tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6477169190731480241.post18400279386736866..comments2023-10-22T13:29:51.766+02:00Comments on The stuffed Yammob: Playing the number gameLanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06835095269839169484noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6477169190731480241.post-15889807126645793562010-09-27T18:55:24.951+02:002010-09-27T18:55:24.951+02:00I didn't mind the claustophobic feel of the ci...I didn't mind the claustophobic feel of the city so much. I felt the same way you did. I did get fed up rather quickly with the inability to press forward for more than 3-4 seconds without hitting another mob. The fact you hardly ever had a breather to cam around and enjoy the view is what spoiled that city for me. <br /><br />The biggest let down for me in Fashions was the 45 second end battle.Lanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06835095269839169484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6477169190731480241.post-59247459961746774112010-09-27T18:46:09.656+02:002010-09-27T18:46:09.656+02:00Just going back to those figures and a trip down m...Just going back to those figures and a trip down memory lane, Factions caused one hell of a hullabaloo on the forums, you could not progress except in a very linear manner, explorers were f****d, they had to remove some barriers to calm the masses, I'm sure they must have lost players from the original game because of that and how claustrophobic the starter city was. I always felt the city was supposed to feel like that, your first forays out of it provided a deep sigh of relief at open space, it added to my immersion in the world.Geekzorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11313017286168613164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6477169190731480241.post-37657717686404659762010-09-27T18:43:22.865+02:002010-09-27T18:43:22.865+02:00Aye, and the funny thing is you can go for days wi...Aye, and the funny thing is you can go for days without jumping in games where you can :-)<br /><br />It's part of the uncanny valley for games is what.<br />When we talk of the uncanny valley we tend to think only of the aspect where avatars become so pixel-perfect that any discrepancy begins to stand out. But being stuck behind a 2" wall you can't jump over is not a prblem in 8 Bit console land, but incredibly immersion breaking in this 64 bits DX11 day and age. <br /><br />With GW it was the simplest way to make sure you wouldn't end up in places where you'd see the back of the meshes for instance. With FF XIV it's probably due to the completely Top Down decision making in Japanese game design.Lanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06835095269839169484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6477169190731480241.post-18163413152007621732010-09-27T18:32:44.540+02:002010-09-27T18:32:44.540+02:00I know right, what is it about the ability to jump...I know right, what is it about the ability to jump? I really miss it when it's not there. FFXIV like GW, becomes completely fenced in by it, not being able to clamber over the smallest height is so immersion breaking. GW also has those horrible invisible walls everywhere, yet it doesn't bother me so much as it does in games like AoC when invisible walls appeared that previously didn't exist. <br /><br />GW was my first online game so I wasn't spoiled by the ability to jump and roam around in open worlds. When I go back it's still the inability to jump and not the fenced in world that grates the most.Geekzorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11313017286168613164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6477169190731480241.post-88761178561151070332010-09-27T18:25:24.629+02:002010-09-27T18:25:24.629+02:00The main reason it's so easy to pop in to GW r...The main reason it's so easy to pop in to GW regardless of playerbase is that it's A: perfectly scalable due to heavy instancing and B: the campaigns are 90% very soloable anyway. Especially with both heroes and henchman at your disposal.<br /><br />The only cons are for a returning player, not a new one. Being A: the suspicion you'll suck ass at the higher 'level' gameplay and B: ageing engine. Not sure I could handle no jumping anymore :-)Lanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06835095269839169484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6477169190731480241.post-51580056132902487582010-09-27T18:22:29.413+02:002010-09-27T18:22:29.413+02:00For some incomprehensible reasong guildwars.com is...For some incomprehensible reasong guildwars.com is blocked from my work location and the site doesn't play nice with Glype 2.0 so I have to rely on my tricks playing memory and your assertions and of the two I'm more than half inclined to believe you :-)Lanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06835095269839169484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6477169190731480241.post-36096232375375411692010-09-27T18:15:16.316+02:002010-09-27T18:15:16.316+02:00Factions was released in April 2006, 2,000,000 uni...Factions was released in April 2006, 2,000,000 units sold by june 2006. All of this is easily available from the guildwars.com news archives, I had to check to make sure my memory wasn't playing tricks, it often does.<br /><br />The current total will also include the one expansion PLUS the edition that contains all three chapters, that's five different boxes (counting special editions and collector editions as the same campaign).<br /><br />The growth from the first chapter to the third chapter remained pretty consistent with a million units extra soon after the release of each.<br /><br />It's obvious they would have had a steady decline from the announcement of GW2 (back in 2007) and the subsequent lack of considerable new content to the original. I would be surprised if they have current players as a 10th of box sales, and I know I'm being optimistic. <br /><br />The beauty though is that their business model allows people to pop in and out so freely. <br /><br />Quest lines have recently appeared that have started to give background for the lore in GW2 and when the announcement of what exactly your Hall of Monuments will bestow in GW2 hits I suspect they'll see a lot of returning players and new ones, I know the buzz for GW2 has already attracted new players to the original game, I'd be interested in their sales figures post the first hit of real news we had about GW2.Geekzorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11313017286168613164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6477169190731480241.post-50114153320420905932010-09-27T17:53:27.821+02:002010-09-27T17:53:27.821+02:00Ah, I stand corrected :-)
