I reckon we consumers are mainly concerned about our personal view on the success. What else matters? I for one don't bother myself worrying about Anet's financial status. If the game goes down or the crowd thins out, there's a dozen others I can play. No one needs another person to tell them whether GW2 is a "personal success" for them. I enjoy it occasionally but find it a bit too shallow for longer exposure.
Originally posted by DamonVile You don't understand....people here think if a game isn't right for them it's a failure and the devs did it all wrong. It doesn't matter that they made millions and it was a massive financial success....the game should have been made for just them.
Not all of us.
I happen to think the devs put together a cohesive, well-thought out game with lots of innovation....
Sure we all measure success differently. Anet is a company, if they dont measure success (at least to some degree) financially, they are doing it wrong. Me, being a player, I dont make money off the game, why would I measure success the same way they do? Success to me is entertainment value. Making sure I get what i paid for and then some.
Financially, i think we all agree, GW2 is a success. There can be little doubt they have made a buttload of money. I assume they are turning a profit, I honestly never cared enough to look. I know Bioware failed with SWTOR because they never actually made a profit. Cost of production was huge, and the game just didnt live up. I dont believe thats the case here. So is GW2 a success, looking from Anets eyes, I would say yes.. but we arent Anet are we...
Now the tricky part. This is where everyone differs. Different people expected different things from the game, and therefore thier measure of success may or may not have been filled. But thats not something you can come onto public forums and demand that your version is the only true form, and everyone else is invalid.
I went in expecting something new. Call it innovation if you will, but thats your word not mine. Did GW2 offer something new, new mechanics or systems or ways of doing things differently. Youre damn right they did. Ive played over 50 MMOs (yes thats alot lol), and I measure all of them the same. Am i having fun? Do i get what i paid for, and do i have to pay more to enjoy it more? The second part of that is easy. Is it Pay to Win, do you have to shell out money to be competitive, and will it cost more for this so-called "free" game than it would for a subscription? If the answer to any part of that is yes, then Im almost immediately done with the game. Lucky that GW2 doesnt fall anywhere near that. So on to the first part.
This is where we start looking for things that are different. First, theres harvesting. Sure this is a minor thing, but anyone who loves crafting, and hates having thier nodes stolen, knows exactly what im talking about. This is the first MMO ive played thats allowed everyone to gather from the same nodes individually. Innovation? Well actually it is, doing the same thing, but better. Remember its innovation, not invention. Quests, sure they are still present, sort of, but again, innovation. Presenting the same thing, but in a new and better way. Quest hubs are a terrible idea, turning quests in is just annoying, and even worse are the games that REQUIRE you complete everything from one hub before you can move to the next, regardless of your level. GW2 offers you freedom of movement. Thats the 3rd innovation. There isnt a linear path from hub to hub or even zone to zone. There are multiple zones of the same level range, and the zones themselves can be done anyway you want. Clockwise, counterclockwise, zig zagging, heart to heart (although i dont recommend this, sure you can play it that way). You dont get that in other MMOs. Also on the freedom of movement is exploration and jumping puzzles. Sure not everyone enjoys them, they are a novelty, but thats the pure definition of innovation.
In conclusion, this is gettting long, GW2 is a success. Its a financial success to Anet (or anyone who measures it that way). And its a personal success for its entertainment and innovation. Its exactly what was hyped, its what i expected going into beta, and its exactly what i paid for. They have made wonderful changes to the way other MMOs approach things like quests, crafting and exploration. We can only hope that other MMOs take notes and include some of this into thier games. There were still many more items to include, such as the actual crafting process, sharing (full) loot with other players, and the amount of content available on a release. All innovative, all doing things better than other MMOs have done, all leading to the success of GW2.
This is a forum where the fastest selling PC game of all time is routinely, if bizarrely, accepted as a complete and utter failure, so it's kind of amusing to see so many act as though there's some objective standard by which no one could possibly question GW2's "success".
Given that we'll never have the kinds of metrics by which we could really judge success in any meaningful sense -- concurrent logon rate over time, box sales over time, in-game item sales over time, actual cost to keep the game running, et al -- the best we can do is guess -- and it's really nothing more than a guess. Is the game a financial success? Pulling numbers out of our arse, probably, albeit not extraordinarily so.
However the same, frankly, can be said of just about every other MMO out there that has launched recently and been deemed a failure on these boards.
