Originally posted by botrytis

Originally posted by Gaia_Hunter

Originally posted by greenreen

Originally posted by Gaia_Hunter

Originally posted by greenreen

This may shine some light on things.

"There are more than 2 million Guild Wars 2 accounts. Yes, 2,000,000+ accounts! With player volumes that high, there will be cheaters, exploiters, scammers, and of course, the occasional and deeply regretted error on our part, the unwarranted suspension or closure of an account."

Partial quote from: http://www.linkedin.com/in/gailegray on Guild Wars 2 official forum https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/support/account/Fear-of-Ban/first#post1138053

Now you know at best it is somewhere between 2m and 3m. The wording isn't clear whether it includes banned accounts but that gives you some general numbers to start arguing with. Go! lol

Think I counted 51 servers here.

https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/pvp/wuvwuv/Updated-World-Ratings-Dec-28

She also said a few post below that "100 posts is 0.00005% of our population".

So that is around 200 million players.

So I wouldn't give much importance to Gayle Gray numbers

She is also a speaker for the company. If you choose to ignore it. Go for it. It is the closest thing to players given to date and the post was less than 24 hours old so it isn't ancient. It's quite relevant to the conversation.

She was probably trying to infer that 5% of the general population participates in forums but did it wrong. That's the number we always quote to people in web development when asked how active forums are.

I'm indifferent at this point. I don't play the game so I'm not coming to any conclusions about it but I see others still debating so why not give them facts to work with. The truth is, she is closer to the company than any of us are.

She was doing 100/2000000. She forgot to multiply by 100 to get the percentage.

She is a support liaison.

She uses the numbers that were given to her - and the 2 million+ was the number given in early September.

If you want sales numbers or numbers of active players good sources will be someone in a different position.

 

Gaile Gray was the support liason during GW1 but she got promoted and works for NCSoft/A.Net - she is not some underling like you are making her out to be.

I'm not making up anything - she is the support liaison as it says in her own title in the forums.

Originally posted by bcbully
I just wonder what these people are doing. It's not pvp or WvW. No more than 20 spvp servers running, that's about 300 people. 

That's the beauty of it. Some are pvping others wvw and others pveing 

So many words, so many  arguments and so many I don't know what.....SERIOUSLY FOLKS!! Why is there such a big problem to reveal numbers.......?

It is important so that I know I want to join the community in that game! If the game lacks of folks I would hesitate to join cause I want people online! THAT IS WHY I PLAY AN MMORPG! at the first place!

I don't want to hear: Oh, dear... my server is so full and such a thriving community BECAUSE that is what they all say!!

A good and healthy game would give me some numbers overall and on some good servers, simple is that! No excuses!

Originally posted by Miklosan

So many words, so many  arguments and so many I don't know what.....SERIOUSLY FOLKS!! Why is there such a big problem to reveal numbers.......?

 

It is important so that I know I want to join the community in that game! If the game lacks of folks I would hesitate to join cause I want people online! THAT IS WHY I PLAY AN MMORPG! at the first place!

 

I don't want to hear: Oh, dear... my server is so full and such a thriving community BECAUSE that is what they all say!!

 

A good and healthy game would give me some numbers overall and on some good servers, simple is that! No excuses!

 

There are 2 facts and 1 opinion that go counter to the 'GW2 population is high'.

Fact

1. Xfire numbers are down. This essentially means there is a portion of the playerbase that isn't playing GW2 from before.

2. ANet accepted the issue of the wastelands in the lvl 20-70 areas; 'We have to figure something out'.

Opinion

I'm on Maguuma and it is really barren in the 20-70 areas.

Fact 1 - some people no longer play GW2

Fact 2 - some people still play GW2

Fact 3 - Some new people started playing GW2 since other people quit

Fact 4 - Some people might not be playing currently, but will come back with an expansion

Fact this - Some people think the population level is good now, getting rid of the DE zerg and making it more challenging.

Fact that - You can have your nuts removed in Age of Wushu so that you can be a eunuch.

Fact me - I get banned a hell of a lot because I decide to be a honest instead of understanding.

Fact you - you've read it, and you can never un-read it.

