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Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures

Age of Conan 

General Discussion  » Sorry but facts are facts....

24 posts found
mscouts77

Novice Member

Joined: 9/19/06
Posts: 245

 
9/15/08 11:46:25 AM#1

AoC announced they sold 800,000 retail copies and 400,000 digital downloads...  many measure this as to some amount of "success" that the game currently enojys.

so by using THEIR stadards.... what do you make of this?

 

Mythic Entertainment announces 1.5 MILLION units sold through retailers.

this of course doesnt include digital downloads....

(this is not a slam on AoC)... its simply an announcement for all those that think WarHammer is a fad.

Azrile

Novice Member

Joined: 7/29/08
Posts: 1791

Any new or returning player to WOW, send me a PM for some help getting started.

9/15/08 11:54:41 AM#2

I think gaming companies are starting to get really dishonest about this stuff though.

Warhammer really REALLY 'encouraged' people to pre-order... and then they hype the preorder numbers.  Basically if you are going to buy the game, you are at a disadvantage if you didn't pre-order.

I expect Warhammer to have slightly more sales than AOC ( 1M vs 800K), but their slide down to subscribers will be much less steep.. probably 500k to 600k after a month or two, and then they will retain that 500k for awhile.

IMHO.. Warhammer is not as fun, fluid, polished or deep as wow, but there are enough people who hate wow to support a 500k sub game.

................................................
“The corollary to that is if you’ve seen a game consolidate servers, you know it’s in deep, deep trouble — that’s not a healthy sign for an MMO,”
"Look at us six weeks out. If we’re not adding servers, we’re not doing well.” - MJ from Warhammer in July Interview

Malickie

Hard Core Member

Joined: 11/22/05
Posts: 3916

Bloodfin Vet

9/15/08 11:57:26 AM#3

Who ever said warhammer was a fad? Some people just prefer a different game. I think it's great they sold that many, if they didn't it might mean bad things for the industry as a whole, as MJ said himself. To many colossal failures leads to a lack of investors, with that said I hope every game reaches that milestone from now on. Even the games I have no interest in or hate the design of.

For every minute You are angry , You lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson

Litigator_AB

Novice Member

Joined: 8/15/08
Posts: 324

9/15/08 11:57:32 AM#4

Time will tell how many box units War sells. 

The larger the number for War means less potential customers for AoC.  Let's see how this pans out in a few weeks.

 

 

lumache

Novice Member

Joined: 8/16/08
Posts: 345

9/15/08 12:19:31 PM#5

I think its great for mythic, as I am not playing warhammer, nor do I have any plans to be playing it anytime soon.  They can however count me as someone that was burned so badly by AOC that I will never rush and buy another game before its been out a while, EVER AGAIN!

In the words of our president George W Bush, "There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."

Basically this is how I now feel about any mmo. I just love that comment by the way.... Even simple sayings elude this man!

-Lum

bluberryhaze

Novice Member

Joined: 12/19/07
Posts: 1722

I''m No Sellout

9/15/08 12:23:56 PM#6
Originally posted by lumache

 

Basically this is how I now feel about any mmo. I just love that comment by the way.... Even simple sayings elude this man!

im sure your job is alot easier than his. 

-I will subtlety invade your psyche-

gamer2108

Apprentice Member

Joined: 8/30/08
Posts: 207

Aoc what a waste of $50 mil

9/15/08 12:30:14 PM#7
Originally posted by mscouts77

AoC announced they sold 800,000 retail copies and 400,000 digital downloads...  many measure this as to some amount of "success" that the game currently enojys.

so by using THEIR stadards.... what do you make of this?

 

Mythic Entertainment announces 1.5 MILLION units sold through retailers.

this of course doesnt include digital downloads....

(this is not a slam on AoC)... its simply an announcement for all those that think WarHammer is a fad.

Correct me if i'm wrong but thats 1.2 million sales for AoC. 400k (the number everyone seems to stick with) subs from 1.2 million sales is a horrible retention percentage by any stretch of the imagination.

As for War I would rather see how many of the 1.5 milion shipped actually are sold.
 

Noggin

Novice Member

Joined: 8/21/08
Posts: 822

9/15/08 12:35:35 PM#8
Originally posted by Azrile

Warhammer really REALLY 'encouraged' people to pre-order... and then they hype the preorder numbers.

 

Like, from a business point of view, why wouldn't the encourage people to buy the game... yeah very dishonest of them to try to profit from thier product.

