I will note that recently I posted on my blog about the state of AoC and how the game is making progress.

The real interesting part is a comment was made by another blogger for that post discussing how he is trying the game. This same person left during the first 30 days due to the same issues a lot of us saw. He also had qualms about giving them a chance.

But, he did, and so far he is trying to make an effort to get further in the game and see if the original issues were just that. As another side note, he is not a fan of the instancing, but according to his comment, he seems to be enjoying the classes...and that is pretty cool.

So, I do know about 6 new people so far.including a new guild that is in between the 30's to 50's who have recently started.

Guess we just have to base it off of "visual" cues then just like the OP did.

 There could be any number of reasons why server crashes or the fact you see more lower lvl players(hell could be alot of alts).

It is the same with the "x-fire numbers rising"threads,I mean has anyone stopped to think that players in AoC have been told about x-fire from guild mates and d/l it and that could be why the numbers are rising?

To me it is anyway the poster wants to turn it,if you enjoy the game then play it and enjoy,why feel the need to force it down others throats?

Dont get me wrong I think AoC has come on alot but I dont feel the need to back that up with blind facts.

Who cares if Xfire show one Sunday of AOC in 44th place when it was 49th on the day before.  My instrest tho is why the fanboys are so intrested :D.   Maybe that says something? 

But if it was a planned try to get a spike in Xfire - then I would have been very dissapointed.

But again - who cares really ? Its not like Xfire will make or break the game anway.  If that was the case the Xfie numbers whould have broken it long time ago in the first 5 months.  They are surely not gonna save it now :D

To take the thread back on topic.. I'd just like to say that WAR F2P period now has ended for a lot of the guys that dived in for some F2P gameing earlier in March. Anything that is free is consumed so it's nothing but expected that there is a population/activity increase back in the homes of the the F2P players once the crumbles are eaten. That's what I think you might be seeing.

It is pretty silly that AoC didn't move up on that day, so maybe all the casuals were logged on to all video games. It is still 44th so all 43 games above it had as many or more players that day.

Originally posted by finaticd

It is pretty silly that AoC didn't move up on that day, so maybe all the casuals were logged on to all video games. It is still 44th so all 41 games above it had as many or more players that day.

and... who cares?

how is that any relevant to this thread?

Originally posted by clearSam

Originally posted by finaticd

It is pretty silly that AoC didn't move up on that day, so maybe all the casuals were logged on to all video games. It is still 44th so all 43 games above it had as many or more players that day.

and... who cares?

how is that any relevant to this thread?

You tried comparing it with other MMOs, the other 17 MMOs were all still above it, so they must have had higher numbers that day as well.

Whether there was a spike this weekend or not the fact remains that the game will have an increasing population.

You dont need figures to prove it and there is no need to prove it anyway.

DX10 is on its way now as well as the itemisation patch. Will these two additions make more people come back? Of course it will.

Ultimately AoC is heading in the right direction under the new boss and with it will come an increase in pop as we are already seeing, period.

i didnt notice any spike on the number of players online this weekend.

About the debate that is going on here. If the game was released in its current state population would be around 400k minimum(imho. )They released the game 1 year early it seems. wonder if it was worth it. 

Originally posted by VultureSkull

DX10 is on its way now as well as the itemisation patch. Will these two additions make more people come back? Of course it will.

 

I beg to differ! AoC has no hype, the utterance of the words "Age of Conan" is a curse word that burns the ears and incites disdainful fire to bellow out of the mouths of many formaer AoC players.  So not many will know about any of this in the first place.

1) DX 10,  I'm not sure what type of gamer will play a game just for DX 10, I got a new PC last year and opted on Win XP because it's better and I can hack crysis to play on very high anyway. However if you are right, I'm sure it will just upset people that the patch is just an unoptimized beta test on a live server.

2) Itemization patch: No idea how people can play an RPG for 10 months with meaningless gear. However, some people will be upset over it and quit the game. The real issue is AoC has poor GAME MECHANICS! Everything is tied into animations so it is impossible to change base damage without changing the animations, which won't happen.  Because base damage is so high one of two things will happen:

a) The extra stats will make the game a two shot fest just like damage gems did and upset everyone who doesn't enjoy a counter strike MMO.

b) The stats will still be so marginal no one will care.

