As for Age of Conan, again you are the only one I see talking about noteworthy growth in that game. The one link you did give shows AOC going from 75k to 125k players in less than six months, but now you are talking about the games population going from 30k-50k.
Perhaps you are right and there was some growth, but as we all know merging servers is a clear sign of noteworthy decline in a game. Adding servers is a clear sign of noteworthy growth in a game. I'm not saying the game certainly has not grown, just that your information is far less than convincing.
#1. There are only two people talking here about it specifically you and me. I am referencing all the countless other people in other posts over the post two years, in game, on the websites listed, etc. that point to you being wrong.
#2. Again you didn't read what was written. I never said the people was 30k-50k. I said the population INCREASED by that amount. It's right at 130k-150k according the all the data we have available.
#1. There are only two people talking here about it specifically you and me. I am referencing all the countless other people in other posts over the post two years, in game, on the websites listed, etc. that point to you being wrong.
#2. Again you didn't read what was written. I never said the people was 30k-50k. I said the population INCREASED by that amount. It's right at 130k-150k according the all the data we have available.
1) First off all I am not saying Conan has not grown. I'm simply saying you have not presented any information to support that it has. If there was so much overwhleming information it wouldn't be hard to post a direct link to the subscriber increases from the financials you reference. Asking me to do your homework to validate your opinion doesn't make much sense does it? I was generally curious if there was some real information to support this. Kudos if there is. I am really pulling for funcom to turn things around.
2) Perhaps if you said the game grew by an additional 30k-50k it would have been a little more clear what you meant. Easy to read one way or the other, so ho harm done or offense taken I hope. However I think a 50% growth in total population would certainly require more servers.
I'll concede this for sake of discussion. AoC has had "some" growth since its massive decline. Funcom has spent considerable resources updating, fixing, advertising, promoting and creating an sizable expansion/content for the game. Including experienced leadership change, creative promotions and pricing. Funcom has history and experince with turning around troubled releases.
Now how do you think any of that applies to DCU and how it might rebound? So far the guy who was in charge of graphics is now in charge of the entire game design and has yet to post about any changes or if there will even be any changes. It isn't like SOE has any history of turning around troubled games and seeing them grow.
Even when SOE had a full sized team working on DCU they struggled to put out updates anywhere close to their target dates and even made some things worse with each update. The team has already been cut, populations are still declining and SOE games only get resources in proportion to what they earn.
What are we missing that suggests a resurgence of this game?
As for Age of Conan, again you are the only one I see talking about noteworthy growth in that game. The one link you did give shows AOC going from 75k to 125k players in less than six months, but now you are talking about the games population going from 30k-50k.
Perhaps you are right and there was some growth, but as we all know merging servers is a clear sign of noteworthy decline in a game. Adding servers is a clear sign of noteworthy growth in a game. I'm not saying the game certainly has not grown, just that your information is far less than convincing.
#1. There are only two people talking here about it specifically you and me. I am referencing all the countless other people in other posts over the post two years, in game, on the websites listed, etc. that point to you being wrong.
#2. Again you didn't read what was written. I never said the people was 30k-50k. I said the population INCREASED by that amount. It's right at 130k-150k according the all the data we have available.
Why are you guys arguing/discussing AoC in a thread about DCUO? give the game some respect.......even though it probably doesn't deserve much, or if any at all
How much WoW could a WoWhater hate, if a WoWhater could hate WoW? As much WoW as a WoWhater would, if a WoWhater could hate WoW.
I bought this game for Ps3 and it was pretty populated the sever i was on but it seemed just idk not really fun at all
Playing: Single player games |
Awaiting: Wild Star |Blade & Soul | The Repopulation | The Elder Scrolls online | ArcheAge | Firefall | Survarium | Bless | Black Desert |
Played: Guild Wars | Diablo 3 |The War Z | Runescape |World of Warcraft |Combat Arms |Perfect World | Rift | Fiesta | DC universe online | Aion | Age of Conan |Allods | Vindictus | The Secret World | Forge | Battle of the Immortals | Global Agenda| Cabal Online | Tera |
If SOE is smart (hahaha, I know) they will give the game 6 months for changes, extra content, bug fixes, etc. and then try to re-introduce the game with a hybrid F2P system. Giving up on good combat and great IP makes me a sad panda.
