1 million subscribers according to Square Enix. Although it would be kinda interesting to know how many PS2/PC subscribers there are.
http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/index.shtml
http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/index.shtml
Seems as if FFXI is doing good, to say the least.
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From what I have been following it seems to be half and half.
I can't believe its doing so well on PC, compared to MMORPG's that are
4-5 years old, it's rather weak. Its pretty, and almost bug free, but controls horribly and has a short lifespan like Star Wars Galaxies.. whereas in Ultima Online and Everquest you could play for a year and only see 1/20th of what is there to be seen(and that was just in time for an expansion to take it further)
I can't believe its doing so well on PC, compared to MMORPG's that are
4-5 years old, it's rather weak. Its pretty, and almost bug free, but controls horribly and has a short lifespan like Star Wars Galaxies.. whereas in Ultima Online and Everquest you could play for a year and only see 1/20th of what is there to be seen(and that was just in time for an expansion to take it further)
From what i under stand its numbers are already decreasing on the pc side and will further increase with ultima x , wow , lineage 2 , eq2 all coming out soon .
Lineage is about 4 or 5 years old and has almost 2 million subsribers . ULtima online is 6 years old and is around 300k and eq is almost 5 years old and has around 350k .
So to say that its doing good is streching it a little . These games have a shelf life of at least 4 years . So if this game hits the 4 year mark and is still at a million users you can claim its doing better than good .
Couple that with the fact that not only is it a pc user base but its on a console that has 80 million owners . Then add the fact that its at a time when mmorpg are a common form of game now. Not like eq and uo when released and barely anyone knew about it coupled with the fact that 56k modems were not even out yet .
As I said in a few years we will see how successfull it truely is .
Lineage is about 4 or 5 years old and has almost 2 million subsribers . ULtima online is 6 years old and is around 300k and eq is almost 5 years old and has around 350k .
So to say that its doing good is streching it a little . These games have a shelf life of at least 4 years . So if this game hits the 4 year mark and is still at a million users you can claim its doing better than good .
Couple that with the fact that not only is it a pc user base but its on a console that has 80 million owners . Then add the fact that its at a time when mmorpg are a common form of game now. Not like eq and uo when released and barely anyone knew about it coupled with the fact that 56k modems were not even out yet .
As I said in a few years we will see how successfull it truely is .
Uh, it's the, at least to my knowledge, only MMORPG except Lineage that has reached 1 million subscribers. I'd hardly call that a stretch.
I'd actually argue the other way around, that the older games had it much easier due to lack of competition. I mean there are like what, at least 10 different MMORPGs out at the moment and more comming each day. Compare that to when there were only UO, EQ and AC. But sure, I don't doubt that there are alot more players that plays MMORPGs now than it were then, but not calling one million subscribers a success is a bit odd, imo. It takes ALOT more to 'wow' gamers now than it did before. I mean when I first started playing AC I didn't even think about if I was having fun or not for the first year, I just thought it was so damn cool. The games that were released after the UO/EQ/AC generation has been able to keep me busy for maybe 2 weeks tops before I got bored, and I doubt FFXI is an exception (even though it's one of the few mmorpgs I haven't played yet).
But since it's only been out on the PC for a short time there will of course be, as you said, players who leave. And that's why it would've been interesting to see the PS2 and PC numbers seperated since they seem to have a fairly stable userbase on the PS2.
Staying power is always the proving ground (of course it HAS been around a few years), but few games could hit a million active subscribers at ANY point in time. (In fact, I think only Lineage has.) It would indeed be interesting to know what the PC/console breakdown is, though, since there's fierce competition on the PC side and very little on the console. Regional numbers would be good, too, since there are different sorts of competing going on between each market.
But yeah, I think it's quite easy to say FFXI is "doing good." Games that are "doing poorly" quickly show their lack of staying power and get whittled down to few users. AO managed to regain some ground (though I don't know current numbers), and I certainly count Dark Age of Camelot as "doing well" despite having far lower numbers, and SWG as well despite its relative newness and rather fluctuating population.
Any game that can maintain a few 100k active subscribers after the newness has worn off, people are tapping the content and gauging the rate of chanes...? "Doing well" in my book. How will all games compare to each other in the long run over time? Immaterial. Many games are finding out they can't even maintain even 100k, and those that can have the wherewithal to keep on competing, expanding, and profiting.
Some I'd describe more as "doing well enough, all things considering" though, I suppose...
