A 6 months ago everyone was waiting for a trial. But now that the trials are here, I can honestly say that there hasn't been as much new players as I expected. Sure I see some new faces, but nothing major, and I have characters on 3 different EU servers.

Xfire numbers are up but that is because of the Xfire competition and the trial client that installs Xfire, more than it's about tons of new players coming to Hyboria.

It's seems like the old saying is true.. in the world of mmo's you get only one chance. Craig himself said they have 100k subs at the moment and I don't think it will go up from that.

What do you think?

Just a thought,

tlhis is only a  short time period and many dont have the time to pull out of noobland that fast, perhaps some feel as if AOC is not their game and the amount coming in afterwards are trying to figure out where to go. Just a thought.

SEABEAST

they still didnt start winback campaing.. and isnt this trial for mmorpg.com only

i didnt saw it everywhere else.. or adversited atleast

if ur lvl 80, you hardly gona see new faces till they ding 80  , in month or two

Originally posted by Smikis

if ur lvl 80, you hardly gona see new faces till they ding 80  , in month or two

Lol I'm not a total idiot. Of course I know trial people won't reach level 80 in a couple of days.

I didn't mention on my post that I started a new character, Bear Shaman, and was expecting to see tons of people in Tortage. But it was almost empty.

Honestly I saw no evidence that there was a trial which was very disappoiting.

well if you look at xfire the game has seen a huge boost. and yeah i know xfire isnt perfect but if a game goes from being around #50 to about #18 or so on average i would say that is a huge boost. so whether you agree with everything on xfire its pretty hard to argue there hasnt been a boost on AOC when a game makes that big of a jump

 I started an alt the other day and I even made the comment on guild chat that I could hardly get a quest done because of all the new ppl,I play on Crom EU server,so I would say if you are hardly seeing anyone then it could only be your login times,last night at around 7pm I left tortage and moved to 1 of the lvl 20 area's and that is when I made the comment in guild chat,now the question is how many will stick around after the trial...we will see.

Originally posted by Shillz

Originally posted by Smikis

if ur lvl 80, you hardly gona see new faces till they ding 80  , in month or two

 

Lol I'm not a total idiot. Of course I know trial people won't reach level 80 in a couple of days.

I didn't mention on my post that I started a new character, Bear Shaman, and was expecting to see tons of people in Tortage. But it was almost empty.

Honestly I saw no evidence that there was a trial which was very disappoiting.

Well I rerolled too two weeks ago and I saw plenty of new people in Tortage, Wild lands and Conall's Valley. And that is on the EU RP-PVE Hyrkania server even.

It's not a ton, but it is enough to group up with people or having to wait on mob spawns again :-)

Originally posted by flguy147

well if you look at xfire the game has seen a huge boost. and yeah i know xfire isnt perfect but if a game goes from being around #50 to about #18 or so on average i would say that is a huge boost. so whether you agree with everything on xfire its pretty hard to argue there hasnt been a boost on AOC when a game makes that big of a jump

Right now Xfire is the worst indicator of AoC player activity. Xfire has a AoC competition and AoC trial client installs Xfire automatically! So you see the error of margin is HUGE.

The REAL number might be something like #30-35 and after trial people quit, it goes even lower than that.

why are you bringing up after trials when  you specifically said "so the trials have finally arrived".  you brung up why havent there been a  boost since trials are going on and now you are saying well after trials it wont be that high?   stay consistent with what you originally said atleast 

Originally posted by flguy147

why are you bringing up after trials when  you specifically said "so the trials have finally arrived".  you brung up why havent there been a  boost since trials are going on and now you are saying well after trials it wont be that high?   stay consistent with what you originally said atleast 

Just look at his registration date. His avatar plus text. And what he has posted since.

I bet this is just another new account of his, because his previous ones have been banned.

Seems the psycho FC hater squad has found something new to bash FC again. Just like they started already in the TSW forums.

Pretty pathetic if you ask me, that you waste so much time on the internet by bashing a company.

Seems we got a new breed ala SWG vets on the rise.

This weekend during peak hours there were 7 instances of Tortage running on Eu Crom server. Thats more than twice as many as before trial, so there has been a huge influx.

Originally posted by Tjommis

This weekend during peak hours there were 7 instances of Tortage running on Eu Crom server. Thats more than twice as many as before trial, so there has been a huge influx.