I suppose the only way this game makes a turn-around is if they actually acknowledge where the mistakes were made and try to fix them. The primary problem (besides the bugs) is the lack of content. I don't know how they can add a lot of content in a short period of time. Maybe if they were to really add content on a monthly basis....oh wait, they tried that. Nevermind, they're in trouble.
No kidding! Casual games don't cost $50-60 million to design and they don't charge $15 a month to play.
They charge me $20 a month to play
And now I have no idea if you are being sacastic or not.
Station Pass?
And no, I wasn't trying to be sarcastic. I meant any game that's only meant to be played 5 hours a week just doesn't command the top tier sub rate that DCUO tries to charge. 5 hours is a night of Farmville or a hidden item game. MMOs are meant to immerse you in the world and make you WANT to play nightly.
Originally posted by SBE1
If SOE is smart (hahaha, I know) they will give the game 6 months for changes, extra content, bug fixes, etc. and then try to re-introduce the game with a hybrid F2P system. Giving up on good combat and great IP makes me a sad panda.
I suppose the only way this game makes a turn-around is if they actually acknowledge where the mistakes were made and try to fix them. The primary problem (besides the bugs) is the lack of content. I don't know how they can add a lot of content in a short period of time. Maybe if they were to really add content on a monthly basis....oh wait, they tried that. Nevermind, they're in trouble.
Do you really think they could? DCUO wasn't like STO - rushed and cheap. DCUO was a 5+ year, $50-60 million investment with SOE's top Devs working on it.
Even if they did, why would someone who didn't buy it the 1st time buy it in 6 months? They'd have to sell more boxes to make this work. If they couldn't add in more than 30 levels worth of content in 5 years, do you really think they could add much in 6 months (while they focused on a cash shop too)? Right now they're releasing the promised "monthly" content at least 2 months apart...would 3 more updates make much difference? (honest questions)
No kidding! Casual games don't cost $50-60 million to design and they don't charge $15 a month to play.
They charge me $20 a month to play
And now I have no idea if you are being sacastic or not.
Station Pass?
Nah Australia just gets charged $20 a month just to play DCUO, don't ask me why, apparently we live to far away and causes lag, so we have to pay more, even tho New Zeland is $15 a month.
And no, I wasn't trying to be sarcastic. I meant any game that's only meant to be played 5 hours a week just doesn't command the top tier sub rate that DCUO tries to charge. 5 hours is a night of Farmville or a hidden item game. MMOs are meant to immerse you in the world and make you WANT to play nightly.
Don't ask me why, but I remember from an article that Chris Cao said the game was designed to be played 5-6 hours per week, cartering to casual gamers.
Originally posted by SBE1
If SOE is smart (hahaha, I know) they will give the game 6 months for changes, extra content, bug fixes, etc. and then try to re-introduce the game with a hybrid F2P system. Giving up on good combat and great IP makes me a sad panda.
I suppose the only way this game makes a turn-around is if they actually acknowledge where the mistakes were made and try to fix them. The primary problem (besides the bugs) is the lack of content. I don't know how they can add a lot of content in a short period of time. Maybe if they were to really add content on a monthly basis....oh wait, they tried that. Nevermind, they're in trouble.
Do you really think they could? DCUO wasn't like STO - rushed and cheap. DCUO was a 5+ year, $50-60 million investment with SOE's top Devs working on it.
Even if they did, why would someone who didn't buy it the 1st time buy it in 6 months? They'd have to sell more boxes to make this work. If they couldn't add in more than 30 levels worth of content in 5 years, do you really think they could add much in 6 months (while they focused on a cash shop too)? Right now they're releasing the promised "monthly" content at least 2 months apart...would 3 more updates make much difference? (honest questions)
well if players keep paying $15 a month, they won't feel the need to push more content out as fast, but changing to a hybrid and make them relay heavily on the release of 'quality' content to earn money, motivation is a huge factor in game production.
How much WoW could a WoWhater hate, if a WoWhater could hate WoW? As much WoW as a WoWhater would, if a WoWhater could hate WoW.
No kidding! Casual games don't cost $50-60 million to design and they don't charge $15 a month to play.
They charge me $20 a month to play
And now I have no idea if you are being sacastic or not.
Station Pass?