 

There were plenty of free beta keys handed out around the internet if you had half a mind to go and look, the fact of the matter is that people are interested in this game. Otherwise they just wouldn't have bothered.

 

At leat you didn't have to pay Fileplanet on top of the game price to beta test like you did with Conan.

Malickie

Hard Core Member

Joined: 11/22/05
Posts: 3916

Bloodfin Vet

9/15/08 12:35:43 PM#9
Originally posted by gamer2108
Originally posted by mscouts77

AoC announced they sold 800,000 retail copies and 400,000 digital downloads...  many measure this as to some amount of "success" that the game currently enojys.

so by using THEIR stadards.... what do you make of this?

 

Mythic Entertainment announces 1.5 MILLION units sold through retailers.

this of course doesnt include digital downloads....

(this is not a slam on AoC)... its simply an announcement for all those that think WarHammer is a fad.

Correct me if i'm wrong but thats 1.2 million sales for AoC. 400k (the number everyone seems to stick with) subs from 1.2 million sales is a horrible retention percentage by any stretch of the imagination.

As for War I would rather see how many of the 1.5 milion shipped actually are sold.
 

Yep that part's indisputable, their retention has been horrible.

Very good point as well, pre-orders do not equal sales.

 

For every minute You are angry , You lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson

Professor78

Novice Member

Joined: 6/10/05
Posts: 118

9/15/08 12:36:31 PM#10
Originally posted by gamer2108
Originally posted by mscouts77

AoC announced they sold 800,000 retail copies and 400,000 digital downloads...  many measure this as to some amount of "success" that the game currently enojys.

so by using THEIR stadards.... what do you make of this?

 

Mythic Entertainment announces 1.5 MILLION units sold through retailers.

this of course doesnt include digital downloads....

(this is not a slam on AoC)... its simply an announcement for all those that think WarHammer is a fad.

Correct me if i'm wrong but thats 1.2 million sales for AoC. 400k (the number everyone seems to stick with) subs from 1.2 million sales is a horrible retention percentage by any stretch of the imagination.

As for War I would rather see how many of the 1.5 milion shipped actually are sold.
 

 

1 in 3 is an amazing ratio, I would expect develovers would be more than please with just 1 or 2 in 10!

would be realy interesting if un-subscription numbers were available anywhere. Will be good to see how WAR holds up.

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Malickie

Hard Core Member

Joined: 11/22/05
Posts: 3916

Bloodfin Vet

9/15/08 12:37:28 PM#11
Originally posted by Noggin
Originally posted by Azrile

Warhammer really REALLY 'encouraged' people to pre-order... and then they hype the preorder numbers.

 

Like, from a business point of view, why wouldn't the encourage people to buy the game... yeah very dishonest of them to try to profit from thier product.

 

There were plenty of free beta keys handed out around the internet if you had half a mind to go and look, the fact of the matter is that people are interested in this game. Otherwise they just wouldn't have bothered.

 

At leat you didn't have to pay Fileplanet on top of the game price to beta test like you did with Conan.

Actually a lot of people had to, just like in eu most actually had to pay to beta for WAR. At least according to them.

For every minute You are angry , You lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson

Noggin

Novice Member

Joined: 8/21/08
Posts: 822

9/15/08 12:39:04 PM#12
Originally posted by Professor78
Originally posted by gamer2108
Originally posted by mscouts77

AoC announced they sold 800,000 retail copies and 400,000 digital downloads...  many measure this as to some amount of "success" that the game currently enojys.

so by using THEIR stadards.... what do you make of this?

 

Mythic Entertainment announces 1.5 MILLION units sold through retailers.

this of course doesnt include digital downloads....

(this is not a slam on AoC)... its simply an announcement for all those that think WarHammer is a fad.

Correct me if i'm wrong but thats 1.2 million sales for AoC. 400k (the number everyone seems to stick with) subs from 1.2 million sales is a horrible retention percentage by any stretch of the imagination.

As for War I would rather see how many of the 1.5 milion shipped actually are sold.
 

 

1 in 3 is an amazing ratio, I would expect develovers would be more than please with just 1 or 2 in 10!

 

You're kidding right? I think what would please them is after selling all those boxes, everyone subscribed and told all thier friends and they went out and bought it and subscribed, then they went out and told.... You get where I'm going.

 

Also, they haven't added on the sales from digital download to that figure either.

