well i guess everyone that wanted it from there picked it up right away?

Not too suprising, I tend to get everything digital on the pc now-a-days.

Originally posted by Scalebane

well i guess everyone that wanted it from there picked it up right away?

That's the first thought I had as well.

Word of mouth might not be so great, if it isn't the digital option hampering sales.

I'm not surprised either way.

It's downhill from here ;)

I think you'll find the same comes out in North America to.

People who wanted it already bought it. There might of been people on the fence, who will trickle in or get burnt out from other games, but I can't see why there would have been a steady stream of sales after the initial release.

I always hear that UK games are cheaper if you buy them in stores vs digital.  So maybe digital isn't as big there.  They do have bandwidth caps so digital isn't as viable an option as in the US

Seems quite normal for a newly released game, the early adopters picked it up already & it will now need the media guys to step in to advertise & drum up interest among the wider population.

Word of mouth & a decent campaign should push up overall sales but the overall sales of games trend has been moving towards digital purchase for a while now.

I think this doesn't particularly reflect on the state of Old Republic's success in the UK. Retailers such as GAME and GameStation have been trimming their PC sections for years, to the point where its mostly a shelving space left for Football Manager and The Sims 3: Let's Get New Hats Pack. Boxes just don't seem to shift like they used to, I suppose that's where Steam picks up the slack.

Isn't that to be expected? Not only is it only box sales but they put this thing on pre-order months and months before release. Not really a big thing honestly.

I have only seen the Tor comercial once, and the chuck norris wow commercial every day. The big question though is how many will stay after the free month. Right now things are looking good, half the servers are either full or heavy loaded.

The sky. It is falling.

Originally posted by Aquazen

Not too suprising, I tend to get everything digital on the pc now-a-days.

I mostly buy digital myself but I'm not sure how this is relative to the article.

Origin is the only digital source for TOR and they only sell to North America (US/Canada).

Originally posted by Antarious

Originally posted by Aquazen

Not too suprising, I tend to get everything digital on the pc now-a-days.

 

I mostly buy digital myself but I'm not sure how this is relative to the article.

 

Origin is the only digital source for TOR and they only sell to North America (US/Canada).

Also EU!

I bought two copies of digital myself. I hardly buy physical copies anymore. I think SWTOR sold as much as it could for now, it might pick up in sales again later but for now i think Bioware sold enough copies, huge numbers for any MMO so far.

Wrong, I live in Spain and bought it through Origin. This in reply to someone who said that Origin only sells in NA... hit reply instead of quote...

Originally posted by shakermaker0

I think this doesn't particularly reflect on the state of Old Republic's success in the UK. Retailers such as GAME and GameStation have been trimming their PC sections for years, to the point where its mostly a shelving space left for Football Manager and The Sims 3: Let's Get New Hats Pack. Boxes just don't seem to shift like they used to, I suppose that's where Steam picks up the slack.

Same thing here in Canada and I assume the US EB Games (now Gamestop here mostly) pretty much have one shelf for PC titles.  I stopped going in to browse so I don't go in to buy now.  I get digital copies only.  Retailers are helping push PC gamers online. . which is fine by me but makes their sales stats not that reliable. . still a representation though.  

Like everyone else said as well. . . everyone who was most likely going to buy it new that months before release and got a copy or decided just after release.  Everyone wants in on the ground floor these days to rush to end game first and quit out of bordeom :)

Man this WYSIWYG editor is a bit messed up. Anyways,

Origin limits sales to certain countries. The US  and parts of Europe.

I havent bought anything retail for my pc since Burning Crusade :D

Originally posted by gt4980b

I always hear that UK games are cheaper if you buy them in stores vs digital.  So maybe digital isn't as big there.  They do have bandwidth caps so digital isn't as viable an option as in the US

Wrong on both accounts mate. In the majority, that is.

I don't understand how some people always think that because these numbers only show retail boxes, the numbers would be that much better for the digital sales.

Most other games in that list also have digital sales and it's not because it's an MMO that the % retail vs digital is that much different. If anything, who would really want to buy SW:ToR digital when everybody hates Origin (SW:ToR is not available on Steam) and want to avoid it at all cost...

Battlefield 3, aslo an EA game who's also available on Origin digital download is still peaking in that sales list and it's released 25 October (and it had massive pre-orders which broke records). That's almost 2 months before SW:ToR. It's been out for 5x longer than SW:ToR and it's on the 3rd spot as opposed to SW:ToR's 38th spot.

Skyrim for example, who was released 1,5 months ago is still on the 8th place in the same list and that game is even available on Steam. As we all know, Steam is a much more popular platform for digital download than Origin thus if it would really be digital downloads hurting the retail sales... then Skyrim would have a bigger loss in retail numbers than SW:ToR has.

In other words, the arguments that SW:ToR is low in retail sales list because of digital sales or because of preorders, are nothing more than myths.

What should alarm people is the trend which clearly shows form charts like this. The SW:ToR hype is dying very very fast if you ask me. Unlike Skyrim who created several meme's since it's release and where you still hear things like "omg if you havn't played this game already, you must check it out for sure".

I still play SW:ToR btw, I had 90 days of sub and I started playing the 20th december. I enjoy it and played it for about 45 hours in less than 2 weeks. I played Skyrim too, something like 55 hours. While I think I'll eventually spend more time on SW:ToR I do think it won't leave such a mark on the Game scene as Skyrim did. Every minute I played Skyrim felt special and I had plenty of awesome moments where I was really impressed by the game. I couldn't stop talking about it to my friends like... GO AND PLAY THIS F*ING GAME OR I WILL NEVER EVER LISTEN TO YOU AGAIN IF YOU TALK ABOUT ANY GAME TO ME WITHOUT HAVING EXPERIENCED SKYRIM I'm not having that with SW:ToR bc while I enjoy the entertainment it gives me for my money, it's not leaving that mark on me...

What might hurt SW:ToR long term sales is the word of mouth positive feedback... or the lack thereof...

- Skyrim intrigued me in it's first hour... other people felt the same = mouth to mouth promotion = good continued sales

- SW:ToR entertains me but doesn't stunn me with awesomeness = big hype dying fast after release = faster sale drop after preorder and initial sales

Ow yeah, by the way. I bought SW:ToR for 39 euro in retail store (Saturn, Media Markt). Online digital download costs 50 euro. Do you guys really think they sell so much digital versions of this game? That's being very delusional if you ask me...

Digital download being 11 euro's more expensive than having a boxed retail version...

Edit:

Either the list isn't correct (like the guy below me suggests), or those numbers show a very bad future for SW:ToR and everyone believing that it's bc of digital sales should open their fanboy-eyes and realised other games in those charts also have digital sales.

Out of everyone in my guild, only a single person bought a boxed copy.  All the rest were digital. 

My friend buys everything boxed and I buy my games from steam. He says one day in the far future steam will go bust and i wont have access to my games lol Is it possible for a big company like steam to go bust which would make me to loose access to all my games? :/

Weren't EU retail sales capped?

Originally posted by Gdemami

Weren't EU retail sales capped?

Seems I recall hearing that... and folks complaining about it.  Widget sales tend to plummet after you've run out of widgets.

Originally posted by Gdemami

Weren't EU retail sales capped?

I haven't seen any store in Belgium where since the 20th december, the game wasn't on display on like 1/4 th of the available space to put PC games on. There must have been like 50 copies on display when I bought SW:ToR at Saturn for 39 euro (game incl 30 days free).

Also, most retail charts show the amount of copies bought by retail shops. Not the amount of actual game copies sold to players woh have already left the retail shops.

Buying boxed copies are so last decade.

Originally posted by Marcelino

My friend buys everything boxed and I buy my games from steam. He says one day in the far future steam will go bust and i wont have access to my games lol Is it possible for a big company like steam to go bust which would make me to loose access to all my games? :/

A friend of mine got his Steam account hacked temporarily and for some reason all his games were inaccessable for a period of time, but he eventually got them back.  That's as far as worrying news about Steam went for me.

