are mmorpg popular online games? Massivelyop.com uses RAPTR data to find out ...

nariusseldon

http://massivelyop.com/2015/09/25/diablo-iii-ark-and-warframe-all-climb-on-raptrs-august-stats/

well, massively actually talks a lot about other online games than MMORPGs .. and i quote

"And it’s a pretty solid month for those users playing online games of some variety, with Diablo III and Warframe jumping up the highest. ARK: Survival Evolved, Final Fantasy XIV, Hearthstone, and Star Wars: The Old Republic all made gains as well, albeit less significant ones."

The only MMORPGs in the top 20 are WoW and TOR (no surprises), although there are a few MMOs if you count WoT and Smite.

And Spider Solitaire is at 20 ... 

Octagon7711

Interesting where's ESO and GW2?

nariusseldon

Octagon7711 said:

Interesting where's ESO and GW2?

Less popular than Spider Solitaire? (and don't ask me, how is that an online game .. but I guess since solo-Diablo 3 is an online game, Spider Solitaire can be too).

Axehilt

Last data I found said RPGs had 9.5% market share as a genre in the US (2009). I'd expect the boom of MMORPGs starting ~2003 and the stagnation ~2010 onward would shift relative genre popularity by a significant amount, but probably by less than most laypeople would assume. (MMORPGs are presumably lumped in with RPGs in that breakdown, so the shifts in just MMORPGs wouldn't be enough on their own to sway things that much.)

Bladestrom

No surprise here really, mmorpg have allways been niche even now when there are more mmorpg players than there has ever been. In fact I don't think the industry has ever considered mmorpg as anything other than niche, is this not widely understood?

Axehilt

Robokapp said:

no, that's a false statement based on lack of information.

Well a lack of information doesn't make a statement false. That's why if you want to make an insidious meme like the Flying Spaghetti Monster (or a religion) you define something which is impossible to test. Science can never actually disprove these impossible-to-test things. It can only point out that they're bold claims with zero evidence, and such claims are very nearly always wrong.

Conversely, the case for saying MMORPGs have always been niche has had quite a lot of evidence supporting it, over the years in these forums.

• The 2009 data I posted showing RPGs as a whole only constituting 9.5% of videogame revenue.
• Over the years all the various MMORPG subscription numbers we've seen posted...
• ...compared with a wiki searches of the big 3 FPSes over the years (BF, CoD, CS) and examining their significantly higher sales. (like Black Ops 2: 24.2 million copies sold)

Certainly if you wanted to be certain of it you could dig into the specific years where you thought MMORPGs peaked (maybe 2010? ~12 million WOW) and compare with all the other genres around that time (MW3: 26.5 million)  So it feels like a very safe theory and I imagine the more we dug into the numbers the more it would prove out.

ceratop001

Great report thanks for the info. Most games we talk about or not even a factor compared to spider solitaire lol.

nariusseldon

ceratop001 said:

Great report thanks for the info. Most games we talk about or not even a factor compared to spider solitaire lol.

I am not surprised at all. MMORPGs are quite niche .. if you look at the top 20, you will see lots of focused, convenient games. 

MOBAs are good examples. Easy to jump into a game. There is all but one game mode, and they do that very well.

D3 is another example. Even with multiple game modes, the core is just fun action combat, loot and power up. There is really nothing more. Warframe is also like that.

Then you have WoT, which again, is just pvp battle with tanks .... focused gameplay.

Ditto for Hearthstone when it is focused on card battle, and everything else is slick and convenient.

Personally i think that probably will be the trend. Why play one single game that does 100 things not very well, when you can play 100 games that does 100 things well? Given most of these are either f2p or b2p (there is no sub), it is easy to jump around. If i want some pve, i play Diablo 3. If i want some pve, i play some WoT or LoL. If i only have 2 min to kill, i play solitaire .. .sounds reasonable to me.

waynejr2

Robokapp said:

nariusseldon said:

Octagon7711 said:

Interesting where's ESO and GW2?

