what do the numbers say?

Discussion in 'Expansions and Adventure Packs' started by ARCHIVED-leiela, Dec 11, 2011.

  1. ARCHIVED-leiela Guest

    Ok so i know there is alot of debate about if AOD is worth the money, an expac or a update yadda yadda.
    I don't want to get into subjective arguments, personally i think AOD is worth the money if the features it offer's appeals to you.
    I guess i find it's an intresting that this is the first expansion ever that we can simply opt not to buy. In the past players who did not buy the new expansion have traditionally been left behind.
    This expac i haven't felt anyone who opted not to buy has been disadvantaged, all players can still group/raid and explore together and while in some ways i guess it's a good thing it also means this expac is very much optional.
    Now ... here's the interesting thing.
    As the guildleader of my guild, i watch my guilds population quite closely. Over the years i've noticed a few trends. For example when an expansion as been out for a while, people start getting bored... start logging in less and the average online population of the guild go's down.
    Then 'almost' without fail when a new expac comes out, people flood back to the game and everyones intrest get's re-newed. A guild which generally has 10 people online at any given time suddenly can have 20+ logged in and this re-newed intrest generally lasts for a couple of months tille the content has been fully explored.
    Now here's the kicker .... Expac has been out for less than a week and if anything my Guilds online population is now LESS than it was two weeks ago.
    What is that all about? Well some people have just disappeared (i guess christmas 'could' be blamed) however i have also spoken to several disgruntled guildy's who have decided to take a break from the game till at least after christmas BECAUSE "the new expac has been a massive let down"
    To me this expac does not seem to have given the game the usual "intrest boost" people who had taken a break have not come flooding back. With the execption of 1 returnee who has come back F2P, my guild is as quiet if not quieter than it was pre-expansion.
    This is not a good sign... trying to come at it from a facts and figures point of vew are other guilds finding the same?
    A sign of the success of the expac perhaps?
  2. ARCHIVED-S_M_I_T_E Guest

    Nah it means the existing old vets who have been here and want more 'ladder' to climb are leaving earlier than they would otherwise. The SOE ppl obv are targeting a more casual audience that isn't here yet in en mass.
    I know I feel warm and fuzzy I can actually enjoy the game rather than re-token or regrind aa or whatever artificial treadmill they always put up every exp pack.
    Level agnostic content = enjoy the content rather than grind to get to enjoy the content.
    Also, people need breaks and let's not forget 7 years on the game means the 7 yr vets +/-1 year are probably early 30s instead of mid-20s now so the natural life evolution is probably taking root as well.
  3. ARCHIVED-Grumpy_Warrior_01 Guest

    If someone leaves the game disgruntled because features were added , then they were playing for the wrong reason, IMO.
    As far as the price of the expansion goes, if the next paid expansion is released 1 year from now, your $40 translates into about 10 cents per day over and above your subscription cost. Mercenaries, dungeon builder, beastlords, AA's, tradeskill apprentices, new Freeport and reforging are worth 10 cents a day to me.
  4. ARCHIVED-leiela Guest

    The post wasn't about if the expac is or isn't worth the money, i think in the case of this expac that can only be decided by the buyer ... yes i have had people in guild disgruntled because they did pay for the expac and then found it disappointing but thats not the point.
    My point was this expac doens't seem to have drummed up the intrest in the players that has been witnessed in the past.
    Normally the server population tail's off as people get bored, but usually a new expac re-new's the fire for people to play, frankly 1 week after release and imo alot of people seem "bored" of it already or at least they don't seem to be making as much use of the features i expected.
    I was just wondering if other guilds/people HAD witnessed the usual rush of people gagging to play the new stuff and that my guild was out of the ordinary? or if this expac simply hadn't got the intrest of the usual ones?
  5. ARCHIVED-thewarriorpoet Guest

    To respond to the OP. My guild has gone from about 4-5 online durring primary play times to 8ish. Granted they are all in groups of 3 BL + mercs but hey, they are playing!
  6. ARCHIVED-Gyee Guest

    The OP also failed to mention that Star Wars is coming out basically today for pre-orders. If anything hits your numbers of people online at the same time, it's a brand new mmo coming out.
    Expansions bring people back to check it out. Competitive games cause your numbers to wain until they get bored and come back.
    With "star wars" if you have swg players who were part of soe family. this new star wars games is not part of the soe family.
    That doesn't speak to loudly to whether the expansion was good or not. (Plus Skyrim, Assassin's Creed, Batman, MW3, Battlefield and WoWs new expansions, and EQ1's new expansion all came out too in November/December)