Anyway, I read on one forum that people in the UK don't have as easy access to credit cards that Americans do so many were forced to buy several months (via time cards) of a game they couldn't try first in order to play it, which makes EA's practices seem even more ridiculous, but I don't know how widespread that phenomenon is/was or if it affected sales to a large degree.

i always buy boxed copies, same with movies and music etc.  i just like actually having a physical thing not something that i can't hold lol, i know strange but if i spend cash i want an actual copy that i can hold in my hand :P

Originally posted by pharazonic

It's downhill from here ;)

 

that's exactly what i was thinking HA. so much for the WoW killer. People are already at level 50 and crying for more end game content of which the devs haven't even started yet. Not gonna have a good first six months without longevity.

Lol, is it just me who senses a growing desperation in hanging onto the "physical box sales" bit?

There is no reason whatsoever to assume that box sales and digital sales are not proportional lol. If anything, box sales should keep on longer because the word travels faster on the internet and the DL crowd tend to be more forum savvy than the box people who might lean more to getting their info from the mags.

To put it bluntly, a harassed dad is much more likely to buy a shiny box for his junior who likes those computer games  than some fiddly download thing on the internetz.

As for the mags vs vox pop:

metacritic

critic score: 87

user score: 6.1

Adittionally, box sales are dependent on physical stock being replenished, so many box buyers have to wait till new boxes arrive... while DL buyers don't have problems with supply. If anything, DL purchases should drop much faster than physical ones.

 

In my case my wife bought me a boxed copy of SWTOR for Christmas but I haven't broken the seal yet.  (She even purchased the Atlas to go along with which has some really cool maps in it.)

Now that the rush has died down a bit I'm thinking about setting up an account and logging in though.

Back on topic, makes sense, the Christmas sales are over, people who were interested in playing have all made their buys, and now its to see if they can draw in a steady influx of new players like WOW managed to do for so many years, literally replacing those who left the title and adding to the total.

I'm just surprised at the total lack of advertisement for SWTOR in the UK. It's no good copying the World of Warcraft strategy of waiting several years before having TV adverts, you need to hit the ground running now to make an impact and BioWare seem to be doing the opposite.

Originally posted by Kyleran

In my case my wife bought me a boxed copy of SWTOR for Christmas but I haven't broken the seal yet.  (She even purchased the Atlas to go along with which has some really cool maps in it.)

Now that the rush has died down a bit I'm thinking about setting up an account and logging in though.

Back on topic, makes sense, the Christmas sales are over, people who were interested in playing have all made their buys, and now its to see if they can draw in a steady influx of new players like WOW managed to do for so many years, literally replacing those who left the title and adding to the total.

 

That was my first thought too, but the article refers to relative sales (compared to other games) rather than absolute ones (the actual number of copies)...

It's normal that a game's sales decline after the release, but a good word-of-mouth can offset this to a large degree... especially if it's a game with a marked social component and which you can play with your friends. This is obviously not what is happening here.

Really, there is no way to sugarcoat this.

Originally posted by Eir_S

Originally posted by Marcelino

My friend buys everything boxed and I buy my games from steam. He says one day in the far future steam will go bust and i wont have access to my games lol Is it possible for a big company like steam to go bust which would make me to loose access to all my games? :/

A friend of mine got his Steam account hacked temporarily and for some reason all his games were inaccessable for a period of time, but he eventually got them back.  That's as far as worrying news about Steam went for me.

Anyway, I read on one forum that people in the UK don't have as easy access to credit cards that Americans do so many were forced to buy several months (via time cards) of a game they couldn't try first in order to play it, which makes EA's practices seem even more ridiculous, but I don't know how widespread that phenomenon is/was or if it affected sales to a large degree.

where did you hear that rubbish?

Originally posted by Qazaam
The answer is very simple. They had a shortage of boxes. Box sales fell due to a lack of boxes.

Just in order to pretend to be objective, I agree that this could be the case as well...

Seems about right given the time of year and the games that have sold better than the only MMO in the list.

Kids games, casual games and console games - it's exactly what you'd expect over the Xmas period.

Originally posted by Qazaam
http://www.askajedi.com/2012/01/03/venturebeat-tor-drops-28-spots-on-uk-sales-charts/

Posting from my phone so I can't make it a direct link but it talks about a supply problem.

Of course, people from many countries in Europe (and elsewhere) are ordering online from the UK as everything is cheaper there. (Movies, PC games, console games, etc...).

So if they limited the boxes there's no wonder it's sold out in the UK.

[UPDATED] Leo Olebe, BioWare’s Director of Marketing posted a Tweet that may explain some of the drop in sales volume. Remember how supplies were limited to ensure a good launch of the service? Yep:

@LeoOlebe @askajedi We limited the supply upfront so the game is very hard to find right now.  We’re getting more out there for y’all ASAP!

Originally posted by BigMango

Originally posted by Qazaam
http://www.askajedi.com/2012/01/03/venturebeat-tor-drops-28-spots-on-uk-sales-charts/

Posting from my phone so I can't make it a direct link but it talks about a supply problem.

 

Of course, people from many countries in Europe (and elsewhere) are ordering online from the UK as everything is cheaper there. (Movies, PC games, console games, etc...).

So if they limited the boxes there's no wonder it's sold out in the UK.

 

[UPDATED] Leo Olebe, BioWare’s Director of Marketing posted a Tweet that may explain some of the drop in sales volume. Remember how supplies were limited to ensure a good launch of the service? Yep:

@LeoOlebe @askajedi We limited the supply upfront so the game is very hard to find right now.  We’re getting more out there for y’all ASAP!

 

i don't know why he thinks its hard to find, the stores around my area still have lots of them on the shelves.  maybe he means just in certain areas.

So what? WoW and others grew over years too.

Originally posted by Scalebane

Originally posted by BigMango

Originally posted by Qazaam
http://www.askajedi.com/2012/01/03/venturebeat-tor-drops-28-spots-on-uk-sales-charts/

Posting from my phone so I can't make it a direct link but it talks about a supply problem.

 

Of course, people from many countries in Europe (and elsewhere) are ordering online from the UK as everything is cheaper there. (Movies, PC games, console games, etc...).

So if they limited the boxes there's no wonder it's sold out in the UK.

 

[UPDATED] Leo Olebe, BioWare’s Director of Marketing posted a Tweet that may explain some of the drop in sales volume. Remember how supplies were limited to ensure a good launch of the service? Yep:

@LeoOlebe @askajedi We limited the supply upfront so the game is very hard to find right now.  We’re getting more out there for y’all ASAP!

 

i don't know why he thinks its hard to find, the stores around my area still have lots of them on the shelves.  maybe he means just in certain areas.

Some of the big UK sites sending out international orders are out of stock.

For example, Amazon.co.uk is out of stock until January 10th.

But perhaps it isn't the answer to everything. We'll see...

I wonder how many digital copies they would have sold if they were on steam and put the game for 25% off during chistmas sale

hmmmmmmm

i dislike EA but luckily they shoot them selves in the foot a lot

Its to be expected the sales will drop after launch, but I must say that drop for box is pretty large, even taking that into consideration. 

Originally posted by Scalebane

Originally posted by BigMango

Originally posted by Qazaam
http://www.askajedi.com/2012/01/03/venturebeat-tor-drops-28-spots-on-uk-sales-charts/

Posting from my phone so I can't make it a direct link but it talks about a supply problem.

 

Of course, people from many countries in Europe (and elsewhere) are ordering online from the UK as everything is cheaper there. (Movies, PC games, console games, etc...).

So if they limited the boxes there's no wonder it's sold out in the UK.

 

[UPDATED] Leo Olebe, BioWare’s Director of Marketing posted a Tweet that may explain some of the drop in sales volume. Remember how supplies were limited to ensure a good launch of the service? Yep:

@LeoOlebe @askajedi We limited the supply upfront so the game is very hard to find right now.  We’re getting more out there for y’all ASAP!

