Age of Conan

Kinda sad they might be topping the sales charts but it looks like they are sliding on keeping subs...  It will be interesting to see how th coming weeks shape up as accounts run out.

www.xfire.com/games/aoc/Age_of_Conan_Hyborian_Adventures/

I think both the fanboys and the haters will get somewhat satisfied. The game wont be a great success gaining more and more subscribers, but instead lose quite alot. But at the same time there will be maybe 200-300k players or so I'm guessing and that means the game is going strong which should satisfy those that wanna play it. :)

I'm somewhat of a hater myself. The disappointment of the game feeling broken for me means I got nothing to play now and I'm bored and blame that on Funcom, unfairly but still. :)

Originally posted by ethion

Kinda sad they might be topping the sales charts but it looks like they are sliding on keeping subs...  It will be interesting to see how th coming weeks shape up as accounts run out.

www.xfire.com/games/aoc/Age_of_Conan_Hyborian_Adventures/

Look beyond just the decline and compare it to other recent releases and popular MMOs.

LOTRO (est. 150.000 subscriptions) has 10.000+ hours played at peak. Its all time high was at #14.

EVE online with 250.000 subscribers has 13.000+ hours played at peak. Its all time high was at #12.

AoC still has 50.000+ hours played at peak. Its all time high was at #4.

You base your statistics on people using Xfire?!? Makes we wonder how many other that are playing - not using this program. I have never used it, not sure what it does or what it is good for so this doesn't say jack...

Originally posted by hdnine

You base your statistics on people using Xfire?!? Makes we wonder how many other that are playing - not using this program. I have never used it, not sure what it does or what it is good for so this doesn't say jack...

When looking at several similar MMOs, estimated subscriber numbers to xfire user ratio come out quite close across the board.

I have waited for this game for years and years keeping track every single day and I have been a big supporter of the game but now I am becoming fairly negative.

Not because of the lack of content or the never ending bugs. I sort of expected that.

No its the completely unprofessional way funcom acts in regard to their customers. They keep stonewalling never ever engaging in meaningful communication. They never ever inform about what really happens and they keep the most basic game mechanics hidden which cause people to make choices that goes against what they really wanted.

Why does a company in 2008 think you can avoid talking to their customers? It makes them look like amateurs when they only come out with a controlled press release once in a while which is so far from the reality their players experience in the game that it just look like damage control, outright lies and untruthful hype.

If FunCom were honest about the state of the game and actually talked to their players about what works and what dont work and how things were intended to work in the game then they would probably have avoided loosing a very large percentage of those who quit these days.

People can easily forgive errors and problems. People will never forgive dishonesty.

Originally posted by bjornarg

Originally posted by ethion

Kinda sad they might be topping the sales charts but it looks like they are sliding on keeping subs...  It will be interesting to see how th coming weeks shape up as accounts run out.

www.xfire.com/games/aoc/Age_of_Conan_Hyborian_Adventures/

 

Look beyond just the decline and compare it to other recent releases and popular MMOs.

LOTRO (est. 150.000 subscriptions) has 10.000+ hours played at peak. Its all time high was at #14.

EVE online with 250.000 subscribers has 13.000+ hours played at peak. Its all time high was at #12.

AoC still has 50.000+ hours played at peak. Its all time high was at #4.

The hype machine and the hopefulness that the next patch will solve its problems or the unwillingness of some to accept that they've been rooked out of, in some cases, $1000+ to even be able to play this game is what keeps it at the relatively high numbers. EVE I never even heard of before I found it by accident some years ago, and though LOTRO has years of lore, books, movies , single player games, the hype surrounding the mmo was not comparable, AoC made promises(lies) that AoC would be earth shattering, deep, dynamic and a new standard in AAA titles. What a crock. Anyway my point is, AoC's numbers are not a function of its quality or potential longevity, it is a function of a company taking advantage of a desperate  playerbase  by getting people to pay for extended beta by throwing who knows how much money into marketing, and using it to sell an inordinate number of pre-orders, collector's editions(which usually don't come out with a game's first run) and units in general. AoC is incomplete, poorly coded and poorly designed, you can't offer things you can't implement, have just enough content to make the first 20 levels (of 80) interesting and rely on good graphics to save you. Fact is though, that most mmos can survive at a low simmer almost ad infinitum, and funcom knows this, low standards have made more than 1 game company money in the long run, I'm sure AoC will be no different.

---

Originally posted by afoaa
If FunCom were honest about the state of the game and actually talked to their players about what works and what dont work and how things were intended to work in the game then they would probably have avoided loosing a very large percentage of those who quit these days.
People can easily forgive errors and problems. People will never forgive dishonesty.

---

As for the xfire thing: Funcom is not likely to release the real subscription numbers anytime soon, so we have to do with what we can find to estimate the numbers. Thanks for posting OP.

it was kindof expected, since this is the first month. many players simply stopped during their free time and never subscribed. that's why funcom suddenly has the idea to make this perk bullshit for those who subscribe (i.e. points for payed subtime).

now that the first month is over, we get to see how many really stay.