You don't just run 6 or more EXTRA servers for the heck of it.
Believe it or not thats what it looked like to many beta testers.
They were never going to fill up 9-10 servers at launch by any stretch of the imagination, it was a mistake pure & simple. FLS now admit they got their projected figures wrong despite many testers telling them not to launch with so many.
It takes a brave & honest CEO to admitt where they went wrong but you can hardly call that spin. At least we know much if not all of it will get put right. Ok some of you feel you have been sold short but that may not be true because if you are patient the game will get sorted. Sure it should have been sorted before release but guess what, nothing is perfect in this world & its the easiest thing to pick holes in things. Give FLS a break ffs.
Aww, isn't that cute - a brave and honest CEO. He should get a Medal of Congress, together with other great MMO martyrs - like McQuaid and Smed. You know, he is a failed and bumbling businessman and not a war hero.
I think a lying and incompetent CEO was caught red handed. Now it is time to do the damage control and try to spin some more. Heck, what does he have to lose at this point?
Not to mention that servers were 2/3 full at launch - that is 7 - 8 servers, even that is a cut by half to current 4. The current 4 are semi dead also and that is after FLS tweaked values for low/medium/high. You know, I actually remember very high counts on some servers:P
I am going to make a bet they will fall to one active server and then FLS will state how that is great beacue EVE has only one server.
Ahh, the amusement, too bad reading Rusty's drivel is more fun then playing his half baked game.
Aww, isn't that cute - a brave and honest CEO. He should get a Medal of Congress, together with other great MMO martyrs - like McQuaid and Smed. You know, he is a failed and bumbling businessman and not a war hero.
I think a lying and incompetent CEO was caught red handed. Now it is time to do the damage control and try to spin some more. Heck, what does he have to lose at this point?
Not to mention that servers were 2/3 full at launch - that is 7 - 8 servers, even that is a cut by half to current 4. The current 4 are semi dead also and that is after FLS tweaked values for low/medium/high. You know, I actually remember very high counts on some servers:P
I am going to make a bet they will fall to one active server and then FLS will state how that is great beacue EVE has only one server.
Ahh, the amusement, too bad reading Rusty's drivel is more fun then playing his half baked game.
Omg more moaning - doom & gloom LOL
Why not ask for your money back? except you wont get it
Aww, isn't that cute - a brave and honest CEO. He should get a Medal of Congress, together with other great MMO martyrs - like McQuaid and Smed. You know, he is a failed and bumbling businessman and not a war hero.
I think a lying and incompetent CEO was caught red handed. Now it is time to do the damage control and try to spin some more. Heck, what does he have to lose at this point?
Not to mention that servers were 2/3 full at launch - that is 7 - 8 servers, even that is a cut by half to current 4. The current 4 are semi dead also and that is after FLS tweaked values for low/medium/high. You know, I actually remember very high counts on some servers:P
I am going to make a bet they will fall to one active server and then FLS will state how that is great beacue EVE has only one server.
Ahh, the amusement, too bad reading Rusty's drivel is more fun then playing his half baked game.
Omg more moaning - doom & gloom LOL
Why not ask for your money back? except you wont get it
I would but I think Russell Williams is too cheap of a bugger and he is probably low on funds by now:)
You don't just run 6 or more EXTRA servers for the heck of it.
Believe it or not thats what it looked like to many beta testers.
They were never going to fill up 9-10 servers at launch by any stretch of the imagination, it was a mistake pure & simple. FLS now admit they got their projected figures wrong despite many testers telling them not to launch with so many.
That's just bad business. Beta testers identifying something that paid professionals can't... PotBS has no hope for lasting. It is very much doomed.
Beta testers were actually proven right about a fair number of things that FLS had assumed would work out better.
Key point being that FLS devs have openly admitted they have little to no experience with MMOs. Heck - the producer left at launch time to go work on Xbox 360 games. That there speaks volumes to me. Their inexperience and generally naive / optimistic attitude lead them into some very choppy waters.
It's really unfortunate - as the team was one of the most interactive I've seen short of the CCP devs. It's just they seemed to either talk without listening, or listened to the wrong element of the community (read - the most vocal cheerleaders of the beta group).
That said - doomed is a pretty unrealistic label. It's on the Station Pass - so it'll continue to exist. As long as they can keep funding their dev staff they have a chance at putting the ship aright - much greater advantage than other SOE games (Matrix, SWG, Vanguard) which have their teams cut down and put onto other projects in the stable.