But there's a lot of "doing crappy" now that the genre's gotten so much action. And there's plenty more to come!
But yeah, I think it's quite easy to say FFXI is "doing good." Games that are "doing poorly" quickly show their lack of staying power and get whittled down to few users. AO managed to regain some ground (though I don't know current numbers), and I certainly count Dark Age of Camelot as "doing well" despite having far lower numbers, and SWG as well despite its relative newness and rather fluctuating population.
Any game that can maintain a few 100k active subscribers after the newness has worn off, people are tapping the content and gauging the rate of chanes...? "Doing well" in my book. How will all games compare to each other in the long run over time? Immaterial. Many games are finding out they can't even maintain even 100k, and those that can have the wherewithal to keep on competing, expanding, and profiting.
Some I'd describe more as "doing well enough, all things considering" though, I suppose...
But there's a lot of "doing crappy" now that the genre's gotten so much action. And there's plenty more to come!The one million refers to unique characters, not subscribers. For instance, I have four characters- two that I play with, two as mules in different cities to take advantage of local crafting/material economical trends
Subscriber numbers are over 500k as of a month ago. Will it ever hit 1 million subscribers? I doubt it, but 700-800k seems likely enough. At the moment I believe FFXI is the second-most popular game in the genre.
This is almost irrelevant at the moment since it has only been released on the Ps2 in Japan, and was limited by the number of HDDs available at launch.
You're underestimating the power and appeal of this game, I think. As far as MMORPGs go it's the only option on console (we'll conveniently forget about EQA, everyone else already has)
No competition + huge Ps2 userbase + Final Fantasy name + polish and stability = high chance of continued success from where I'm sitting.
Subscriber numbers are over 500k as of a month ago. Will it ever hit 1 million subscribers? I doubt it, but 700-800k seems likely enough. At the moment I believe FFXI is the second-most popular game in the genre.
This is almost irrelevant at the moment since it has only been released on the Ps2 in Japan, and was limited by the number of HDDs available at launch.
You're underestimating the power and appeal of this game, I think. As far as MMORPGs go it's the only option on console (we'll conveniently forget about EQA, everyone else already has
)No competition + huge Ps2 userbase + Final Fantasy name + polish and stability = high chance of continued success from where I'm sitting.
Ozymandis said:The one million refers to unique characters, not subscribers. For instance, I have four characters- two that I play with, two as mules in different cities to take advantage of local crafting/material economical trends
Subscriber numbers are over 500k as of a month ago. Will it ever hit 1 million subscribers? I doubt it, but 700-800k seems likely enough. At the moment I believe FFXI is the second-most popular game in the genre.
Hrm... A bit confusing then, but I guess of note to them (since subscribers pay more for extra characters). I do remember them having a lot, so I figured they could have hit a million by now. Regardless, it's still impressive. And they haven't yet launched the PS2 version in the US or Europe, where they stand to gain a lot as well. It'll never hit Lineage by any stretch, but I can certainly see it cruising along comfortably for quite some time. (Especially since it has differing MMORPG appeal for the eastern markets. It may lose out here eventually, retaining mainly FF fandom eventually... Not that FF fandom is small, mind you.
)final fantsy has been out what 7 months not in japan and here ? If in the states the number of pc subscribers are droping already I doubt even with the ps2 hardrive coming out in the states it will hit 700-800k accounts
Time will tell.
The newer games have a much easier time of gaining subsribers over the old ones .
Graphics are much more improved , lag is all but gone , the new games have learned over the older games .
To say the old games had it easier is wrong . WHen uo and merdian 59 came out paying to continue to play a game was unheard of and did not take well at first .
On the note about chars not accounts . How does that work ?
Time will tell.
The newer games have a much easier time of gaining subsribers over the old ones .
Graphics are much more improved , lag is all but gone , the new games have learned over the older games .
To say the old games had it easier is wrong . WHen uo and merdian 59 came out paying to continue to play a game was unheard of and did not take well at first .
On the note about chars not accounts . How does that work ?
jvd said:
What's your source on dropping subscriber numbers? Do you have one or are you just pulling that from your hindquarters?
I haven't noticed any change in the number of people online. In fact, it was more crowded in January than ever before, as the Christmas present crowd got started.
You pay a fee for the game which includes one character. Additional characters cost a dollar apiece, and you can have 16 per handle. It's not a pretty system, but Square makes out hand-over-fist with it.
