Decline in player activity?

[Shoegaze]

Does anyone else have the sense that player activity is shrinking? It seems to me that the only server that is ever full is Universe 1, even at peak hours. As short as a month ago we had generally at least two servers active at any given time... but no more. I mean right now for example, Wednesday evening at 7:30, only server 1 is full and the next closest is server 2 with one and a half stars.

I think Sega needs to market this game better to garner new accounts, or do a better job of retention of they're current online base. The game should be slowly increasing in membership at this point, not going the other way should it not? I realize that the largest player group, which is 18 - 24 year olds are likely in exam mode at this time, but still... this doesn't bode well as near as I can tell.

If the game dwindles down to very little player support, there would be no business reason to keep it going... which would be unfortunate.

[Guitarsmasher]

yea, ive been thinking the exact same thing for the past few days, litterally

[HiKeRI]

I "think" its because Ps2/PC are migrating to Xbox 360 a "legit" platform which is not hackable at the moment.

EDIT: Also, i think that many people gave bad reputation at PSU from reviews, first months of release (Even if every game passes these other "MMO's" still have the spark to keep shining, bringing new players) Hackers messing up the economy and suchs.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: HiKeRI on 2006-12-20 16:31 ]</font>

[Midicronica]

With the the recent events it would only seem natural that player activity would be shrinking, if you talking about PC/PS2.

From what I hear X360 still has at least 2-3 Universes full at peak hours of play.

[Ffuzzy-Logik]

On 2006-12-20 16:25, Shoegaze wrote:
If the game dwindles down to very little player support, there would be no business reason to keep it going... which would be unfortunate.
It's inevitable at this point.


And why is over half the player base pondering leaving? They're too afraid of getting h4x'd.

[Merumeru]

XD eh im just waiting for more S ranks, or that one level that everyone will be at to farm mesetas and MP <3

[DarkSeph]

360 here....I haven't noticed a decline with our server....I do feel really bad that all that Sh!t is happening to the PS2/PC users http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif

[Ryoki]

On 2006-12-20 16:49, DarkSeph wrote:
360 here....I haven't noticed a decline with our server....I do feel really bad that all that Sh!t is happening to the PS2/PC users http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif


Yeah, it is saddening, since I really don't have the money to buy a new system. Although Dead Rising was one of the most fun games I have played in a long while. Eat Nerf Mega Buster, zombie bitches!

BTW: I hate the Vietnam vet. He goes in his little trap doors. Pansy.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Ryoki on 2006-12-20 16:52 ]</font>

[AeraLure]

On 2006-12-20 16:29, Ffuzzy-Logik wrote:
They're too afraid of getting h4x'd.


I dont think many leave, or are considering it, for that reason. Its more because of meseta duping and its implications. Way I see it anyway.

[Pandatron]

Well for starters lets look at when PSU was released. Around this same time other consoles and games were plan to be released or being released such as the Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, Final Fantasy XII, Gears of War so when PSU came out it had enough competition to advert people.

Next was the lack of content i mean yes it was a month before JP didn't get there updates but really we had the same length. Sure we've caught up for the most part but really you can get bored with the game real fast once you finish up exams (i.e: i played for a few hours a day and went from 50-60 in less than a week). That and the difficult of the game is beginning to become laughable... still fun though seeing how i like cards.... CARDS *drools*.

Now we can't forget about hacks such as duping of meseta, items, penetrating rooms, and the countless list that the cheat section along with other related cheat sites can fill people in on. Personally for myself that's a big detramenting factor from me continuing to play. That and STA appears to be getting more attention the SOA in this category... but i'll save my rant i could go on forever.

The finally element that i think is playing a minor roll is alot of people that were playing WoW, Guild Wars, FFXI actually had there hopes up and dropped those accounts to play on PSU became disappointed adn walked back to the previous addiction. I don't think this plays a larger factor then the others but its a variable.

Anywho to address the point ya the player base is dwindling and fast it seemed like it was going to pick up again after the update but then it just shot down and died again in no time a bit disappointing if you ask me. Though even with these factors i've enjoyed the game and actually enjoy the smaller community in a way it's filtered out alot of the annoying 'lol nubs' as it be but then again i perfer smaller mmos myself. In either case the only thing that really gets me down is the hacking within the game and how the information can easily be located and has been reported to SOA but SOA nor GG has doen some effort but not enough to keep up with it. Then again rant for another day ^_^;;;.

Ok rant done xD.

[DarkSeph]

I hope they can find a way to fix things for those servers without having to reset people's goods/items. I don't see how they can't just find out who duped Meseta and fix that problem/ban those people while fixing the shop/pm resetting problem as well......

I am actually pissed off more than it seems because I can't take Sh!t for pictures with my Xbox...yes, that is a major downside....and those PC screenshots make the database worth looking at......so please SEGA, help them

[ShinMaruku]

It's becuase they are cahrging money and don't do shite(Yes shite) for it.

[pso123hrf]

The game is too repetitive...im gonna go on Guild Wars because you get to make your own builds.

[Nani-chan]

I'm bored out of my mind whenever I play since all there is to do is grind ranks and grind crossbow.

I want to see buffs, debuffs, dark falkis.. and maybe a minigame.

Trade meseta for game counters to ride lungas to earn points to trade for rares.. Meh.. I dream way to much.

[Yoiyami]

I'm not surprised. Who wants to play in a community that's not legit, honest and fair? Everyone is affected by that handful of people that enjoy ruining other people's fun and what's worse, that handful of people gets bigger and bigger because those who WERE legit become greedy. Their community becomes even larger because many other players become fed up and quit.

What's sad is that this game is still new, this shouldn't be happening. Sega and ST should be humiliated, this happens to every PS/O game that they put on the market. It always gets out of hand and they always abandon the servers. *sigh* And I'm a fan of the series too, this is so frustrating...

[Choja]

On 2006-12-20 17:01, ShinMaruku wrote:
It's becuase they are cahrging money and don't do shite(Yes shite) for it.

I'm sorry, I'm only caring about your signature because it has a cute girl in it. *shot*

So yeah, blah blah blah, people are hacking, screaming, and plus, Friendship can't destroy Hacking? MY ASS.

So, if the hackers (note: idiotic script kiddies) blow down something, what will come up? It's not like they'll make some super better game or anything, since they only have the experience of being parasites, not being hosts themselves.

Also, Choja + monopolize = no!
So don't allow that to happen, use friendship, and kick ass!

[CelestialBlade]

Of course it's declined, a decline after the initial release happens in every single game. A bunch of people are going to latch on at the initial release, and slowly that influx of players is going to slow down. Content update will give it boosts along the way, but it'll probably never be as active as it was at initial release until there are way more PSU players than there are now.

[Shoegaze]

Yeah, that confirms more or less what I was thinking as well.... especially hearing that the X-Box 360 membership is doing much better than PS2 - PC. For many of the reasons mentioned, I'm not terribly optomistic about the games future on this platform.

[Ffuzzy-Logik]

On 2006-12-20 17:57, Shoegaze wrote:
Yeah, that confirms more or less what I was thinking as well.... especially hearing that the X-Box 360 membership is doing much better than PS2 - PC. For many of the reasons mentioned, I'm not terribly optomistic about the games future on this platform.


It won't be too bad, it'll end up just like BB did: a close group of 50-150 players who actually enjoy playing the game, and maybe 5 or so haxorz who haven't gotten tired and left yet.

[Kanore]

Well, there's a certain BB server that went up recently, so I'm playing good old PSO now. I don't have a 360 nor do I want to spend another month grinding to 60, so I'll just see what happens with PC. I still have several months to go on my subscription anyway.