Sure we all measure success differently. Anet is a company, if they dont measure success (at least to some degree) financially, they are doing it wrong. Me, being a player, I dont make money off the game, why would I measure success the same way they do? Success to me is entertainment value. Making sure I get what i paid for and then some.
Financially, i think we all agree, GW2 is a success. There can be little doubt they have made a buttload of money. I assume they are turning a profit, I honestly never cared enough to look. I know Bioware failed with SWTOR because they never actually made a profit. Cost of production was huge, and the game just didnt live up. I dont believe thats the case here. So is GW2 a success, looking from Anets eyes, I would say yes.. but we arent Anet are we...
Now the tricky part. This is where everyone differs. Different people expected different things from the game, and therefore thier measure of success may or may not have been filled. But thats not something you can come onto public forums and demand that your version is the only true form, and everyone else is invalid.
I went in expecting something new. Call it innovation if you will, but thats your word not mine. Did GW2 offer something new, new mechanics or systems or ways of doing things differently. Youre damn right they did. Ive played over 50 MMOs (yes thats alot lol), and I measure all of them the same. Am i having fun? Do i get what i paid for, and do i have to pay more to enjoy it more? The second part of that is easy. Is it Pay to Win, do you have to shell out money to be competitive, and will it cost more for this so-called "free" game than it would for a subscription? If the answer to any part of that is yes, then Im almost immediately done with the game. Lucky that GW2 doesnt fall anywhere near that. So on to the first part.
This is where we start looking for things that are different. First, theres harvesting. Sure this is a minor thing, but anyone who loves crafting, and hates having thier nodes stolen, knows exactly what im talking about. This is the first MMO ive played thats allowed everyone to gather from the same nodes individually. Innovation? Well actually it is, doing the same thing, but better. Remember its innovation, not invention. Quests, sure they are still present, sort of, but again, innovation. Presenting the same thing, but in a new and better way. Quest hubs are a terrible idea, turning quests in is just annoying, and even worse are the games that REQUIRE you complete everything from one hub before you can move to the next, regardless of your level. GW2 offers you freedom of movement. Thats the 3rd innovation. There isnt a linear path from hub to hub or even zone to zone. There are multiple zones of the same level range, and the zones themselves can be done anyway you want. Clockwise, counterclockwise, zig zagging, heart to heart (although i dont recommend this, sure you can play it that way). You dont get that in other MMOs. Also on the freedom of movement is exploration and jumping puzzles. Sure not everyone enjoys them, they are a novelty, but thats the pure definition of innovation.
In conclusion, this is gettting long, GW2 is a success. Its a financial success to Anet (or anyone who measures it that way). And its a personal success for its entertainment and innovation. Its exactly what was hyped, its what i expected going into beta, and its exactly what i paid for. They have made wonderful changes to the way other MMOs approach things like quests, crafting and exploration. We can only hope that other MMOs take notes and include some of this into thier games. There were still many more items to include, such as the actual crafting process, sharing (full) loot with other players, and the amount of content available on a release. All innovative, all doing things better than other MMOs have done, all leading to the success of GW2.
I dont know if you are being sarcastic. The problem with GW2 was actually, that nothing in the game was new or innovative it was pretty much a Daoc, Rift and warhammer remake, but from a casual point of view. I mean the Population drop of active players after the 1st weeks in GW2 was just huge, you can find ome graphics and statics about that in the web, as an example the population on swtor was stable for like 3 - 4 months, on GW2 that drop was in less than a month, as a P2P game gw2 would have been a total failure, because the game have no player retention, people get bored and fast. But everyone can agree that GW2 was a financial success, like D3, ME3 etc, even like SWTOR a P2P MMO, but talking about player retention and active players, it was a real success?.
Financially, i think we all agree, GW2 is a success. There can be little doubt they have made a buttload of money. I assume they are turning a profit, I honestly never cared enough to look. I know Bioware failed with SWTOR because they never actually made a profit. Cost of production was huge, and the game just didnt live up. I dont believe thats the case here. So is GW2 a success, looking from Anets eyes, I would say yes.. but we arent Anet are we...
The problem is you don't "know" that Bioware never actually made a profit, you know neither the cost of production (despite the numbers thrown around here routinely as "fact") nor how much they made initially.
We do know they didn't make as much as they'd projected, and that management felt it necessary to make fairly radical changes in order to assure a long-term revenue stream, but those are seperate issues from whether or not the game is or ever has made a profit.
Similarly, assurances that GW2 is making a profit are based on assumptions, guesses, and the state of one's feelings about the game and Anet, more than they are on any hard facts. What was the overal development cost of GW2? No one here knows.