With any luck FLS will do well enough to consider making another MMO in the future having learned something from this experience. I would hate to see any independent developer go down the tubes as it's bad for the genre as a whole.
Beta testers were actually proven right about a fair number of things that FLS had assumed would work out better. Key point being that FLS devs have openly admitted they have little to no experience with MMOs. Heck - the producer left at launch time to go work on Xbox 360 games. That there speaks volumes to me. Their inexperience and generally naive / optimistic attitude lead them into some very choppy waters. It's really unfortunate - as the team was one of the most interactive I've seen short of the CCP devs. It's just they seemed to either talk without listening, or listened to the wrong element of the community (read - the most vocal cheerleaders of the beta group). That said - doomed is a pretty unrealistic label. It's on the Station Pass - so it'll continue to exist. As long as they can keep funding their dev staff they have a chance at putting the ship aright - much greater advantage than other SOE games (Matrix, SWG, Vanguard) which have their teams cut down and put onto other projects in the stable. With any luck FLS will do well enough to consider making another MMO in the future having learned something from this experience. I would hate to see any independent developer go down the tubes as it's bad for the genre as a whole.
Does anyone really expect any developer to admit to having difficulties with their game? Seriously, who would want to play a game who's developer is announcing they're having troubles. S, even if FLS is having difficulties, they'd never admit it..no company would...its just not a sound business plan.
"Hey come play our game, it sucks and we really need your money to eat."
Frank 'Spankybus' Mignone www.spankybus.com -3d Artist & Compositor -Writer -Professional Amature
Maybe not but from reading through the lines of what Rusty said FLS never even intended to have ports at conception & for the game to evolve into what it is today with 60 staff is quite an achievement in my opinion.
They also appear to be firmly committed to expanding Potbs.
No where near blizzards size with 1000's of employees backed by a rich Vivendi but good nevertheless.
This is laziness. You don't need a staff of 1,000 to have a successful game. Turbine is not a huge company, and LOTRO is relatively bug-free. I'm not a large fan of the game, but you gotta tip your hat.
And while experience does matter, one cannot be expected to support a company when the rationale is "they're a new company, they're gonna screw up a lot, but stick with them."
Why not just say "you know guys, I think this game is fun. Yes it has flaws, but the company is working to address them. In the meantime, those things that still exist I find fun, so I will keep playing, and I invite you to come check it out." That's the difference between the fan of the game and the fanboi.
Maybe not but from reading through the lines of what Rusty said FLS never even intended to have ports at conception & for the game to evolve into what it is today with 60 staff is quite an achievement in my opinion.
They also appear to be firmly committed to expanding Potbs.
No where near blizzards size with 1000's of employees backed by a rich Vivendi but good nevertheless.
This is laziness. You don't need a staff of 1,000 to have a successful game. Turbine is not a huge company, and LOTRO is relatively bug-free. I'm not a large fan of the game, but you gotta tip your hat.
And while experience does matter, one cannot be expected to support a company when the rationale is "they're a new company, they're gonna screw up a lot, but stick with them."
Why not just say "you know guys, I think this game is fun. Yes it has flaws, but the company is working to address them. In the meantime, those things that still exist I find fun, so I will keep playing, and I invite you to come check it out." That's the difference between the fan of the game and the fanboi.
Problem is that we don't have any fun things to do in PotBS
Maybe not but from reading through the lines of what Rusty said FLS never even intended to have ports at conception & for the game to evolve into what it is today with 60 staff is quite an achievement in my opinion.
They also appear to be firmly committed to expanding Potbs.
No where near blizzards size with 1000's of employees backed by a rich Vivendi but good nevertheless.
This is laziness. You don't need a staff of 1,000 to have a successful game. Turbine is not a huge company, and LOTRO is relatively bug-free. I'm not a large fan of the game, but you gotta tip your hat.
And while experience does matter, one cannot be expected to support a company when the rationale is "they're a new company, they're gonna screw up a lot, but stick with them."
Why not just say "you know guys, I think this game is fun. Yes it has flaws, but the company is working to address them. In the meantime, those things that still exist I find fun, so I will keep playing, and I invite you to come check it out." That's the difference between the fan of the game and the fanboi.
Problem is that we don't have any fun things to do in PotBS
See for me, I still work econ deals, still do collobration with other societies, more of the social aspect. It's not what it used to be for me in SWG, but I can still have fun with a game I don't have to play constantly. I know that's a minority style, and I don't blame people for getting pissed and not playing this game.