Sure there are multiple instances in Tortage during peak hours and I'm sure Tortage has at least twice the people than what they had before trials, but I was just waiting for some huge influx of players. You know something we had at launch?

I guess most people have moved on to other games.

During daytime Tortage  I still ran into people whereever I went. In the evening gmt, it was crowded. Crowded to the point of it getting on my nerves. Underhalls was completely overcamped and it took at good 20 minutes to clear 3 quests in the jail area because of the competition for guards. Crazy. I havent seen that since EA.

Having said that, being on a new character the game does feel like its more populated at the lower lvls. And there are plenty of lfg's in global for low and mid level dungeons throughout the day. A few lvl 80 and even 80 raid pugs in the evenings, which is a positive sign.

As an EA'er who quit AoC after 2 months and 2 lvl 80 toons, I was unable to reasub with the trial system as it doesnt cater to veterans but only new accounts. I found it odd, and even double checked my spam folders to see if I had recieved a wellcome back pass of some kind. But no. - I would suggest that Funcom doesnt completely write off their previous subscribers but try to include them in the free playtime offer, even if it is only for 7 days. I dont see any logic behind excluding them all together except a bad buisness concept.

I resubbed to look at patch 1.05 and to look at the new tarantia commons, the stat revamp and skills. I rerolled a new class and left my other 2 in hibernation. While I am enjoying the game I still dont find it to be all that engaging. I want to be crazy about the game. I love the lore, the graphics, and even the quest design. But, I just dont feel its that great a game. The AoC community however is interesting to say the least. Here you have an abused group of people, beaten by desillusion  to the point where they argue with eachother whenever someone points out a bug or iritation with the game, thereby doing funcoms damage controll for the company, free of charge. Fx.. imagine Blizzard releasing tier 8 raid armour with graphic glitches making it neon and glowing in the dark, or lets say, releasing it without graphics on certain parts..... and not fixing it for a good 6-8 weeks. Imagine that? - no not likely to happen, and if it did, do you reckon other players on their forums would tell you how stupid you are for expecting them to fix it soon? - but in AoC funcom world that happens, all the time. The social mentality on those forums in that playergroup is interesting to say the very least.

Still here I am playing it because, to me, out of everything on the mmo market no current titles are better than AoC - And with this I mean, the state of mmo's is appaling, and I havent been quite happy with anything since EQ1 and pre-cu swg, any I digress. But Funcom to me is inept and everytime I play AoC I think about that IP and how it would have worked out in the hands of another developer. So while I wait for SWTOR and AION, Im stinting back in AoC and waiting for OB at Twelvesky2, none of which are going to stick on me for very long.

Originally posted by Shillz

Originally posted by Tjommis

This weekend during peak hours there were 7 instances of Tortage running on Eu Crom server. Thats more than twice as many as before trial, so there has been a huge influx.

 

Sure there are multiple instances in Tortage during peak hours and I'm sure Tortage has at least twice the people than what they had before trials, but I was just waiting for some huge influx of players. You know something we had at launch?

I guess most people have moved on to other games.

LOL!

Let's be realistic here. Name me one game that has launch like massive influxes of new players through trials?

There is none! Not even World of Warcraft.

The only moments you will see potential big influxes of returning and new players are at game launches and when an expansion releases.

Originally posted by Nilenya

As an EA'er who quit AoC after 2 months and 2 lvl 80 toons, I was unable to reasub with the trial system as it doesnt cater to veterans but only new accounts. I found it odd, and even double checked my spam folders to see if I had recieved a wellcome back pass of some kind. But no. - I would suggest that Funcom doesnt completely write off their previous subscribers but try to include them in the free playtime offer, even if it is only for 7 days. I dont see any logic behind excluding them all together except a bad buisness concept.

It's a question of money. It very expensive to give free playtime to hundreds of thousands of players.

Funcom is hoping for subscription numbers to rise so that old players would decide to return on their own and Funcom wouldn't have to give free playtime.

You have to understand that in the end Funcom is a BUSINESS. And like all businesses, they don't care about you one bit, they are only after your money. They are not going to say they are sorry and give you free playtime unless they are forced to do so.