 

i don't know why he thinks its hard to find, the stores around my area still have lots of them on the shelves.  maybe he means just in certain areas.

I'll put it this way........

Some place like La Junta, CO should have plenty of copies left since the total population is less than 8k

Places like Atl, Ga. will not with a population of 400k+  or NY boasting around 8mil. 

Chain retailers tend to come up with a base number all stores should get then send extra to stores that seem to sale higher volume on video games in general. 

This is why you end up with plenty of copies on shelves in a place like La Junta and end up with 0 left in a place like NYC or ATL or even London. 

After getting my 1st copy, I looked for another boxed version of the game for my son, who has been playing more than I expected he would.  I could not find one in any of the Gamestop retail stores nor at the Best Buy near me.  I think boxes simple ran out . . .   I bought the digital version.  I would be interested to see total sales of the game, just to verify my theory.

Originally posted by itgrowls

Originally posted by pharazonic

It's downhill from here ;)

 

that's exactly what i was thinking HA. so much for the WoW killer. People are already at level 50 and crying for more end game content of which the devs haven't even started yet. Not gonna have a good first six months without longevity.

 

The game wasn't targeted at power gamers.  Their cries will fall on deaf ears and the rest of us will be more than happy to see them leave and darken someone else's digital door.  Gotta love power gamers whining about lack of content for their play style in a casual game.  If they're stupid enough to buy that kind of game, then they deserve all the unpleasantness they get.

P.S.  In the scheme of things, I don't think it really matters if this game dethrones WoW.  It's already a success and if it maintains that success, then the rest of it doesn't really matter at all.

Well it will be a wow killer its just way to easy. As for sells lol duh they say they only put a short supply out there. Yet my best buy has them.

But if you been playing then you know people have left and again duh it just launched. Give it about 3-6 months will tell. They just droppled the ball with the amount of bugs.. no dont even its been over 7 years since wow and they should have learned. Also customer service.. is just awful.

Originally posted by Ethos86

A.I don't understand how some people always think that because these numbers only show retail boxes, the numbers would be that much better for the digital sales.

B. Most other games in that list also have digital sales and it's not because it's an MMO that the % retail vs digital is that much different. If anything, who would really want to buy SW:ToR digital when everybody hates Origin (SW:ToR is not available on Steam) and want to avoid it at all cost...

Battlefield 3, aslo an EA game who's also available on Origin digital download is still peaking in that sales list and it's released 25 October (and it had massive pre-orders which broke records). That's almost 2 months before SW:ToR. It's been out for 5x longer than SW:ToR and it's on the 3rd spot as opposed to SW:ToR's 38th spot.

C. Skyrim for example, who was released 1,5 months ago is still on the 8th place in the same list and that game is even available on Steam. As we all know, Steam is a much more popular platform for digital download than Origin thus if it would really be digital downloads hurting the retail sales... then Skyrim would have a bigger loss in retail numbers than SW:ToR has.

In other words, the arguments that SW:ToR is low in retail sales list because of digital sales or because of preorders, are nothing more than myths.

D. What should alarm people is the trend which clearly shows form charts like this. The SW:ToR hype is dying very very fast if you ask me. Unlike Skyrim who created several meme's since it's release and where you still hear things like "omg if you havn't played this game already, you must check it out for sure".

I still play SW:ToR btw, I had 90 days of sub and I started playing the 20th december. I enjoy it and played it for about 45 hours in less than 2 weeks. I played Skyrim too, something like 55 hours. While I think I'll eventually spend more time on SW:ToR I do think it won't leave such a mark on the Game scene as Skyrim did. Every minute I played Skyrim felt special and I had plenty of awesome moments where I was really impressed by the game. I couldn't stop talking about it to my friends like... GO AND PLAY THIS F*ING GAME OR I WILL NEVER EVER LISTEN TO YOU AGAIN IF YOU TALK ABOUT ANY GAME TO ME WITHOUT HAVING EXPERIENCED SKYRIM I'm not having that with SW:ToR bc while I enjoy the entertainment it gives me for my money, it's not leaving that mark on me...

E. What might hurt SW:ToR long term sales is the word of mouth positive feedback... or the lack thereof...

- Skyrim intrigued me in it's first hour... other people felt the same = mouth to mouth promotion = good continued sales

- SW:ToR entertains me but doesn't stunn me with awesomeness = big hype dying fast after release = faster sale drop after preorder and initial sales

 

Ow yeah, by the way. I bought SW:ToR for 39 euro in retail store (Saturn, Media Markt). Online digital download costs 50 euro. Do you guys really think they sell so much digital versions of this game? That's being very delusional if you ask me...

Digital download being 11 euro's more expensive than having a boxed retail version...

 

Edit:

Either the list isn't correct (like the guy below me suggests), or those numbers show a very bad future for SW:ToR and everyone believing that it's bc of digital sales should open their fanboy-eyes and realised other games in those charts also have digital sales.

A. I think that depends on where you live. In the US many people buy MMO's Digitally and some are only available that way.

B. Disagree here. I hate steam and have alot of friends that do as well. Battlefield 3 is a really bad comparison as it is a different type of game, is available on many different platforms, and has a MUCH larger marketing budget than SW: TOR.

C.See above. Console games have a longer shelf life than PC games and again Skyrim is not available for only the PC market. Console games also tend to attract a younger Demographic that includes Pre-teens and young Teens who often get those games as gifts. This leads to, as mentioned, a longer shelf life.

D. Predicting the death of a game that is less than 2 weeks old and has received rave reviews not only from the press but from players is a little short sighted. I make no prediction as it is too early to tell.

E. I think here we agree as word of mouth will influence people playing other MMO's. I do not play SW:TOR but many people in my guild have left the game I do play or are playing it part time. So far the only world of mouth I have heard sounds almost as if SW:TOR as turned it's players into raving Fanboys. This comes from players that usually trash other MMO's. I still won't play it as I am not a big fan of the Sci-Fi MMO's

Last I think it was INCREDIBLY poor judgement of the editors to Post the title of this thread as they have, as has been pointed, out not done their research. >.<

Well I guess that all the ppl that were eagerly waiting for the release of SWTOR, now have their copy. Don't find it odd that sales drop after release.

I have no idea why they even sell boxes anymore. If you play a MMO, you're obviously online and most likely have broadband. I haven't bought a box PC game since.....

Originally posted by WhiteLantern

falling. The sky is

fixed

Originally posted by someforumguy

Well I guess that all the ppl that were eagerly waiting for the release of SWTOR, now have their copy. Don't find it odd that sales drop after release.

I think this game has somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 million pre-orders and MMOs still target a certain market. Why wouldn't new subs die off quickly after release? Everybody who was excited about it has bought it. Now they can expect some attrition as people get tired of it or don't like the game, etc. As long as they get more new subs than cancels, it's not "Dying" or even "winding down"

Originally posted by nerovipus32

Originally posted by Eir_S

Originally posted by Marcelino

My friend buys everything boxed and I buy my games from steam. He says one day in the far future steam will go bust and i wont have access to my games lol Is it possible for a big company like steam to go bust which would make me to loose access to all my games? :/

A friend of mine got his Steam account hacked temporarily and for some reason all his games were inaccessable for a period of time, but he eventually got them back.  That's as far as worrying news about Steam went for me.

Anyway, I read on one forum that people in the UK don't have as easy access to credit cards that Americans do so many were forced to buy several months (via time cards) of a game they couldn't try first in order to play it, which makes EA's practices seem even more ridiculous, but I don't know how widespread that phenomenon is/was or if it affected sales to a large degree.

where did you hear that rubbish?

I don't remember where it was now, but I figured maybe someone from the UK would clear it up (I think I've read posts of yours declaring your UK citizenship?).  I found the thread and hastily scanned it while looking up info on another subject, but I DO remember that they also said that people in "their area" seemed to have less access to CC's, so I wasn't sure and it was probably localized at best.

