I'm not a big fan of the current swg but I did notice in looking at xfire swg does seem to have quite a following...

www.xfire.com/games/swg/Star_Wars_Galaxies_An_Empire_Divided/

If you compare it to other games it has a larger xfire pop playing then any SoE game and it isn't far behind Lord of the Rings which is kinda amazing if you read these forums you would think this game is dead....

It's the free month for everyone. (except the current subs ofc)

btw what did you mean not far behind LOTRO? If I'm reading this right LOTRO has 2x more hours than SWG and is ranked 30.

SOE probably fronted some cash to Xfire to display higher numbers soo more people re-sub and waste money to play a single player game.

I don't think X-fire can be a reliable source of information as the metrics can be skewed very easily. 

First, xfire is a voluntary program rather than random -- because of this, users of one type or another can dominate a particular game or leave a game under represented. 

Second, it seems like the only identifier for a game is its name.  Enterprising types can change any process to the game name and just let it go.  

Third, we don't know if there is filtering for ips.  Again, enterprising types can be running multiple instances.  Server farms and virtualization can make cooking the books very easy for someone with a vested interest.

Fourth, we don't know if xfire includes idle time -- time when someone isn't at the keyboard.  Again, virtualization can misrepresent this.

With that in mind, when we consider SWG numbers -- we need to ask the following.  Why the sudden spike?  As mentioned, there's a trial.  Are SWGEMU numbers being counted?  Likely yes although we don't know if that is significant yet.  Could someone like SOE who allegedly pays off shills to perform web-based viral marketing be padding those numbers too?  Possibly.   Far-fetched conspiracy theory -- not really but there's no way to know and it wouldn't be the first time someone tried to skew web-based metrics.  just look at informal polls, all-star voting and the general history of web-based market research.

In the end, these numbers are just there for novelty purposes -- and to my knowledge, xfire doesn't trye to sell it as anything else.  Pointing to them as evidence really isn't wise if you take a few minutes to think about it.

Originally posted by therain93
[snip]

Fourth, we don't know if xfire includes idle time

[snip]

Yes, it includes idle time.

you do know people have multiple accounts and can dual log them in along with the free vet trials.. also doesnt mean more people play the game..and dont forget the people who sit ingame afk for long periods of time too :P

The second post is absolutely correct. If there is any improvement in the numbers for SWG it's because of the free month SOE gave to all the people they so desperately want back.

Originally posted by firefly2003

you do know people have multiple accounts and can dual log them in along with the free vet trials.. also doesnt mean more people play the game..and dont forget the people who sit ingame afk for long periods of time too :P

 

You can load in as many instances of the game as you like, but Xfire is only going to track the one instance of it...it doesn't multiply the hours for however many instances you have open lol.

Originally posted by vet-in-exile

The second post is absolutely correct. If there is any improvement in the numbers for SWG it's because of the free month SOE gave to all the people they so desperately want back.

If the game was so terrible, would people be logging in and clocking up hours for the game, even on a free trial?  EQ and EQ2 both have extended trials that also give out all the games expansions yet they haven't really moved in their ranks over the last few weeks...

Nice try folks, there's hardly any movement since this thread

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/186664

SWG's still getting it's arse kicked by the likes of  Rappelz, RF online, Shaiya? lol

Also I'm just guessing but most of that 5000 hours is coming from AFK macroing anyway since it's perfectly legal now?

Someon please explain to the few ppl that didnt read one of the many threads that involved x fire that not everyone uses xfire.

I honestly dont have a single friend that uses it, why because it is quite useless. The only people that I see using it are the nerds for the gadget factor and the really hardcore players for the stfu noob I play as much in a week as you did in all time.

Please stp making threads about xfire numbers they dont mean shit, even AOC tampered subscription numbers make more sense.