Originally posted by Slampig

15 day free trial...

 

No?

The free trial is good in that it gets your feet wet.  You can do some of the missions (maybe all, not sure).  On the market, you can buy and sell ONLY from the NPC's (the player market is invisible).  You can talk in general and help channels and recieve PM's, but cannot reply. You cannot join a corp, etc.

I think 15 days is a good amount of time to see the world, learn the ropes and decide if you might enjoy a game like this,  However, the mission/PvE system is a bit dull (it's being expanded, we'll see what comes).  IMO, the real heart of the game lies in player cooperation, interaction, PvP (or industry support of a PvP corp, miners make excellent healers if they x-train properly).   

If the trial sparks your interest, I would recomend joining a corp after subbing up.

Personally I love this game and imo it's not dead by a longshot. Yes pop is low but it's niche. But to enjoy Perp you MUST play with a corp. If I was solo I prolly would have quit after 2 days. This is something they need to work on without a doubt but since the Devs are actually competent (a rare thing these days - looking at you MO and DF) I'm fairly certain they can do it.

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Originally posted by SomeDude101

But to enjoy Perp you MUST play with a corp.

the Devs are actually competent
 

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Those two statements do not really go well together.

Games have low population because they are considered by gamers not worth their money/time, not because they are 'niche'.

Decided to try this game despite the players complaining about population problems. Got halfway through the client install, and it crashed. Not looking good but I'm a huge EVE Online fan and anything similar is worth a try in my book.

I'll post results

Results:

So, I finally got the game to install, got my account setup, logged in and made my pilot, and proceeded to enter the game. My first observation was that the chat channels were a lot fuller than I expected, so this game may not be having quite the desperate population problem that people are painting it out to be. The tutorial was shallow, leaving me with little idea of what to do at all, so I then asked in the Help chat channel for some tips. The other players proceeded to call me a noob and other assorted insults, as well as saying that if I sucked too much at the game to figure it out then I should quit. So much for warm welcomes.

Quality-wise, the graphics of the game are solid for an indy production; no need for overpowered hardware to play which is nice. Object animation and movement in the world could be better however as a lot of the mechs look like they're running a thousand miles an hour with how the leg parts twitter like a hummingbird. The controls were a little clunky and awkward at first but it didn't take long to get the hang of how to move around. Combat was a little lackluster and boring, but all I got to kill were simple NPCs. PvP combat might be better, but I haven't seen it.

Overall the game doesn't seem to be dead but it'll take some improving to be more successful. I can't say I'd pay the asking price per month to play this game with the way it currently is, but perhaps with time it'll offer more to the players.

Community: 4/10 - Way too many elitist jerks. Not new player friendly.

Content: 6/10 - Tutorial was mediocre and world slightly bland. Combat needs some adjustments.

Graphics: 6/10 - Pretty standard stuff for an indy mmo done on a budget.

Overall: 5/10 - Game just needs a lot of work. That's not necessarily a bad thing but it certainly explains why players aren't hanging out for very long. The ones who do hang around seem to be real jerkoffs, which isn't uncommon for mmos but seriously.. who sticks around to play if they only get crapped on the whole time? I might check in on this game again in the future, but for the meantime I'll stick with EVE Online.

Just keep in mind that the game is pretty new, everyone is a noob right now. Some people have just got a grasp on the mechanics of the game and sometimes those people can be a bit over prideful. I think thr game as solid potential. And although I havnt really taken the time to talk to anyother players yet the help channel seems to be pretty friendly.

I couldn't get into it, considering that, in my opinion, EvE does everything better (And rightly so, since it's been around a lot longer).

And frankly, just to be piloting robots on a planet isn't good enough of a reason for me :).

If you played and left, you might want to give it a try again. Population is rising and, as Eve shows, a sandbox game has less appeal to many but the company is making progress. Consider it a chance to get in on the ground floor of the next Eve.

True, solo content is pretty much as sparse as Eve for now but PVP is starting to pick up as corps. get organized.

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Originally posted by k0rr1ban
Results:
so I then asked in the Help chat channel for some tips. The other players proceeded to call me a noob and other assorted insults, as well as saying that if I sucked too much at the game to figure it out then I should quit. So much for warm welcomes.

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Perpetuum community is truly amazing...unique of it's kind.

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Originally posted by Ivniciix
Population is rising

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No, it isn't. It is decreasing since release.

The trend is disturbed by recent expansion release only and did not revert. The game is still around mostly due low development costs and maintenance costs.

Originally posted by Gdemami

No, it isn't. It is decreasing since release.

The trend is disturbed by recent expansion release only and did not revert. The game is still around mostly due low development costs and maintenance costs.

 This is a strange thing to say. All MMOs have large populations at release, then lose about three quarters of their playerbase before the population picks up again. Things like content expansions bring players back to the game. There is a steady stream of new players so it's definitely on the right track. 

If they can implement more interesting PvE content I think they will retain more new players.

My only gripe for myself is the lack of easy-to-find pvp on beta islands. There is a possible server-wide war in the making which I think should make things more interesting.

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Originally posted by Cevoia

 This is a strange thing to say. All MMOs have large populations at release, then lose about three quarters of their playerbase before the population picks up again.