Thanks for pointing tha...Ah, I stand corrected :-)<br /><br />Thanks for pointing that out. <br /><br />However... I'm actually pretty sure the 3 Milion mark was reached between First and second expansion as I remember discussing the numbers on Gameamp and I wasn't posting at Gameamp after the second expansion. <br />I came back sometime after the third expansion and EotN had been released but tidn't discuss box nr's in the forums during that time.<br />I'm fuzzy on 3 or 4 Million though, so I'll grant you that :-)<br /><br />Still, it's a moot point. It does illustrate the publisher's gut instinct to obfuscate numbers though. I'd love to see the exact nr's on Prophecies, Factions, Nightfall EotN (am I missing something?) <br />Because total units sold and active players are two different things. Knowing the break down of how many people bought each expansion gives a better view of a declining player base. Still pretty favourable as no doubt people returned to GW for a month or two at each expansion, the same as with WOW. Blizzard tends to broadcast subscription nrs shortly after an expansion rather than those of two months before.Lanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06835095269839169484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6477169190731480241.post-72484254005050786622010-09-27T17:37:34.503+02:002010-09-27T17:37:34.503+02:00"ArenaNet still touts their 5 Milion boxes so...<em>"ArenaNet still touts their 5 Milion boxes sold. They're very careful not to point out they hit the 4 Million mark at the first expansion box and by implication the second and third installments together made for a "mere" 1 Million boxes sold." </em><br /><br />Sept 2005 saw the first million landmark, very close to the release of the original chapter. Dec 2006 saw 3,000,000 (by which time Nightfall and Factions had been released), it currently stands as 6,000,000 units sold.Geekzorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11313017286168613164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6477169190731480241.post-47371958139505997422010-09-27T16:37:14.687+02:002010-09-27T16:37:14.687+02:00"I can imagine though that the developer does..."I can imagine though that the developer doesn't get insight into all the data."<br /><br />True, a code monkey would not. He'd be interested in the Concurrent user / Server load data analysis though. But certainly doesn't want/need a running tally.<br /><br />Craig isn't a code monkey though. He's the man brought in to 'save' Age of Conan like he did with Anarchy Online (mainly by hiring Playerbase Solutions to tell them what to do). <br />If anyone in the Funcom:AoC team has these numbers, it's him.<br /><br />As to the why, I suspect it's simply the not altogether incorrect view that if you give out real numbers to the "Sky-is-Falling crowd" is a recipe for disaster. That's what he was too "subtle" in Part II to say out loud.<br /><br />Economic success is a matter of income and expenses. Most companies will go bankrupt before personell begins to leak usually wrong information regarding expenses, so we'll never see that side of the equation. Not from anyone. Just showing the player numbers side is giving a slanted view that's only useful if you're sure you got the Biggest Number, i.e. Blizzard/Activision. <br />In addition to the always unfavourable comparison to WOW's numbers Craig's fear is that when an MMO startts out with 900K subs at launch and drops to 450K after the first month is out the drop will be substantially worse would the numbers be publicly available due to people panicking.<br />Whether or not the piublicly stated goal was 300-500K subscribers or "We're the WOW-Killer" is a moot point. <br /><br />Point in case, when Wow's numbers begin to slide. As I suspect they'll begin to do in the coming years, at some point Blizzard will not be touting their numbers anymore. ArenaNet still touts their 5 Milion boxes sold. They're very careful not to point out they hit the 4 Million mark at the first expansion box and by implication the second and third installments together made for a "mere" 1 Million boxes sold.Lanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06835095269839169484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6477169190731480241.post-45937964325821819092010-09-27T11:29:04.618+02:002010-09-27T11:29:04.618+02:00Of course they know. The data is there. Maybe they...Of course they know. The data is there. Maybe they should invest in a proper data mining person to get some more data, but even the basic stuff is known to them for sure.<br /><br />I can imagine though that the developer doesn't get insight into all the data. I know I don't get the juicy details from my company's dealings. But I think in this case he was asked by his marketing/sales department to ramble out some smoke and mirrors. I am not sure exactly why. Maybe the numbers are worse than they hoped and this is an interlude to that.<br /><br />Or maybe this is to lure in ignorant investors for Secret World. They can point to this fluff when they ask for data when TSW is not bringing in the big bucks.Phedrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06563052105703506187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6477169190731480241.post-40189424209429119292010-09-26T22:07:52.631+02:002010-09-26T22:07:52.631+02:00Your welcome Geek :-)
I should point out that thin...Your welcome Geek :-)<br />I should point out that things like concurrent user measurement usually isn't often done after Beta / first weeks of launch.<br />Once you have an idea of the relation between concurrent suers and server load as well as peak times e.t.c it's more efficeint to guestimate concurrent users from load. Parsing login logs once an hour to get a decent indication works too.<br /><br />There's dozens of different ways to measure this. This does add to the apples & pears argument, but that's debunked by the transparancy point. Something that's always nice.<br /><br />I really don't mind them not wanting to give out active subscriber numbers because people will just use those numbers and run every which way with them. But please have the balls to just say it, as he almost did by tiptoeing around it in Part II.Lanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06835095269839169484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6477169190731480241.post-81857571991846234092010-09-26T21:40:55.770+02:002010-09-26T21:40:55.770+02:00Nicely written Lani, glad you can share some insig...Nicely written Lani, glad you can share some insight in to how these things do work. It's clearly preposterous that they can't gather those figures reliably. Another shot in the foot for AoC *sigh*.Geekzorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11313017286168613164noreply@blogger.com