106 replies to this topic

[Adridos]

Zack Delphirian, on 29 May 2012 - 07:52 AM, said:

It means you'll never ever ever get into any sort of beta 'cause without you the forum would just die !

I beta test DotA 2, tested T:A and also test two games I can't talk about.

Proves the point I can test and still keep the forums alive.


Also, at least you got to know me because of my very "active" participation on these forums.

[Orzorn]

I think the most telling statistic is the one relating to forum participation. It is extremely important that folks ALWAYS keep in mind that they ARE a minority. Of the potentially millions of people playing a game, only a fraction of them have forum accounts. Of the fraction with forum accounts, only a fraction actually post.

In short, there is never a majority opinion for the population as a whole, only for the tiny insignificant posting forum population.

[MaddMaxx]

Since we are doing #'s, I would really like to see the "Likes" numbers (pun intended btw) but without the PGI Staffers included of course (they win hands down).

[Felicitatem Parco]

Oswin Aurelius, on 29 May 2012 - 03:54 AM, said:

You're not Nubnub. He has no space in his name. You just copied his signature.

Also, your links are broken.

That guy with the space in his name?

He's nubnub... trust me.. if you dare!

Edited by Prosperity Park, 29 May 2012 - 08:41 AM.

[Felicitatem Parco]

Oh, and concerning Beta Keys: the reason we "Community Masters" (I love that misnomer, btw) are being excluded is not an effort to keep the forums alive, but rather because they're afraid. They, the Devs, are taking every waking moment they can to hone their Mech skills, develop effective retreat tactics, and practice defending themselves from the inevitable onslaught that'll take place soon as we're loosed on the field.

It's just a matter of time...








(... assuming Paul lets me buy a Founder's Pack.)

Edited by Prosperity Park, 29 May 2012 - 08:54 AM.

[MaddMaxx]

That is good to know PP. I was gonna call my Ombudsman and complain about age discrimination on the Interweeb.

[Threat Doc]

Prosperity Park, on 29 May 2012 - 08:48 AM, said:

Oh, and concerning Beta Keys: the reason we "Community Masters" (I love that misnomer, btw) are being excluded is not an effort to keep the forums alive, but rather because they're afraid. They, the Devs, are taking every waking moment they can to hone their Mech skills, develop effective retreat tactics, and practice defending themselves from the inevitable onslaught that'll take place soon as we're loosed on the field.

Well, if this is true, and the devs are reading... I'm a really terrible pilot... no, really... that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it... now, may I please have a beta key (looks coy)

Also, something I forgot to mention, earlier, is that somewhere in nearly 300,000 posts on these forums, IIRC Bryan Ekman said the number of people who've registered pilot names but never posted on the forums -and, hence, are not counted in the forum numbers for registered users- is something like 7 to 10x the displayed number. If that's true, it wouldn't be 250,000 people, or 500,000 people, but closer to a million. Now, is the ratio changing because previously registered pilots are now beginning to post, as well, I don't know, but 1,000,000 folks sounds like a lot.

So, it's a matter of some speculation in AU, but how many of those do you think will remain with the game through beta and into launch? The speculation of my friends is that about 1/3rd will drop off, as have done in previous games, but I'm thinking this game is nothing like the previous games, and a lot more will stay on. So, I'm preparing for the arrival of 3 regiments worth of live-pilots.

What do you guys think?

[Adridos]

Kay Wolf, on 29 May 2012 - 09:21 AM, said:

...previously registered pilots are now beginning to post, as well, I don't know, but 1,000,000 folks sounds like a lot.

No chance there's 1 million of us. That's too much even for a super game, not a F2P title.

[cipher]

Prosperity Park, on 29 May 2012 - 08:48 AM, said:

It's just a matter of time...

LOL!

[Trevnor]

Adridos, on 29 May 2012 - 09:25 AM, said:

No chance there's 1 million of us. That's too much even for a super game, not a F2P title.

... Not really. Battlefield 3 has almost 2 million sold units since it's release. CoD:MW 3 even more than that in the first week of sales. Depending on how popular MWO is, and how active we as a fan base are at recruiting new members, the number isn't all that unbelievable.