Noggin

Novice Member

Joined: 8/21/08
Posts: 822

9/15/08 12:41:43 PM#13
Originally posted by Malickie
Originally posted by Noggin
Originally posted by Azrile

Warhammer really REALLY 'encouraged' people to pre-order... and then they hype the preorder numbers.

 

Like, from a business point of view, why wouldn't the encourage people to buy the game... yeah very dishonest of them to try to profit from thier product.

 

There were plenty of free beta keys handed out around the internet if you had half a mind to go and look, the fact of the matter is that people are interested in this game. Otherwise they just wouldn't have bothered.

 

At leat you didn't have to pay Fileplanet on top of the game price to beta test like you did with Conan.

Actually a lot of people had to, just like in eu most actually had to pay to beta for WAR. At least according to them.

I hadn't heard that. I figured you just pre-order or get a key from one of many websites offering them.

Kyleran

Elite Member

Joined: 9/13/06
Posts: 8884

"In EVE, no one gives a damn about a fair fight." - chafin

9/15/08 12:43:50 PM#14

These days I pay little attention to how many folks pre-order, or how many units ship to retailers (what we have here today) but rather how the retention rate looks after a month or so.

 

"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon

EVE Cult member since May 2007

Regarding EVE: "To be honest, I think God himself created this game." - Shek

Regarding new players in EVE: "Think of yourself as a child released into a park full of pedophiles..." - Eleazaros
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Malickie

Hard Core Member

Joined: 11/22/05
Posts: 3916

Bloodfin Vet

9/15/08 12:48:07 PM#15
Originally posted by Noggin

Actually a lot of people had to, just like in eu most actually had to pay to beta for WAR. At least according to them.

I hadn't heard that. I figured you just pre-order or get a key from one of many websites offering them.

 

Yeah I can't stand how devs handle beta's now, using a testing stage as a pseudo Preview/trial is a very bad idea IMO.

For every minute You are angry , You lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson

mklinic

Elite Member

Joined: 7/29/05
Posts: 573

9/15/08 1:06:37 PM#16
Originally posted by Professor78

1 in 3 is an amazing ratio, I would expect develovers would be more than please with just 1 or 2 in 10!

would be realy interesting if un-subscription numbers were available anywhere. Will be good to see how WAR holds up.

 

I'm not a marketing person, so take my opinion for what it's worth (which may not be much), but I would think that if you were giving away a product, then a 1 in 3 retention rate would be great. However, if people had to make a $50 investment in your product (just using nice, round numbers), you would expect they would be more likely to stick with it for a period of time in hopes of getting the expected value out of that initial investment. Or, as is only natural, to find a redeeming feature to convince themselves they didn't just throw away $50.

On the other side though, if i were developing a game, I would certainly not be thinking to myself: "boy, I sure hope 1 in 3 people likes this game enough to keep playing. I would be comfortable if my work were only 1/3rd enjoyable".

-mklinic

"There's a point I think we're missing.
It's in the air we raise our fists in."
-from Behind Closed Doors by Rise Against

ganbee

Novice Member

Joined: 8/18/08
Posts: 248

9/15/08 1:14:08 PM#17

wow copy=Profit

and that is all war hammer is, I wish I had my preorder receipt back.!

Jackthecat

Apprentice Member

Joined: 8/14/08
Posts: 285

Pinky! are you pondering what I'm pondering?

9/15/08 1:31:59 PM#18
Originally posted by ganbee

wow copy=Profit

and that is all war hammer is, I wish I had my preorder receipt back.!


 

someone didn't play past level 3.

------------------------------
Meow

Azrile

Novice Member

Joined: 7/29/08
Posts: 1791

Any new or returning player to WOW, send me a PM for some help getting started.

9/15/08 1:38:24 PM#19
Originally posted by Malickie
Originally posted by Noggin

Actually a lot of people had to, just like in eu most actually had to pay to beta for WAR. At least according to them.

I hadn't heard that. I figured you just pre-order or get a key from one of many websites offering them.

 

Yeah I can't stand how devs handle beta's now, using a testing stage as a pseudo Preview/trial is a very bad idea IMO.


 

I think games like AOC are going to even reinforce this.  I know with Warhammer.. I totally discounted any pre-beta hype and waited til either I got into beta, or people in beta were not under any kinda NDA and can talk about details.  If there hadn't of been an open beta, then I would have waited a few months to buy the game.   Games are almost forced to have a free preview type beta if they want to have strong pre-orders to brag about.  If companies don't have a free preview, players are going to think something is fishy and compare it to what Funcom did.

