WAR, Wrath and so on. A dip's expected, especially with the lull in content patches. If the population is still dropping like this in a few months, then I think the "OMG WE R ALL DED" folk will be vindicated. No sooner than that, though.
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"OMG WE R ALL DED"
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No we're not, we're sleeping 
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Looks to me like the first column is the highest number of users online at one time for that month, and the second is the total number of times users logged on that month. However, they are both at their lowest (barring the dec 2004 figure).
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Think the 2nd number may be numer of accounts accessing the service (i.e. logging in at least once) - not quite the same as number of users nor number of times users logged on.
Course I should really go and read the report and see what it says there...
By my mohawk shall ye know me!
my toons
Funny: Ee-Ai-Ee-Ai-Oh! #3662 * The foul-mouthed Handyman! #1076 * City of Norms #132944
Serious: To Save A Single World (#83744) * Marketing Opportunity (#83747)
I was in WAR, but I didn't go beyond the initial month. It's a good enough game at its core, but frankly I was hugely disappointed with their choices of what to put in the game. I wanted to be a Choppa or a human soldier (not some piece of sideshow fluff, the whole Empire is not defended entirely by loner nutcases), and Chaos was yawntastically uninspiring as Tzeentch. The characterisation there was so poor it doesn't even make sense why they didn't make it a Chaos Undivided force.
Then Fable 2 and Fallout 3 came out, so I've been playing them since they landed. Now I've cooled off and going back to City of Heroes. This always happens, I can not log on for up to a month while I do something else but I never cancel my sub.
Chairman of the Charity of Pain; accepting donations of blood and guts.
Prophet of the Creamy Truth; "If it's empty, fill it with cream."
Finally, proof that there is a drop. Time for the devs to take a look and THINK. The devs need to pull out their finger quickly if numbers are going to rise.
What are they going to do? Firebomb the Warhammer Online server hub and erase Christmas and Fallout 3 from existence, before they singlehandedly solve a huge economic recession? Do they get a break in the middle of all that or do they have to tough it out until they're finished?
Chairman of the Charity of Pain; accepting donations of blood and guts.
Prophet of the Creamy Truth; "If it's empty, fill it with cream."
Wow what happened between sept 05 to dec 05 to get nearly 50k subs increase 
@Damz Find me on the global channel Union Chat. One of the best "chat channels" ingame!
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Wow what happened between sept 05 to dec 05 to get nearly 50k subs increase
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CoV
[url=http://vox-doom.deviantart.com]Take A Gander At This.[/url]
living up to that name again i see Damz...
CoV?
"Well, they found my diary today.
They were appropriately appalled
at the discovery of the eight victims
They're now putting it all together.
Women wrapped in silk
with one leg missing
Eight legs, one body, silk,
spider, brilliant!"
*offers body sized paper bag to Damz* Here, put this over your head, that way no one will know that was you...
You really do walk into these things, don't you?
Rabbits & Hares:Blue (Mind/Emp Controller)Maroon (Rad/Thermal Corruptor)and one of each AT all at 50
MA Arcs: Apples of Contention - 3184; Zen & Relaxation - 35392; Tears of Leviathan - 121733 | All posts are rated "R" for "R-r-rrrrr, baby!"|Now, and this is very important... do you want a hug? COH Faces @Blue Rabbit
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Wow what happened between sept 05 to dec 05 to get nearly 50k subs increase
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CoV
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ah yeah thanks, wasnt around at villain launch so didnt register in my head.
@Damz Find me on the global channel Union Chat. One of the best "chat channels" ingame!
The other big news from NCsoft is that Richard Garriott is leaving the company for new interests - so it'll be interesting to see what happens to Tabula Rasa in the coming months.
Leaving the company for new interests? Yeah right. More like him and management looked at each other across a table and he said, "I should probably quit.", and they said, "We like your style Rich. You know how this works."
Chairman of the Charity of Pain; accepting donations of blood and guts.
Prophet of the Creamy Truth; "If it's empty, fill it with cream."
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"OMG WE R ALL DED"
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No we're not, we're sleeping
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Waiting for the stars to change?
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
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Wow what happened between sept 05 to dec 05 to get nearly 50k subs increase
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That was when it was rumored there'd be animated hair added - it was even the lead story on CNN that week.
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
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Mar-2007 14,767 143,127 15
Jun-2007 26,669 153,331 15
Sep-2007 15,910 139,313 15
Dec-2007 17,058 136,250 15
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Interesting how I9 (May '07) raised the figures but couldn't make people stay (summer?) while I10 (Oct '07 iirc) wasn't much celebrated as per numbers, being I10 one of the most highly recognized in forums.
Oh dear...
Well these figures were always going to open up the whole "server population" debate, so I might as well get in now before this thread is locked as a subject not to be discussed.
I would like to ask a question - this:
How is it possible that these figures are correct and there not be a "population problem"?
I'm asking because I want to under where people are coming from.
There are those people out there who might say these figure prove what they've been saying for a long time. Myself? I'm one of them. I'm just suprised that Tuarus hasn't posted in here yet 
While I am disappointed in the figures I hope that they act as a wake-up call to the powers that be. IF I were in charge I would look at the options to bring new players into the game, and I would also look at the servers themselves.