Less popular than Spider Solitaire? (and don't ask me, how is that an online game .. but I guess since solo-Diablo 3 is an online game, Spider Solitaire can be too).

And at such high % it's basically massive too.

Massively Solitaire?

Bladestrom

Well we have massively bubble witch some would argue I'm sure

AAAMEOW

last time I checked similar tool like xfire I notice the number is so easy to manipulate.  Anyone with 100 computer can just logon 24/7 and make significant change to the number.

I'm unfamiliar with raptr.  From memory I remember one of the online tool analysis site is coupled with overwolf.  It might be raptr, or other site I'm not sure.  But those number are much more accurate, because I think they track unique logon.  And their sample size is actually quite large, since there are actually people using overwolf for the tool.

Arakazi

MMO's are by nature are difficult to get into. Put aside price and platform and just focus in on the games themselves. MMOs require a lot of commitment to play. Even going from level 1 - 60 requires many hours of gaming. Also learning your class, dungeons, raids, crafting and socializing also eats up a lot of time. Time most folk just don't have to spend. For a lot gamers - myself included, the biggest barrier between me trying a new MMO and spending time on a game like hearthstone is time. I have an hour or two after returning home from work before hitting the sack, after doing some cleaning and making myself something to eat, I would rather relax with something easy to get into rather than go raiding with a guild. 

Phry

Since Xfire, Raptr etc. are not something that is commonly used by many people, the sample sizes are largely irrelevant, and do not represent the Online Gaming Community except possibly as a very small subset, which makes any conclusions based on even their raw data, open to a wide variety of interpretations, none of which can be considered to be all that reliable.

Antiquated

Phry said:

Since Xfire, Raptr etc. are not something that is commonly used by many people, the sample sizes are largely irrelevant, and do not represent the Online Gaming Community except possibly as a very small subset, which makes any conclusions based on even their raw data, open to a wide variety of interpretations, none of which can be considered to be all that reliable.

Anyone remember that "Xfire is significant/not significant" massive hundred-page troll and counter-troll thread we had here a few years back?

Don't go there. Really.

Phry

Antiquated said:

Phry said:

Since Xfire, Raptr etc. are not something that is commonly used by many people, the sample sizes are largely irrelevant, and do not represent the Online Gaming Community except possibly as a very small subset, which makes any conclusions based on even their raw data, open to a wide variety of interpretations, none of which can be considered to be all that reliable.

Anyone remember that "Xfire is significant/not significant" massive hundred-page troll and counter-troll thread we had here a few years back?

Don't go there. Really.

Perhaps once people stop trying to use such 'data' as being some kind of conclusive argument, that will happen, but as long as people keep using sources such as Raptr, Xfire etc. then the argument is likely to continue, they make for 'amusing' if largely irrelevant convo pieces, but not much else.

Fractal_Analogy

Of the RAPTR users..

Of people who do not know how to turn it off..?

Shaigh

nariusseldon said:

http://massivelyop.com/2015/09/25/diablo-iii-ark-and-warframe-all-climb-on-raptrs-august-stats/

well, massively actually talks a lot about other online games than MMORPGs .. and i quote

"And it’s a pretty solid month for those users playing online games of some variety, with Diablo III and Warframe jumping up the highest. ARK: Survival Evolved, Final Fantasy XIV, Hearthstone, and Star Wars: The Old Republic all made gains as well, albeit less significant ones."

The only MMORPGs in the top 20 are WoW and TOR (no surprises), although there are a few MMOs if you count WoT and Smite.

And Spider Solitaire is at 20 ... 

FF14 should count as an mmorpg as well.

nariusseldon

Shaigh said:

nariusseldon said:

http://massivelyop.com/2015/09/25/diablo-iii-ark-and-warframe-all-climb-on-raptrs-august-stats/

well, massively actually talks a lot about other online games than MMORPGs .. and i quote

"And it’s a pretty solid month for those users playing online games of some variety, with Diablo III and Warframe jumping up the highest. ARK: Survival Evolved, Final Fantasy XIV, Hearthstone, and Star Wars: The Old Republic all made gains as well, albeit less significant ones."