In any event, I gave warhammer a fair try.  The game is just not as much fun as WOW.

................................................
“The corollary to that is if you’ve seen a game consolidate servers, you know it’s in deep, deep trouble — that’s not a healthy sign for an MMO,”
"Look at us six weeks out. If we’re not adding servers, we’re not doing well.” - MJ from Warhammer in July Interview

Malickie

Hard Core Member

Joined: 11/22/05
Posts: 3916

Bloodfin Vet

9/15/08 2:12:08 PM#20
Originally posted by Azrile
Originally posted by Malickie
Originally posted by Noggin

Actually a lot of people had to, just like in eu most actually had to pay to beta for WAR. At least according to them.

I hadn't heard that. I figured you just pre-order or get a key from one of many websites offering them.

 

Yeah I can't stand how devs handle beta's now, using a testing stage as a pseudo Preview/trial is a very bad idea IMO.


 

I think games like AOC are going to even reinforce this.  I know with Warhammer.. I totally discounted any pre-beta hype and waited til either I got into beta, or people in beta were not under any kinda NDA and can talk about details.  If there hadn't of been an open beta, then I would have waited a few months to buy the game.   Games are almost forced to have a free preview type beta if they want to have strong pre-orders to brag about.  If companies don't have a free preview, players are going to think something is fishy and compare it to what Funcom did.

In any event, I gave warhammer a fair try.  The game is just not as much fun as WOW.

I know what you're saying, however I feel it does more harm then good in a lot of cases. When they open testing up as a "hey come and play, have some fun" type open house. Feedback takes a negative hit, people are having so much fun (it is after all a new game) most feedback is completely positive often overly so. Look at most peoples initial impression of AOC, it was only after reaching late-end game when people realized something wasn't quite right. Of course AOC is sort of an anomaly, due to its limited beta testing.

For every minute You are angry , You lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson

Spellshaper

Advanced Member

Joined: 9/27/04
Posts: 276

9/15/08 8:59:57 PM#21


Originally posted by Noggin
 
At leat you didn't have to pay Fileplanet on top of the game price to beta test like you did with Conan.


Thats LIE! You only have to pay Fileplanet for first wave of beta keyes, rest were free for all! Just like with WAR beta (first weeks were only for paying FP customers). Also you can get keys from other sites than FP (for both games) but AoC keys were VERY limited on other sites.

_____________________________
Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur.

gamer2108

Apprentice Member

Joined: 8/30/08
Posts: 207

Aoc what a waste of $50 mil

9/15/08 9:23:10 PM#22

 

Originally posted by Spellshaper

 


Originally posted by Noggin
 
At leat you didn't have to pay Fileplanet on top of the game price to beta test like you did with Conan.


Thats LIE! You only have to pay Fileplanet for first wave of beta keyes, rest were free for all! Just like with WAR beta (first weeks were only for paying FP customers). Also you can get keys from other sites than FP (for both games) but AoC keys were VERY limited on other sites.

 

My personal favorite is the $2.99 to download the free trial, gotta love that one.
 

zymurgeist

Elite Member

Joined: 12/24/04
Posts: 2092

9/15/08 9:31:54 PM#23
Originally posted by mklinic

 

I'm not a marketing person, so take my opinion for what it's worth (which may not be much), but I would think that if you were giving away a product, then a 1 in 3 retention rate would be great. However, if people had to make a $50 investment in your product (just using nice, round numbers), you would expect they would be more likely to stick with it for a period of time in hopes of getting the expected value out of that initial investment. Or, as is only natural, to find a redeeming feature to convince themselves they didn't just throw away $50.

On the other side though, if i were developing a game, I would certainly not be thinking to myself: "boy, I sure hope 1 in 3 people likes this game enough to keep playing. I would be comfortable if my work were only 1/3rd enjoyable".

MMOs are an entirely different beast than any other product you can think of.

I don't trust anyone's unit sales figures in the gaming industry. They throw a number ant you and don't ever give you the basis for it. It's pretty much all spin.

"Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice." ~Greys Law

Wangerman

Novice Member

Joined: 8/14/08
Posts: 25

9/15/08 11:07:25 PM#24

my assumption is that war has boosted sales mainly because alot of the guys that played AOC who probably never even thought of playing War are going to try it out.  I never ever thought of playing war but after what happened with AOC I need my MMO fix.

Hopefully Mythic wont treat its customers the same way AOC did to theirs. Random bans with no refund, Changing the international billing to Euros instead of USD which people signed up for.  and the list goes on.