No one here knows if GW2 (or, for that matter, ToR) has turned a profit. We can make guesses based on assumptions and what (extremely) few carefully worded facts can be gleaned from financials, which is fine since those are likely all we'll ever have and it's not like in the end this discussion matters anyway, but it is foolish to act as if anything based mostly on guesses and assumptions is, or can be, fact.
I don't think GW2 is in any danger of imminent failure, and i also don't think that any game needs to have millions of players to be classed as a success, its inevitable with the proliferation of MMO's that games will become more 'niche' orientated than ever, and GW2 does fill a certain 'niche' of player types, as do games like Eve online, DDO etc. GW2 was a success, despite the fact that the game developed along lines that i disagreed with, i can appreciate it for what it is, even though i will never play it myself.
Without knowing specifics on how much money they have made, there is noway to evaluate its success or failure. Ultimately, that is the only way to judge this. Everything else is anecdotal.
A games SUCCESS does not depend on how many people are playing in the middle part of it.
A games SUCCESS does not depend on YOUR personal opinion of it.
A games SUCCESS requires high box sales.
A games SUCCESS requires a decent retention rate of those people that played the game.
A games SUCCESS requires a somewhat steady flow of new players coming in to replace those going out.
Right now, none of you can say how many people are still playing. Your OPINION is noted as just that...not being a FACT. Just like if I were to say that my server has NOT seen a big drop in players, it HAS seen a BIG increase of people doing mostly fractals or WvW...yet at almost any time I can go to any of the Orr zones and join a zerg.
There has NEVER been an MMORPG released that was NOT a sandbox that did not have near empty mid level zones 4-6 months after release. That is what happens when the majority of the player base hits max level and because so many players are LOCKED in their ways, they view those zones as being pointless even though this game drops your level down to keep the challenge up.
I hope we shall crush...in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." ~Thomes Jefferson
Haters to the left fanboys to the right mmorpg.com in the middle where are we going?
The thing is whatever you feel, GW2 is a succesful game, not the game but for what it is.
Anet manage to launch a B2P AAA MMORPG with more content and free content to date (so far) than most other MMOs have so early after release.
Yes some of you see me as a fanboy and In a way I am beacuse this is the first MMO in many years I have felt a breeze of fresh air from that pool of clone swamp.
If you don't like it, then It is ok, there is no game to this date that everyone likes we all have our own idea and feeling what we want in a game, and no my dream MMO is not even close to GW2 but it has taken the right path to it.
I see a bright future for GW2.
haha. You have to laugh. All I see is post after post from fanbois and haters. Who cares, I mean truly? Just play it if you like it and don't if you don't. Why am I even responding? Dam, I have been drawn into this pointless argument.
It's missing on vgchartz weekly for the same period, while it was there the week before (below MoP, it's only competitor on these charts). Dunno why, must be some mistake.
It's missing on vgchartz weekly for the same period, while it was there the week before (below MoP, it's only competitor on these charts). Dunno why, must be some mistake.
As far as sales go, it's definitely a success. Is that what the question was?
Being on par with WoW is definitely a success lol. Not sure why the age of WoW would matter. That game is still huge compared to every other western MMO.
Originally posted by DamonVile You don't understand....people here think if a game isn't right for them it's a failure and the devs did it all wrong. It doesn't matter that they made millions and it was a massive financial success....the game should have been made for just them.
after all these years of reading tis forums , at last ! somebody who spoke the truth and understands the spirit around here...i though i was the only one :P
Tormented echoes of a fallen Eden I longed for her beauty Yet from dust, she returned The dream, an enigma.... silent
It's missing on vgchartz weekly for the same period, while it was there the week before (below MoP, it's only competitor on these charts). Dunno why, must be some mistake.
As far as sales go, it's definitely a success. Is that what the question was?
Being on par with WoW is definitely a success lol. Not sure why the age of WoW would matter. That game is still huge compared to every other western MMO.
It matters because it is often claimed that WoW is dying and people are abandoning it.
And I figured out why GW2 is missing on vgchartz - it's a global chart whereas the GFK chart is UK.
GW2 isn't even on the top 100 all format (MoP is) this week or the week before (Christmas). That's pretty bad.
Successful or not, the one thing it DEFINITELY isn't is a WoW killer (looking at the numbers).
Originally posted by DamonVile You don't understand....people here think if a game isn't right for them it's a failure and the devs did it all wrong. It doesn't matter that they made millions and it was a massive financial success....the game should have been made for just them.
