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Daybreak Game Company to Be Acquired by EG7 for $300 Million

Discussion in 'EverQuest II General Discussion' started by Feldon, Dec 1, 2020.

  1. Feldon

    Feldon Administrator Staff Member

    Unfortunately, any game that can be played outside of Steam shouldn't have its Steam stats looked at as being demonstrative of anything. Just my 2 cents.
     
    • Agree Agree x 6
  2. Glasscannon

    Glasscannon Member

    I agree that it's an incomplete picture, which is why I opened with a big caveat. But I also think it's fair to presume that the percentage of in-steam vs. out-of-steam players for most titles is relatively constant. That is, if Steam only captures 5% of the current EQ2 player population, it's probably only capturing roughly the same amount of other games. I wouldn't quibble with the margins. I'm only trying to show the very minor scope of EQ and EQ2 in the world of MMOs.
     
    • Agree Agree x 3
  3. Clementine

    Clementine Active Member

    I dunno, I think Steam is more likely to have higher numbers for newer games. Especially with how little effort Daybreak puts into advertising on the platform.
     
    • Appreciation Appreciation x 1
  4. Wulfgyr / Erytheal

    Wulfgyr / Erytheal Active Member

    Perhaps, I know a lot of FFXIV players in my FC of over 500 tend to avoid Steam like the plague, 'cause it can cause issues with redeeming mogstation codes from our monthly giveaways and such. All I know is, when Steam is having issues, there tends to be very little bellyaching in our Discord, hehe.
     
    • Informative Informative x 2
    • Agree Agree x 1
  5. Zynt

    Zynt Active Member

    Yeah, seeing those numbers, which are honestly higher than I figured, gives me little confidence.
     
  6. Mermut

    Mermut Well-Known Member

    And.. the more pay to win they go, the more people they drive away.. and the more they push P2W.... that combined with the increasingly... player un-friendly... mechanics
     
    • Agree Agree x 8
  7. Fuli

    Fuli Well-Known Member

    I wonder how many all-access members play or interact with more than one game?

    For example, folks that are primarily playing, say eq, but login to eq2 for a few minutes to send out overseers or dink around with the gh.

    Wouldn't surprise me a bit if BOTH games are counting those interactions as a subscribed account. That's strictly true, but it's also misleading.

    There are also the peeps who maybe only play eq2 and are subscribed, but not logging in much, or even at all, etc.

    The point is that as far as I'm concerned, the subscription numbers privided don't really paint an accurate picture of the active population of the game, and it's the active players that matter because those are folks driving shop sales.

    I mean, hell, it wouldn't surprise me if the only two conditions required to be posted as a "subscribed account" for an individual game are (1) All access subscription, and (2) an account or character for that game. You might have people logged as an active subscriber to eq2 who haven't touched the title in years, but are still subscribed and actively playing another title.

    When we throw Kronos on top if all thar, I'm just inclined to believe those subscription numbers are overly optimistic.
     
    Last edited: Dec 2, 2020
    • Agree Agree x 3
  8. Zynt

    Zynt Active Member

    I haven't logged into 2 for a couple months at this point. I think I've logged in twice in the last 4 months. I just check Krono prices and wait for dips to resell at peaks. The prices are consistent on 1 and don't waiver as much as in 2. That being said I have also had at least 1 monthly sub, active, for well over 15 years even if I wasn't playing. Whether that was me paying or my best EQ1 friend using my Necro to boost his box group dps.
     
  9. Fuli

    Fuli Well-Known Member

    Ah well, none of this subscription crap matters anyway. I mean who really cares?

    What matters is that income-wise, I gotta believe EQ2 is in serious trouble at this point.

    I hope the new owners can get the ship pointed back in the right direction, but the game us such a mess at this point that it's probably too late :(
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
  10. Khendrask

    Khendrask Active Member

    While I agree the EQ/EQ2 numbers in that list, and in most other lists, are low, you can only use Steam as a biased comparison, since especially for the older games, most people playing them don't logon through Steam. I've never played any of the above through Steam, but I have 6 on that list on my computer.
     
  11. Arazons

    Arazons Member

    I would be nice if they still shared active player numbers. Something like average unique account logins per day/week/month.

    They stopped showing these types of numbers because when WoW hit the scene everyone else got e-peen envy on their sub numbers, so everyone collectively started obfuscating those numbers to stick their head in the sand.

