their changes. (in which case it would be a "WoW-killer" which we all know is nothing more than mythical)
In no way am I agruing that the frequency of play is on a decline as that's the only thing the graphs are capable of showing. However frequency of play can not be regarded as decrease in subscribers as a subscriber need not log in to have a valid subscription.
If you want to prove anything about SWTOR with graphs, wait a couple months and MAYBE they'll be able to prove something. (depending on how this actually plays out... it's possible for changes to be insignificant enough to draw a conclusion one way or another.
We really need separate forums for every newly launched game. There can be the anti-<MMO> one and there can be the 'what general discussion should be' one. All the lamenting can happen together where each can find solace in like minded can't-move-on-ers leaving the rest of us to actually move forward and discuss meaningful and relevant topics.
[mod edit]
"Don't mistake a fun game for a good game... Checkers is fun to play but its not exactly the highest point of gaming design... and definatly not worth $60 plus $15 a month"
These nice graphs don't actually tell us very much, because they are based on the labels that EA/BW use for the servers.
And EA/BW have told us that the numbers behind those labels have changed. During the first few weeks, masses of players were joining every day, and alot of servers were flagged as full very quickly to encourage people to spread out to other servers. As people spread over more servers, they loosened the grip, because players weren't really "bunching up" on only a small number of "popular" servers anymore.
So, in week 1, they might have set server caps at 800 (earning a "full" rating). In week 2, that could have gone to 1000, and in week 3, as things eased up, "full" might have meant 1500 players on the server.
That means that a server could go from "full" to merely "heavy", but the actual population increased !
Nobody but EA/BW knows what number of players is represented by a "full" or "heavy" label on a server. The only thing we know for sure is that the definitions of those labels have changed over time.
[mod edit - let's stay on topic!]
Exactly and I'm disheartened by the lack of moderation on this subject. If you mention a poster's history of negative or deragotory comments, you get moderated as "trolling" or "personal attacks'" yet they allow this obvious and blatant trolling*(what you point out in the quote) to continue to go on.
*Troll:
"One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument"
http://www.mmorpg.com/disclaimers.cfm#conduct
"Trolling Posting excessive negative comments or baiting others to respond in a negative manner is considered trolling on the MMORPG.com forums."
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/265162/READ-FIRST-Notice-of-Increased-Moderation.html
"If you do not like a game, explain why. Posting that you do not like a game in most every thread about said game is also considered trolling, and is unnecessary."
What's more provocative, disrupting and arguement causing than misrepresenting graphs AND bringing up the xfire topic which, despite which game it's used for, ends up starting an arguement.
We really need separate forums for every newly launched game. There can be the anti-<MMO> one and there can be the 'what general discussion should be' one. All the lamenting can happen together where each can find solace in like minded can't-move-on-ers leaving the rest of us to actually move forward and discuss meaningful and relevant topics.
A decline is a decline. It may not show exact subscriptions, but it does that the servers are declining.
You'd think that Bioware had set fire to their house and kicked their dog or something with the way that some people go out of their way to flame this game or post whine threads about it.
Seriously -- if you hate this game that much, find a different one. It's not healthy to keep harping on a game you're not even playing.
I totally agree.
I urge everyone to start reporting these people. If they're already reported, file a complaint to a moderator via email or something. Even with the increase moderation notice it's still way out of control. Just like SOPA, if enough people speak out about it, eventually the higher ups will take notice and put a stop to it.
We really need separate forums for every newly launched game. There can be the anti-<MMO> one and there can be the 'what general discussion should be' one. All the lamenting can happen together where each can find solace in like minded can't-move-on-ers leaving the rest of us to actually move forward and discuss meaningful and relevant topics.
Fail
Not to put a stick in the wheel of these "graphs" or anything but ... Bioware has lower and upped the cap on servers several times during the first two weeks after release. That means whatever "load" the server has shown on the status page can't be put in a graph to show any forms of calculated declines over the first month
You know its true that those graphs, you cant really count on them.
But whats sad is that denial has kicked in and thats just the first step.
The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what's true.
Carl Sagan-
But you get to shoot fricken LAZERS!
Please don't derail the thread into discussing moderation.
However, if you feel like someone is trolling or baiting, the best thing to do is to not respond or post in the thread in question and just report it. Disagreement, even if a person is presenting their arguments in a mildly rough way isn't always grounds for that. We do look at these threads and we also look at every report that comes in. If you have specific suggestions or feedback on something that you feel might have been overlooked, please email MikeB. at community@mmorpg.com.
Now back to our regularly scheduled program.
To give feedback on moderation, contact mikeb@mmorpg.com
This thread had nothing to do with "interesting" and everything to do with validating OP's dislike for the game.
OP's Blog posst have always been a clear indication of how much she dislikes the game.
I feel like someone is trying to grab my neck and shove my face into a pile of shit. Not the most effective way to train dogs.
This type of product does not build a loyal fanbase, because people can get the same game anywhere else, i.e, instanced BGs and 2 faction mmorpgs are all over. This one does light sabers instead of ...swords, but you get the point. So don't really expect to see a measurable decline until GW2 comes out. After GW2, expect another decline when the next mmorpg comes out with instanced BGs and mirrored classes, and so forth.
It's the state of the game, and why (in a related example of quality failure), titles sometimes might start, pay to play, but in the end fall into the free to play cash shop so they can mass profits.
Games always have declines, when will people learn this. No game ever has had a constant growth since release, unless it's some indie unknown MMO that is slowly getting attention. OP has had a hate for TOR since it was announced, and will not stop at anything to make other people think all this crap about it. The graphs aren't realistic whatsoever, getting information from xfire isn't showing anything true either. Xfire has maybe 200,000 people logged in at a time ever. Compare that to the amount of people who actually play MMORPG games, and that isn't even close to the population of even wow logged in at once. So obviously getting information from a source like that will show a steep decline in any game that isn't wow or call of duty, since a majority of xfire users play those two games. I know of an indy game called OSU, that is in a steady growth. Xfire users playing per day 846 on osu. Every single day throughout the entire day there can be upwards of 4000 users logged in at a time. Now compare that to the amount of people logged in. 4000 people aren't going to be logged in 24 hours a day so you have to add more because of that. It isn't a very accurate way to determine anything other than the new flavor of the month for xfire. It's just like this forum, whenever a new game comes out that was hyped to hell, people bash and bash and bash it. Until the next new game comes up for them to bash.
I have atleast heard of Xfire... but some random arena site? I mean come on.
Xfire also caters more towards free to play games for highly played games on their system as well. MMos never tend to fair well for their tracking in that community which is a widely known trend for since well forever. I understand the doom and gloom people wish to cast over a video game in which they dislike and by all means go for it as people are going to downplay the game you like just the same as no MMo is perfect or will ever be perfect for everyone. However to ignore facts and skew truths is pretty annoying so just letting you know why as you may troll others they will more than likely troll you back.