Originally posted by Zorvan

Originally posted by 3on1

 im amazed that a game that has been in developement for what.. 8 years or something(?) finally releases, doesnt get over 50k subs (i wonder if they even came close to that) and dropped like a rock since then, how can the developers still have the cash to keep the game going? :/

Because there are people actually stupid enough to pay twice.
 

Not saying I believe anything from Tasos, but it would seem they suckered some investment from somewhere.

Dev Q&A : Part 1

"For all intended purposes Aventurine is self-publishing in N. America with partner and external investor support."

Originally posted by javac

www.xfire.com/games/darkfall/Darkfall/

 

almost 100% growth in playtime according to XFire in a single month.

Sorry, Javac, but due to your past comments, it's impossible to take you seriously when you start discussing statistics (source):

"combining this ballparking exercise with the other data point we have from back when DF was showing the number of concurrent users in the friends list: the highest number i observed there was close to 7000 concurrent users. using EVE data, where 250K known subs usually translates into 40-50K peak concurrent users (ie: approx 20% of total subs online at peak).

assuming that more people are probably online for a brand new game, say 30% of all DF subs == peak concurrent, we can approximate that around the time DF removed concurrent numbers from the friends list, that DF's sub numbers were probably in the vicinity of 23K shortly after release (7000 / 0.3).

so in all likeliness, DF subs have probably grown since release, from approx 20K up to somewhere in the vicinity of 35-40K subs."

and

"doesn't affect the OBSERVED ratio of 40-50K online and 250K subs... and doesn't mean people play less than other games at all. i controlled for higher hours/player in DF but using a value of 30% instead of 20%. 30% implies an average playtime at peak of just over 7 hours per account per day. btw, you realise eve has a strong macro mining culture, right?

and btw, i *am* in a clan and i do macro while feeding my kid or making dinner, which is legal. it's not that widespread, maybe 5-10% i would guess are macroing at any one time, realistic example: say there's 30ish people at the bank and i can hear 2 macroers, that's 6.7%, or in my clan of 60, there might be 2 people macroing the grove. btw that's assuming they're actually macroing and not manually clicking but you get the point."

and

"there would need to be a consistent, months long downward trend to be able to confidently say the number of DF subs are declining. if anything, DF's numbers are pretty steady."

Guess what?  There has been a months long downward trend!  At it's peak, Darkfall was ranked 50, now it's ranked substantially lower. 

Your comments about the low percentage of macroers were unrealistic and you've long since backed off your 40-50k subs estimate (source):

"Originally posted by javac

15K clanned members + guesstimate of 3K unclanned == 18K on the server. certainly plenty more than the 10K players they were aiming for pre-release."

Certainly far less that the 40-50k you estimated! Also, regarding this comment "clan counts from the actual game show an steady upward trend since the expansion", why wouldn't clan counts be rising?  The game just launched in NA.  At launch, there were 0 clans, therefore, there's nowhere to go but up.  Let's see how the game's doing in a few months...

~Ripper

Yep AV is barely treading water, and they continue to shoot themselves in the foot by pissing off customers. They are either going to wake up and turn things around, or get swept under just like a lot of other mmo's.

Originally posted by StrixMaxima

javac, let's just say your interpretative skills are a bit lacking. 100% increase of 1 is 2. Not exactly luminary numbers.

But, hey, you got what you wanted: a nice thread title in the page, showing the unwary passer-by that the game might be flourishing, after all. Nice job.

It's actually a decrease compared to when it went from 0 to 1!

:P

Originally posted by augustgrace

Users playing per day 193

Minutes played per day 100,068

100,068 minutes/day divided by 193 players= 518.48 minutes/day per user or 8.64 hours/day per user

So the average player plays over 8 hours a day?  Seems a bit unlikely. 

Looks like a handful of players are trying to artificially boost DF's popularity.

Or maybe people macro alot? You know, you have to macro to play DF - if you want to be competitive.

Really? I was pretty competetive when I played, and my group didnt macro.

Originally posted by steamtank

since Xfire is clearly a reputable source of how good a game is doing.... 

Hahahahahahahahahaha!!!!

I think I peed myself...

Originally posted by Pyrostasis

Really? I was pretty competetive when I played, and my group didnt macro.

accusing people of macroing/hacking is the standard excuse used by crap players in Darkfall. some people just can't accept the concept that they suck, so they complain and make excuses instead of trying to get better.

If most of the players in df are macros I might actaully think about subbing. I would rather play a game with a bunch of macros then with the asshats on this forum

---

Originally posted by augustgrace
Users playing per day 193
Minutes played per day 100,068
100,068 minutes/day divided by 193 players= 518.48 minutes/day per user or 8.64 hours/day per user
So the average player plays over 8 hours a day?  Seems a bit unlikely. 
Looks like a handful of players are trying to artificially boost DF's popularity.