There still is time, and seems that things aren't going all that peachy with Age of Conan. So there may be hope for PotBS to make this exceptional turn-around.
But it won't be this day.
Current population on prime time Friday only shows one Moderate, and about 7 Nones, the rest at Light.
I'm failing to see where this growth is.
And that is why...
Conservatives' pessimism is conducive to their happiness in three ways. First, they are rarely surprised -- they are right more often than not about the course of events. Second, when they are wrong they are happy to be so. Third, because pessimistic conservatives put not their faith in princes -- government -- they accept that happiness is a function of fending for oneself. They believe that happiness is an activity -- it is inseparable from the pursuit of happiness.
Early afternoon to early evening shows, 3 Moderates, and 8 Nones (the rest Lights).
Well, there is some increase from 1 Moderate to 3 Moderates, but there is one more None.
So anyone want to make some bets of seeing those Red Heavies to show up after the merge?
Any takers?
And that is why...
Conservatives' pessimism is conducive to their happiness in three ways. First, they are rarely surprised -- they are right more often than not about the course of events. Second, when they are wrong they are happy to be so. Third, because pessimistic conservatives put not their faith in princes -- government -- they accept that happiness is a function of fending for oneself. They believe that happiness is an activity -- it is inseparable from the pursuit of happiness.
i love it when i load up a brand new MMO to find 10+ servers to choose from. they have to be kidding themselves to think that they can fill 10 servers at launch. as for Pirates of the burning sea, its a niche market so they will never fill more than 3 servers
I honestly never understood how these developers/publishers (of any of the new games in recent years) thought they'd be able to fill so many servers at launch either. They never could have honestly made the assumption they'd get that many subscribers right away. At the max you should have 5 servers for a game, 6 at the most if you have a full PvP server and then see how things are from there. Starting with 10, 15, 20, or more is just insane.
There is nothing wrong I feel with only maybe having 4 or 5 servers if they are decently filled. Adding servers always looks better and gives a better impression then taking them away or merging them. This should be common knowledge.
I seriously want to try this game but I have no clue really as to what type of game this really is outside of fact that you can sail ships.
Early afternoon to early evening shows, 3 Moderates, and 8 Nones (the rest Lights). Well, there is some increase from 1 Moderate to 3 Moderates, but there is one more None.
So anyone want to make some bets of seeing those Red Heavies to show up after the merge? Any takers?
I wouldn't bet one Roman sestercius on that.
Basically the "none" servers are those people are transfering from and thus influx the "light" servers that becaem "medium". Simple reshuffling of the player base as all but 4 servers are closed at the end of the month.
That is the growth explanation.
Red heavies - only if they drop to one server and even then it is iffy. They already tweaked the threshold a few times so medium is now anything about a hundredish players.
As for AoC recoil helping this game, it might to some very limited degree although the disgruntled suporters are more likely to try a safe and polished product for the time being. My beleif is that majority of PvP community will fled AoC (which is actually designed as PvE game first) for WAR buti n the meantime will chose a placeholder game - I would bet on titles like WoW, EQ2, GW, LOTRO.
Still, there is a slight chance of POTBS getting new blood if their devs pull their act together. That is however unlikely having in mind their previous record.
I believe we have explained the spin and shown of how it is a spin.
So know of any new spins to shoot down?
And that is why...
Conservatives' pessimism is conducive to their happiness in three ways. First, they are rarely surprised -- they are right more often than not about the course of events. Second, when they are wrong they are happy to be so. Third, because pessimistic conservatives put not their faith in princes -- government -- they accept that happiness is a function of fending for oneself. They believe that happiness is an activity -- it is inseparable from the pursuit of happiness.
Comments
They were never going to fill up 9-10 servers at launch by any stretch of the imagination, it was a mistake pure & simple. FLS now admit they got their projected figures wrong despite many testers telling them not to launch with so many.
Aww, isn't that cute - a brave and honest CEO. He should get a Medal of Congress, together with other great MMO martyrs - like McQuaid and Smed. You know, he is a failed and bumbling businessman and not a war hero.
I think a lying and incompetent CEO was caught red handed. Now it is time to do the damage control and try to spin some more. Heck, what does he have to lose at this point?