Fact you all - Factual is pronounced  "fakCHo?o?l"

Originally posted by eyelolled

Fact 1 - some people no longer play GW2

Fact 2 - some people still play GW2

Fact 3 - Some new people started playing GW2 since other people quit

Fact 4 - Some people might not be playing currently, but will come back with an expansion

Fact this - Some people think the population level is good now, getting rid of the DE zerg and making it more challenging.

Fact that - You can have your nuts removed in Age of Wushu so that you can be a eunuch.

Fact me - I get banned a hell of a lot because I decide to be a honest instead of understanding.

Fact you - you've read it, and you can never un-read it.

Fact you all - Factual is pronounced  "fakCHo?o?l"

Fact Soilder Blue  Folks stay on because of pity

Less than Wow but more than any of the other games i play thats for sure.

I have 1-80/ 1-70/1-60 /1-50  and a couple other lower and i see other folks all over the place.

But for numbers i have no idea but have no problems doing anything i want .

I think some people in this thread are misusing facts to create their own misguided opinions. 

Whether you lend much creedance to xfire numbers is up to you, but if we use it as a mere general barometer of population, GW2 is consistently in the top 5 behind what?  WoW with 6mil subscribers?  If the population has declined since initial launch, the game still seems to have healthy numbers, yeah?  Other than WoW, what other MMO is in the top 10?  I don't see one.

Just because the population isn't as spread out anymore doesn't mean it is not healthy.  Sure, the devs can do things to spread it out a bit more among all leveling areas, but that in and of itself is not indicative of "unhealthy population."

I get queued for Lion's Arch overflow every day.  There are also queues for WvW.  Queuing aside, I have no problem doing what I want when I want.

Xfire mattered when it painted a pro-gw2 picture, now that it paints a bad one it is no longer allowed.

GW2 is basically a perfect example of why the quality of games has gone down hill... because the consumers of present are much more casual and easy to lead around.

It is a b2p game, and anet already got people to buy 2million + copies based on hype, sure they could have made a good game that retained most of its players and had them investing in the cash shop here and there, but that would have taken longer to develope and woulda had higher production costs, what they did was release a quick fix moneymaker that was the casual and easy themepark that all the people who don't want to think while playing a game would love. 

If you want better mmos, you have to become better consumers... that includes not convincing yourself a game will be godly no matter how many flaws it has, as many of you have done.

Originally posted by caetftl

Xfire mattered when it painted a pro-gw2 picture, now that it paints a bad one it is no longer allowed.

 

GW2 is basically a perfect example of why the quality of games has gone down hill... because the consumers of present are much more casual and easy to lead around.

 

It is a b2p game, and anet already got people to buy 2million + copies based on hype, sure they could have made a good game that retained most of its players and had them investing in the cash shop here and there, but that would have taken longer to develope and woulda had higher production costs, what they did was release a quick fix moneymaker that was the casual and easy themepark that all the people who don't want to think while playing a game would love. 

 

If you want better mmos, you have to become better consumers... that includes not convincing yourself a game will be godly no matter how many flaws it has, as many of you have done.

Am I wrong or according to Xfire the only other MMORPG that has more users is WoW and only 4 other games are more popular?

To the OP:

Don't buy GW2.

Problem solved.

Originally posted by caetftl

Xfire mattered when it painted a pro-gw2 picture, now that it paints a bad one it is no longer allowed.

Not true. Xfire data is a tool and many scoff at the notion of using it no matter what picture it paints. I can agree it is useful for something, just not determining populations or painting pictures as you say. I can't recall any pro Xfire discussions anyways because the only time the tool is brought up is when someone wants to show that there is a decline in Xfire population.

 

GW2 is basically a perfect example of why the quality of games has gone down hill... because the consumers of present are much more casual and easy to lead around.

We once again disagree. The quality of MMO's has been pretty bad for years. While I am looking for a deeper and more meaningful MMO experience, there hasn't been one produced. I don't lay that at the feet of Anet because IMO they have produced a great gaming experience. I also don't claim that because something is casual friendly that it lacks in quality, that is a matter of taste and the two should not be confused.

 

It is a b2p game, and anet already got people to buy 2million + copies based on hype, sure they could have made a good game that retained most of its players and had them investing in the cash shop here and there, but that would have taken longer to develope and woulda had higher production costs, what they did was release a quick fix moneymaker that was the casual and easy themepark that all the people who don't want to think while playing a game would love. 

