Let me explain this very simple to you...I instance my computer to another computer...I change a few things but both comps still reference the same database...now Eve uses servers...if I leave one system and use a gate to another and by using that gate the severs move the processing of my ship to the second server I have moved to an instanced server.  They are permanents, but copies of each other.  A game as in WoW with large persistent worlds with no gates except in parts is bound by how much one cluster of servers doing the same processing can handle.  Eve by instancing their systems and keeping them separate can have a very large "server" for people to play on, but infact if you put a lot of people in one system Eve crashes because it is bound as WoW is by how much one of their instanced servers can handle.  An instance is not temporary...only in your geeky MMORPG world is an instance what you think it is.  To the rest of the world we instance servers all the time for permanent computations at different times using the same structure to ensure software differences are not what is causing the differences.  I guess I need a white board to explain it to you.

Another fact that points toward servers running separate from each other is that when Jita would crash before it only killed Jita and not the game as a whole.  That is because Jita runs separate from the rest of the servers and uses a backend server to update other servers as to what you are doing if they needed to know.  As long as it runs on the same base program with different graphics, even planets and starbases and missions, it is still an instance or copy of the other systems running separate from the other servers. 

Somewhere in the world there is a Star Trek Convention that cares about the technical definition of an instance, but here we play EVE and we know the difference between them from an MMORPG perspective.

Let it rest already and get back to the OP, EVE statistics, remember?  I'll start.

One stat I'd like CCP to share is what percentage of the player base pays for more than one account. (they've published in the past.) Myself, I own 3 accounts, so when they say 302K subs I assume I've been counted 3 times.

Another interesting stat is how many accounts are paid for with Plexs/GTC's vs those who pay cash money.

And how many Plex's are sold in a typical month? 

Except for one thing, you can interact with the other people in the station, you can trade with them. So all people in the station do share the same "instance" making it a zone instead.

In the end it's just about splicing words, you can't pigeon hole every thing. New solutions comes out all the time which share characteristics of several different systems. Eve if definitively not instanced in the traditional way instancing has been used, neither practically (everyone can go everywhere), nor technically (mission etc are not in a separate parallel space, you don't have to use the gates to enter it instead you can slow boat into it if you really want to).

Originally posted by Kyleran

Another interesting stat is how many accounts are paid for with Plexs/GTC's vs those who pay cash money.

 

 

 

 

Interesting yes but honestly all Plex are paid with cash anyway.

It's not like someone is just paying for in game time with in game Isk and CCP loses money.  someone somewhere had to buy that plex with RL cash to even get it to spawn in the game.

Population

It has always been a goal of CCP's to populate their game with more people than Iceland. For the record, that number is about 320,000 according to the country's Wikipedia entry.

i forgot to comment this hehe

CCP said they banned 18 000 accounts, that make the number:D

Originally posted by Kyleran

Originally posted by metalhead980

Technical bullshit a side, when a mmo player thinks of a instance he/she thinks of multiple copies of one area be it a dungeon, zone or pvp map.

Each person or group of people in the same group will have their own copy of said dungon, zone or pvp map.

Does Eve have anything like that? No! So lets drop it already.

 

You know, there is one situation in which I think EVE does have instances.  Inside stations right? We all see the same graphic in the same station, but we don't see each other.  Sort of in our own private rooms.

Hmm, perhaps sortoff, but not really, because you can see ( portraits ), talk and trade with all the people inside the station.

Originally posted by cosy

Population

It has always been a goal of CCP's to populate their game with more people than Iceland. For the record, that number is about 320,000 according to the country's Wikipedia entry.

 

i forgot to comment this hehe

CCP said they banned 18 000 accounts, that make the number:D

:p

Yah, the bannings certainly had a large impact, thats the reason why they did not hit a new PCU peak either.

Originally posted by BaronJuJu

"•95% of EVE's subscribers are male"

I find that to be interesting and very out of the norm for most MMO's.  I actually thought there would have been many more in EVE.  Female players, from what I have read, usually comprise about 20% or more of the populations.

A big draw to many female gamer's is fully rendered avatar's you can dress up and such.  I don't mean that to sound sexist, I just know a couple of the women I used to play with always had an absolute complete collection of outfits and such their toons could wear.

I wouldn't be surprised if Incarna ups the female population % a small bit.  Not only because of the fully rendered avatars but also because of the increased social aspect.

Originally posted by Horusra

I like how computer noobs use the MMO term of "instance" verses the techinical server term of an "instance"...

In techinical terms Eve is Instanced....in MMO terms it is not.  So both are correct.

Why the hell would anyone give a rat's ass about the server term of an instance when we're talking about an MMO. 

If 3 million people have tried the game, and its current subscriber base is only ~300 thousand, am I correct to assume that EVE only attracts 10% of gamers?

Originally posted by rsreston

If 3 million people have tried the game, and its current subscriber base is only ~300 thousand, am I correct to assume that EVE only attracts 10% of gamers?

By that kind of math, probably only 10% of gamers like WOW as well.

Originally posted by rsreston

If 3 million people have tried the game, and its current subscriber base is only ~300 thousand, am I correct to assume that EVE only attracts 10% of gamers?

Yeah, its a pretty exclusive club. 

Originally posted by rsreston

If 3 million people have tried the game, and its current subscriber base is only ~300 thousand, am I correct to assume that EVE only attracts 10% of gamers?

EvE online is a good game, but simply not for the majority of MMO gamers. Everyone knows this including CPP, it's what makes them so good. They aim to make a game some poeple like and not a game everyone might like (SWG for example). 

Originally posted by Coman

Originally posted by rsreston

If 3 million people have tried the game, and its current subscriber base is only ~300 thousand, am I correct to assume that EVE only attracts 10% of gamers?

EvE online is a good game, but simply not for the majority of MMO gamers. Everyone knows this including CPP, it's what makes them so good. They aim to make a game some poeple like and not a game everyone might like (SWG for example). 

I think CCP has done a good job fixing a lot of the begginer experience in the game so more people join.

With that said, we all know Eve is a niche game. Comeon? Sci-fi spaceships, harsh death penalty, point to click rts combat, Game mechanics that require reading guides the size of novels to just get the basics down, Lack of direction (too much freedom is bad for most).

Honestly, the fact that this game has over 300k subs amazes me.

I still love it though and would rather play Eve with even half that number than go and play a linear game that feels like its limiting every action I make.

Originally posted by rsreston

If 3 million people have tried the game, and its current subscriber base is only ~300 thousand, am I correct to assume that EVE only attracts 10% of gamers?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23579228@N04/2335016192/

that picture should clear things up for you.