Main MMO at the moment: Guild Wars 2 Waiting for: Pathfinder Online
Honestly, we won't know how successful it is until we see sales data on the first EXPANSION.
Mind you, Arenanet *never* released sales info on their expansions - only cumulative sales (gw1 + expansions together). In reality, we never knew if GW1 was successful either.
Honestly, we won't know how successful it is until we see sales data on the first EXPANSION.
Mind you, Arenanet *never* released sales info on their expansions - only cumulative sales (gw1 + expansions together). In reality, we never knew if GW1 was successful either.
Something to think about.
Actually that's incorrect. As of now, GW1 is over 7 million accounts. They haven't really released actual account data each quarter like they use to back in 2008. Back in 2008 it was at about 6 million accounts. You can look at the NCSoft quarterly reports from back in 2008, as that is the last time they released this data.
So it is a myth that the "7 million" is 7 million cumulative boxes. It's 7 million accounts.
Financially, GW2 is a success. How do you define success? Did it turn a profit. And I'm guessing it did turn a profit, as last quarter was a very good quarter for NCSoft.
Honestly, we won't know how successful it is until we see sales data on the first EXPANSION.
Mind you, Arenanet *never* released sales info on their expansions - only cumulative sales (gw1 + expansions together). In reality, we never knew if GW1 was successful either.
Something to think about.
Actually that's incorrect. As of now, GW1 is over 7 million accounts. They haven't really released actual account data each quarter like they use to back in 2008. Back in 2008 it was at about 6 million accounts. You can look at the NCSoft quarterly reports from back in 2008, as that is the last time they released this data.
So it is a myth that the "7 million" is 7 million cumulative boxes. It's 7 million accounts.
Financially, GW2 is a success. How do you define success? Did it turn a profit. And I'm guessing it did turn a profit, as last quarter was a very good quarter for NCSoft.
I'm sorry, but you are wrong. Guild Wars 1 had trial accouns so accounts created means nothing (really weird you'd bring that up).
The pure facts are they never released expansion sales data so we never really knew how many bought into the expansions. In fact, the tracked numbers (by SKU counter firms out there) were under 10k for each expansion. Which could be wrong, but it sure doesn't look good.
The point was, if GW2 expansions tank they'll likely keep it quiet - AS THEY DID WITH GW1 (if that's the reason, but honestly, can there be another valid reason?)
Honestly, I've never understood why they didn't release those numbers. GW1 cummulatively sold very well, it would be VERY strange if the expansions only accounted for a small part of that.
Comments
ouch - well said
EQ2 fan sites
I reckon we consumers are mainly concerned about our personal view on the success. What else matters? I for one don't bother myself worrying about Anet's financial status. If the game goes down or the crowd thins out, there's a dozen others I can play. No one needs another person to tell them whether GW2 is a "personal success" for them. I enjoy it occasionally but find it a bit too shallow for longer exposure.
If all humankind could all agree the world would be a paradise or a nuclear wasteland.
If it's not broken, you are not innovating.
Not all of us.
I happen to think the devs put together a cohesive, well-thought out game with lots of innovation....
.....that I happen not to enjoy.
And I can admit it is a success.
Sure we all measure success differently. Anet is a company, if they dont measure success (at least to some degree) financially, they are doing it wrong. Me, being a player, I dont make money off the game, why would I measure success the same way they do? Success to me is entertainment value. Making sure I get what i paid for and then some.
Financially, i think we all agree, GW2 is a success. There can be little doubt they have made a buttload of money. I assume they are turning a profit, I honestly never cared enough to look. I know Bioware failed with SWTOR because they never actually made a profit. Cost of production was huge, and the game just didnt live up. I dont believe thats the case here. So is GW2 a success, looking from Anets eyes, I would say yes.. but we arent Anet are we...
Now the tricky part. This is where everyone differs. Different people expected different things from the game, and therefore thier measure of success may or may not have been filled. But thats not something you can come onto public forums and demand that your version is the only true form, and everyone else is invalid.
I went in expecting something new. Call it innovation if you will, but thats your word not mine. Did GW2 offer something new, new mechanics or systems or ways of doing things differently. Youre damn right they did. Ive played over 50 MMOs (yes thats alot lol), and I measure all of them the same. Am i having fun? Do i get what i paid for, and do i have to pay more to enjoy it more? The second part of that is easy. Is it Pay to Win, do you have to shell out money to be competitive, and will it cost more for this so-called "free" game than it would for a subscription? If the answer to any part of that is yes, then Im almost immediately done with the game. Lucky that GW2 doesnt fall anywhere near that. So on to the first part.