 I didn't buy on hype, I bought on information and choice but I get your dig. Most of this portion of your rant is filled with animosity so I won't get into it other than to say you have your opinion but I think you are speaking out of your ass. I agree it's b2p though so cudos for getting that right. If all they cared about was the initial box sales then there would not be many patches and holiday events and such to keep a playerbase around. 

If you want better mmos, you have to become better consumers... that includes not convincing yourself a game will be godly no matter how many flaws it has, as many of you have done.

I'd say some have done but not many seeing as how many of us who supprt Anet can see the glaring flaws of the game. The only thing is some peoples ideas of flaws are not universal. The game is not perfect but it delivers on what they said and what I expected. It's the people that have the unrealistic expectations who wound up being let down. 

Regarding OP. You aren't going to get a straight answer because nobody knows for sure since there has been no release of the actual server population levels that I know of. All we can tell you is what we experience and I can say that anytime I log in there are people doing stuff. Now that the holidays are over maybe the ques and overflow servers will become a non issue. I know I get thrown into overflows and that doesn't happen unless people are in the game. Some may have come back just to try the holiday content and will leave again, I don't know. Then again maybe the game got a flock of new players with their advertisement on the Hobbit movie paired with christmas. Either way, I see people and I do stuff with them when I level so if that is your biggest concern then that's all I got. Now needing those people to play the game is another discussion all together. Hope this helps.

Originally posted by FlawSGI

Originally posted by caetftl

Xfire mattered when it painted a pro-gw2 picture, now that it paints a bad one it is no longer allowed.

Not true. Xfire data is a tool and many scoff at the notion of using it no matter what picture it paints. I can agree it is useful for something, just not determining populations or painting pictures as you say. I can't recall any pro Xfire discussions anyways because the only time the tool is brought up is when someone wants to show that there is a decline in Xfire population.

 

GW2 is basically a perfect example of why the quality of games has gone down hill... because the consumers of present are much more casual and easy to lead around.

We once again disagree. The quality of MMO's has been pretty bad for years. While I am looking for a deeper and more meaningful MMO experience, there hasn't been one produced. I don't lay that at the feet of Anet because IMO they have produced a great gaming experience. I also don't claim that because something is casual friendly that it lacks in quality, that is a matter of taste and the two should not be confused.

 

It is a b2p game, and anet already got people to buy 2million + copies based on hype, sure they could have made a good game that retained most of its players and had them investing in the cash shop here and there, but that would have taken longer to develope and woulda had higher production costs, what they did was release a quick fix moneymaker that was the casual and easy themepark that all the people who don't want to think while playing a game would love. 

 I didn't buy on hype, I bought on information and choice but I get your dig. Most of this portion of your rant is filled with animosity so I won't get into it other than to say you have your opinion but I think you are speaking out of your ass. I agree it's b2p though so cudos for getting that right. If all they cared about was the initial box sales then there would not be many patches and holiday events and such to keep a playerbase around. 

If you want better mmos, you have to become better consumers... that includes not convincing yourself a game will be godly no matter how many flaws it has, as many of you have done.

I'd say some have done but not many seeing as how many of us who supprt Anet can see the glaring flaws of the game. The only thing is some peoples ideas of flaws are not universal. The game is not perfect but it delivers on what they said and what I expected. It's the people that have the unrealistic expectations who wound up being let down. 

Regarding OP. You aren't going to get a straight answer because nobody knows for sure since there has been no release of the actual server population levels that I know of. All we can tell you is what we experience and I can say that anytime I log in there are people doing stuff. Now that the holidays are over maybe the ques and overflow servers will become a non issue. I know I get thrown into overflows and that doesn't happen unless people are in the game. Some may have come back just to try the holiday content and will leave again, I don't know. Then again maybe the game got a flock of new players with their advertisement on the Hobbit movie paired with christmas. Either way, I see people and I do stuff with them when I level so if that is your biggest concern then that's all I got. Now needing those people to play the game is another discussion all together. Hope this helps.