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I would like to ask a question - this:
How is it possible that these figures are correct and there not be a "population problem"?
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The answer to your question is really quite simple. NC have known about these figures FAR longer than we have, and yet the servers are STILL there, with (according to GR), no plans to change the status quo.
That simple statement tells us that the current server populations are still profitable. No company in its right mind will continue to run servers if its making a loss as servers are ridiculously expensive to run. NC have proven in the past that if numbers drop too low, they WILL shut servers down; CoH Korea is an example of that.
Of course, the current status COULD change in the future, but the current facts are clear. The servers are open, therefore the server population is viable.
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
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The servers are open, therefore the server population is viable.
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FFM is right but it does make me wonder whats going to happen when even the die hards get sick of paying for a game they dont play. Because active accounts are no longer a measure of playing players.
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The servers are open, therefore the server population is viable.
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FFM is right but it does make me wonder whats going to happen when even the die hards get sick of paying for a game they dont play. Because active accounts are no longer a measure of playing players.
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Oh I won't be surprised if something along the lines of a "server consolidation" (sounds better than merger) doesn't happen at some point. If handled right it could work out better for the game; BUT there are several problems involved in doing it, and WILL result in some people canceling their subs.
It's kinda of a tough situation to be in really. Reducing the number of servers will reduce monthly costs, but it will also result in a loss of total subscribers as people will inevitably lose either character names, SG/VG names, or even global names if EU "consolidated" with US, and will cancel because of that. What they have to carefully weigh up is whether the savings in running costs and increased server population will justify the inevitable drop in subscribers.
Also, in most cases, server merges are an indicator of a dying game; a stigmata NC would certainly wish to avoid giving the incoming competition.
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I would like to ask a question - this:
How is it possible that these figures are correct and there not be a "population problem"?
[/ QUOTE ]
The answer to your question is really quite simple. NC have known about these figures FAR longer than we have, and yet the servers are STILL there, with (according to GR), no plans to change the status quo.
That simple statement tells us that the current server populations are still profitable. No company in its right mind will continue to run servers if its making a loss as servers are ridiculously expensive to run. NC have proven in the past that if numbers drop too low, they WILL shut servers down; CoH Korea is an example of that.
Of course, the current status COULD change in the future, but the current facts are clear. The servers are open, therefore the server population is viable.
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hmmm, might have missed the point here. When I referred to "population problem" I was referring to what some players see as a problem (ie server which at times have few players on).
I understand and agree with you that the Devs may not see a population problem because the servers are still profitable, however I learned a long time ago that what a business can see and a problem, and what their customers see as a problem are two different things.
Havings a profitable server is fine - however if players find a server too empty then they could lose interest in the game and leave. I think it's time that the devs held a consulation with the players to see what we think - not just those few that post here.
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Also, in most cases, server merges are an indicator of a dying game; a stigmata NC would certainly wish to avoid giving the incoming competition.
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Stigmata?
anyway...
I don't understand why server merges are automatically seen as an indicator of dying game - I think this is received wisdom; sure there are examples where games have merged servers and gone under a short time later, but you could easily argue that the game was going under anyway and the merge was irrelevent (nothing was going to save Auto Assault for example) or that possibly a game failed because they left it too late to consolidate the population.
Leaving the whole 'CoH population is/isn't big enough' and the difficulty over names (which is arguably a bigger issue in this game than any other MMO) things aside, why are server mergers automatically seen as bad?
I know that in many cases server merges are used as a last ditch attempt to save a failing game, and so are generally seen as a symptom of a dying game, but why is it generally used as a last resort?
WAR is currently 'merging' servers (using free transfers) - this is generally seen as a positive move, the game is not dying; it just had too many servers on start-up and spread the initial population too thinly.
WoW was/is constantly 'merging' servers (again using free transfers) no-one could claim it's because the game is in trouble.
So why is the idea of a server merge/population consolidation generally seen as such a bogey man?
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I think it's time that the devs held a consulation with the players to see what we think - not just those few that post here.
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And what results do you think they're going to get?
Players, and I mean all players, have about as much clue as a fried bean what's good for a game. Oh they think they do, but their idea are almost invariably subject to their own point of view and therefore have to be parsed by the very people you are saying need to consult their customers to find out what to do.
In practice, NC did put around a survey to various SG's in game about a month ago. One of the things in it which seemed very popular was the Mission Architect. That's the same Mission Architect which is spawning threads all over the place saying "oh, yeah, I'm sure it'll please a few players, but the vast majority will think it's boring <self-censored> and won't use it."
If I were NCNC, the last group of people I'd ask about the game was the players. I might listen to them and see if I could spot anything useful. I might put some rumours out and see what came back again. But ask them? Nah.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
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10000+ lost to WAR methinks........
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Seems so, although from the people I know that have moved from CoX to WAR the news are not very encouraging (some of them are still there, some others moved to WoW and a few returned to CoX but started from scratch in US servers) let's see if I13 brings some back... to stay, although I'm not very confident since the I13 content varies from "meh" to "worst idea ever" for me and for most of the ones I mentioned that are in other games.