This is where we start looking for things that are different. First, theres harvesting. Sure this is a minor thing, but anyone who loves crafting, and hates having thier nodes stolen, knows exactly what im talking about. This is the first MMO ive played thats allowed everyone to gather from the same nodes individually. Innovation? Well actually it is, doing the same thing, but better. Remember its innovation, not invention. Quests, sure they are still present, sort of, but again, innovation. Presenting the same thing, but in a new and better way. Quest hubs are a terrible idea, turning quests in is just annoying, and even worse are the games that REQUIRE you complete everything from one hub before you can move to the next, regardless of your level. GW2 offers you freedom of movement. Thats the 3rd innovation. There isnt a linear path from hub to hub or even zone to zone. There are multiple zones of the same level range, and the zones themselves can be done anyway you want. Clockwise, counterclockwise, zig zagging, heart to heart (although i dont recommend this, sure you can play it that way). You dont get that in other MMOs. Also on the freedom of movement is exploration and jumping puzzles. Sure not everyone enjoys them, they are a novelty, but thats the pure definition of innovation.
In conclusion, this is gettting long, GW2 is a success. Its a financial success to Anet (or anyone who measures it that way). And its a personal success for its entertainment and innovation. Its exactly what was hyped, its what i expected going into beta, and its exactly what i paid for. They have made wonderful changes to the way other MMOs approach things like quests, crafting and exploration. We can only hope that other MMOs take notes and include some of this into thier games. There were still many more items to include, such as the actual crafting process, sharing (full) loot with other players, and the amount of content available on a release. All innovative, all doing things better than other MMOs have done, all leading to the success of GW2.
This is a forum where the fastest selling PC game of all time is routinely, if bizarrely, accepted as a complete and utter failure, so it's kind of amusing to see so many act as though there's some objective standard by which no one could possibly question GW2's "success".
Given that we'll never have the kinds of metrics by which we could really judge success in any meaningful sense -- concurrent logon rate over time, box sales over time, in-game item sales over time, actual cost to keep the game running, et al -- the best we can do is guess -- and it's really nothing more than a guess. Is the game a financial success? Pulling numbers out of our arse, probably, albeit not extraordinarily so.
However the same, frankly, can be said of just about every other MMO out there that has launched recently and been deemed a failure on these boards.
I dont know if you are being sarcastic. The problem with GW2 was actually, that nothing in the game was new or innovative it was pretty much a Daoc, Rift and warhammer remake, but from a casual point of view. I mean the Population drop of active players after the 1st weeks in GW2 was just huge, you can find ome graphics and statics about that in the web, as an example the population on swtor was stable for like 3 - 4 months, on GW2 that drop was in less than a month, as a P2P game gw2 would have been a total failure, because the game have no player retention, people get bored and fast. But everyone can agree that GW2 was a financial success, like D3, ME3 etc, even like SWTOR a P2P MMO, but talking about player retention and active players, it was a real success?.
The problem is you don't "know" that Bioware never actually made a profit, you know neither the cost of production (despite the numbers thrown around here routinely as "fact") nor how much they made initially.
We do know they didn't make as much as they'd projected, and that management felt it necessary to make fairly radical changes in order to assure a long-term revenue stream, but those are seperate issues from whether or not the game is or ever has made a profit.
Similarly, assurances that GW2 is making a profit are based on assumptions, guesses, and the state of one's feelings about the game and Anet, more than they are on any hard facts. What was the overal development cost of GW2? No one here knows.
No one here knows if GW2 (or, for that matter, ToR) has turned a profit. We can make guesses based on assumptions and what (extremely) few carefully worded facts can be gleaned from financials, which is fine since those are likely all we'll ever have and it's not like in the end this discussion matters anyway, but it is foolish to act as if anything based mostly on guesses and assumptions is, or can be, fact.
I self identify as a monkey.
A games SUCCESS does not depend on how many people are playing in the middle part of it.
A games SUCCESS does not depend on YOUR personal opinion of it.
A games SUCCESS requires high box sales.
A games SUCCESS requires a decent retention rate of those people that played the game.
A games SUCCESS requires a somewhat steady flow of new players coming in to replace those going out.