Not to mention that servers were 2/3 full at launch - that is 7 - 8 servers, even that is a cut by half to current 4. The current 4 are semi dead also and that is after FLS tweaked values for low/medium/high. You know, I actually remember very high counts on some servers:P
I am going to make a bet they will fall to one active server and then FLS will state how that is great beacue EVE has only one server.
Ahh, the amusement, too bad reading Rusty's drivel is more fun then playing his half baked game.
Omg more moaning - doom & gloom LOL
Why not ask for your money back? except you wont get it
Omg more moaning - doom & gloom LOL
Why not ask for your money back? except you wont get it
I would but I think Russell Williams is too cheap of a bugger and he is probably low on funds by now:)
They were never going to fill up 9-10 servers at launch by any stretch of the imagination, it was a mistake pure & simple. FLS now admit they got their projected figures wrong despite many testers telling them not to launch with so many.
That's just bad business. Beta testers identifying something that paid professionals can't... PotBS has no hope for lasting. It is very much doomed.
Tecmo Bowl.
Beta testers were actually proven right about a fair number of things that FLS had assumed would work out better.
Key point being that FLS devs have openly admitted they have little to no experience with MMOs. Heck - the producer left at launch time to go work on Xbox 360 games. That there speaks volumes to me. Their inexperience and generally naive / optimistic attitude lead them into some very choppy waters.
It's really unfortunate - as the team was one of the most interactive I've seen short of the CCP devs. It's just they seemed to either talk without listening, or listened to the wrong element of the community (read - the most vocal cheerleaders of the beta group).
That said - doomed is a pretty unrealistic label. It's on the Station Pass - so it'll continue to exist. As long as they can keep funding their dev staff they have a chance at putting the ship aright - much greater advantage than other SOE games (Matrix, SWG, Vanguard) which have their teams cut down and put onto other projects in the stable.
With any luck FLS will do well enough to consider making another MMO in the future having learned something from this experience. I would hate to see any independent developer go down the tubes as it's bad for the genre as a whole.
/agree - Your observations are spot on.
Does anyone really expect any developer to admit to having difficulties with their game? Seriously, who would want to play a game who's developer is announcing they're having troubles. S, even if FLS is having difficulties, they'd never admit it..no company would...its just not a sound business plan.
"Hey come play our game, it sucks and we really need your money to eat."
Frank 'Spankybus' Mignone
www.spankybus.com
-3d Artist & Compositor
-Writer
-Professional Amature
Maybe not but from reading through the lines of what Rusty said FLS never even intended to have ports at conception & for the game to evolve into what it is today with 60 staff is quite an achievement in my opinion.
They also appear to be firmly committed to expanding Potbs.
No where near blizzards size with 1000's of employees backed by a rich Vivendi but good nevertheless.
This is laziness. You don't need a staff of 1,000 to have a successful game. Turbine is not a huge company, and LOTRO is relatively bug-free. I'm not a large fan of the game, but you gotta tip your hat.
And while experience does matter, one cannot be expected to support a company when the rationale is "they're a new company, they're gonna screw up a lot, but stick with them."
Why not just say "you know guys, I think this game is fun. Yes it has flaws, but the company is working to address them. In the meantime, those things that still exist I find fun, so I will keep playing, and I invite you to come check it out." That's the difference between the fan of the game and the fanboi.
Maybe not but from reading through the lines of what Rusty said FLS never even intended to have ports at conception & for the game to evolve into what it is today with 60 staff is quite an achievement in my opinion.
They also appear to be firmly committed to expanding Potbs.
No where near blizzards size with 1000's of employees backed by a rich Vivendi but good nevertheless.
This is laziness. You don't need a staff of 1,000 to have a successful game. Turbine is not a huge company, and LOTRO is relatively bug-free. I'm not a large fan of the game, but you gotta tip your hat.
And while experience does matter, one cannot be expected to support a company when the rationale is "they're a new company, they're gonna screw up a lot, but stick with them."
Why not just say "you know guys, I think this game is fun. Yes it has flaws, but the company is working to address them. In the meantime, those things that still exist I find fun, so I will keep playing, and I invite you to come check it out." That's the difference between the fan of the game and the fanboi.
Problem is that we don't have any fun things to do in PotBS
Maybe not but from reading through the lines of what Rusty said FLS never even intended to have ports at conception & for the game to evolve into what it is today with 60 staff is quite an achievement in my opinion.
They also appear to be firmly committed to expanding Potbs.
No where near blizzards size with 1000's of employees backed by a rich Vivendi but good nevertheless.