Originally posted by Shillz

Originally posted by Nilenya

As an EA'er who quit AoC after 2 months and 2 lvl 80 toons, I was unable to reasub with the trial system as it doesnt cater to veterans but only new accounts. I found it odd, and even double checked my spam folders to see if I had recieved a wellcome back pass of some kind. But no. - I would suggest that Funcom doesnt completely write off their previous subscribers but try to include them in the free playtime offer, even if it is only for 7 days. I dont see any logic behind excluding them all together except a bad buisness concept.

 

It's a question of money. It very expensive to give free playtime to hundreds of thousands of players.

Funcom is hoping for subscription numbers to rise so that old players would decide to return on their own and Funcom wouldn't have to give free playtime.

You have to understand that in the end Funcom is a BUSINESS. And like all businesses, they don't care about you one bit, they are only after your money. They are not going to say they are sorry and give you free playtime unless they are forced to do so.

Since their servers arent overcrowded and exhausting the hamsters, that argument doesnt hold. Its a buisness where attracting new customers and old _ actively_ pays off...

To argue it costs them money to extend trial to veterans would beg the question why it is done by most other major titles out there, and also beg the question in what way does it cost them money to do so especially since they are likely to gain more resubscriptions from a 7 day pass than from no play at all, and since they dont need to boost server capacity in any way.

I dont understand the last 2 lines in your post. What do you mean with that?

It is good buisness to do what other companies have done for years, allowing you to play your old account if you have been absent for a while to lure you back in. And before you knee jerk a reply as though Im somehow aiming at you in a personal way, despite the odd way you ended your post. Both Lord of the rings online, DDO online, EVE, SWG, Vanguard and Everquest pass free days to lure back veterans. It wasnt something I grabbed out of my bhind :)

Anyway, you dont seem to be familiar with that occurance, but it happens with most large titles out there, and that was the main reason I was surprised to see them not do so. Especially considering how many people have assets in the game, but arent currently playing /shrug.

Originally posted by Shillz

 Craig himself said they have 100k subs at the moment and I don't think it will go up from that.

 

Got any link to verify that statement?

 I tried to start up a new trial to see how it's come along since beta/launch and... well... couldn't.

Not sure what the deal was, but their trial sign-up system kept running me in circles.

1. Get the trial key
2. Create a new trial account and activate it by confirming my email.
3. Apply the trial key to the trial account, submit it.
4. Get sent to a new account registration screen

Basically, every time I would create and login to a new trial account and attempt to apply the trial key, it would prompt me to create a new account again. If I logged out and then back into the trial account I'd just created and tried applying the key again, it still sent me to the "create new account" screen. I still have the multiple confirmation emails in my inbox from each attempt.

I emailed FC's customer support about the problem, and their response was "Yes, you must create a new account for the trial."

Well, no shit, Sherlock. 

Decided to try it again. I guess the God of Trials was feeling generous because it finally worked and the key was applied.

This made way for the next problem.

I'd already verified my account; received the email and everything. However, when I tried to log into the game, it said my account hadn't been verified. Oookay... maybe it just takes time, I figured.

So.. I waited a couple hours. Shouldn't take that long, but just in case.

Came back, tried to log in again, and received a message that it was an invalid login.

Said "screw this" and uninstalled the game.

So... not sure what's up with the system or if anyone else has had that problem, but it was completely FUBAR'd for me.

Originally posted by Rdlaban

Originally posted by Shillz

 Craig himself said they have 100k subs at the moment and I don't think it will go up from that.

 

 

Got any link to verify that statement?

 

Sorry I don't have a link but it's from that most recent Craig interview. I think the interview is by MMORPG.com but I'm not 100% sure. You can find it easily by yourself.

In the interview he says they have "100k subs" and realizes that he blurted out the truth and quicly corrects it to "hundreds of thousands". It's pretty funny

Originally posted by Shillz

Originally posted by Rdlaban

Originally posted by Shillz

 Craig himself said they have 100k subs at the moment and I don't think it will go up from that.

 

 

Got any link to verify that statement?

 

 

Sorry I don't have a link but it's from that most recent Craig interview. I think the interview is by MMORPG.com but I'm not 100% sure. You can find it easily by yourself.

In the interview he says they have "100k subs" and realizes that he blurted out the truth and quicly corrects it to "hundreds of thousands". It's pretty funny

www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/2760964#2760964

As someone who recently returned and started over a new character, I was rather surprised to see how many people were milling about in Tortage. It's a refreshingly different scenario from most MMOs that I have retried only to find the starter area extremely desolate.

