colossalvoids wrote: »colossalvoids wrote: »colossalvoids wrote: »Honestly finding it quite comical checking ESO and Path of Exile 1 numbers today, one is recently released an update and an MMO which is meant to be played constantly whilst the other is an arpg with a months old league that people already jumped from into PoE 2 last update a week ago, still a dead arpg league having same exact numbers of players. Both games played primarily outside of steam.
I assume you're basing "the exact same numbers of players" on Steam charts. As you say that both games are played primarily outside of Steam, what are your "outside of Steam" numbers for both games, and the source of those numbers?
Absolutely, after all it's a thread that is based on steam charts as a part of a whole, having most obviously observable statics out there for most games. You are free to think that it's not a representative sample of overall population, there's nothing wrong with it.
I never suggested that, one way or the other, I simply pointed out that you were presumably basing your comments on Steam populations while stating that both games were primarily played outside of Steam, and therefore asking what your corresponding "out of Steam" figures were.
Not sure what figures are you so desperate to get there as zenimax keeps it as one of their best kept secrets for various reasons, I'd speculate but that might get redacted. This "primarily out of steam" thing is more of a sign of caution as steam always getting dismissed as an unreliable source, because "we all play from the client" thing going on dedicated forums. Also it was a fact some six or so years ago, when someone on a dev team was asked on a stream (or irl event?), was a long time ago to remember who and where it was. Doubt it's still the case, but we don't have a better recent reference afaik. And if those figures aren't good we're never seeing them.
I'm not desperate at all, I'm simply suggesting that if you're going to compare the player numbers for two games both of which are primarily played outside of Steam then basing that comparison solely on Steam figures renders the comparison pretty meaningless. Somewhat reminiscent of the Blue Stone of Galveston, for Blackadder fans.
spartaxoxo wrote: »spartaxoxo wrote: »spartaxoxo wrote: »Two copies of the same enemy at the same spot and players can only interact with one sounds way more immersion breaking than occasionally running into who is hitting harder than you in a multiplayer setting, imo. Then again, because this isn't a single player game, I don't expect to always be the strongest on the map.
They’re not standing in the same spot during combat—mobs and players move constantly. As mentioned earlier, the alternate copy only appears when a player from a different difficulty tier approaches.
Ghost-phased figures don’t break immersion. If anything, they enhance it—just look at how well it works in Souls games.
And if that’s a dealbreaker for your immersion, let’s be honest: ESO already breaks it in far more jarring ways. Players chatting with NPCs you can’t see, enemies you just killed respawning like nothing happened, heroic actions that leave zero impact on the world… 😉
This isn’t Mass Effect. The immersion ship sailed long ago—and it wasn’t even a lore-friendly ship. 😉
The souls games I have played had other players be ghosts not enemies.
I don't recall ever seeing a player chatting with an NPC I couldn't see. Respawning enemies are a normal part of games. Heroic actions do leave an impact narratively and sometimes we even get to see it, which is my favorite.
The immersion ship is very much still here. And the story is the most popular piece of content in the game.
Re: Souls—other players, enemies… what’s the difference in this context? There were such enemies and even ghost-phased NPCs you couldn’t attack or interact with under certain conditions. That you didn't encounter them or don't remember doesn't change the fact.
Anyway, fair enough. Glad you feel immersed and impactful in ESO. Some of us just measure “impact” differently—and that's okay. You do you 🙂
The difference is, for example, when I run into a boss that I struggle with, I can call a stronger ghost to help me rather than having to watch a stronger ghost make mince meat of my bosses doppelganger while I sit there feeling dumb. And in this game, it would mean that stronger player wouldn't be able to help me either. So, let's say I'm a new player and I sit around waiting for someone to help me kill a boss. It takes 15 minutes and then the person runs up and attacks and suddenly they're both ghosts. And now I gotta wait even longer while watching a fight I can't participate in. That would feel pretty lame.
It looks like you didn’t read my earlier comments before replying. The scenario you just described wouldn’t happen—you wouldn’t end up waiting.
Re. Souls: we are also talking about two different things.