What you think are glaring flaws, as opposed to what someone objective thinks are glaring flaws are night and day.  Just look how skewed your perspective is on the points you "disagree" with... all of a sudden the fanbois always hated xfire, which is a joke, because most of you praised it, when gw2 was showing good numbers... 

Your behavior, your capacity for processing reality, are all indications that what I say is true... until people become smarter consumers, we will have inferior products shoved down our throat.  Now you can say gw2 was godly, and sold lots of copies (not really that many relative to most big games) but the reality of it is no other big mmorpg release turned off the hardcore and skilled players quicker than gw2... it got boring after 3 days for most of the competent players, not even swtor honeymoon phase was that short. 

It gets tired when people defend gw2, and they were the same people that weren't actually good at all the other games, yet the people that were good talk about how boring and skilless it is.  That should tell you the type of people gw2 caters to.  If you think you should be a credible source on how good of an mmorpg gw2 was, show people you were actually good enough at the other ones to have a deep understanding of what makes a good game.  Cause if you were one of those people that could only endure wow for 20 levels, you couldn't have endured any good mmo to max, which is when the meat of mmorpgs begin.  In GW2 there is no meat, at any point, the game is always shallow and flimsy. 

Originally posted by JoeyMMO
On Xfire it has about half the WoW numbers. If that means the game is dieing, then everything except WoW  and GW2 are already dead.

There are a lot of problems with using xFire as a measurement, not the least of which is that it tends to get used by PvP players a lot more than anyone else.  It's why if you look at the top 10 list at any given time, it's almost exclusively made up of PvP-centric games, or games that lack great built-in communication anyway.

The fact that WoW even registers at all on that list is fairly impressive.

Originally posted by Ginaz
I logged in for about 10 mins the other day out of boredom for anything else to do and most of the servers (NA) were listed as either full or heavy.  Still seems like a lot of people are playing.  I wonder, though, how many would play if there was a sub fee attached.  I doubt the servers would be as busy as they are.

I couldn't care less about what the populations are listed as.  I only care about what's happening in game, and what I've been seeing a lot of lately is people standing around cities doing very little.  PvP is active enough, but it's kind of stale, and very much still a zergfest, so not all that interesting.

At least in WoW, when I'd be standing around in a city, I was actually waiting for something interesting to pop, like a dungeon or raid.  With GW2, it feels like I'm literally just killing time until I decide to log out, or work up enough boredom to queue into a fight.  I'm definitely not interested in any of the crappy group PvE content, which is a complete mess.

Originally posted by jtcgs

Originally posted by DMKano

Originally posted by korrabis
I logged in for a bit yesterday and spent about 15 or 20 minutes in the overflow queue for Lions Arch. So I'd say its still doing good.

Basing entire game's poulation  off Lions Arch on one server, hmmm.

Can you imagine doing the same thing but using an unpopular level 40ish zone as a measuring stick?

 

 I prefer the method of basing a games population on how much I personally like the game...which is what most people here are doing.

Pretty much, people who don't like the game "It's doing bad." and people who like the game "It's doing good."

I like the game, but been busy as of late, so I don't know how the population is doing. 

Stay bless guys, enjoy life, and peace out.

Originally posted by asmkm22

Originally posted by Ginaz
I logged in for about 10 mins the other day out of boredom for anything else to do and most of the servers (NA) were listed as either full or heavy.  Still seems like a lot of people are playing.  I wonder, though, how many would play if there was a sub fee attached.  I doubt the servers would be as busy as they are.

I couldn't care less about what the populations are listed as.  I only care about what's happening in game, and what I've been seeing a lot of lately is people standing around cities doing very little.  PvP is active enough, but it's kind of stale, and very much still a zergfest, so not all that interesting.

At least in WoW, when I'd be standing around in a city, I was actually waiting for something interesting to pop, like a dungeon or raid.  With GW2, it feels like I'm literally just killing time until I decide to log out, or work up enough boredom to queue into a fight.  I'm definitely not interested in any of the crappy group PvE content, which is a complete mess.

What exactly should people be doing in a city?

There is a world out there to do stuff in game.

I know it can be an alien concept.

After all I probably see and definitely play with more people in a single GW2 day than the 6 months my GF and I strolled the world of WoW, also known as the great empty since everyone is queueing for instances in a town.