And no, I wasn't trying to be sarcastic. I meant any game that's only meant to be played 5 hours a week just doesn't command the top tier sub rate that DCUO tries to charge. 5 hours is a night of Farmville or a hidden item game. MMOs are meant to immerse you in the world and make you WANT to play nightly.
Originally posted by SBE1
If SOE is smart (hahaha, I know) they will give the game 6 months for changes, extra content, bug fixes, etc. and then try to re-introduce the game with a hybrid F2P system. Giving up on good combat and great IP makes me a sad panda.
I suppose the only way this game makes a turn-around is if they actually acknowledge where the mistakes were made and try to fix them. The primary problem (besides the bugs) is the lack of content. I don't know how they can add a lot of content in a short period of time. Maybe if they were to really add content on a monthly basis....oh wait, they tried that. Nevermind, they're in trouble.
Do you really think they could? DCUO wasn't like STO - rushed and cheap. DCUO was a 5+ year, $50-60 million investment with SOE's top Devs working on it.
Even if they did, why would someone who didn't buy it the 1st time buy it in 6 months? They'd have to sell more boxes to make this work. If they couldn't add in more than 30 levels worth of content in 5 years, do you really think they could add much in 6 months (while they focused on a cash shop too)? Right now they're releasing the promised "monthly" content at least 2 months apart...would 3 more updates make much difference? (honest questions)
What I think is that SOE promissed to add monthly content because they knew ahead of time that content was lacking and had a lot of content probably left in development that couldn't make it to the launch date. They can't even make that work. I hope the new leadership at DCUO can make the conent come out faster and larger. It's a huge problem and I really don't know if they can add that much content. But, if they don't add the content, this game is dead within a year.
No MMO has EVER recovered from such a fail. And SOE just lacks the willpower to turn it around. It would NEED F2p as necessity, it would NEED monthly updates and much new content. 3-4 times as much as the game has now, at least. Truth is, any normal MMO gamer can blast through the content in 4-6 weeks and have seen everything, effortlessly.
It's a shame. The game looks cool, the quest and combats are fun and the liscense sure deserves a good MMO. Alas, SOE just lacks both will and insight to make this. In a year it will be just one more forgotten MMO necroed along like Vanguard and every other SOE MMO these days. Real shame. DCU would have deserved better.
I am really no SOE hater... but I am not sure if I really ever will buy anything from SOE. This company is just SO screwed these days.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
What I think is that SOE promissed to add monthly content because they knew ahead of time that content was lacking and had a lot of content probably left in development that couldn't make it to the launch date. They can't even make that work. I hope the new leadership at DCUO can make the conent come out faster and larger. It's a huge problem and I really don't know if they can add that much content. But, if they don't add the content, this game is dead within a year.
I'm honestly shocked nobody has demanded a refund based on this broken promise yet. It was clearly a bait and switch meant to move boxes only.
SOE was talking about monthly content updates, because it was loud and clear from beta testers that the game was very very lacking in content and it was easy to blow through it at even a casual pace. There was nothing for SOE to lose in making promises they couldn't keep, because they were all in on the release of this game.
If DCU tanked then they were going to have to face massive layoffs, project terminations and studio closures, which all happened.
As for the new leadership of the game, I don't see how he can get more done with less people. DCU was already struggling to put out a few hours worth of new content with a full sized production team and running several weeks over their deadlines. I really doubt that Chris Cao was personally holding back the entire team from hitting goals and deadlines. It isn't very likely that the new game director will be able to get less people to produce even more content and fixes in a shorter timespan. Especially now that he also has to deal with the network security problems, outage time and rebuilding the game servers to instance everything on one shared server. That alone is going to takes months worth of time.
Everything is stacked against this game making any sort of comeback without something drastic changing. Changing leadership will have no real effect on this games future. Something major like F2P or changing ownership is the only real chance at recover and even then....
Everything is stacked against this game making any sort of comeback without something drastic changing. Changing leadership will have no real effect on this games future. Something major like F2P or changing ownership is the only real chance at recover and even then....
Daffid, not even F2P will save this game. Right now, ever person who has EVER owned and played DCUO can log in and play it for FREE for 45 days - they aren't - in fact, since the free time, DCUO has dropped off the Steam charts entirely. The populations you're seeing in-game right now are good indicators of what you would see if the game were F2P...and it's abysmal.