Right now, none of you can say how many people are still playing. Your OPINION is noted as just that...not being a FACT. Just like if I were to say that my server has NOT seen a big drop in players, it HAS seen a BIG increase of people doing mostly fractals or WvW...yet at almost any time I can go to any of the Orr zones and join a zerg.
There has NEVER been an MMORPG released that was NOT a sandbox that did not have near empty mid level zones 4-6 months after release. That is what happens when the majority of the player base hits max level and because so many players are LOCKED in their ways, they view those zones as being pointless even though this game drops your level down to keep the challenge up.
I hope we shall crush...in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." ~Thomes Jefferson
haha. You have to laugh. All I see is post after post from fanbois and haters. Who cares, I mean truly? Just play it if you like it and don't if you don't. Why am I even responding? Dam, I have been drawn into this pointless argument.
Anet didn't fire anyone and instead are hiring, so:
a) they are deluded and soon will fire people.
b) they are making more than enough money not only to recoup the investment but to expand.
Just as an indication:
Bioware was first hit by lay-offs by April 2012, 4 months after SWTOR hit the market.
Funcom had lay-offs one month after hitting the market.
TERA had server mergers and lay-offs in the west just a couple months after release in the west.
Recently Trion had lay-offs.
Blizzard also had lay-offs earlier 2012.
Currently playing: GW2
Going cardboard starter kit: Ticket to ride, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dominion, 7 Wonders
It's still selling on par with an expansion to an 8 year old game (data for the week up to 5th Jan).
http://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p/software/uk/latest/index_test.jsp&ct=110022
Which is... great, I guess?
It's missing on vgchartz weekly for the same period, while it was there the week before (below MoP, it's only competitor on these charts). Dunno why, must be some mistake.
http://www.vgchartz.com/weekly/41280/Global/
As far as sales go, it's definitely a success. Is that what the question was?
http://lyrics.iztok.org/verse/Lynyrd_Skynyrd/Simple_Man/80615
Being on par with WoW is definitely a success lol. Not sure why the age of WoW would matter. That game is still huge compared to every other western MMO.
"It's a sandbox, if you are not willing to create a castle then all you have is sand" - jtcgs
after all these years of reading tis forums , at last ! somebody who spoke the truth and understands the spirit around here...i though i was the only one :P
Tormented echoes of a fallen Eden
I longed for her beauty
Yet from dust, she returned
The dream, an enigma.... silent
It matters because it is often claimed that WoW is dying and people are abandoning it.
And I figured out why GW2 is missing on vgchartz - it's a global chart whereas the GFK chart is UK.
GW2 isn't even on the top 100 all format (MoP is) this week or the week before (Christmas). That's pretty bad.
Successful or not, the one thing it DEFINITELY isn't is a WoW killer (looking at the numbers).
http://lyrics.iztok.org/verse/Lynyrd_Skynyrd/Simple_Man/80615
Main MMO at the moment: Guild Wars 2
Waiting for: Pathfinder Online
Honestly, we won't know how successful it is until we see sales data on the first EXPANSION.
Mind you, Arenanet *never* released sales info on their expansions - only cumulative sales (gw1 + expansions together). In reality, we never knew if GW1 was successful either.
Something to think about.
http://lyrics.iztok.org/verse/Lynyrd_Skynyrd/Simple_Man/80615
Actually that's incorrect. As of now, GW1 is over 7 million accounts. They haven't really released actual account data each quarter like they use to back in 2008. Back in 2008 it was at about 6 million accounts. You can look at the NCSoft quarterly reports from back in 2008, as that is the last time they released this data.
So it is a myth that the "7 million" is 7 million cumulative boxes. It's 7 million accounts.
Financially, GW2 is a success. How do you define success? Did it turn a profit. And I'm guessing it did turn a profit, as last quarter was a very good quarter for NCSoft.
I'm sorry, but you are wrong. Guild Wars 1 had trial accouns so accounts created means nothing (really weird you'd bring that up).
The pure facts are they never released expansion sales data so we never really knew how many bought into the expansions. In fact, the tracked numbers (by SKU counter firms out there) were under 10k for each expansion. Which could be wrong, but it sure doesn't look good.
The point was, if GW2 expansions tank they'll likely keep it quiet - AS THEY DID WITH GW1 (if that's the reason, but honestly, can there be another valid reason?)
Honestly, I've never understood why they didn't release those numbers. GW1 cummulatively sold very well, it would be VERY strange if the expansions only accounted for a small part of that.
http://lyrics.iztok.org/verse/Lynyrd_Skynyrd/Simple_Man/80615