The only MMORPGs in the top 20 are WoW and TOR (no surprises), although there are a few MMOs if you count WoT and Smite.

And Spider Solitaire is at 20 ... 

FF14 should count as an mmorpg as well.

Yeh .. 3, not 2 .. my bad. 

Loktofeit

Other than hipsters who want to show they're not Xfire conformists and people who forgot to uncheck the Raptr add on in a game installer, who uses Raptr?

AAAMEOW

Antiquated said:

Phry said:

Since Xfire, Raptr etc. are not something that is commonly used by many people, the sample sizes are largely irrelevant, and do not represent the Online Gaming Community except possibly as a very small subset, which makes any conclusions based on even their raw data, open to a wide variety of interpretations, none of which can be considered to be all that reliable.

Anyone remember that "Xfire is significant/not significant" massive hundred-page troll and counter-troll thread we had here a few years back?

Don't go there. Really.

well this is the start of a new era "Raptr" significantnot significant.  Could make hundred page thread.

Does raptr even release how many people or playing hours the rank1  game have?

Loke666

Numbers like this should not be taken as 100% facts, any game on the list is surely popular with Raptr users and probably do well generally but it isn't a good way to measure anything more than that.

Never used it myself, anything leeching bandwidth and resources without a huge upside is something I will stay away from. I have a pretty good computer but it isn't so good that I want to fill it up with stuff like Raptr.

Now, if you want to compare MMOs against eachother you could compare income instead, it is still not 100% accurate since few people who buy a lot of crap will beat many cheap players but it does tell us how successful the MMOs are.

Wizardry

Personally i don't need  to measure any game,i play games because i feel the game is good.

I couldn't care less if Raptor or god himself told me what games were popular,i make decisions for myself.

However this would probably work in Twitch,i see tons of naive people jump at anything that is currently popular,it is like a giant Blizzard fanbois crowd presides out there.D3 gets way more notoriety than it should,POE is the same game and free,it is as i said that Blizzard fanbois club that keeps making their bad games look good by throwing all their money at Blizzard.

These trends will get even worse because i have seen a tremendous trend in new streamers popping up.Everyone wants to be a pro gamer and stream for a living,they are all using Blizzard as their choice because they know it is popular and will attain more viewers.So this will drive Blizzard numbers up even more because i do not see this mega streamer trend slowing down anytime soon.

mgilbrtsn

I enjoy these snapshots of what's going on.   I find them interesting, however, they are only snapshots.  Too many people take these things as gospel.

Iselin

Loktofeit said:

Other than hipsters who want to show they're not Xfire conformists and people who forgot to uncheck the Raptr add on in a game installer, who uses Raptr?

LOL players apparently

nariusseldon

Wizardry said:

Personally i don't need  to measure any game,i play games because i feel the game is good.

I couldn't care less if Raptor or god himself told me what games were popular,i make decisions for myself.

However this would probably work in Twitch,i see tons of naive people jump at anything that is currently popular,it is like a giant Blizzard fanbois crowd presides out there.D3 gets way more notoriety than it should,POE is the same game and free,it is as i said that Blizzard fanbois club that keeps making their bad games look good by throwing all their money at Blizzard.

These trends will get even worse because i have seen a tremendous trend in new streamers popping up.Everyone wants to be a pro gamer and stream for a living,they are all using Blizzard as their choice because they know it is popular and will attain more viewers.So this will drive Blizzard numbers up even more because i do not see this mega streamer trend slowing down anytime soon.

and yet you write two hefty paragraphs for something you don't care?

This looks more like a case of sour grapes that games you do not like are successful, and the ones you do like are  less so.

sumdumguy1

Too biased for my blood.