[Felicitatem Parco]

Speaking of numbers, we have a better chance of getting into the Closed Beta than many may think:

Of all the X-number of registered users, there's a huge percentage that don't have adequate Beta Profiles! It's impossible to gather statictical data in this respect, but your chances of getting an invite are based on: the number of active forum users *minus* the number of users who did something to disqualify themselves from Beta (such as failure to fill out their profiles or by entering their system specs by hand instead of using the System Profiler app).

[Hawkeye 72]

Orzorn, on 29 May 2012 - 08:39 AM, said:

I think the most telling statistic is the one relating to forum participation. It is extremely important that folks ALWAYS keep in mind that they ARE a minority. Of the potentially millions of people playing a game, only a fraction of them have forum accounts. Of the fraction with forum accounts, only a fraction actually post.

In short, there is never a majority opinion for the population as a whole, only for the tiny insignificant posting forum population.

Very true. We are valued for our content creation however. We give the community a lot of life and help garner attention with our flooding of the internet with mechwarrior content.

MaddMaxx, on 29 May 2012 - 08:39 AM, said:

Since we are doing #'s, I would really like to see the "Likes" numbers (pun intended btw) but without the PGI Staffers included of course (they win hands down).

On it's way

Dihm, on 29 May 2012 - 06:06 AM, said:

I don't know if it is depressing or what, that I'm part of such a small "minority" in those statistics.

LOL it's not depressing. The game hasn't even launched yet, so you are going to remain a minority. After this summer, I expect the number of users with 100+ posts to grow rather fast.

bawchicawawa, on 29 May 2012 - 01:19 AM, said:

Erm, i think that " gamer's" is a very vague term. This would classify my 50 year old mother as a gamer and she only plays farmville.

Could you find some data on gamer's that usually play strategic, online, faster paced games?

Gamer is a very vague term. ESA had it's own criteria for defining a gamer when it released that information. As for other data, a quick google search might yield some results.

Quentin Yatoki, on 29 May 2012 - 05:36 AM, said:

I have to disagree with this assertion. Simply because there is an overwhelming male interest in the product does not mean that it being poorly marketed or not engaging the proper demographics. While your data is most certainty solid, I would recommend more critically analyzing your data. You can't argue that a larger female presence is needed with out first understanding why there are so few females in the game to begin with. To be honest, it's not surprising as the majority of TT wargamers and those who favor simulation and shooter games are male. Also, you imply that in order for this game to be more successful it needs to draw in more women. I disagree, what this game needs to do to be successful is to be a fun and enjoyable simulation game with a strong and active fan base.

Other then that, I enjoyed reading your post and I thought your other points are well made.

Everything you said is correct. I was simply looking at the data from a financial aspect and nothing more. Anytime you have a male dominated game you are missing a portion of the market. Bringing in that half *could* increase revenue. However this depends on if a larger female presence would add or detract to the gameplay. I deleted that statement from the analysis, as you are correct in saying that more factors need to be analyzed to determine if a larger female presence is beneficial.

Lt Trevnor, on 29 May 2012 - 05:57 AM, said:

Nice graphs there Hawkeye. I'm only online so much because my job is testing video games, and I can just lurk around the forums all day... I can't help it that I like to be active...

Nothing wrong with being a forum lurker. I lurk enough myself to make nice graphs

Adridos, on 29 May 2012 - 06:27 AM, said:

I'm one of 2! people on the whole forums (the other one is Aegis), hwo should we feel?

Also, could you find any data on factions like nubnub did a while ago? Thanks.

Lt Trevnor, on 29 May 2012 - 06:36 AM, said:

Oohh, good point. Factions listing of players would be nice. Most will be Merc corp or lone wolf though...

I am working on producing some faction data. Just currently examining the most efficient means of gathering it, and making that method dynamic as the community grows. Most likely the devs will eventually provide this data. However having it now would be fun.

