Age of Conan - Has 415.000..... Customers

Asbjoern

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Edge Online has news that a Friday earnings report from Funcom revealed that Age of Conan has 415.000 customers (Definition: "who are either subscribers or are playing in the first 30 days included in the sale of the box."), though they've sold over 800.000 copies:
The game sold-in (to retail and digitally) 1.2 million units, and sold through (customers who have entered game client key and billing info) 800,000 copies to customers.
Age of Conan drove fiscal Q2 operating revenues to $13 million (£7 million), around $1 million higher than previous guidance. Losses before interest and tax were $6 million.
Q3 revenue is expected to rise to the range of $16 million to $20 million. The prime revenue stream will be subscription revenues from Age of Conan, Funcom said.
The company stated, "To maximize the average longevity of subscription Funcom will continue to expand,improve and adjust the product, as well as address key issues in the game on a running basis."
Funcom added, "[The] average playtime per player has been lower than expected. Potential influencing factors may be the high average age of subscribers (29 years), aspects of the game, summer holidays, etc."
The developer is currently in talks with local publishers to launch Age of Conan in major Asian markets sometime in the second half of next year.
As for the long-awaited Xbox 360 version of the game, it's still "in the early development phase."
Here's a link to the original Q2 financial report from Funcom. On page 14 in the report, you can see two in-game screenshots from Funcom's upcoming MMO The Secret World.
The report also reveals that Funcom has two casual MMOs targeted for 2009 in development, and their intention to "develop a portfolio of casual MMOs over the next few years."
More information.
 
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> average playtime per player has been lower than expected.
> Potential influencing factors may be the high average age
> of subscribers (29 years) [...] summer holidays"

Oh, and let's not forget the fact that the game has very little content outside of Tortage, the stats are busted, and everything is brown.

I suspect that the majority of people play to level 20, or so, get out of Tortage, and find a huge wasteland in front of them, devoid of players, meaningful quests and things to do.

I know that's when I left.
 
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Oh, and let's not forget the fact that the game has very little content outside of Tortage, the stats are busted, and everything is brown.

I suspect that the majority of people play to level 20, or so, get out of Tortage, and find a huge wasteland in front of them, devoid of players, meaningful quests and things to do.

I know that's when I left.

Strange I must have purchased a different game. The landscapes are stunning and the palette far more then just brown for colors. Very realistic scenery and beautiful vistas from winding mountain trails and on top of hills.

There are so many quests outside of Tortage I often find my log full and some end up gray before I can get to them (and luckily they reinstated giving some experience for them). I still have had issues with having to alter where I hunt on Wicanna because I keep running into so many other players. Sometimes I group up to work on things other times I just move to another area for awhile.

I seldom see people wearing the same items and love the more realistic outfits that are a but more true to the era in which the game is placed then other games. Not to sure on stats since I am not a power munchkin trying to always maximize my stats. As long as I can do quests, explore and adventure I consider my equipment workable - and since that hasn't been a problem I don't see the problem.

While the game has a lot of work that needs to be done it is still a beautiful game. I could be lucky that the server I am on is very busy and that I tend to enjoy role playing. It could explain why our server has kept busy and full with lots to do and plenty of people.

Most of the complaints on the forums seem to come from power gamers rushing to the end (judging by the claims of all their multiple hgigh levels and having already done all the game has to offer) or from people comparing the game to WoW expecting AoC to have the same polish as a game already out for many years.

Course it is not for everyone and it did fail to deliver some things so I see why many are upset. However saying there is no content outside of Tortage, that it is a brown wasteland, devoid of players and things to do, is a gross exaggeration at best,.
 
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Wow, I know these games tend to spike near release then slack off, but jeez, dropping half the initial sales in just 3 months? And that's in the middle of summer when there's no extra competition?

Well, as long as they can keep 100k accounts going, I expect they will do fine.
 
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Strange I must have purchased a different game. The landscapes are stunning and the palette far more then just brown for colors. Very realistic scenery and beautiful vistas from winding mountain trails and on top of hills.

There are so many quests outside of Tortage I often find my log full and some end up gray before I can get to them (and luckily they reinstated giving some experience for them). I still have had issues with having to alter where I hunt on Wicanna because I keep running into so many other players. Sometimes I group up to work on things other times I just move to another area for awhile.

I seldom see people wearing the same items and love the more realistic outfits that are a but more true to the era in which the game is placed then other games. Not to sure on stats since I am not a power munchkin trying to always maximize my stats. As long as I can do quests, explore and adventure I consider my equipment workable - and since that hasn't been a problem I don't see the problem.

While the game has a lot of work that needs to be done it is still a beautiful game. I could be lucky that the server I am on is very busy and that I tend to enjoy role playing. It could explain why our server has kept busy and full with lots to do and plenty of people.

Most of the complaints on the forums seem to come from power gamers rushing to the end (judging by the claims of all their multiple hgigh levels and having already done all the game has to offer) or from people comparing the game to WoW expecting AoC to have the same polish as a game already out for many years.

