The 50k users signed in all at once was when the forums transitioned to the new we have today, they converted all old forum accounts to the new one and logged them all on at the same day.

The SWG forums have roughly 800-1500 users (that are either logged in or not) most of the 24 hours that a day is. Granted not all users are logged in every day and the user pool are also cycled as players log in and out all the time.

The 65% seems high indeed, but SWG isn't like other MMO's. Its based on a decade old universe that alot of folks have grown up with - many have many deeply rooted opinions about the Star Wars universe and the forum users are very dedicated. There was recently something mentioned in a podcast about some forum polls that the CR team had made, and due to SWG posters pwning the polls every single time they finally had to do something else to give the other SOE games a chance, so they swapped out SWG with the SWG:TCG.

I don't know what the numbers are, and I have no intention of throwing out a number either. But there is definately a difference between the forum posters on SWG forums and other MMO forums in terms of dedication and participation.

My Photobucket account has been used to host images used in the SWG forums, in guides and whatnot - 130k views per month wasn't unnusual. September month was a limitbreaker for me as I broke the limit on the account so I had to remove my sig and avatar which took up about  roughly 40k views per month.

Its actually fun to track what posts the posters are viewing, I can tell you there is a huge difference in the number of posters in the smuggler forums and how many are anonamously reading the guides. For example, for october the smuggler template guides have been read 10-30 times a day and I know that the readers aren't the regular smugglers - they don't need to anymore. The relic quality map is viewed 40-50 times a day.

It doesn't take alot for the posters to get involved with anonamous polls and reading posts, but alot fewer is posting than reading. Of course, that part isn't really all that different than any other Forum.

Originally posted by Fishermage

Originally posted by Obee

When Chris Cao had his meltdown a few years ago, he tossed out the 20% figure.  Helios chimed in at the tail end of the thread that Cao's numbers were off and the amount of SWG players that used the forums was much higher.  Raph Koster has mentioned a few times that SWG always had much greater forum participation among players than other MMOs.

The 65% number is likely accurate.

 

 

 

Now that an SWG rep made it public, I don't think I am violating any NDA I signed when I say that I heard Brenlo say personally that the percentage of SWG players who are active on the forums were MUCH higher than their other games. He gave no figures, however.

I think its about 20% play daily, but ehh thiers no science to guessing or stats.    1500 so 20% is playing daily that would make the pop around 7500
 

 I remember posting your auctions on the official boards, they were hugely popular so I can believe that the player forum usage was high ....

Do people still do this or did that fun part of the game die too?

My friends idiot savant hamster says other whys. 

Originally posted by Vincen76

The 50k users signed in all at once was when the forums transitioned to the new we have today

The SWG forums have roughly 800-1500 users (that are either logged in or not) most of the 24 hours that a day is.

The 65% seems high indeed, but SWG isn't like other MMO's. There was recently something mentioned in a podcast about some forum polls that the CR team had made, and due to SWG posters pwning the polls every single time they finally had to do something else to give the other SOE games a chance, so they swapped out SWG with the SWG:TCG.

I don't know what the numbers are, and I have no intention of throwing out a number either. But there is definately a difference between the forum posters on SWG forums and other MMO forums in terms of dedication and participation.

My Photobucket account - 130k views per month wasn't unnusual. September month was a limitbreaker for me as I broke the limit on the account so I had to remove my sig and avatar which took up about  roughly 40k views per month.

For example, for october the smuggler template guides have been read 10-30 times a day and I know that the readers aren't the regular smugglers - they don't need to anymore. The relic quality map is viewed 40-50 times a day.

It doesn't take alot for the posters to get involved with anonamous polls and reading posts, but alot fewer is posting than reading. Of course, that part isn't really all that different than any other Forum.

Good post Vincent! 

130k views per month...is there any way to figure out if those were unique views? Same question for the guides and maps. Every time your sig is called upon, does that count as a "hit"?

I'm wondering...to vote in SoE polls, you need to be logged in and registered (SWG and TCG play tests for example). That immediately lowers the participation as not everyone wants to login. I think you and MC and Badger have all run external polls though...do you happen to recall how much participation you had in those vs. maybe one of SoEs (like the painting contest)?

Originally posted by TUX426

Originally posted by Vincen76

...

My Photobucket account - 130k views per month wasn't unnusual. September month was a limitbreaker for me as I broke the limit on the account so I had to remove my sig and avatar which took up about  roughly 40k views per month.

...

 

Good post Vincent! 

130k views per month...is there any way to figure out if those were unique views? Same question for the guides and maps. Every time your sig is called upon, does that count as a "hit"?

I'm wondering...to vote in SoE polls, you need to be logged in and registered (SWG and TCG play tests for example). That immediately lowers the participation as not everyone wants to login. I think you and MC and Badger have all run external polls though...do you happen to recall how much participation you had in those vs. maybe one of SoEs (like the painting contest)?

Sure, there is a way but Im not interested in paying for it ;)

When I had the images hosted on my personal website (some years ago now) I'd get detailed links to every reference link, so whenever the image was displayed I could see where it was displayed and who requested the view (down to IP).

I'd take the 130k views as not individual. Meaning, that everyone that opens a post that contains images that is hosted on my photobucket account counts as a view - unless they have the image in the browser cashe. That means anyone who can view the post containing the images will trigger a count on my photobucket account. If a reader is clearing how browser cashe every time he closes his browser, that reader would call many images.

I've always used external polls to get feedback in "number form", from the community. Depending on the placement of the poll the numbers would either have high or low participation. Whenever I polled the Smuggler Community, +20 votes would be a good indicator - I would be lucky to get 100 voters. In the GPD, +200 isn't uncommon. The Top5 GP was comprised of a series of polls that had over 300 voters.

But you gotta remember that I was always bumping the posts containing the polls so players would over the course of at least 48 hours be able to see the post, open it and see that there was a poll. I still wouldn't know whether or not I was able to reach out to everyone but at least non-posters had a chance to give feedback without getting flamed/trolled as its common practice in the GPD.

I've definately done my fair share of polls despite it being against forum rules. I've been lucky to be able to convince mods that my polls where adhering the forum rules. The trick has always been to keep it in a positive spirit and draw it out as long as possible to keep posters voting. Once the poll is down, its over and you'll have to work with what you got.

Once a poll goes under post number 25, it will start to slip off the frontpage and the voting is effectively over. Most who tries to post a poll throws out a series of trolly questions that they can use at a later date as a way to throw something in the face of devs/mods/SOE and say "HAHA, you suck". Which is why most mods are used to just removing polls in blanket swipes.

The way I've used polls is to have some backup for the decisions I've done. Of course no matter what, you'll have players complaining that their frustrations isn't being catered to, but at least that way you have somewhere to point them when they ask why their frustration hasn't been dealt with. Most of the time, thats enough.

Polls are a great way to get feedback no matter how you slice it. I've been using it since 2008 regularly and even if you sometimes get trolls, if you ask the right questions at the right time to the right people then you'll get some valuable feedback.