(A total lie at worst)

Originally posted by Renko

I'm just surprised at the total lack of advertisement for SWTOR in the UK. It's no good copying the World of Warcraft strategy of waiting several years before having TV adverts, you need to hit the ground running now to make an impact and BioWare seem to be doing the opposite.

Some cable channel ( USA, FX, Spike? ) was showing some Star Wars movies a couple of weeks ago and I think I saw a SWTOR ad. It's hard to remember though, because the Chuck Norris WoW ads, that were also shown, were much more memorable.

Box sale means nothing in a MMO. It's all about retention.  Doesnt matter if you sell 10 millions boxes if in 6 months there is 25k players left.

The numbers come with a caveat, however: These sales reflect 'box' sales, not digital.

Enough said.

Originally posted by gt4980b

I always hear that UK games are cheaper if you buy them in stores vs digital.  So maybe digital isn't as big there.  They do have bandwidth caps so digital isn't as viable an option as in the US

 

Wrong. We don't have bandwidth caps (I think I downloaded over 100gb the last month because of steam) and digital is quite popular in the UK. Hell, I haven't bought a single retail game in the last 1-2 years. Although I am a steam freak who loves to get everything on Steam :P

Anyways who cares about sales in the UK? We are such a small country -_-

I know someone  that works highlevel for a national  gaming outlet . The reason your seeing sales fall is not because people don't want it they just are having trouble getting enough copys of ToR to keep up with demand .

Hate to pee on the doom and gloom merchants fires but those are the facts . I bet if you take into consideration the UK digital sales then you'd see a increase in the numbers of sales .

Of course you can choose mmorpg.com gossip over facts if you want to .

Originally posted by OkhamsRazor

I know someone  that works highlevel for a national  gaming outlet . The reason your seeing sales fall is not because people don't want it they just are having trouble getting enough copys of ToR to keep up with demand .

Hate to pee on the doom and gloom merchants fires but those are the facts . I bet if you take into consideration the UK digital sales then you'd see a increase in the numbers of sales .

Of course you can choose mmorpg.com gossip over facts if you want to .

The "facts" you just presented on mmorpg? ;)

Originally posted by gt4980b

I always hear that UK games are cheaper if you buy them in stores vs digital.  So maybe digital isn't as big there.  They do have bandwidth caps so digital isn't as viable an option as in the US

I live in the UK and find the opposite. Boxed games are always more expensive than digital download at release. And no all of us have download caps ;)

---

Originally posted by stragen001

---

Originally posted by gt4980b

I always hear that UK games are cheaper if you buy them in stores vs digital.  So maybe digital isn't as big there.  They do have bandwidth caps so digital isn't as viable an option as in the US

---

I live in the UK and find the opposite. Boxed games are always more expensive than digital download at release. And no all of us have download caps ;)

---

My digital download form Origin was 54€.

Isn't this true for any game that releases just for computer? I don't understand why this is news worthy.

Originally posted by nblitz

Word of mouth might not be so great, if it isn't the digital option hampering sales.

I'm not surprised either way.

 

How could word of mouth advertising even be happening? Most of the people who bought the game haven't left their house or talked to their family in weeks.

Not accounting digital? hardly a surprise as they pushed digital pretty hard and thats how most people got it. The game is excellent with servers continuinng to fill up and new ones being opened on maintenance days, and then filling up. Like the guy above me said, most people havent left their house it seems rofl

If digital purchases are so popular, why were so many more people buying boxes a week ago?  Why the change to digital downloads, if its not actually a decline in sales?

Originally posted by GrayGhost79

Originally posted by Scalebane

Originally posted by BigMango

Originally posted by Qazaam
http://www.askajedi.com/2012/01/03/venturebeat-tor-drops-28-spots-on-uk-sales-charts/

Posting from my phone so I can't make it a direct link but it talks about a supply problem.

 

Of course, people from many countries in Europe (and elsewhere) are ordering online from the UK as everything is cheaper there. (Movies, PC games, console games, etc...).

So if they limited the boxes there's no wonder it's sold out in the UK.

 

[UPDATED] Leo Olebe, BioWare’s Director of Marketing posted a Tweet that may explain some of the drop in sales volume. Remember how supplies were limited to ensure a good launch of the service? Yep:

@LeoOlebe @askajedi We limited the supply upfront so the game is very hard to find right now.  We’re getting more out there for y’all ASAP!

 

i don't know why he thinks its hard to find, the stores around my area still have lots of them on the shelves.  maybe he means just in certain areas.

I'll put it this way........

Some place like La Junta, CO should have plenty of copies left since the total population is less than 8k

Places like Atl, Ga. will not with a population of 400k+  or NY boasting around 8mil. 

Chain retailers tend to come up with a base number all stores should get then send extra to stores that seem to sale higher volume on video games in general. 

This is why you end up with plenty of copies on shelves in a place like La Junta and end up with 0 left in a place like NYC or ATL or even London. 

wasnt talking about my small town, which barely gets anything was talking about the cities like pueblo and colorado springs.  i wouldn't bring up my town because all it has is a wal-mart and one tiny gamestop lol

OK before everyone gets excited about this remember the charts SBFord is talking about is are cross platform charts and include budget games and ones in sales . I brought a few of these single player games in the sales myself ( loving dead island by the way )

This is the PC game chart from the same website for the 31 st December for full priced games

http://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p/software/uk/latest/index_test.jsp&ct=110022 

As you can plainly see StarWars ToR is in second place .

Perhaps SBFord should have posted this link as well and researched it a bit better ? It makes a good attention grabbing headline but if wouldn't have seemed half as effective if it have said .

Retails Sales Plummet in the UK StarWars ToR falls to number 2 in the PC game chart .

Those are the facts . The articles just a tad sensationalist ..

Originally posted by Aquazen

Not too suprising, I tend to get everything digital on the pc now-a-days.

Digital these days is two click and download why would i waste; Time and money on petrol when it is just so easy to buy online. Game is still great with friends, interesting post for info but not sure it has any real relevance at this point.

Who buys PC games retail now? That's so 1990's...

Originally posted by OkhamsRazor

OK before everyone gets excited about this remember the charts SBFord is talking about is are cross platform charts and include budget games and ones in sales . I brought a few of these single player games in the sales myself ( loving dead island by the way )

This is the PC game chart from the same website for the 31 st December for full priced games

http://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p/software/uk/latest/index_test.jsp&ct=110022 

As you can plainly see StarWars ToR is in second place .

Perhaps SBFord should have posted this link as well and researched it a bit better ? It makes a good attention grabbing headline but if wouldn't have seemed half as effective if it have said .

Retails Sales Plummet in the UK StarWars ToR falls to number 2 in the PC game chart .

Those are the facts . The articles just a tad sensationalist ..

 

That's the norm around here, the game  is clearly ontrack to be the biggest online rpg anywhere and people will try and convince you it's going to be f2p in 2 months.

The miss-information machine rivals North Korea, all because we are talking about millions of subs at stake, you have to go look for yourself to see the 123 North American servers are going to need to be increased yet again due to server population.

Do people still buy games in retail stores on the US? Around here we tend not to anymore...

Originally posted by shakermaker0

I think this doesn't particularly reflect on the state of Old Republic's success in the UK. Retailers such as GAME and GameStation have been trimming their PC sections for years, to the point where its mostly a shelving space left for Football Manager and The Sims 3: Let's Get New Hats Pack. Boxes just don't seem to shift like they used to, I suppose that's where Steam picks up the slack.

 

This is so true. I don't even buy PC games in stores anymore because I can't find the ones I want at a reasonable price. Heck, the over day I went to buy Battlefield 3 and the HMV store had huge sections for the respective consolse but I couldn't even find the PC Games section.

Originally posted by rdrpappy

Originally posted by OkhamsRazor

OK before everyone gets excited about this remember the charts SBFord is talking about is are cross platform charts and include budget games and ones in sales . I brought a few of these single player games in the sales myself ( loving dead island by the way )

This is the PC game chart from the same website for the 31 st December for full priced games

http://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p/software/uk/latest/index_test.jsp&ct=110022 

As you can plainly see StarWars ToR is in second place .