Contrast that with SWG, which HAS seeing an increase in players. Bottom line, DCUO is just that bad of a game.
I was just throwing out free to play as an example of a major change, but I think you are right that it would not really have the power to turn the game around. The cost of the game box and subscription isn't the cause of the games problems, but rather a side effect.
The core gameplay is very shallow, relies far to much on recycled content and very quickly dumps players into a boring gear grind that only serves to inflate power for no apparent reason. Not even considering all the other short commings of DCU, if those issues are not addressed it isn't very likely that new players will stick around even if it is "free" to play.
Comments
Can't see this game being played after the 45 days of free time, the content output just isn't worth the money.
A game that is designed to be played 5 hours a week shouldn't charge any sub at all.
lol @chriscao
How much WoW could a WoWhater hate, if a WoWhater could hate WoW?
As much WoW as a WoWhater would, if a WoWhater could hate WoW.
It seems like all Super Hero MMOs are doomed to fail until cryptic makes another one.
#1. There are only two people talking here about it specifically you and me. I am referencing all the countless other people in other posts over the post two years, in game, on the websites listed, etc. that point to you being wrong.
#2. Again you didn't read what was written. I never said the people was 30k-50k. I said the population INCREASED by that amount. It's right at 130k-150k according the all the data we have available.
No kidding! Casual games don't cost $50-60 million to design and they don't charge $15 a month to play.
1) First off all I am not saying Conan has not grown. I'm simply saying you have not presented any information to support that it has. If there was so much overwhleming information it wouldn't be hard to post a direct link to the subscriber increases from the financials you reference. Asking me to do your homework to validate your opinion doesn't make much sense does it? I was generally curious if there was some real information to support this. Kudos if there is. I am really pulling for funcom to turn things around.
2) Perhaps if you said the game grew by an additional 30k-50k it would have been a little more clear what you meant. Easy to read one way or the other, so ho harm done or offense taken I hope. However I think a 50% growth in total population would certainly require more servers.
I'll concede this for sake of discussion. AoC has had "some" growth since its massive decline. Funcom has spent considerable resources updating, fixing, advertising, promoting and creating an sizable expansion/content for the game. Including experienced leadership change, creative promotions and pricing. Funcom has history and experince with turning around troubled releases.
Now how do you think any of that applies to DCU and how it might rebound? So far the guy who was in charge of graphics is now in charge of the entire game design and has yet to post about any changes or if there will even be any changes. It isn't like SOE has any history of turning around troubled games and seeing them grow.
Even when SOE had a full sized team working on DCU they struggled to put out updates anywhere close to their target dates and even made some things worse with each update. The team has already been cut, populations are still declining and SOE games only get resources in proportion to what they earn.
What are we missing that suggests a resurgence of this game?
Why are you guys arguing/discussing AoC in a thread about DCUO? give the game some respect.......even though it probably doesn't deserve much, or if any at all
How much WoW could a WoWhater hate, if a WoWhater could hate WoW?
As much WoW as a WoWhater would, if a WoWhater could hate WoW.
I guess the theory is that since funcom has apparently turned Age of Conan around, the same will happen to DCU.
They charge me $20 a month to play
And now I have no idea if you are being sacastic or not.
How much WoW could a WoWhater hate, if a WoWhater could hate WoW?
As much WoW as a WoWhater would, if a WoWhater could hate WoW.
I bought this game for Ps3 and it was pretty populated the sever i was on but it seemed just idk not really fun at all
Playing: Single player games |
Awaiting: Wild Star |Blade & Soul | The Repopulation | The Elder Scrolls online | ArcheAge | Firefall | Survarium | Bless | Black Desert |
Played: Guild Wars | Diablo 3 |The War Z | Runescape |World of Warcraft |Combat Arms |Perfect World | Rift | Fiesta | DC universe online | Aion | Age of Conan |Allods | Vindictus | The Secret World | Forge | Battle of the Immortals | Global Agenda| Cabal Online | Tera |
If SOE is smart (hahaha, I know) they will give the game 6 months for changes, extra content, bug fixes, etc. and then try to re-introduce the game with a hybrid F2P system. Giving up on good combat and great IP makes me a sad panda.