Course it is not for everyone and it did fail to deliver some things so I see why many are upset. However saying there is no content outside of Tortage, that it is a brown wasteland, devoid of players and things to do, is a gross exaggeration at best,.

I didn't originally write what you quoted. That was martink.

Though games are more than façade, you know? Yes, Age of Conan is a beautiful game. The environments and art/architecture is of high quality, but the actual content/gameplay is in many regards absent.
 
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@wolfgrimdark, seriously what are you smoking?
sure the game "looks" beautiful, i'll give you that. everything else is just broken or not even there yet. like broken sieges (that are instanced off anyway so no one ever sees them), broken and unfinished player made cities.
no high end content what so ever, people are grinding 50-80, instance bosses without loot tables etc etc.
and not to mention NO ITEMIZATION. item stats are either just too small to even matter (0.02% wtf?), or simply doesnt even work. everyone looks the same.
boring repetitive skills, combos grow old so fast ..after 20 levels of pressing four extra keys just to make that special hit you just ..hate it.
oh, and lots of expoits already, flying, powerleveling and so on.

yeah really 'stunning' game otherwise tho..
 
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pretty clean cut here actually. Just a casual player so guess that is why I enjoy it more than the hardcore munchkins. Obviously we see a different game and have heard different things from different players. Course I don't have a level 80 character so maybe I will change my mind then - but at the rate I play online games, enjoying the ride more than the destination, not anything I am worried about right now. If they fail to add/fix things in another 6 months then I will look elsewhere.

Or maybe I am just not as fanatical about a lot of things in games like many and just enjoy games for what they offer instead of what they don't offer.
 
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Totally playing with numbers here - there was an interview with Morhaime from Blizzard that was interesting:

...Blizzard president Mike Morhaime commented during an Activision Blizzard earnings call on Thursday,

"Age of Conan released with some initial success a couple of months ago, and we did see some of our players leave to try the game. However, we've seen about 40 percent of those players return to World of Warcraft."

So Funcom says they have about 415,000 players (which in reality is actually a large number of players although nothing compared to wow of course). If they had 800,000 then 40% would mean 320,000 returned to WoW. [pointing out the 40% was referring to WoW players and not really 40% of the AoC playerbase - again just playing with numbers]

Playing WoW still myself after 4 years I know I am probably just enjoying something different for a change. I also know many in my WoW guild who left hoping to fill the boredom void but ended up comparing it to WoW - and AoC is not WoW.

So looking at the numbers one could fabricate the idea that most of those who left were just bored WoW players. Still a good number left.

Lastly I don't disagree that there is missing stuff. But I do enjoy the game and since I saw some gross exaggeration going on decided to give an alternative viewpoint.
 
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The same company that delivered TLJ - which amazes me any time I read news regarding Age of Conan.
Well, I don't know TLJ... somehow I always associate them with Anarchy Online which still gives me physical pain if I think about it. I just don't like these guys, the way they treat their customers just doesn't seem right to me.
 
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TLJ - The Longest Journey is considered by many as an absolute classic of the Adventure genre.

I can recommend it, although I didn't play it through on my old PC.
 
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TLJ ... still have it here, box unopened.
 
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I'm still enjoying both AoC and WoW, but if I had to pick one over the other, I'd pick WoW. I suspect most online gamers only play one MMO, and that one MMO ends up being WoW in most cases.

I wish Funcom the best of luck though - loads of potential in AoC, so hopefully they can evolve to a point where we get a little competition in the MMO market. I just don't see any of the WoW-ish MMOs standing a chance against WoW, so any competition would have to come from an MMO that is different (Warhammer, for example, seems way too similar to me, just like LotrO).

Competition is good for the consumers, so let's hope we can see someone claiming at least 500.000 players. Right now, WoW has nearly 11 million, while every other MMO ends up getting 1% of that amount (110.000). That's just redicilous.
 
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Competition is good for the consumers, so let's hope we can see someone claiming at least 500.000 players. Right now, WoW has nearly 11 million, while every other MMO ends up getting 1% of that amount (110.000). That's just redicilous.

Competition is great for consumers... provided that said consumers embrace that competition and stimulate the market with evolving behaviors.

In the case of MMOs I'm afraid such a market just doesn't lend itself to competition. How do you do when, even though consumers admit a given game is better/has more things to do/better graphics/newer smarter mechanisms/etc. than the game they're currently playing, they decide no to play it because they have their friends/habits/guilds in the old game that they just don't want to leave. Those friends/habits are actually the only reason why they're enjoying/playing their old MMO.

When the fun of discovering a new game/new mechanics is gone (after 3 to 6 months depending on how many hours you play a week) 99% of the fun in any MMORPG comes from playing with your guild/friends. The game itself actually becomes secondary, at that point it could be any game it just doesn't matter.