Vulpesveritas, on 29 May 2012 - 07:23 AM, said:

Curse my devotion to the game and my finding forums more fun than other games at the moment and my obsession with helping others with computers...
*facedesks in agony at the prospect his post count might hurt his chances of getting into beta*

Never said a high post count would HURT your chances of getting into the Beta. I just reasoned why PGI should not give its first 2000 keys to the most dedicated users on the forums. That is not a good sample range for data analysis. The developers have repeatedly stated that post count has nothing to do with Beta selection. It should neither hurt nor help. Your obsession is very healthy for the community actually, though not sure if the same can be said for your own health lolol

Aunax, on 29 May 2012 - 07:27 AM, said:

You make an excellent point about those who are selected for the beta. Now I won't feel bad if I'm not selected. It isn't that long untill release anyway. But I swear to god if someone I know gets in and doesn't let me watch over thier shoulder I will take all thier cookies, I have my eyes on you...

You and the several thousand users on here probably have very similar sentiments lol

[Hawkeye 72]

Lt Trevnor, on 29 May 2012 - 09:32 AM, said:

... Not really. Battlefield 3 has almost 2 million sold units since it's release. CoD:MW 3 even more than that in the first week of sales. Depending on how popular MWO is, and how active we as a fan base are at recruiting new members, the number isn't all that unbelievable.

It depends. That number could be much larger, or it could be rather close to the forum member projections. Only the developers know this for sure. I could definitely see this game reaching the 1 million mark. I could also see that number taking a long time to reach. It definitely depends on it's popularity, developer and community support after launch, gameplay, and how well received the game is by the average pc gamer (hence, closed beta research). Time will tell.

Prosperity Park, on 29 May 2012 - 09:47 AM, said:

Speaking of numbers, we have a better chance of getting into the Closed Beta than many may think:

Of all the X-number of registered users, there's a huge percentage that don't have adequate Beta Profiles! It's impossible to gather statictical data in this respect, but your chances of getting an invite are based on: the number of active forum users *minus* the number of users who did something to disqualify themselves from Beta (such as failure to fill out their profiles or by entering their system specs by hand instead of using the System Profiler app).

Correct. I am wondering Prosperity if you noticed that on the Search Option Filter there is a selection to display only Beta Members. However using this filter produces no results for now...

[SquareSphere]

I'd like to see a break down on of the most active users how many post belong to the pony thread ... I wouldn't be surprised if mine was at least 50%

[cipher]

Holy tl;dr posts, Batman. LOL!

[GaussDragon]

Major Tom, on 29 May 2012 - 07:01 AM, said:

Now i'll never get into beta.
You know they will never give beta invites to the 566 users with more than 100 posts because these forums will become a graveyard.

Lo! Victims of our own fervour! A modern Greek tragedy.

Prosperity Park, on 29 May 2012 - 08:48 AM, said:

Oh, and concerning Beta Keys: the reason we "Community Masters" (I love that misnomer, btw) are being excluded is not an effort to keep the forums alive, but rather because they're afraid. They, the Devs, are taking every waking moment they can to hone their Mech skills, develop effective retreat tactics, and practice defending themselves from the inevitable onslaught that'll take place soon as we're loosed on the field.

It's just a matter of time...








(... assuming Paul lets me buy a Founder's Pack.)

We are the 0.457%! #OccupyMechWarrior

EDIT: Almost forgot; awesome post Hawkeye!

Edited by GaussDragon, 29 May 2012 - 11:10 AM.

[Zack Delphirian]

GaussDragon, on 29 May 2012 - 11:10 AM, said:

We are the 0.457%! #OccupyMechWarrior

I was about to say it !
You guys should make your own clan : The Flood ^^

[Felicitatem Parco]

Only you can stop the Key from turning...

[Voridan Atreides]

Wow.............no offense Hawk but you have WAY to much time on your hands....

[Hawkeye 72]

GaussDragon, on 29 May 2012 - 11:10 AM, said:

Lo! Victims of our own fervour! A modern Greek tragedy.

We are the 0.457%! #OccupyMechWarrior

EDIT: Almost forgot; awesome post Hawkeye!

Could start our own exclusive forum group
The 0.457% yacht club!

Voridan Atreides, on 29 May 2012 - 01:17 PM, said:

Wow.............no offense Hawk but you have WAY to much time on your hands....

LOL none taken. I really do at the moment. Classes don't start for another couple weeks, so I have been home too short a time to find a job. Therefore all I have is beer, knowledge, this forum, and time....a deadly combination.

Wave 2 is on it's way

Edited by Hawkeye 72, 29 May 2012 - 01:31 PM.