Is it just me or did 223 empty the servers...
maD maX
Join Date: 2010-01-28 Member: 70347Members
Join Date: 2010-01-28 Member: 70347Members
Comments
<a href="http://games.opensteamworks.org/Chart/View/4920" target="_blank">http://games.opensteamworks.org/Chart/View/4920</a>
<a href="http://games.opensteamworks.org/Chart/View/4920" target="_blank">http://games.opensteamworks.org/Chart/View/4920</a><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
What the hell is up with 4-9?
There is also a short but weird looking dip just before the 17th :D
<a href="http://games.opensteamworks.org/Chart/View/4920" target="_blank">http://games.opensteamworks.org/Chart/View/4920</a><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Umm....statistics obviously not your strong suit...clearly the numbers show that average number of players has decreased since sep.
If you add a trend line its heading downhill so the statement of 223 emptying servers seems correct (given that the the number of players on servers has decreased).
Case in point late sep peaked at 350-400 consistently where as since patch we have struggled to peak at 300-325...thats a reduction in my book.
I just hope more knowledge is used in the statistics tracking for balance as this an example is terribly wrong. Sure the servers are not totally empty but compared to two weeks ago there has been a noticeable reduction.
Given we are only 2 weeks from launch we should not see this sort of dip unless something is frustrating players and reducing their playing time.
223 has reduced (not totally emptied) the servers...why? because aliens suck to play and people get frustrated (hence the lower peak numbers).
Is it sampling all the servers?
I'm sorta surprised UWE let 223 run this long without a hotfix. *shrug*
Playercounts were down to the current 100-200 before 222/223. Spike in playercount in B221 was likely due to the post-PAX Prime bounce and Steam preorder announcement. Playercounts do typically level out after short bounces due to specific events in most games, so NS2 isn't that different.
Playercounts were down to the current 100-200 before 222/223. Spike in playercount in B221 was likely due to the post-PAX Prime bounce and Steam preorder announcement. Playercounts do typically level out after short bounces due to specific events in most games, so NS2 isn't that different.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
But compare 221, where we saw the number a lot higher, 222/223 are pretty much the same patch (with some server issue impacting 222 which will impact numbers).
The weeks gap in the data needs to be explained..was there an issue with the records?
I dont think you can say player counts where down when half the data your relying on ins non existant (hence the flat line), the data points between 28/9 - 2/10 look ok as do points after the 10th.
As this was right before next patch was due a decline was not unexpected...its the lack of spike like we saw with 221 thats lacking with 223 hence the statement the servers are empty (often only 1 or 2 servers up with numbers playing).
Anyone who has played on 223 servers has seen the rapid turn over of players on the alien side...and not form the normal disco's and crashes, but from rage quits.
Trying to throw up dubious data to back up a claim that it has not is silly, the data does not support what it was presented to display.
It clearly shows, within the valid data points, that player numbers have dropped significantly and that the spike normally seen at a patch launch was not seen.
Sorry but I spend most of my working day dealing with numbers, trends and predicting outcomes based on historical data analysis....I dont like when people throw up data for a purpose it does not support. Heck almost half the data points look invalid for some reason (1 week at start of october?).
Noteworthy things did happen...aliens got made totally un-fun to play.
Sorry but your numbers 4 weeks out should not be 25% lower (peak of 400 compared to 300 (due to the fact 350 only on 1 day)) 2 weeks out...that got nothing to do with gradual decline but the issues impacting the alien game play.
Its not a population thing by the way, its an active player count issue...no one wants to play aliens and you cant stack marines 15 v 1 (thankfully) so people dont play or dont play for long as they dont enjoy it.
Hence why we see the numbers dropping (its like any basic intraday workload calc....you AGT is down (average gaming time) which reduces the peak level of gamers seen as there are fewer "session" overlapping.).
Why are session reducing? because the game is less fun? why is the game less fun...patch 223 nerfed aliens and buffed marines too much making basic alien play totally un-enjoyable. for the most part you dont feel like your winning till you have won.
Where for marines you almost always feel like your in control...even when your losing its fun.
I would like to think that if i was a game developer i would gauge how fun my game was by how many beta testers actively played the game, and if more beta testers started playing regularly after a particular patch ... then that was obviously a good patch, at least in the right direction.
well my 2c.
Playercounts were down to the current 100-200 before 222/223. Spike in playercount in B221 was likely due to the post-PAX Prime bounce and Steam preorder announcement. Playercounts do typically level out after short bounces due to specific events in most games, so NS2 isn't that different.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It's actually concerning when you think about why player counts remain supposedly 'historically stable' even after post-event spikes. These are not good trends whichever way you slice it.