Perhaps SBFord should have posted this link as well and researched it a bit better ? It makes a good attention grabbing headline but if wouldn't have seemed half as effective if it have said .

Retails Sales Plummet in the UK StarWars ToR falls to number 2 in the PC game chart .

Those are the facts . The articles just a tad sensationalist ..

 

That's the norm around here, the game  is clearly ontrack to be the biggest online rpg anywhere and people will try and convince you it's going to be f2p in 2 months.

The miss-information machine rivals North Korea, all because we are talking about millions of subs at stake, you have to go look for yourself to see the 123 North American servers are going to need to be increased yet again due to server population.

It is misleading .

i still buy the game box, and if the box includes a map and game manual much better; in the near future, game boxes would be collectibles dude lol

Not surprising, considering TORcraft offers nothing new. 

I guess it will be the same story as with Dragon age II. People will buy buy buy. Then they will see what they bought and hype will slowly die.

Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital SalesDigital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales

[Mod Edit]

Originally posted by Valentina

Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital SalesDigital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales Digital Sales

 

[Mod Edit]

Actually given its number 2 in the chart-tracks Full price PC game chart which isnt mentioned by SBFord also given Chart-Track dont appear to offer sales numbers . How can she describe sales as plummeting ? It could simply be like myself lots of people brought a lot of cut price games in the sales and like many people couldn't get hold of a boxed copy of ToR because they sold  out .

[Mod Edit]

Originally posted by Pilnkplonk

Lol, is it just me who senses a growing desperation in hanging onto the "physical box sales" bit?

There is no reason whatsoever to assume that box sales and digital sales are not proportional lol. If anything, box sales should keep on longer because the word travels faster on the internet and the DL crowd tend to be more forum savvy than the box people who might lean more to getting their info from the mags.

To put it bluntly, a harassed dad is much more likely to buy a shiny box for his junior who likes those computer games  than some fiddly download thing on the internetz.

As for the mags vs vox pop:

metacritic

critic score: 87

user score: 6.1

Adittionally, box sales are dependent on physical stock being replenished, so many box buyers have to wait till new boxes arrive... while DL buyers don't have problems with supply. If anything, DL purchases should drop much faster than physical ones.



 

 

I'm going to assume you weren't baiting, and just were mis-informed.

1. Digital Sales out number boxed now , for PC games.  This grows substantially for later "word of mouth sales". Alot of what you wrote was just wrong.

2. 87% for metacritic is great.  To link metacritic user score is laughable, as 4chan and other sites usually neg bomb games at MC (such as Skyrim and COD). This was done to ToR, there was several threads that proved they had planned to do this for a week.  Mostly troll will use the user-score for MC on forums, or the misinformed.

Yeah..no surprise. Especially since it released just before the holidays. Anyone that has waited has either purchased it themselves and/or recieved or bought it as a gift for others. It's hard to wrap a digital download...looks sloppy.The climactic release of years of anticipation for many. Now its back to business as usual.

Originally posted by Ravenspen
Suspect swings not corelated with any other data sets is suspect.

MMO gaming is a niche market.

For every 1 person who salivates at the mouth for this junk, there's a Titanic load of people who don't give two dumps about it.

Originally posted by Marcelino

My friend buys everything boxed and I buy my games from steam. He says one day in the far future steam will go bust and i wont have access to my games lol Is it possible for a big company like steam to go bust which would make me to loose access to all my games? :/

 

It's quite possible, I doubt it would go that route though. Some other company would buy up Steam and convert the service to work in their favor.

For example Direct2Drive getting bought out by GameFly. D2D warned users to download and make backups of their games they purchased through D2D just in case when the conversion is done users lose access to their some of their digital downloads online.

But I know with Steam even though you buy the physical copy, some of the games require the steam service to even activate to unlock the game. An example would be CODMW2. It wouldn't have mattered if you bought it physical or digital, you still had to register it via Steam.

I hate the route games are going with digital purchases. Too many companies out there and their digital clients to keep track of the games you buy. It's becoming a hassle as more and more companies go this route. I was just happy with Steam and D2D, but now you have GameStop, GameFly, BioWare and other businesses going this route with their own digital content.

Originally posted by Nethermancer

I wonder how many digital copies they would have sold if they were on steam and put the game for 25% off during chistmas sale

hmmmmmmm

i dislike EA but luckily they shoot them selves in the foot a lot

 

Haha, I had to laugh a bit while I read that.

I boycot EA now but I had to use their EA Store or whatever they called it at the time twice. (to registrer an expansion TWICE)

It was a horrible experience and I'm sure the gamebeing availeble on Origin ONLY as download hampert sales by a great margin.

Ah EA , you're as moronic as you are evil.

Originally posted by Xeno326

 

But I know with Steam even though you buy the physical copy, some of the games require the steam service to even activate to unlock the game. An example would be CODMW2. It wouldn't have mattered if you bought it physical or digital, you still had to register it via Steam.

 

Skyrim requires me to be online. I tried to start steam in offline mode but had issues.

If there's a way to get around this I'd love to hear it. But it bothers me quite a bit. I prefer buying boxes. I love having all the installation in my hands as opposed to having to download everything again if my hard drive dies or I decide to make space for the present time.

So in other words, the million or so people who have already purchased the game aren't going out and buying second, third, and fourth copies of the game?  But don't you need to buy the game again each time you want to play an alt?  This spells disaster!

News Flash: Sales are dropping because everyone and their mother has already purchased it!  Move along.

Originally posted by NyQuil81

So in other words, the million or so people who have already purchased the game aren't going out and buying second, third, and fourth copies of the game?  But don't you need to buy the game again each time you want to play an alt?  This spells disaster!

 

News Flash: Sales are dropping because everyone and their mother has already purchased it!  Move along.

 Exactly.

This thread is a bit sad. Doubly so that it is written by someone actually associated with the site.

No

Freakin

Duh.

 Guess when pencil sales go up at Wal-Mart? ohmigosh, you got it!!! Right before, and during, the first week of school! Guess when they plummet? A couple of weeks later.

 ohmigosh.

obvious logic is

obvious.

The reason so many cancelled the box order was because of there grace period crap in the us anyways i know 3 people that cancelled pre order due to Ea's stupidity on the publishing end seriously how they didnt realize to send the box copies out earlier instead of how they did cost them dearly. Call me paranoaid but my gut feeling is they did that get more digital sales with origin with there 5 buck just because fee.

If you think about it makes more sense to get people to download off of origin with thier 5 buck just because fee. I cant prove anything either way but it sure makes sense.

I love the game and will be here for the long haul but i dont like EA bieng involved with bioware. I gaurantee if tor was solely bioware selling it and no EA things would have gone bit differently

Originally posted by Skuz

Seems quite normal for a newly released game, the early adopters picked it up already & it will now need the media guys to step in to advertise & drum up interest among the wider population.

Word of mouth & a decent campaign should push up overall sales but the overall sales of games trend has been moving towards digital purchase for a while now.