Originally posted by finaticd

Originally posted by VultureSkull

DX10 is on its way now as well as the itemisation patch. Will these two additions make more people come back? Of course it will.

 

 

I beg to differ! AoC has no hype, the utterance of the words "Age of Conan" is a curse word that burns the ears and incites disdainful fire to bellow out of the mouths of many formaer AoC players.  So not many will know about any of this in the first place.

1) DX 10,  I'm not sure what type of gamer will play a game just for DX 10, I got a new PC last year and opted on Win XP because it's better and I can hack crysis to play on very high anyway. However if you are right, I'm sure it will just upset people that the patch is just an unoptimized beta test on a live server.

2) Itemization patch: No idea how people can play an RPG for 10 months with meaningless gear. However, some people will be upset over it and quit the game. The real issue is AoC has poor GAME MECHANICS! Everything is tied into animations so it is impossible to change base damage without changing the animations, which won't happen.  Because base damage is so high one of two things will happen:

a) The extra stats will make the game a two shot fest just like damage gems did and upset everyone who doesn't enjoy a counter strike MMO.

b) The stats will still be so marginal no one will care.

The introduction of DX10 and itemisation are improvements to the game, each improvement makes the game better, a better game draws more players.

Of course you can break it down as you have and say no one will play a game for DX10 only. But you can say that about any patch to any game, and the natural conculsion from your way of thinking is that there is no need to patch any game. Which i am sure you do not agree with.

It seems that you are so intent on discrediting AoC that the arguments you put forward are simply silly,  take a step back and see what you are saying,  you are saying that the DX10 patch and item patch will drive more people away than attract?!?

But hey I guess nothing will satisfy you, i am sure you have complained in the past that AOC was released without DX10(even though it was printed on the box), now they bring it in you complain that is is not worth it. Meh.....................

So, how many instances were there in different zones on Sunday?  Seems to me that's the best way to estimate how many people were online.

Are the BK fights still limited to 96 people?  Maybe it changed but, I don't think regular zones had anywhere near even that high of a pop limit before a new instance was created.

Originally posted by Darth_Osor

So, how many instances were there in different zones on Sunday?  Seems to me that's the best way to estimate how many people were online.

Are the BK fights still limited to 96 people?  Maybe it changed but, I don't think regular zones had anywhere near even that high of a pop limit before a new instance was created.

Actually yesterday (monday) there were several instances of Fields of Dead. The game automatically notified and transported all members of my group to the same instance.

Interesting hyphothesis OP... but there is no proof that the population is increasing.  You are just one person saying what you thought... so you happened to bump into some extra players that day.

Since you used a Sunday... lets look at the last few Sundays

Mar 22nd      7245
Mar 15th       7543
Mar 8th         6969
Mar 1st         7505

I'm not trying to dismiss your observations, but those number hardly indicate growth.  Also, AOC is ranked 48th today and hasn't moved much from that number.  If there was an increase in AOC population, then apparently the 47 games ranked above it also saw an increase.

The game is fun, but you are probably just trying to hype the game.

Originally posted by trapmouse

Interesting hyphothesis OP... but there is no proof that the population is increasing.  You are just one person saying what you thought... so you happened to bump into some extra players that day.

Since you used a Sunday... lets look at the last few Sundays

Mar 22nd      7245
Mar 15th       7543
Mar 8th         6969
Mar 1st         7505

You realize these are times and not number of players. Thus, there could have been twenty more players, but some logged in for an hour less that day due to a family gathering or dinner, etc, etc. This proves just that we do not know peoples schedules.

I'm not trying to dismiss your observations, but those number hardly indicate growth.  Also, AOC is ranked 48th today and hasn't moved much from that number.  If there was an increase in AOC population, then apparently the 47 games ranked above it also saw an increase.

The issue remains that Xfire tracks time to represent it's spot on the chart. Thus, it does not matter whether it is 44 or 48, growth is represented by the number of players. Try to track the number of players per day or week, then you should be able to get a more obvious answer than what your assuming. I have already shown this in my blog postings from earlier in this thread.

The game is fun, but you are probably just trying to hype the game.

Why is it that when we discuss the game or times or players, it is hype. Really, if I am going to "hype" the game, I will make a blog and shout it out there or twitter it to death (which I do for all my hype). Discussing the game on MMORPG's forums is not hype...it is actually torture thanks to the number of haters and the "better be careful what you say or someones feelings will get hurt and they will report you" crap.

