174 replies to this topic

[stjobe]

Edit: I misunderstood. Carry on.

Edited by stjobe, 26 November 2012 - 04:07 AM.

[Bryan Ekman]

Comguard, on 26 November 2012 - 01:39 AM, said:

@Bryan Ekman

Then what does the number at the bottom represent? The forum account is the player account, so the number of new players equals the number of new accounts?

I didn't have to create a new account for just using this forum?

The number listed on the bottom of the page is the total number of unique players that have a forum profile. This is not the same as total registered user accounts.

If you register an account and never visit the forums, you do not have a forum profile created for you. It's a nuance of how our system works with the IP Boards database.

If that number was accurate, we wouldn't display it at all.

[stjobe]

Out of curiosity, I noted down that number a couple of times during the afternoon:

15:25 406093
16:25 406093
17:33 406139
20:26 406201

108 new members in five hours, or 21.5 per hour. On a Monday before a patch.

And, if I understand Bryan correctly, these are just the ones that go to the forums after they've registered for the game. People like my friend, who just plays the game and can't care less about the forums, aren't counted there.

If we guesstimate the number of founders to 60,000, there are almost seven times more non-founders that have both registered for the game and then hit the forums. And the number is rising by roughly one every three minutes.

I think it's fair to say the rumours of MWO's death are a bit exaggerated at this point.

[Gristle]

Bryan Ekman, on 26 November 2012 - 10:18 AM, said:

...If that number was accurate, we wouldn't display it at all.

Why not? And why display a misleading number?

[MrPenguin]

stjobe, on 26 November 2012 - 11:52 AM, said:

I think it's fair to say the rumours of MWO's death are a bit exaggerated at this point.

Surprisingly literally no one.

[SteelPaladin]

Gristle, on 26 November 2012 - 12:29 PM, said:

Why not? And why display a misleading number?

It's not a misleading number. It's accurate for its specified purpose (i.e. forum numbers, not game numbers).

As far as not displaying it, none of the persistent data multiplayer games give their numbers unless they're stratospheric (in the million range). The existence of games like LoL and WoW make reporting numbers below that level look like reporting failure, even if those numbers are more than enough to turn a tidy profit. They probably wouldn't even give sub numbers to investors if they could get away w/it and just show them balance sheets.

[Ricktor Black]

Every time I come to these forums I get depressed. It's a bunch of whiny people complaining about how horrible this game is. Then I fire up the game and have a blast. There is just this weird disconnect... it seems like some of you are determined to hate this game. I really have to stop coming here because it brings me down. Every time I fire up the game with my group of buddies on Teamspeak I have an awesome time. Are we a complete anomaly or what?

Am I the only one who doesn't see playing the game as a grind? I just play the game to have fun. While I'm playing I earn some funny money and eventually I notice I have a bunch of said funny money and spend it on some stuff and play some more. I don't know, seems like some of you are just thinking about it too much. Dragging yourselves down pouring over statistics too much or something. I have enough crap that like to worry about at work... I play games to have fun.

I'm not even sure why I'm posting this. Just feel like I need to vent after reading some of this stuff. Man, you guys are going to drive me to drink.

[Name140704]

BlackWidow, on 06 November 2012 - 10:24 AM, said:

Here here!

I played World of Warcraft for over nine years, from closed beta to ...well, honestly when I got in MWO beta.
But, I still long for the early days of Asheron's Call. A great game with a MUCH smaller and yet TIGHTLY KNIT community. I have never found a better overall experience since then.

Personally, from the early MWO beta forums this summer I started to get that feeling again. Now, we get the LOL crowd in here just looking for their latest free fix and bring their negative attitudes and trash talk with them. And as long as PGI implements a chat filter/ignore feature eventually, they are welcome by me. Mute targets..nothing more.

But, as long as the BT/MW community can financially support this game's continued existence I will be eternally grateful for this "niche" (nay, I say STEADFAST, RELIABLE, FAITHFUL and ENDURING!) market.

Morningthaw.

Narcoman LvL 126
Spec: Life, Axe, Melee D

[the Gingerbread Man]

SteelPaladin, on 26 November 2012 - 12:42 PM, said:

As far as not displaying it, none of the persistent data multiplayer games give their numbers unless they're stratospheric (in the million range).

Come again?

[Lonestar1771]

Ricktor Black, on 26 November 2012 - 02:24 PM, said:

Every time I come to these forums I get depressed. It's a bunch of whiny people complaining about how horrible this game is. Then I fire up the game and have a blast. There is just this weird disconnect... it seems like some of you are determined to hate this game. I really have to stop coming here because it brings me down. Every time I fire up the game with my group of buddies on Teamspeak I have an awesome time. Are we a complete anomaly or what?