...also, hard to believe, but some folks might be waiting for a price drop and/or patches to come along, which happens with most new games...MMO or otherwise...they're practically giving "Brink" away now and I wager "Rage" is soon to follow

such a wow excuse.. retail sales plumet but it might be because of digital sales lmfao!!!! or it could just be that every one that has been having sleepless nights  and dreams of grandure over this game finally had a crushing blow when they actually got to play it!! and all they have to say now is bad things...

now it doesnt take a genius to work out that negative feedback gets about!! i for one didnt buy swtor after beta purely because my experience and the never ending negative comments from the so called swtor lovers.

im no hater but i do know a fail game when i see one. the biggest problem with swtor is EA !!! get rid of EA  and then the game might stand a chance. while EA is paying the wage bill the game will suck docky balls  its why space is so shite. its why classes are mirrored its why it feels like your having your hand held through the quests !! it why you dont actually explore you just follow pathes laid out before you.. thats right !!! ITS THE EA calling card. all those worlds and not one of them is actually world size lol.  galaxy is in space so how come space isnt the main defining factor of swtor ???? it doesnt make sence for it to be just a crappy little mini game.. in all the films which are the main and one and only true point of reference for the starwars saga , space is the main stage where everything is set and played out. panets are in space the cast travel through space and fight in space and spend alot of time in space.. so how come with a starwars game there isnt a great deal of space at all. ???? because they didnt .. correction wasnt allowed to put effort into the most crucial parts of the game.  it is just another wow clone. who the hell wants to sit through hours and hours of voice over in an mmo game. ??? errrr maybe once maybe not even right through to the end game.. oh shit!!!!! did i say end game ???? there we go look another pathetic wow machanic !! end game in an mmo how much more retarded can these online games become..  end game = stop playing play something else  :) end game = ored of swtor.  end game = fed up of the same instances and raids. end game =dont belong in an mmo. mmo's that im used to are persistant living breathing worlds where you have a connection with your charecter and other players in the game world. a reason to log in and something to actually play for.    swtor offers the same thing as wow

gear grind

level grind

pvp arenas

umm and thats about it.

see boreing.

oh sorry i almost forgot instances!! agh shit did i do a swear word!!! im sorry i meant flashpoints :)

And so it begins!

No, seriously, it's likely just that most people who would have bought, have already done so. So unless non-SW fans start jumping on the ship, you'll probably see those box sales grind to a halt relatively quickly. That was to be expected. What remains to be seen is the retention rate on the subs.

Originally posted by Adamai

such a wow excuse.. retail sales plumet but it might be because of digital sales lmfao!!!! or it could just be that every one that has been having sleepless nights  and dreams of grandure over this game finally had a crushing blow when they actually got to play it!! and all they have to say now is bad things...

 

now it doesnt take a genius to work out that negative feedback gets about!! i for one didnt buy swtor after beta purely because my experience and the never ending negative comments from the so called swtor lovers.

 

im no hater but i do know a fail game when i see one. the biggest problem with swtor is EA !!! get rid of EA  and then the game might stand a chance. while EA is paying the wage bill the game will suck docky balls  its why space is so shite. its why classes are mirrored its why it feels like your having your hand held through the quests !! it why you dont actually explore you just follow pathes laid out before you.. thats right !!! ITS THE EA calling card. all those worlds and not one of them is actually world size lol.  galaxy is in space so how come space isnt the main defining factor of swtor ???? it doesnt make sence for it to be just a crappy little mini game.. in all the films which are the main and one and only true point of reference for the starwars saga , space is the main stage where everything is set and played out. panets are in space the cast travel through space and fight in space and spend alot of time in space.. so how come with a starwars game there isnt a great deal of space at all. ???? because they didnt .. correction wasnt allowed to put effort into the most crucial parts of the game.  it is just another wow clone. who the hell wants to sit through hours and hours of voice over in an mmo game. ??? errrr maybe once maybe not even right through to the end game.. oh shit!!!!! did i say end game ???? there we go look another pathetic wow machanic !! end game in an mmo how much more retarded can these online games become..  end game = stop playing play something else  :) end game = ored of swtor.  end game = fed up of the same instances and raids. end game =dont belong in an mmo. mmo's that im used to are persistant living breathing worlds where you have a connection with your charecter and other players in the game world. a reason to log in and something to actually play for.    swtor offers the same thing as wow

 

gear grind

level grind

pvp arenas

umm and thats about it.

 

see boreing.

 

oh sorry i almost forgot instances!! agh shit did i do a swear word!!! im sorry i meant flashpoints :)

Spelling, sentence structure and grammar are all good. Your post, specifically the big paragraph, isn't legible.

Originally posted by Adamai

such a wow excuse.. retail sales plumet but it might be because of digital sales lmfao!!!! or it could just be that every one that has been having sleepless nights  and dreams of grandure over this game finally had a crushing blow when they actually got to play it!! and all they have to say now is bad things...

 

now it doesnt take a genius to work out that negative feedback gets about!! i for one didnt buy swtor after beta purely because my experience and the never ending negative comments from the so called swtor lovers.

 

im no hater but i do know a fail game when i see one. the biggest problem with swtor is EA !!! get rid of EA  and then the game might stand a chance. while EA is paying the wage bill the game will suck docky balls  its why space is so shite. its why classes are mirrored its why it feels like your having your hand held through the quests !! it why you dont actually explore you just follow pathes laid out before you.. thats right !!! ITS THE EA calling card. all those worlds and not one of them is actually world size lol.  galaxy is in space so how come space isnt the main defining factor of swtor ???? it doesnt make sence for it to be just a crappy little mini game.. in all the films which are the main and one and only true point of reference for the starwars saga , space is the main stage where everything is set and played out. panets are in space the cast travel through space and fight in space and spend alot of time in space.. so how come with a starwars game there isnt a great deal of space at all. ???? because they didnt .. correction wasnt allowed to put effort into the most crucial parts of the game.  it is just another wow clone. who the hell wants to sit through hours and hours of voice over in an mmo game. ??? errrr maybe once maybe not even right through to the end game.. oh shit!!!!! did i say end game ???? there we go look another pathetic wow machanic !! end game in an mmo how much more retarded can these online games become..  end game = stop playing play something else  :) end game = ored of swtor.  end game = fed up of the same instances and raids. end game =dont belong in an mmo. mmo's that im used to are persistant living breathing worlds where you have a connection with your charecter and other players in the game world. a reason to log in and something to actually play for.    swtor offers the same thing as wow

 

gear grind

level grind

pvp arenas

umm and thats about it.

 

see boreing.

 

oh sorry i almost forgot instances!! agh shit did i do a swear word!!! im sorry i meant flashpoints :)

Adamai knows its a fail game when he sees one so thats all i need, im going to cancel my sub and wait for further instructions. /sarcasm off

Most misleading title ever?  

I don't like buying games digitally?  I don't like taking a day to download a game myself which is the case for any MMO I download.

I think everyone who initially wanted the play the game bought it.  

Originally posted by Astralglide

Originally posted by someforumguy

Well I guess that all the ppl that were eagerly waiting for the release of SWTOR, now have their copy. Don't find it odd that sales drop after release.

I think this game has somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 million pre-orders and MMOs still target a certain market. Why wouldn't new subs die off quickly after release? Everybody who was excited about it has bought it. Now they can expect some attrition as people get tired of it or don't like the game, etc. As long as they get more new subs than cancels, it's not "Dying" or even "winding down"

 

Why are you quoting me lol? You are basically saying the same as me about the drop in sales.

I also wasnt saying that SWTOR was dying or something or being in favour or against SWTOR.

Originally posted by shakermaker0

I think this doesn't particularly reflect on the state of Old Republic's success in the UK. Retailers such as GAME and GameStation have been trimming their PC sections for years, to the point where its mostly a shelving space left for Football Manager and The Sims 3: Let's Get New Hats Pack. Boxes just don't seem to shift like they used to, I suppose that's where Steam picks up the slack.

 

This is so very true.

Gamestores in the UK are dedicated more towards Console Games. If it want PC games I have to get Digital versions (Steam or Disti) or Play.com for a boxed version.

Only thing that will tell if the game is a success is that critical 'First Update' followed by 'First Billing Cycle'

and lets face it we are never going to know the results of that first billing cycle

Most Pc will buy/pre order a DVD copy online at places like Amazon, as its often a lot cheaper to buy the DVD there than in the shops, even more so once the game is a couple months old, it's always cheap on Amazon.  Pc gamers don't really walk in shop to buy anymore, either digital or a pre order/buy on line for cheaper.

Hey MMORPG.com can we get some real stories up in here.  I iknow most of your fans ae sandbox fanboys, but can we stop with the crappy stories....

I don't think this is too surprising... the vast majority of people probably pre-ordered it, as well.  Typical for MMOs, now.

Originally posted by jerlot65

Hey MMORPG.com can we get some real stories up in here.  I iknow most of your fans ae sandbox fanboys, but can we stop with the crappy stories....