So here they are bored of WoW after 1 to 4 years playing it, so they decide to take a break and try out AoC : they have a lot of fun during the first month discovering the game and everything (what I call the "phase 1 of MMORPG fun"), and then it slowly fades out from there, but that's when the "phase 2 of MMORPG fun" is supposed to kick in and replace the phase one. Phase 2 being when same players conglomerate and play together more and more, and slowly build friendship bonds that will make any hour spent playing together really entertaining no matter what they're actually doing (like me I'm sure many of you have spent evenings in Orgrimmar -or similar- doing nothing but chatting and laughing on teamspeak/guild chat).

Thing is, when you leave your MMORPG and all your friends for a new game, you just don't feel that urge to make friends to play with. There's nothing motivating you to try and be nice and go towards others and gain their friendship. You just go "oh what the hell that game has become boring I might as well just go back to WoW where all my friends will rejoice because I came back"... I know how it feels : I left and came back twice to WoW and logging back in and having all your old guildies cheering and screaming on Teamspeak for you is simply a great moment (also came back once to Guild Wars, DAoC, SWG and AC2 and each game it was that same feeling, proof that the game itself doesn't matter, it's just about the human bonds).

In the end IMO the MMORPG market compares more to mobile phones than to computer games : it's like losing your number and all contacts stored in your phone if you decide to leave your current company for a new one : no one would be willing to go through that hassle unless that new company gives you a really really better deal, but if it's just a "bit better and a bit newer", it ain't worth it.

I believe one solution to the "MMORPG market is not a fair market for competition" is imagining tools to attract entire guilds, rather than just single consumers. Such as guild specific gifts if your entire guild moves in : money, items, virtual real estate, free Vent/TS server hosted/paid by the MMO publisher, experience -when an entire guild joins all they want is reach max level so they can start raiding, starting a few levels closer to that could just be the thing that could convince them to move over when they have to leave behind their uber equiped characters-, etc. And more/better gifts the more members your guild has.

Perhaps that kind of stuff that allow the "phase 2 of MMORPG fun" to kick in more easily would stimulate the competition. Definitely worth a try imo.
 
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I think those numbers are pretty good actually. A lot of games would love to sell that many, let alone have a large proportion of that likely to increase future revenue.
 
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There's another factor in that "all my friends are back in WoW" thing. "All my friends are back in WoW and some of them have computers that can't run New Game." You don't want to leave those people behind so the guild sticks around. That comes up a lot when a game tries to put out a new version - like Asheron's Call going to AC2.

But yeah, MMO's are often a lot like bowling. Ever try going bowling alone? It gets dull fast. MMO's are the same way. If you play them solo the whole time, the game gets dull in a few weeks. Play them with friends, though, and you can play them for years. (Thus the reason games often try to force teaming. If you don't make online friends then you'll probably be gone soon.)
 
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In the case of MMOs I'm afraid such a market just doesn't lend itself to competition. How do you do when, even though consumers admit a given game is better/has more things to do/better graphics/newer smarter mechanisms/etc. than the game they're currently playing, they decide no to play it because they have their friends/habits/guilds in the old game that they just don't want to leave. Those friends/habits are actually the only reason why they're enjoying/playing their old MMO.

Thats been my issue with WoW. Rather bored with it but after almost 4 years I just know so many people. SO I tend to hold out till the next expansion.

However my social ties aren't from raiding. I am in a more social guild and there is a lot of chat, lots of guild events, and the like so it seems more like adventuring with good company always around.
 
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There's another factor in that "all my friends are back in WoW" thing. "All my friends are back in WoW and some of them have computers that can't run New Game." You don't want to leave those people behind so the guild sticks around. That comes up a lot when a game tries to put out a new version - like Asheron's Call going to AC2.

But yeah, MMO's are often a lot like bowling. Ever try going bowling alone? It gets dull fast. MMO's are the same way. If you play them solo the whole time, the game gets dull in a few weeks. Play them with friends, though, and you can play them for years. (Thus the reason games often try to force teaming. If you don't make online friends then you'll probably be gone soon.)

And that is where AoC fails miserably in my opinion. People tend to criticise AoC for the lack of end game content, but the problem is more reaching the end game content than the actual end game content, because AoC is in many ways a solo game. What keeps you addicted to a MMO is playing either with long term friends or friends met through the game that you then partner with. That aspect is fairly absent in AoC, and as a direct result I stopped playing after 1 week.
The only thing AoC gave me was a longing to start playing LotRO again, because of the fond memories I have from playing with friends I met in the game.
 
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And that is where AoC fails miserably in my opinion. People tend to criticise AoC for the lack of end game content, but the problem is more reaching the end game content than the actual end game content, because AoC is in many ways a solo game. What keeps you addicted to a MMO is playing either with long term friends or friends met through the game that you then partner with. That aspect is fairly absent in AoC, and as a direct result I stopped playing after 1 week.
The only thing AoC gave me was a longing to start playing LotRO again, because of the fond memories I have from playing with friends I met in the game.

Well, that's what you (as a game creator) will get if you listen to the casual crowd who constantly claims that MMOs are not just for people who want to group or socialize... sure... playing a MMO without grouping is like visiting a brothel to masturbate.
 
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