---

I'd say about 9 hours/day of AFK time seems quite average :).

This thread is awesome though. Good job darkfall on having 200 people playing your game, I can totally see how you would need a third server now :D.

Originally posted by javac

www.xfire.com/games/darkfall/Darkfall/

 

almost 100% growth in playtime according to XFire in a single month.

Things are looking up!

Oh wait,

3-18-09 Xfire Rank = 50   ( EU Server was still in limited release and difficult to get, login queues, 3 payment options)

Present Xfire Rank = 138  (NA server launched,"Expansion" released, 6 payment options, anyone can "Buy Now" NA/EU)

Yet Xfire numbers are still down 275%

Originally posted by HanoverZ

Originally posted by javac

www.xfire.com/games/darkfall/Darkfall/

 

almost 100% growth in playtime according to XFire in a single month.

 

Things are looking up!

 

Oh wait,

3-18-09 Xfire Rank = 50   ( EU Server was still in limited release and difficult to get, login queues, 3 payment options)

Present Xfire Rank = 138  (NA server launched,"Expansion" released, 6 payment options, anyone can "Buy Now" NA/EU)

 

Yet Xfire numbers are still down 275%

 

 

 

It will be interesting to see how that can be spun into a positive.......

Originally posted by sidebuster

 It's funny. My xfire doesn't even recognize darkfall. Maybe I need to have it search for games again.

EDIT:

I had to manually tell it where to look for darkfall.

X-fire is a social network for little boyz.  (Average age is 17)

Which means half of those using it are less than 17 years of age.  QQ.. *sigh*

Is it any wonder than Javec is excited about his game finding an immature audience in US..?  Fisher Price games naturally attract those who cannot stand on their own and must surround themsevles in mediocrity.

Zerg on,   children...

This should have been posted on April 1st.  Silly OP.

Originally posted by Hammertime1

Originally posted by HanoverZ

Originally posted by javac

www.xfire.com/games/darkfall/Darkfall/

 

almost 100% growth in playtime according to XFire in a single month.

 

Things are looking up!

 

Oh wait,

3-18-09 Xfire Rank = 50   ( EU Server was still in limited release and difficult to get, login queues, 3 payment options)

Present Xfire Rank = 138  (NA server launched,"Expansion" released, 6 payment options, anyone can "Buy Now" NA/EU)

 

Yet Xfire numbers are still down 275%

 

 

 

 

It will be interesting to see how that can be spun into a positive.......

Give it time.. Javac will be back in here trying to put a spin on it.

How many people playing ? 200 ... by rapid I hope you mean spontanous jump. This is desperation of the fanbois in the extreme and its hillarious.

 Thread.. was .... funny.... now ....  *Gasp*... too.. painful... please..... mods....... close.... AAAARGH 

*Pain in chest*

*Kneels over and dies*

Originally posted by khartman2005

Originally posted by Hammertime1

Originally posted by HanoverZ

Originally posted by javac

www.xfire.com/games/darkfall/Darkfall/

 

almost 100% growth in playtime according to XFire in a single month.

 

Things are looking up!

 

Oh wait,

3-18-09 Xfire Rank = 50   ( EU Server was still in limited release and difficult to get, login queues, 3 payment options)

Present Xfire Rank = 138  (NA server launched,"Expansion" released, 6 payment options, anyone can "Buy Now" NA/EU)

 

Yet Xfire numbers are still down 275%

 

 

 

 

It will be interesting to see how that can be spun into a positive.......

 

Give it time.. Javac will be back in here trying to put a spin on it.

Word.

Javac will most probably start throwing around that less than 1% of DarkFall players use x-fire, so if you extrapolate that less than 1%, multiply that by the number of hairs on an aardvarks back, divide by Betelgeuse....carry the 5......account for variations in the southern trade winds and factor in the number of teenagers searching for porn on the the internet, you can cleary calculate that DarkFall will over 200k subscribers by the end of next week.

The math makes the outcome absolute and irrefutible.

Originally posted by Shoju

Originally posted by khartman2005

Originally posted by Hammertime1

Originally posted by HanoverZ

Originally posted by javac

www.xfire.com/games/darkfall/Darkfall/

 

almost 100% growth in playtime according to XFire in a single month.

 

Things are looking up!

 

Oh wait,

3-18-09 Xfire Rank = 50   ( EU Server was still in limited release and difficult to get, login queues, 3 payment options)

Present Xfire Rank = 138  (NA server launched,"Expansion" released, 6 payment options, anyone can "Buy Now" NA/EU)

 

Yet Xfire numbers are still down 275%

 

 

 

 

It will be interesting to see how that can be spun into a positive.......