So having 60% of the stories here being related to SWTOR is not enough?

Originally posted by darwa

Originally posted by gt4980b

I always hear that UK games are cheaper if you buy them in stores vs digital.  So maybe digital isn't as big there.  They do have bandwidth caps so digital isn't as viable an option as in the US

Wrong on both accounts mate. In the majority, that is.

Seem to be kinda similar though I find boxed copies a wee bit cheaper usually. (I'm talking about stuff that is not deep discounted yet). £24.99 seems typical as oposed to £29.99. Hardly a sientific study really but that's how it seems to me. 

....oh and what's MMORPG.com ruynning something that's not all puppy dogs, ponies and rainbows? Dsen't seem like their style at all.

Retail Sales Plummet?

Emotive headline. So what are you really saying Suz?

I bought the box version of SWtor, as I wont buy digital as I prefer to have a physical copy, also I cant justify paying the same price for a digital copy that costs a lot less than a boxed version to produce.  Also the other downside is the length of time in the UK to dowload a game of that size takes far to long.  The UK is so far behind where broadband is, compared to places like the USA.

I'm on Unlimited broadband I pay £40 a month  to get  UP TO 8meg I actually only get 2meg on average the best being around 2.5 meg, but it isnt unlimited as we are hit with a fair usage policy, once I hit a certain download limit they strangle my broadband from 500k - 1meg.  The price does include phone line rental which is compulsary and I also get unlimited weekend phone calls to the UK.  Other phone charges and Tax is added to the base price.

I did phone another company that offers UP TO 20 meg, but as the local exchange is approx 2 km away I would still only recieve UP TO 2 meg bandwidth.  My present IP are ugrading the system so that customers can recieve UP TO 50meg, but I fear rigor mortis would of set in by the time we get that.

Originally posted by Aquazen

Not too suprising, I tend to get everything digital on the pc now-a-days.

my toughts excatly and aswell those who really want (any new game) usually pre orders it digitally todays world.

retail box yes some say its nice to have your finger around box to fiddle around with it but meh its past and

takes useless space unless you collect gameboxes to your library self. most often get left behind on someones attic to get dust when you move around =)

This story is built on the false premise of calculating box sales for a game nowadays. I'm not saying the chart is complete hogwash, just misleading. Firstly, we don't have official numbers of SWTOR sales from EA yet, but we do know that world-wide there are over 1 million registered users. Secondly, and MMORPG don't seem to know this, but EA actually clearly stated that game sales would be capped so they would avoid server stability and population issue around launch. Thirdly, a lot of the box sales are from collectors edition boxes...those again were limited and sold out through retail. Fourthly, most gamers simply go for online purchase now with PC games. All in all... we have to wait for EA to announce some numbers and MMORPGs are long term but we are talking a significant game population for the game.

I do not care, Swtor is only impressive game, bug free, lag free, ... after Wow and Rift. And is incredibly addictive and fun.

WoW cataclysm was nb 1# in the first week UK sales chart

it droped to 38 in the second week and doesn't even show up after that

http://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p%2Fsoftware%2Fuk%2Farchive%2Findex_test.jsp&ct=110032&arch=t&lyr=2010&year=2010&week=50

I don't think anyone was saying cataclysm was a failure and wow is going to die based on the week 2 sales chart of a PC game in a console centric country...

Originally posted by minocin

Who buys PC games retail now? That's so 1990's...

 

 

 

 I do, it saves time downloading, maybe its just me but I like to play a game after I buy it.   Expansions Ill download and some games that are hard to find.   

The chart isnt showing that SWTOR is a failure, it is just showing how dead the genra of MMO's is becoming.   Like another poster stated its all console games.   Its definatly the dark ages for PC gaming, but I do see light at the end of the rainbow.   As game engines become more powerful and costs keep on dropping, more people will get into the buisness.  

Originally posted by daltanious

I do not care, Swtor is only impressive game, bug free, lag free, ... after Wow and Rift. And is incredibly addictive and fun.

As much as I have been enjoying the game, I wouldnt go so far as saying its bug free, as to lag, thats down to each induviduals internet set up, I dont suffer any lag whatsoever and my IP isnt exactly the best supplier of bandwidth.

Not getting enough traffic?

Originally posted by BullseyeArc1

Originally posted by minocin

Who buys PC games retail now? That's so 1990's...

 

 

 

 I do, it saves time downloading, maybe its just me but I like to play a game after I buy it.   Expansions Ill download and some games that are hard to find.   

The chart isnt showing that SWTOR is a failure, it is just showing how dead the genra of MMO's is becoming.   Like another poster stated its all console games.   Its definatly the dark ages for PC gaming, but I do see light at the end of the rainbow.   As game engines become more powerful and costs keep on dropping, more people will get into the buisness.  

 

Except that you know...you gotta download things anyway even if you buy the disc.

Most people who wanted the game pre ordered it, no real mystery here.

But I am a bit surprised that it just got up to number 10 on release week, that is not particularly good considering all the commercials they have been running for months.

When you have only captured part of the unit sales...how can you say you know anything ? This is a story that should never have been written unless you are trying to boost readership.

I cancelled my subscription today.

Currently the game is CUSTOMER PAID BETA. I suggest you wait few months and try again - it´s not going to disappear anywhere but the experience is going to much better after they polish what they should have polished in the beta.

L50 Marauder with artifact gear. Seen every flashpoint and cleared Eternity Vault.

-Rhea @ RP-PvP English server (Lord...), Europe

Originally posted by OkhamsRazor

Originally posted by rdrpappy

Originally posted by OkhamsRazor

OK before everyone gets excited about this remember the charts SBFord is talking about is are cross platform charts and include budget games and ones in sales . I brought a few of these single player games in the sales myself ( loving dead island by the way )

This is the PC game chart from the same website for the 31 st December for full priced games

http://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p/software/uk/latest/index_test.jsp&ct=110022 

As you can plainly see StarWars ToR is in second place .

Perhaps SBFord should have posted this link as well and researched it a bit better ? It makes a good attention grabbing headline but if wouldn't have seemed half as effective if it have said .

Retails Sales Plummet in the UK StarWars ToR falls to number 2 in the PC game chart .

Those are the facts . The articles just a tad sensationalist ..

 

That's the norm around here, the game  is clearly ontrack to be the biggest online rpg anywhere and people will try and convince you it's going to be f2p in 2 months.

The miss-information machine rivals North Korea, all because we are talking about millions of subs at stake, you have to go look for yourself to see the 123 North American servers are going to need to be increased yet again due to server population.

It is misleading .

 

I am surprised to find MMORPG posting articles as trollish as many of the comments on the forums. I also love the posts about digital copies being for US only which is accurate but misleading as it diverts people away from considering  the online sales. As mentioned, people don't really go to stores for pc games as they're not really stocked anymore. So it's the end of the world as the game is in second place...

i thought the only real issue for the gamer is whether the game is fun for them. if so subscribe and if not don't, or is this too undramatic?

Originally posted by herennow

Originally posted by OkhamsRazor

Originally posted by rdrpappy

Originally posted by OkhamsRazor

OK before everyone gets excited about this remember the charts SBFord is talking about is are cross platform charts and include budget games and ones in sales . I brought a few of these single player games in the sales myself ( loving dead island by the way )

This is the PC game chart from the same website for the 31 st December for full priced games

http://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p/software/uk/latest/index_test.jsp&ct=110022 

As you can plainly see StarWars ToR is in second place .

Perhaps SBFord should have posted this link as well and researched it a bit better ? It makes a good attention grabbing headline but if wouldn't have seemed half as effective if it have said .

Retails Sales Plummet in the UK StarWars ToR falls to number 2 in the PC game chart .

Those are the facts . The articles just a tad sensationalist ..

 

That's the norm around here, the game  is clearly ontrack to be the biggest online rpg anywhere and people will try and convince you it's going to be f2p in 2 months.