Cheers

ok, you are probably right but read the title of this thread.

" Unprecedented population spike".

Then you go to Xfire to look, and the graph 'spike' is actually not there.  The spikes on the graph are basically the same for every Sunday that is shown.   I don't use xfire, but it looks like LOTRO and War also have spikes on weekends.

Also, as others have pointed out.. AOC has not moved up the charts.. it is still at 48.  If there really was a population spike, then wouldn't it be moving up the charts.

The reason I said 'hype' is because of the wording of the topic.  " Unprecedented".. " Spike".    If AOC has grown since December, then say that !!!   Don't make it sound like this Sunday was anything special, because this Sunday was actually less than 2 of the Sundays in the past 3 weeks.

The information you posted showing the numbers in Nov/Dec was very interesting and does show growth... but the OP here is just hyping and lying.

Originally posted by finaticd

Originally posted by clearSam

Originally posted by finaticd

It is pretty silly that AoC didn't move up on that day, so maybe all the casuals were logged on to all video games. It is still 44th so all 43 games above it had as many or more players that day.

and... who cares?

how is that any relevant to this thread?

 

You tried comparing it with other MMOs, the other 17 MMOs were all still above it, so they must have had higher numbers that day as well.

no, i did not compare anything to anything else as far as user numbers, try to read the post first before you reply next time.

i asked people who were playing last subnday, if you were online then answer the question, if not then im not interested in your opinion here cause it is not related to this thread. and we can read xFire numbers ourselves too !

Originally posted by trapmouse

ok, you are probably right but read the title of this thread.

" Unprecedented population spike".

Then you go to Xfire to look, and the graph 'spike' is actually not there.  The spikes on the graph are basically the same for every Sunday that is shown.   I don't use xfire, but it looks like LOTRO and War also have spikes on weekends.

Also, as others have pointed out.. AOC has not moved up the charts.. it is still at 48.  If there really was a population spike, then wouldn't it be moving up the charts.

The reason I said 'hype' is because of the wording of the topic.  " Unprecedented".. " Spike".    If AOC has grown since December, then say that !!!   Don't make it sound like this Sunday was anything special, because this Sunday was actually less than 2 of the Sundays in the past 3 weeks.

The information you posted showing the numbers in Nov/Dec was very interesting and does show growth... but the OP here is just hyping and lying.

and you are just a troll who cant read one simple english sentence.

this is the title of this thread: "Anyone thinks that this last sunday there was an unprecedented population spike? "

not as you claim: " Unprecedented population spike".

so clearly, you have more serious problems then "AoC population" to take care of.

dude.. I'm not a troll, I'm an active player.   But you are the reason AOC has such a bad name.   You use the word 'unprecedented population spike'.... which is pure hype and the reason so many people hate funcom.

Ever since the mergers, the 4 US servers have always been full on weekends.  I have no problem finding groups.  There is no reason to lie and talk about this particular Sunday being unusual when in fact it was very average for the past month or two.

Your crazy talk hype makes it much harder for us normal people to talk about the game.   You just make it easy for the trolls to badmouth the game.  The last thing we need is an amateur EE with bad grammer creating threads on forums.  It would be much better for AOC if we had realistic players talking about the fun they are having.... but we can't, because we have to spend our time defending AOC from people responding to your 'unprecedented' posts.

Originally posted by trapmouse

dude.. I'm not a troll, I'm an active player.   But you are the reason AOC has such a bad name.   You use the word 'unprecedented population spike'.... which is pure hype and the reason so many people hate funcom.

Ever since the mergers, the 4 US servers have always been full on weekends.  I have no problem finding groups.  There is no reason to lie and talk about this particular Sunday being unusual when in fact it was very average for the past month or two.

Your crazy talk hype makes it much harder for us normal people to talk about the game.   You just make it easy for the trolls to badmouth the game.  The last thing we need is an amateur EE with bad grammer creating threads on forums.  It would be much better for AOC if we had realistic players talking about the fun they are having.... but we can't, because we have to spend our time defending AOC from people responding to your 'unprecedented' posts.

if you are not a troll, then stop acting like one

read more and post less til you can read plain english text, and never quote text partially cause thats a cheap way of trolling.