 

Give it time.. Javac will be back in here trying to put a spin on it.

Word.

Javac will most probably start throwing around that less than 1% of DarkFall players use x-fire, so if you extrapolate that less than 1%, multiply that by the number of hairs on an aardvarks back, divide by Betelgeuse....carry the 5......account for variations in the southern trade winds and factor in the number of teenagers searching for porn on the the internet, you can cleary calculate that DarkFall will over 200k subscribers by the end of next week.

The math makes the outcome absolute and irrefutible.

LOL

Originally posted by Pyrostasis

Really? I was pretty competetive when I played, and my group didnt macro.

Ya? Was that the first month or two when ppl hadn't yet gotten insane chars?

Originally posted by javac

www.xfire.com/games/darkfall/Darkfall/

 

almost 100% growth in playtime according to XFire in a single month.

So subs have increased from 5 to 10?

Wtg Darkfall !!!!!111!!

Originally posted by Zorvan

Originally posted by 3on1

 im amazed that a game that has been in developement for what.. 8 years or something(?) finally releases, doesnt get over 50k subs (i wonder if they even came close to that) and dropped like a rock since then, how can the developers still have the cash to keep the game going? :/

Because there are people actually stupid enough to pay twice.
 

This!

All I have to say is this. If ANY other game company had pulled this on it's playerbase, these Darkfall fanboys would be trolling that company's forum, and they would never hear the end of it. But because this was Aventurine, it's ok with them. LOL!

Originally posted by Phelcher

Originally posted by sidebuster

 It's funny. My xfire doesn't even recognize darkfall. Maybe I need to have it search for games again.

EDIT:

I had to manually tell it where to look for darkfall.

 

X-fire is a social network for little boyz.  (Average age is 17)

Which means half of those using it are less than 17 years of age.  QQ.. *sigh*

Is it any wonder than Javec is excited about his game finding an immature audience in US..?  Fisher Price games naturally attract those who cannot stand on their own and must surround themsevles in mediocrity.

Zerg on,   children...

17? I can't even imagine a typical 17-year old falling for the bullshit that is xFire. 15 seems more realistic.

Originally posted by xzyax

I like threads like this one from posters like javac.

Want to know why?

 

For one it gives opportunity to use xFire data when it shows a downward trend then. 

Which, if I am not mistaken is still down; as DarkFall was at #50 on 3-18-2009.  It's now at what?  # 134?

 

Hmm... most would say that a drop from #50 to #134 would be a DECREASE... but not in the world of those like javac.  Nope, no sir.  That is undeniable proof of rapidly increasing subs.  Heh... o.k.

 

Which brings up the second point of why I like these threads from those like javac. 

These threads prove beyond a shadow of a doubt how you should value their opinion and information. 

 

So, I for one want to thank javac for opening the door for the rest of us to point to xfire data as concrete proof of sub. #'s.  (I wonder who is going to tell him that being #134 isn't very good?) 

I already mentioned that statistic, but somehow Javac never responded to that. I guess his eyes do not see as far as March.

Javac, the Xfire numbers show that DF has fallen sharply since it peaked in March. Went straight from #50 to #134. Answer this, how does going from #50 to #130 is an increase in numbers? Or are you only interested in the period where number increase slightly, ignoring sharp drops as what happend in March?

Originally posted by jimmyman99

Javac, the Xfire numbers show that DF has fallen sharply since it peaked in March. Went straight from #50 to #134. Answer this, how does going from #50 to #130 is an increase in numbers? Or are you only interested in the period where number increase slightly, ignoring sharp drops as what happend in March?

xfire measures playtime, not actual players per se. march was a week after release. naturally playtime would be at peak in the weeks directly following release, just like there was a big spike as well around expansions or major patches. all games show the same spikes around release and expansions, then a gradual decline down to the "normal" weekly playtime curve.

the difference here is playtime is steadily trending up for DF and its been weeks since the expansion. DF did have a trough before the expansion came out but all the data strongly points to DF subs going up steadily since the expac. other pieces of evidence are that official forum subs are still going up by a few thousand per month, clan numbers in-game that have been counted by people are showing big increases, Ave have reported they're looking at opening a third server, general positive vibe on forums, etc.

Oh, yes, the "positive vibe" at DFO official forum is intoxicating. It ranges from "I played for 2 hours and didn't find a living soul" to "Large scale battles are phony".

I hardly think anyone would swallow the "played-time" spin in a game famous for its "AFK all night long!" gameplay. But, hey, believe in whatever you want. Just don't lie so cheekily.