The miss-information machine rivals North Korea, all because we are talking about millions of subs at stake, you have to go look for yourself to see the 123 North American servers are going to need to be increased yet again due to server population.

It is misleading .

 

I am surprised to find MMORPG posting articles as trollish as many of the comments on the forums. I also love the posts about digital copies being for US only which is accurate but misleading as it diverts people away from considering  the online sales. As mentioned, people don't really go to stores for pc games as they're not really stocked anymore. So it's the end of the world as the game is in second place...

 

i thought the only real issue for the gamer is whether the game is fun for them. if so subscribe and if not don't, or is this too undramatic?

Far too calm for this forum - please ingest 2 gallons of dayglo fizzy drink to get your emo level up.

Originally posted by herennow

I am surprised to find MMORPG posting articles as trollish as many of the comments on the forums.

Really?!  MMORPG.com practically exists for the sole purpose of slating games and providing a hovel for all the internet trolls to meet.  Seriously, if people are looking to absolutely TEAR a game to bits then there is no better place.

On another note... Wait PC shops still exist?  What is a 'boxed' game? Haven't bought one of those in years.

I'd buy digitally everytime if the price was either the same or less, I dont feel like paying almost double for a digital download (I.E Battlefield 3 is £25 instore £40 Digital which is a complete piss take)

Also it's obvious after the initial burst of sales the game isnt going to continually be a top seller its very debateable how good/bad the game is right now. Additionally the subscription fee is a massive turn off for anyone considering mmo's for the first time.

i have played swtor since 20 december and it's the first game that i like after eve-online. I like to be able to do a lot of things solo. (yep i'm a online solo player)  if i need help i ask a friend. I have no clue why people want ti rush to lvl 50. probably because they did so in wow. i like the story and look & feel.

I'm a clicker (laugh at me) use the keyboard all wrong, hitting the wrong keys at the wrong (or sometimes right time) don't understand cycles and mess them up because i get exited. I admit i'm hopless. Still i have played many hours (60-70 or so) and yes, i'm still struggling at level 40.

i also played skyrim, but i have no clue to what to do in that game (i lost the big picture) i had the same problem with oblivion. so i got bored and left. some annoying graphical weird things also annoyed me.

i hope they add more content (i see they have enough thoughts about additional content if i look at the cartoon-tv-show "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" so i guess lvl 50 isn't important to me. Great storylines and adventure with great graphics (not those awfull looking ugly things in wow) does it for me.

I still hope that the game will have a steady player base and good progress in time without getting the same gameplay as in wow. Like the discussion about "we need mods"... if i want a automated game i would watch a movie. easy gameplay, no keyboard needed and you always win.

Since i like the game it will probably crash and burn... i hope that the drastically drop in box sales isn't going to be the start of it. I will not move to wow, since it also has monthly payments and i don't like the graphics.

i just realised: OMG i actually wrote a post!   

Not surprised as there is not a single MMo out there that has maintained their launch sales for several weeks or let alone any game that maintains its launch day sales. That is the reason for the online passes and DLC coming out in droves these days as developers are trying to money grab in anyway possible. I am actually surprised this is even news as it seems like it would be common sense by now on video game sales.

No tv commercials is probably also a factor, the only commercials i´ve see where when they released the pre-orders. BF3 have had lots of tv time.

lol at people comparing a MMO with a monthly subscription fee to Skyrim or BF3

Originally posted by itgrowls

Originally posted by pharazonic

It's downhill from here ;)

 

that's exactly what i was thinking HA. so much for the WoW killer. People are already at level 50 and crying for more end game content of which the devs haven't even started yet. Not gonna have a good first six months without longevity.

 

Not to mention the lack of brackets, which resulted in lvl 50s in full PVP gear roflstomping anyone sub 35.

Also the graphics are worse than RIFT and even AoC; literally WoW 2.0 graphics here people.

____ My Standards

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____Your Standards

A decent gaming rig costs no more than $600 USD if you know when to shop and how to combo. You can't afford that? Fine, but don't complain how you can't play any of the new games.

You know how many people were bitching about BF3 requiring "monster rigs" just to play. God, those people were retarded to think their machines (no upgrades) from XP-days (aka 10yrs ago) would run the game flawlessly.

WTB: High res texture packs for SWTOR; surely Bioware didn't do all their 'stock art' in 512x512 resolution.

(inb4peoplesaygraphicsaregreatchecksetting)

(inb4ireplysayingeverythingsonmax)

My local computer stores don't sell PC games anymore. Its all console games. The shops I am talking about are Game. Gamestation and HMV. PC world has one shelf of old pc games that are about 3 to 10 years old.

I have to buy all my PC games via digital or pre-order from Game UK, Amazon or Play.com.

Also the game needs a high resolution patch added to it. As it stands it already looks very dated.

Its becouse the game isent that great, its just an ok mmo.

Originally posted by Aguitha

Box sale means nothing in a MMO. It's all about retention.  Doesnt matter if you sell 10 millions boxes if in 6 months there is 25k players left.

 

/this

As a person that can only play 3-4 hours a month I'm waiting for it to go f2p

Well,

I don't know about numbers all that much.

I beta tested this game as really wanted to buy it, but I'm just broke right now.  So, I can't afford it at the moment.  I might buy it when my finances return to normal, if something else that I'm not interested in more comes out by then...(Planet Side 2, Fire Fall).

Althought, I don't buy box copies anymore anyway.  (I live in the US, maybe it's just different here) It is a lot easier for me to buy online.  It's a lot easier to buy anything online these days.

Used to I went to Gamestop a lot, but they don't carry hardly any PC games anymore. Plus, a lot of the PC Stores like Circut City, and Comp USA that we had here went out of business.

The only real computer store to go to anymore is BestBuy.

Most of the PC world is "Online" these days ...at least I would think.  I know I am.  I order everything I buy online, except food and gas...lol

didnt bioware say they were limiting box sales aswell to make it easier amongst other things to log in the game?

Originally posted by BigCountry

Originally posted by Aguitha

Box sale means nothing in a MMO. It's all about retention.  Doesnt matter if you sell 10 millions boxes if in 6 months there is 25k players left.

 

 

/this

Sorry, but If I were an EA investor and had to choose between 2 million units and 500k subs vs 10 million units sold and 25K subs. It wouldn't even be a nano second of thougt. Containing costs or shutting down a product means little to an investor if he/she has already made a profit on the initial venture.

Originally posted by Vorthanion

Originally posted by itgrowls

Originally posted by pharazonic

It's downhill from here ;)

 

that's exactly what i was thinking HA. so much for the WoW killer. People are already at level 50 and crying for more end game content of which the devs haven't even started yet. Not gonna have a good first six months without longevity.

 

The game wasn't targeted at power gamers.  Their cries will fall on deaf ears and the rest of us will be more than happy to see them leave and darken someone else's digital door.  Gotta love power gamers whining about lack of content for their play style in a casual game.  If they're stupid enough to buy that kind of game, then they deserve all the unpleasantness they get.

P.S.  In the scheme of things, I don't think it really matters if this game dethrones WoW.  It's already a success and if it maintains that success, then the rest of it doesn't really matter at all.

 

 

i cant even begin to explain how much i agree with you ...

I saw this coming. Most people interested in this game found out about it, probably through the internet. That's why sales beat expectations by a long shot for the first few weeks. But after that, people who wanted it got it... and people aren't going to really find out more about it. Unlike World of Warcraft, which spread through word of mouth due to the relatively low (I mean relatively) amount of internet users in 2005, SWTOR doesn't have the benefit of attracting gamers not connected to the internet because that demographic is now almost non-existant.

did they expect that SWTOR will be in top 10 for a year? This game has been teasing everyone for 3 years. Its obvious that 2 million people who wanted to play got their game already and been playing since early release.

[mod edit]

DITTO!!

 this game the best scfi-mmo ever made i have been play from start and still playing it. don't matter to me how bad the sale are doing in the UK or US.

i say congratz to George Lucas for makeing star wars this guy is my hero.....