Lies, damned lies and statistics: Subscription numbers in MMORPG's

MMO subscription number tracking is a challenging venture. Most developers are extremely careful when crafting public releases relating to how many subscribers their game currently has. For better or worse, these values are considered to be a measure of success (or failure) of our beloved games and tend to offer insights on subscriber trends.

[dieforgame]

No one plays MMORPG's

[lotta]

Oh yeah. I forgot.. World of Warcraft dosen't excist

[mikeslemonade]

Those people aren't real gamers. It's like social networking/gaming

[Justjoined123]

@ mikeslemonade

Watch out, we've got a badass over here..

[SolidStoner]

but he's got a point.. they remind me of zombies! :D Zombie gamers! they are gamers just with they're zombie needs! :D

[pkb79]

@mikes what the difference between playing a mmo or grinding away on the same online FPS every night?
Who the hell are you to judge who is a gamer or not. With your lvl of elitism I'm surprised you don't play a mmo.

[MysticStrummer]

"Those people aren't real gamers"

Such a silly idea.

[Gamerbeyond]

lol mike doesnt have a bubble to stand on.

[kamper]

oh yeah?

[ThunderPulse]

No, he is wrong.

[Magicite]

except tens of millions of people around the world and...every single South Korean.

[Kumomeme]

he only one doesnt play mmorpg
poor guy

[Spenok]

What? Why would you say this? Do you not know there are millions of subscribers to dozens of MMO's? WoW has over 8 million, FFXIV has over 2.5 million, FFXI last I heard had over 2 million, and many many other free to play, or less known MMO's are out there.

If no one played them, why would we see such an influx of MMO's being made?

I just don't get your comment.

[SolidStoner]

They exist, they just dont step outside and dont comment on any web site.. they're too busy playing that damn mmorpg.. I know many of these guys.. after the school they just disappeared.....

[Jubez187]

FFXI has about 2 people haha. But yea, MMO's are awesome. I'm a hardcore gamer through and through. I play the hardest JRPGs on the hardest difficulties, I've played in competitive shooter clans, I've climbed the Elo ladder of MOBAs and RTS's.

If anyone thinks MMO's are just for casuals that wanna play house, you have no idea what you're saying. Raids take some of the most coordination and game knowledge in video games.

If you're too broke to pay for a sub, then that's a personal problem.

[Christopher]

Oh... I don't? Damn... what have I been doing since 1999 then?

[il-JumperMT]

FFXIV is 3mil

[kamper]

No it's not

[SMcNu715]

My server has exploded with new subs this week

[Spenok]

The only official word from SE is over 2.5 million players. So not quite, but close.

[Agent_hitman]

With the new MMOs like Black Dessert, Peria Chronicles in the horizon I'm pretty sure that the MMO players will rise in the coming years or months.

[Spenok]

Black Desert looks pretty awesome. I'm waiting on the NA release.

[KrisButtar]

The Elder Scrolls Online didn't make the cut? Guess the subscription count wasn't high enough to include it.

[hkgamer]

eso did everything wrong. i dont think there was any long term subscribers to that game to get any data.

[Spenok]

Lol there are plenty of Subs. I only just canceled my sub because I just had a kid. I've had it since launch, and thoroughly enjoyed the game, but circumstances won't allow me to at the moment. Though I doubt the numbers are anything to scoff at. Probably only a few hundred thousand. Though it hasn't gone free to play yet, and they are still defending a paid model. So who knows, maybe they have enough to pay for the servers and updates.

[BillytheBarbarian]

MMORPG people are scary. They can become addictive to personality types that enjoy gambling, dungeons and dragons, magic card games, and comic books. I'd rather get true sequels to games instead of. MMORPGs. Knights of the old republic was awesome until the mmo. I don't bother with them because you pay for bread crumbs instead of a full finished game. Looting and level grinding on mmos is a waste of time and money. If I'm going to grind there better be a great ending. Companies just make these as cash grabs for suckers.

[Reefskye]

I play MMORPG's and like none of the things you listed, Many of my friends play MMORPG's and also don't like any of the things you listed. Also you don't get a full finished game? well in that case WoW would be still in development since it initial release as they still keep adding content,

MMORPG's generally add expansions, Just like BF2 did with a full fledge expansions before they added premium. Expansions > DLC, DLC is more often that not money grabbing and very rarely adds much content to a game. With the few exceptions of games like Skyrim and Fallout.

[Jubez187]

Dude you do NOT pay for breadcrumbs rofl. The content to payout ratio of an MMO is probably 10 fold of your standard triple A game (see Destiny).

The content patches, in FFXIV:ARR at least, are gargantuan. That's not even talking about the expansion that's going to be as big as the ORIGINAL release. Trust me, keep buying those 60 dollars games you can beat in a week (if they're even good enough, usually they're not) and you'll be on the streets in no time.

[BillytheBarbarian]

What are you going to do when they shut down the servers?

At least I'll have a complete game I can go back to without the internet stranglehold. All these games that require internet are nothing but throw away games. Gaming is headed for a direction I'm not too excited about. 360 is the last console I buy. X1 and Ps4 are selling retail games with 50% of the game and you download the other half. Many times you pay more for that other half. Throwing nearly $100 into a MMORPG like Destiny? I'll pass.

[Christopher]

If only there was an option to mark a post for being just 100% ignorant.