Not sure if I read this right, but I'll answer thoroughily just to make sure. FFXI launched in Japan in May 2002 for PS2 (to a myriad of technical difficulties) and November 2002 on PC. So far it's launched in the US this past October on PC, and is set to launch in March on PS2. (I don't think anything else has been mentioned for other territories yet, though of course people play imports if they really want to anyway.) This is the main reason I'd like a system/region/time breakdown, as it would be funky to track the numbers, as it's the only major MMORPG launch this utterly (and randomly) split up. But it HAS been running for over 20 months--has an expansion (pre-bundled in US releases)--and is certainly not in baby steps or anything. It recovered well from its initial technical difficulties, and has been in steady since. I'm not positive if they offered six-month subscription purchases (which could cause a lessening in US accounts end of April) but any three-monthers would already have dropped, and of course monthly subscribers shift as they will. (It also seems like they're just tracking recently-played characters, so there may be some "still-paying-but-not-playing" people not getting counted.)jvd said:
Regardless, if they ARE over 500k active individual subscribers it's awfully impressive (Edit: They are, I forgot there was a press release on that.), as it's passed by Everquest, which has had the longest stretch of retention and expansion to keep up a solid userbase--and FFXI still hasn't launched in the US on PS2 nor in any form in Europe yet. Without a PC/console breakdown, though, it's hard to tell how it compares with contemporary PC MMORPGs, though, as there's not much competition on console currently--just EQ:OA out here, and Nobunaga's Ambition Online in Japan, I believe. And the game appeals to a different-than-normal sort of MMORPG gamer, so I think it will indeed pick up more and continue on well. Not my cup of tea, but it's attracted all sorts.
Basically, it's even more limited than SWG. You get ONE character, and for each other character you want to create--doesn't matter what server you put it on--you add $1 more to your monthly fee. (of $13/month)
Of course in this game you really don't NEED to make a new character--ever--unless you want to play another race/gender, or just want to have an unknown to be more anonymous. Since there are no class limitations, the main reasons people switch so much are removed. Want to play something else? By all means! (In fact, you just make yourself better, as you have more classes and abilities to call upon if needed when combining primary and secondary classes.)
So while no other MMORPG would really care about tracking active characters, for FFXI it makes a bit more sense, as however many more there are over the active account tally is adding another $1/month in revenue. (And of course, it's a better marketing number.
)jvd said:
Yes, if every subscriber had 16 characters active.
In reality, that's very far-fetched. There are 31 servers. The one I'm on, Fairy, is the newest and one of the smallest. Usually when I check there are ~3000 players on at any given time. Each of these is a unique account.
There ARE more than 500k subscribers, and it stands to reason that few actually want more than one character, so I guess that lines up too. They're probably getting some leakage from the US PC crowd, as many people hop on board any MMORPG to come along, but tire quickly, but I don't know how seriously. It'll resurge on both sides come March, with all the advertising and hubbub of the PS2 version's launch, and we'll see how that progresses as well.
I'm most curious why they haven't even announced another expansion to the game yet. After all, Vision of Ziraat came out last summer! How very un-EQ-like.
I'm most curious why they haven't even announced another expansion to the game yet. After all, Vision of Ziraat came out last summer! How very un-EQ-like.
Because it's persistent, ongoing, and provides a gaming and social environment nothing else can duplicate. It's not a "game" in the way other games are, really... (Except some people who take ones to extremes--like fighting games they'll play continually--and become more "lifestyle") It's more of a hobby and a subculture in game form.
Nick Laslett
Regular
jvd said:
I'm not sure how this thread could get into a conflict.
1 Million users for a total (usable) userbase of less than 5 million is quite good if you ask me. We'll have to see if the game has staying power, but i think add-ons and updates should take care of that.
On the other hand, it is safe to say that there is not much to play online on Ps2, and FF11 is quite a big name...
Does anyone know the share between Ps2 and PC users? that could explain something...
Any Final Fantasy game will always sell millions, as bad as it can be, and although FF11 is not GREAT, it's not even BAD.
Give it time...
1 Million users for a total (usable) userbase of less than 5 million is quite good if you ask me. We'll have to see if the game has staying power, but i think add-ons and updates should take care of that.
On the other hand, it is safe to say that there is not much to play online on Ps2, and FF11 is quite a big name...
Does anyone know the share between Ps2 and PC users? that could explain something...
Any Final Fantasy game will always sell millions, as bad as it can be, and although FF11 is not GREAT, it's not even BAD.
Give it time...
nondescript
Regular
london-boy said:
Really?
Agreed.