    Anyone who still logs into live knows both of these games (eq1, eq2) are deader than a doornail. Them bloating the player base numbers by counting monthly subs doesnt do **** but make the acquisition look more appealing. This is why they split the different IP's into different studios. They were looking to sell. and were willing to sell each ip off separately if needed. If it were so profitable or a cash cow as Benny likes to fantasize about then they would not have sold...
     
    Last edited: Dec 3, 2020
    • Like Like x 1
  12. Alarra

    Alarra Active Member

    From my recollection, it's like 2 weeks or so before the new expansion, it's always dead at this time of the year.

    Same, I avoid launchers like the plague. You never know when they'll pull the plug for a service and all your hard earned money goes into a big puff of smoke when your games go bye bye with the service.
    The reason why I buy from GoG with their offline installers. Heard too much "Software as a Service" failures.

    Yup, but your previous estimates were much lower. By the figures, the game is being kept afloat by whales. But as a ratio it also has the one of the highest Subscriber rates vs free to play player rates.

    I reckon they should make the client 64 bit and put a DX9 wrapper to convert DX9 calls to DX12, then we would have less memory issues and better graphic performance, but I doubt they would do that. However, it could be used as a marketing tool.
     
  13. Dizzy

    Dizzy Active Member

    It will be interesting to see if this is a leveraged buyout or not. Maybe they will be asset strippers :)

    Interesting times.

    PS. Account had been stuck in no mans land due to change of email :(
     
  14. Arazons

    Arazons Member

    Its always dead, anytime of the year. Even after expansions drop these days, there is hardly anyone playing after 2 weeks. The initial newness wears off and people remember why they don't log into a broken game.

    To be fair...

    The number they show from Jan of this year to the end of Sept, shows "monthly active users" and then "monthly active subs". I wonder how it factors "unique users"? Is it unique character logins? Unique account logins? Unique account owner logins (not 1 person logging into 2+ accounts)? Do subscription numbers include Krono uses or unique user subscriptions paid for with cc?

    Bravo to them for creating a golden goose ripe for the picking and getting themselves plucked up at what is surely a handsome premium for what it is they actually have to offer with EQ2 and EQ1.

    They learned well from Smed, when he did the same. Right up until the point before jumping out with his golden parachute on, leaving the rest of DBG in freefall since. They picked the perfect time honestly, to do the valuation. Do it during a time when hundreds of millions of people are suddenly stuck at home around the world. Online gaming has shot up, statistically daybreak has benefited from that, even if the in game reality of player population or interaction tells a different tale.

    Lots of people buy 3-12 months worth of game time at a time. And then rarely play, or do nothing more than log in to send out overseers or perform some other mobile type experience drip. It seems like every expansion since DoV the player population "in game" has visibly reduced... But we're in an age where BoL was dead on arrival. And the upcoming expansion is not appearing to be anything better either. It will be another stillborn bastard expansion, that will drive the sub numbers down even further like every other before it. It will join the annals of mmo history as an example of a misguided team focused solely on bean counting and avoiding the chopping block... And not enough time on the user / customer experience nor the passion to see any such thing through.
     
    Last edited: Dec 4, 2020
    • Agree Agree x 1
  15. Adoninilol

    Adoninilol Member

    Out of 21k how many are bots.
     
    • Agree Agree x 3
  16. Anaogi

    Anaogi Active Member

    Probably an uncomfortably high number. As high as half maybe? No way to tell.
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
  17. Wulfgyr / Erytheal

    Wulfgyr / Erytheal Active Member

    From a revenue perspective, doesn't matter, as long as it's a paid subscription. That's why there's little/no actual enforcement.
     
    Last edited: Dec 4, 2020
    • Agree Agree x 3
    • Winner Winner x 1
  18. Zhaanish

    Zhaanish Active Member

    It's what drove me away a good while ago. I honestly can't remember which expansion it was, but once it was clear I couldn't reasonably keep all my alts at max level for crafting, while a subscriber, I quit.
     
    • Agree Agree x 3
    • Appreciation Appreciation x 2
  19. Zhaanish

    Zhaanish Active Member

    I agree - I honestly would love to see EQ2 back to being a fun game for everyone - but I honestly also don't think that will ever happen. I still miss the house decorating to this day. No other game is quite the same in that regard. Once Domino left they kicked all of us "casual" (I hate that term) gamers to the side. I took my money and went elsewhere.
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
    • Winner Winner x 2
  20. Arazons

    Arazons Member

    Long gone are the glory days. I had hoped John Adams would have made more progress on the emulator by this point. But VG getting sunset really shifted his focus to that instead of EQ2.
     
    • Informative Informative x 1

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