Looking forward to getting past 20 and gettinginto the game world.

All MMOs suck so bad lately that I think you get two chances. Problem is, you need to have an AWESOME game with staying power during one of those two chances. Obviously AoC failed at launch, as has every MMO since WoW. AoC is about to get it's second chance when they release their next patch. They have the trial, they've supposedly addressed many of the issues people had with AoC at launch. The question is, does AoC have staying power yet? Can it keep my attention when I resub for longer than a month this time?

Originally posted by oronisi

All MMOs suck so bad lately that I think you get two chances. Problem is, you need to have an AWESOME game with staying power during one of those two chances. Obviously AoC failed at launch, as has every MMO since WoW. AoC is about to get it's second chance when they release their next patch. They have the trial, they've supposedly addressed many of the issues people had with AoC at launch. The question is, does AoC have staying power yet? Can it keep my attention when I resub for longer than a month this time?

 

Sure most MMO's fail at launch but no MMO in history has gone from 850k subs to 50k subs in a couple of months. If you only look at the drop in population, you can safely say that Age of Conan has been the biggest failure in MMO history.

You talk about a second chance. There are no second chances in the world of MMO's. Even if they made AoC a good game in the future, most players have moved on and are never coming back. It's not only about AoC, it's also about Funcom. I mean people made Failcom t-shirts, have you ever seen anything like that before?

I personally know at least 5 people who quit MMO's altogether because they were so disappointed what a zoned and instanced mess AoC was.

Originally posted by Shillz

Originally posted by Tjommis

This weekend during peak hours there were 7 instances of Tortage running on Eu Crom server. Thats more than twice as many as before trial, so there has been a huge influx.

 

Sure there are multiple instances in Tortage during peak hours and I'm sure Tortage has at least twice the people than what they had before trials, but I was just waiting for some huge influx of players. You know something we had at launch?

I guess most people have moved on to other games.

100% difference is a huge influx of players -.-

Originally posted by Shillz

Originally posted by oronisi

All MMOs suck so bad lately that I think you get two chances. Problem is, you need to have an AWESOME game with staying power during one of those two chances. Obviously AoC failed at launch, as has every MMO since WoW. AoC is about to get it's second chance when they release their next patch. They have the trial, they've supposedly addressed many of the issues people had with AoC at launch. The question is, does AoC have staying power yet? Can it keep my attention when I resub for longer than a month this time?

 

 

Sure most MMO's fail at launch but no MMO in history has gone from 850k subs to 50k subs in a couple of months. If you only look at the drop in population, you can safely say that Age of Conan has been the biggest failure in MMO history.

You talk about a second chance. There are no second chances in the world of MMO's. Even if they made AoC a good game in the future, most players have moved on and are never coming back. It's not only about AoC, it's also about Funcom. I mean people made Failcom t-shirts, have you ever seen anything like that before?

I personally know at least 5 people who quit MMO's altogether because they were so disappointed what a zoned and instanced mess AoC was.

Age of Conan had a massive drop in subs the first months yes. But not from 850k to 50k as you try to put it.

It took over 8 months to get from 800k registered users (not subsribed) to roughly 100k subsribers right now.

Warhammer Online failed just as bad. It went from 750k registered users to only 350k subscribers in a month!

But there are MMO's out there that do recover and show a different trend.

EVE Online back then when it launched had a very very rough start too. It started with very low subscription numbers and has since then gone up all the way to over 250k subs.

Will Age of Conan get back up to their initial launch numbers? No. That won't happen anymore.

But can they get the number of subscriptions back to around 200k-250k on the longterm. Yes, that is perfectly possible if they manage to deliver with patch 1.05 and beyond.

Most likely Age of Conan can get a turnpoint when they launch the planned Expansion and they really deliver with that one.

A good expansion with decent marketing strategy can create a turnpoint to increase subscriptions.

LOTRO is a perfect example of that. Till Mines of Moria expansion lots of players had left that game, because they were bored with the game and had nothing left to do.

Mines of Moria was an excellent expansion and it resulted in a impressive surge of new players and returning players.

Same happened with EverQuest 2 as well. That game bombed hard too in the first year and it wasn't till the Kingdom of Sky expansion till subscription numbers recovered and went back up to around 250k-300k. (that was the second expansion by the way and 2 years after launch!)

Cheers

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