*edit* steam pre-order announcement shouldn't have had an effect on player count.
When asking about it, I would be told that it's a common annoyance for people, to a degree where people would just stop playing until it's fixed.
I thought I could probably live with it, but after having lost 4 games in a row, as aliens, and trying again and again to kill marines with my bites, I too decided to just stop playing until the bite is fixed.
Having to snipe a marine 3 times, while needing to be at 0 range, while he's jumping and the framerate is at 40-50 is ruining the playing experience.
When asking about it, I would be told that it's a common annoyance for people, to a degree where people would just stop playing until it's fixed.
I thought I could probably live with it, but after having lost 4 games in a row, as aliens, and trying again and again to kill marines with my bites, I too decided to just stop playing until the bite is fixed.
Having to snipe a marine 3 times, while needing to be at 0 range, while he's jumping and the framerate is at 40-50 is ruining the playing experience.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
while he needs 8 bullets to kill you with his automatic hitscan rape rifle lol.
Bite isnt the problem. As performance gets even better skulks are even easier to kill. They are huge and slow. Altering bite wont help and im glad to see the 4 foot, auto aim bite go away. It stops people from just holding the fire key and randomly looking in every direction.
On topic the server number will explode on Oct 31st, have no worries there. As others have stated the beta is in a frozen state. The people who left wont return until release and the only other option is to leave. So of course there is a decline. I think it would be a rare case someone who left the beta comes back to play avidly before release in 2 weeks.
Why waste time talking about these numbers anyway? It will fix itself. Let's focus on changes that could be made after 1.0 (since the game is in lock down.) or help nail down bugs and balance issues. Which should be discussed in the 3 billion other threads.
Bite isnt the problem. As performance gets even better skulks are even easier to kill. They are huge and slow. Altering bite wont help and im glad to see the 4 foot, auto aim bite go away. It stops people from just holding the fire key and randomly biting.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Just the bite requiring accuracy is not the problem. Bad collision model, terrible knockback and the lack of clear skulk speed advantage combined with a - shall we say - challenging bite model however combine to make for a too difficult skulk. Bite may not be the only problem, but it is a significant part of the equasion.
I agree with you until you say bite being a significant part. The first couple problems i totally agree with but when you have those i think it exasperates the bite issue. When getting close to your target is difficult enough a player expects to be rewarded when his/her goal is finally achieved by that satisfying first bite on the marine. The player then finds out there is another layer of difficulty in having to aim and judge the bite distance. Especially trying to bite a marine running FROM you and or the collision model issue.
As i said before, i enjoy the bite as a marine, because it allow me to dodge skulks since it isnt a guaranteed hit and as an alien adds more skill to the class, but with all the issues you mentioned it makes it nearly impossible. Let's not buff bite because other problems exist. Fix what you mentioned and bite becomes another layer of "skill depth".
I could be wrong and a masochist when it comes to my skulking. =)
Lol I bet you do. Now try and not stack rines and say that.
That's like saying you miss the poor hit registration as a skulk when rines would empty an entire clip into nothing but air.
That's like saying you miss the poor hit registration as a skulk when rines would empty an entire clip into nothing but air.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Nice, taking what i said out of context. I wasnt speaking to you and would appreciate if you didnt butt in. You read 7 words out of my 2 posts and chose to comment needlessly. So instead of sounding foolish why not actually add to the conversation with your own opinion on the matter instead of your opinion on my opinion.
Reminds me of a pack of dogs chasing a bone tied to a string.
Sorry but your numbers 4 weeks out should not be 25% lower (peak of 400 compared to 300 (due to the fact 350 only on 1 day)) 2 weeks out...that got nothing to do with gradual decline but the issues impacting the alien game play.
Its not a population thing by the way, its an active player count issue...no one wants to play aliens and you cant stack marines 15 v 1 (thankfully) so people dont play or dont play for long as they dont enjoy it.
Hence why we see the numbers dropping (its like any basic intraday workload calc....you AGT is down (average gaming time) which reduces the peak level of gamers seen as there are fewer "session" overlapping.).
Why are session reducing? because the game is less fun? why is the game less fun...patch 223 nerfed aliens and buffed marines too much making basic alien play totally un-enjoyable. for the most part you dont feel like your winning till you have won.
Where for marines you almost always feel like your in control...even when your losing its fun.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
So you say, but 25% decrease after a month doesn't sound that unreasonable to me. It's been impossible for new players to join the beta for over a month. There hasn't been any especially exciting event to draw the attention of people who are in already either. It's natural that the population will decline, how much is just a matter of degrees which is entirely debatable.