Doesnt really look like a graph showing population per say , but a graph of what classes people are playing. In other words at 1 poiint on the graph alot of players were playing mages. This not a graph showing fluxuation of population just classes.
You also have to look at that 'peak' and undestand a couple things.
1. When an expansion comes, players play a lot more hours than they normally do. Even if WOW did not lose a single subscriber, these types of charts would show a spike because of all those players putting in 40 hour weeks that first week of the expansion.
2. December is ALWAYS the busiest month for MMORPGs. Most college students have at least half the month off.. HS students might have the entire month off.
This chart is about played time, and there were two big things in December that made that spike..
Rift is better than AOC or Warhammer, but it still will NEVER have as many subscribers as it had the first two weeks. It will drop much slower than AOC and War.. but it will still be a downward slope for at least the next 6 months.
Doesnt really look like a graph showing population per say , but a graph of what classes people are playing. In other words at 1 poiint on the graph alot of players were playing mages. This not a graph showing fluxuation of population just classes.
well, all classes follow a very similar trend. so when you add the y-axis up you get the population curve. and since the 10 lines follow same path, their sum follows a similar path.
<--- engineer. it's finally useful. /rawr.
you...make a point that's generally true, but not in this case. I mean it is true but the graph can be easily, at one glance used to estimate population from classes. it doesnt show it specifically, but its there. just add up the y-values.
This graph shows how much people are playing and not how many people are playing. If one week I play 20 hours and then start plaing 5-10 hours for 2-3 months it doesn't mean I don't like the game or I will unsusbcribe. This graph may be related to population of course but it is not the same as having a graph of the population.
Another thing is that all classes follow the same path as you have said. This is extremely wierd and in statistics you should be very wary when 10 variables behave in the exact same way and follow the exact same path. What is the probability of this happening? I would say extremely, extremely low.
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
I don't see why OP used that picture, I think this one is better because it's clearer and less cluttered:
It seems that WoW has come down a lot from its CATA peak, as for how much and if that's a trend, only time can tell. If the decline really has had a noticeable impact should become clear in the quarterly conference about Q1 2011 Morhaime and other Activision Blizzard will be having.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Comments
The graph ends on pretty much the exact same level as before Cata release, with an upwards trend.
If people want to spin that into "WoW is dying", that's cool. Can't have everyone understand how to read statistics.
Doesnt really look like a graph showing population per say , but a graph of what classes people are playing. In other words at 1 poiint on the graph alot of players were playing mages. This not a graph showing fluxuation of population just classes.
no more popeye on TV.
Which FF Character Are You?
Yep.. that addon was broke for almost 2 weeks.
You also have to look at that 'peak' and undestand a couple things.
1. When an expansion comes, players play a lot more hours than they normally do. Even if WOW did not lose a single subscriber, these types of charts would show a spike because of all those players putting in 40 hour weeks that first week of the expansion.
2. December is ALWAYS the busiest month for MMORPGs. Most college students have at least half the month off.. HS students might have the entire month off.
This chart is about played time, and there were two big things in December that made that spike..
Rift is better than AOC or Warhammer, but it still will NEVER have as many subscribers as it had the first two weeks. It will drop much slower than AOC and War.. but it will still be a downward slope for at least the next 6 months.
This graph shows how much people are playing and not how many people are playing. If one week I play 20 hours and then start plaing 5-10 hours for 2-3 months it doesn't mean I don't like the game or I will unsusbcribe. This graph may be related to population of course but it is not the same as having a graph of the population.
Another thing is that all classes follow the same path as you have said. This is extremely wierd and in statistics you should be very wary when 10 variables behave in the exact same way and follow the exact same path. What is the probability of this happening? I would say extremely, extremely low.
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
I don't see why OP used that picture, I think this one is better because it's clearer and less cluttered:
It seems that WoW has come down a lot from its CATA peak, as for how much and if that's a trend, only time can tell. If the decline really has had a noticeable impact should become clear in the quarterly conference about Q1 2011 Morhaime and other Activision Blizzard will be having.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Ebb and Flow of subscribers is pretty normal. People will be flipping back and forth from RIFT to WoW like a bratty teenager between divorced parents.