Am I the only one who doesn't see playing the game as a grind? I just play the game to have fun. While I'm playing I earn some funny money and eventually I notice I have a bunch of said funny money and spend it on some stuff and play some more. I don't know, seems like some of you are just thinking about it too much. Dragging yourselves down pouring over statistics too much or something. I have enough crap that like to worry about at work... I play games to have fun.

I'm not even sure why I'm posting this. Just feel like I need to vent after reading some of this stuff. Man, you guys are going to drive me to drink.

People are different. Not everyone enjoys the rinse and repeat that MWO and tons of other games are.

[TigrisMorte]

Bryan Ekman, on 26 November 2012 - 10:18 AM, said:

...
If that number was accurate, we wouldn't display it at all.

Ah, scared of accuracy! That explains the PPC and AC20 splash.

Lonestar1771, on 26 November 2012 - 04:42 PM, said:

People are different. Not everyone enjoys the rinse and repeat that MWO and tons of other games are.

exactly. Some are only here in hopes of what community warfare promises.

[INAPPROPRIATE NAME 0001]

Ricktor Black, on 26 November 2012 - 02:24 PM, said:

Every time I fire up the game with my group of buddies on Teamspeak I have an awesome time. Are we a complete anomaly or what?

Playing with friends can make any grueling activity less tiresome. I enjoy myself when I play with Kong but that's less because of the medium that has brought us together and more simply hanging out as friends would. I would likely enjoy myself with them all the same if we were doing something else entirely.

Ricktor Black, on 26 November 2012 - 02:24 PM, said:

Am I the only one who doesn't see playing the game as a grind?

lol, founder.

Ricktor Black, on 26 November 2012 - 02:24 PM, said:

Every time I come to these forums I get depressed. It's a bunch of whiny people complaining about how horrible this game is.

Buggy, Imbalanced, devs that have ignored issues that have been around for months at a time is plenty reason to complain.

SteelPaladin, on 26 November 2012 - 12:42 PM, said:

none of the persistent data multiplayer games give their numbers unless they're stratospheric (in the million range).

Lower left-hand corner, sweetheart.

[Yigyam]

I really don't understand how people make "the sky is falling" posts and think they'll do anything but scare people away. I just show the game to my friends and they generally love it. Only one out of eleven has stopped playing. The rest are at least three weeks in and having fun.

The people that make such negative posts time and time again seem well intentioned. They care enough about the game in a weird way, but just create such a caustic environment that makes no one want to be a part of the forums.

Edited by Stavros Mueller, 26 November 2012 - 05:57 PM.

[zmeul]

Bryan Ekman, on 26 November 2012 - 10:18 AM, said:

The number listed on the bottom of the page is the total number of unique players that have a forum profile. This is not the same as total registered user accounts.

If you register an account and never visit the forums, you do not have a forum profile created for you. It's a nuance of how our system works with the IP Boards database.

If that number was accurate, we wouldn't display it at all.

can you explain this a bit?
because I created a duplicate account
tested if I was also automatically assigned as registered on the forums, and it was

what are you saying is that the account won't be actually added on the forum total members number unless that user decides to visit the forum?!
in other words, new users don't get automatically a forum account unless they visit the forum?

Quote

If that number was accurate, we wouldn't display it at all.

why the hell not?!
why are you so hell bent on not displaying the user statistics and number of active players in the client (like before) if and only if there is something really wrong

Edited by zmeul, 26 November 2012 - 06:33 PM.

[Bryan Ekman]

zmeul, on 26 November 2012 - 06:20 PM, said:

can you explain this a bit?
because I created a duplicate account
tested if I was also automatically assigned as registered on the forums, and it was

what are you saying is that the account won't be actually added on the forum total members number unless that user decides to visit the forum?!
in other words, new users don't get automatically a forum account unless they visit the forum?



why the hell not?!
why are you so hell bent on not displaying the user statistics and number of active players in the client (like before) if and only if there is something really wrong

I'm not sure I can answer that more clearly than I have. If you register an account and do not visit the forums, that account is not counted by IP Board as a registered user.

Also, I'm not sure I'd use the word hell bent, but key indicators about user registrations are generally not public information. As previous poster nailed it on the head. Numbers are only discussed as marketing/PR, like it or not.

As for online users, we had just as much complaining about it when it was public. We find people were making all kinds of doom and gloom stories either way. I dunno, nature of the beast I guess?

MWO is healthy, despite what some people are saying. We're VERY happy about our numbers, and we're tracking well. I realize no matter what I say here, someone will just say they opposite. It's unfortunate, but with a community the size of a small city, you can expect all kinds of opinions and behaviors.

What I'm not happy about - bugs. We're working very hard to get stabilize the game right now. It's going to take time to work through some of the bigger issues.

Closing up this thread.