I suppose the only way this game makes a turn-around is if they actually acknowledge where the mistakes were made and try to fix them. The primary problem (besides the bugs) is the lack of content. I don't know how they can add a lot of content in a short period of time. Maybe if they were to really add content on a monthly basis....oh wait, they tried that. Nevermind, they're in trouble.
Station Pass?
And no, I wasn't trying to be sarcastic. I meant any game that's only meant to be played 5 hours a week just doesn't command the top tier sub rate that DCUO tries to charge. 5 hours is a night of Farmville or a hidden item game. MMOs are meant to immerse you in the world and make you WANT to play nightly.
Do you really think they could? DCUO wasn't like STO - rushed and cheap. DCUO was a 5+ year, $50-60 million investment with SOE's top Devs working on it.
Even if they did, why would someone who didn't buy it the 1st time buy it in 6 months? They'd have to sell more boxes to make this work. If they couldn't add in more than 30 levels worth of content in 5 years, do you really think they could add much in 6 months (while they focused on a cash shop too)? Right now they're releasing the promised "monthly" content at least 2 months apart...would 3 more updates make much difference? (honest questions)
How much WoW could a WoWhater hate, if a WoWhater could hate WoW?
As much WoW as a WoWhater would, if a WoWhater could hate WoW.
What I think is that SOE promissed to add monthly content because they knew ahead of time that content was lacking and had a lot of content probably left in development that couldn't make it to the launch date. They can't even make that work. I hope the new leadership at DCUO can make the conent come out faster and larger. It's a huge problem and I really don't know if they can add that much content. But, if they don't add the content, this game is dead within a year.
No MMO has EVER recovered from such a fail. And SOE just lacks the willpower to turn it around. It would NEED F2p as necessity, it would NEED monthly updates and much new content. 3-4 times as much as the game has now, at least. Truth is, any normal MMO gamer can blast through the content in 4-6 weeks and have seen everything, effortlessly.
It's a shame. The game looks cool, the quest and combats are fun and the liscense sure deserves a good MMO. Alas, SOE just lacks both will and insight to make this. In a year it will be just one more forgotten MMO necroed along like Vanguard and every other SOE MMO these days. Real shame. DCU would have deserved better.
I am really no SOE hater... but I am not sure if I really ever will buy anything from SOE. This company is just SO screwed these days.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
I'm honestly shocked nobody has demanded a refund based on this broken promise yet. It was clearly a bait and switch meant to move boxes only.
SOE was talking about monthly content updates, because it was loud and clear from beta testers that the game was very very lacking in content and it was easy to blow through it at even a casual pace. There was nothing for SOE to lose in making promises they couldn't keep, because they were all in on the release of this game.
If DCU tanked then they were going to have to face massive layoffs, project terminations and studio closures, which all happened.
As for the new leadership of the game, I don't see how he can get more done with less people. DCU was already struggling to put out a few hours worth of new content with a full sized production team and running several weeks over their deadlines. I really doubt that Chris Cao was personally holding back the entire team from hitting goals and deadlines. It isn't very likely that the new game director will be able to get less people to produce even more content and fixes in a shorter timespan. Especially now that he also has to deal with the network security problems, outage time and rebuilding the game servers to instance everything on one shared server. That alone is going to takes months worth of time.
Everything is stacked against this game making any sort of comeback without something drastic changing. Changing leadership will have no real effect on this games future. Something major like F2P or changing ownership is the only real chance at recover and even then....
Daffid, not even F2P will save this game. Right now, ever person who has EVER owned and played DCUO can log in and play it for FREE for 45 days - they aren't - in fact, since the free time, DCUO has dropped off the Steam charts entirely. The populations you're seeing in-game right now are good indicators of what you would see if the game were F2P...and it's abysmal.
Contrast that with SWG, which HAS seeing an increase in players. Bottom line, DCUO is just that bad of a game.
I was just throwing out free to play as an example of a major change, but I think you are right that it would not really have the power to turn the game around. The cost of the game box and subscription isn't the cause of the games problems, but rather a side effect.
The core gameplay is very shallow, relies far to much on recycled content and very quickly dumps players into a boring gear grind that only serves to inflate power for no apparent reason. Not even considering all the other short commings of DCU, if those issues are not addressed it isn't very likely that new players will stick around even if it is "free" to play.