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Sure, population drops after release and Pereptuum population is dropping since release in November 2010 - from 650 concurrent user peak to 220, I see no pick up though.

I would not say that the population curve will be the same for all games, Pereptuum was released with no marketing, no 'hype' and as very much unknown title.

There might be influx of new players but more players are leaving than staying thus I am not sure what track you talk about...

Originally posted by k0rr1ban

Results:

So, I finally got the game to install, got my account setup, logged in and made my pilot, and proceeded to enter the game. My first observation was that the chat channels were a lot fuller than I expected, so this game may not be having quite the desperate population problem that people are painting it out to be. The tutorial was shallow, leaving me with little idea of what to do at all, so I then asked in the Help chat channel for some tips. The other players proceeded to call me a noob and other assorted insults, as well as saying that if I sucked too much at the game to figure it out then I should quit. So much for warm welcomes.

[edit... review continues..]

Korriban that totally stinks and I'm sorry that your first experiences soured you to the game before you even got started... I won't deny that corporation rivalries and taunting spill over into the general chat.  However your experiences in the help channel were the exception rather than the norm in my experience.  

Personally I and a few others always have the help window open and are constantly offering tips and advice, I personally think it's the best way that I can help the game and subtely recruit for my corp at the same time and I recomend every corp have at least one friendly person in help chat at all times. It's a sad but true fact that every game has it's jerks.

There are plenty of communities within the community that will take you under there wing and get you up and running quickly... Morte is one that springs to mind... FOOM is new, seems promising and is heavily recruiting if you want to get in as a new player with a new corp... and finally there is my corp the 62nd that is a bit more established but recently opened recruitment up with the influx of new players. 

@Gdemami  -  quit trolling the thread... Umm 220? population dropping are you out of your mind... maybe pop was 220 at it's worst... it's peaking at like 360 now, that would be a 63% increase in simultaneously active accounts (not number of subs which is much higher) A huge increase over a fairly short period of time... and the new guys coming in that I've spoken to (there are a lot!!!)  are generally having good experiences.

Link to daily activity graph (not to be confuse with number of subs)

http://content.perpetuum-online.com/feeds/user_peak_graph_600.png

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Originally posted by yahtzard
 
@Gdemami  -  maybe pop was 220 at it's worst...

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Yes, that was just before the expansion. There is no trolling, just facts. 63% is still a peak 360 people that is...lol...

More importantly, the numbers are not rising, they are stale/slight decline since expansion. Will take few more weeks to set a trend.

Well I played it since alpha, and ended up quiting about 5 months ago. It wasn't the game mechanics that had me quit. It was actually the community. Some really good players, but in a sea of trolls. It's the only game I've ever played where I actually considered buying a plane ticket just to beat the crap out of some people in real life, over things that happened in a game. I'm serious too. And I played eve for 5 years without ever feeling that way once, in low and nullsec at that.

As for game mechanics, the game was quite good, a bit bland at times, but still fun. WASD eve online was a great idea.

The community is actually one of the best things about it because it's still very small. It's pretty low on serious trolls, despite the best attempts of a certain corp. I see people helping out in both general chat and the help channel all the time, and new players have commented on how welcoming the community is.

I still don't see why anyone thinks activity is permanently declining. It might dip a bit over the summer but I don't think we will go back to pre-expansion levels so long as the devs continue releasing patches the way they do.

The game does need a few things to make it better and help with player retention, but what game doesn't?

I'd play if you could jump.

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Originally posted by Cevoia

I still don't see why anyone thinks activity is permanently declining. It might dip a bit over the summer but I don't think we will go back to pre-expansion levels so long as the devs continue releasing patches the way they do.

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I simply do not understand this kind of thinking...

What devs did with their released patches so far made the game to become this:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/838/apr2728userpeakgraph120.png/

and there is no sign the development took some more reasonable course since, or any course in fact.

Identity switching...lol?

It is the same as argument over market. People(devs) will argue that market is fine but it just needs more players...and time pass, population declines week after week and people will still insist the market is fine, it just needs more players...

Originally posted by Gdemami

I simply do not understand this kind of thinking...

 

What devs did with their released patches so far made the game to become this:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/838/apr2728userpeakgraph120.png/

and there is no sign the development took some more reasonable course since, or any course in fact.

Identity switching...lol?

It is the same as argument over market. People(devs) will argue that market is fine but it just needs more players...and time pass, population declines week after week and people will still insist the market is fine, it just needs more players...

Why are you looking at a user peak graph from April? Have you actually been logging in recently?

Here is today's, which clearly shows activity is up a little:

http://content.perpetuum-online.com/feeds/user_peak_graph_1200.png

(Since this will change by on a daily basis it currently shows a low of 100 and a peak of 320)

And like I said before, the upcoming intrusion campaigns are going to keep the PvPers and all support characters logging in and busy for a while.

320? I must be missing something. This game is 'peaking' at 320 users? If so I think the OP has a point.

Originally posted by Warzod

320? I must be missing something. This game is 'peaking' at 320 users? If so I think the OP has a point.

No, that's normal for a game of this kind, particularly given the size of the world.