This is laziness. You don't need a staff of 1,000 to have a successful game. Turbine is not a huge company, and LOTRO is relatively bug-free. I'm not a large fan of the game, but you gotta tip your hat.
And while experience does matter, one cannot be expected to support a company when the rationale is "they're a new company, they're gonna screw up a lot, but stick with them."
Why not just say "you know guys, I think this game is fun. Yes it has flaws, but the company is working to address them. In the meantime, those things that still exist I find fun, so I will keep playing, and I invite you to come check it out." That's the difference between the fan of the game and the fanboi.
Problem is that we don't have any fun things to do in PotBS
See for me, I still work econ deals, still do collobration with other societies, more of the social aspect. It's not what it used to be for me in SWG, but I can still have fun with a game I don't have to play constantly. I know that's a minority style, and I don't blame people for getting pissed and not playing this game.
So basically they are saying alot of players bought the game in store
played it for the first month which was free with the purchase
and then quit
My favorite is this one :
"...the inevitable decline in players associated with the loss of those free accounts from launch..."
WoW has been 'declining' since launch at the rate of 2.5m players per year.
Maybe it is just that PotBS is an underdeveloped and undertested game.
Because others (EQ, DaOC, LoTRO, WoW, etc.) do not seem to have this problem.
i still have hope for the game.
www.heroesofanatolia.com
There still is time, and seems that things aren't going all that peachy with Age of Conan. So there may be hope for PotBS to make this exceptional turn-around.
But it won't be this day.
Current population on prime time Friday only shows one Moderate, and about 7 Nones, the rest at Light.
I'm failing to see where this growth is.
And that is why...
Conservatives' pessimism is conducive to their happiness in three ways. First, they are rarely surprised -- they are right more often than not about the course of events. Second, when they are wrong they are happy to be so. Third, because pessimistic conservatives put not their faith in princes -- government -- they accept that happiness is a function of fending for oneself. They believe that happiness is an activity -- it is inseparable from the pursuit of happiness.
Early afternoon to early evening shows, 3 Moderates, and 8 Nones (the rest Lights).
Well, there is some increase from 1 Moderate to 3 Moderates, but there is one more None.
So anyone want to make some bets of seeing those Red Heavies to show up after the merge?
Any takers?
And that is why...
Conservatives' pessimism is conducive to their happiness in three ways. First, they are rarely surprised -- they are right more often than not about the course of events. Second, when they are wrong they are happy to be so. Third, because pessimistic conservatives put not their faith in princes -- government -- they accept that happiness is a function of fending for oneself. They believe that happiness is an activity -- it is inseparable from the pursuit of happiness.
I honestly never understood how these developers/publishers (of any of the new games in recent years) thought they'd be able to fill so many servers at launch either. They never could have honestly made the assumption they'd get that many subscribers right away. At the max you should have 5 servers for a game, 6 at the most if you have a full PvP server and then see how things are from there. Starting with 10, 15, 20, or more is just insane.
There is nothing wrong I feel with only maybe having 4 or 5 servers if they are decently filled. Adding servers always looks better and gives a better impression then taking them away or merging them. This should be common knowledge.
I seriously want to try this game but I have no clue really as to what type of game this really is outside of fact that you can sail ships.
Basically the "none" servers are those people are transfering from and thus influx the "light" servers that becaem "medium". Simple reshuffling of the player base as all but 4 servers are closed at the end of the month.
That is the growth explanation.
Red heavies - only if they drop to one server and even then it is iffy. They already tweaked the threshold a few times so medium is now anything about a hundredish players.
As for AoC recoil helping this game, it might to some very limited degree although the disgruntled suporters are more likely to try a safe and polished product for the time being. My beleif is that majority of PvP community will fled AoC (which is actually designed as PvE game first) for WAR buti n the meantime will chose a placeholder game - I would bet on titles like WoW, EQ2, GW, LOTRO.
Still, there is a slight chance of POTBS getting new blood if their devs pull their act together. That is however unlikely having in mind their previous record.
So know of any new spins to shoot down?
And that is why...
Conservatives' pessimism is conducive to their happiness in three ways. First, they are rarely surprised -- they are right more often than not about the course of events. Second, when they are wrong they are happy to be so. Third, because pessimistic conservatives put not their faith in princes -- government -- they accept that happiness is a function of fending for oneself. They believe that happiness is an activity -- it is inseparable from the pursuit of happiness.