[Poll] Steam or Non-Steam: Accurate-ish Player Statistics Hang In The Balance

Dominoid

Steam keeps some great statistics on the current number of active users playing games through their client:

http://store.steampowered.com/stats/

The website below keeps stats on just MMO-type games for a better comparison.

http://www.gamewalkers.com/games/steam-players/mmo/

None of these stats are of particular interest (except for trends) unless you know what percentage of your player base plays through the Steam client. This weekend ESO has been averaging just over 5,000 active players through Steam. With the help of this totally scientific, reliable and infallible forum poll, we can determine the approximate amount of active players at any time by knowing the rough percentage of people playing through Steam and perhaps through some other mathematical sorcery get a better picture of the player base as a whole.

Please participate in the poll below. Thanks.

Dominoid

I play a non-Steam version OR don't launch through Steam

Reserved for OP comments, additions or edits to original subject as for some reason you can't edit the first post.

Edit 1:

So it seems to be settling initially at above 95% which isn't a large surprise to me. So I think the current peak this weekend was 5,117 concurrent steam players puts the overall concurrent players at 125,000 or so. I'm trying to find a correlation in other MMOs for concurrent peak versus overall player base now.

Endurance

wouldnt recommend anyone play through steam because there is always steam related issues preventing people from launching the game or properly connecting to the games login server

Kalfis

I play a non-Steam version OR don't launch through Steam

The only use I find for MMOs on steam is your download speeds arnt god awful, you actually get the speed you pay for.

Thankfully I get great speed on the ESO launcher, so no need for steam.

ItsGlaive

I play a Steam version AND launch through Steam

Always play through Steam. Never ever had any issues with it.

Thymos

I play a non-Steam version OR don't launch through Steam

I preordered the physical boxed Imperial Edition, so non-steam. Been playing since the beta, never stopped.

Runhent

I play a Steam version AND launch through Steam

I didn't buy Steam version, and I don't like the fact of impossibility to bind the game (which I pre-ordered at the forefront) to my Steam account.
But I launch game trough Steam as non-Steam game. Because it's comfortable - for screenshots, for example, and translations for friends.

Dominoid

I play a non-Steam version OR don't launch through Steam

Seems to settling just above 95% non-Steam users which puts fuzzy math at a peak of 125,000 concurrent users this weekend. Efforting to find some form of correlation between concurrent users and overall population.

Tandor

I play a non-Steam version OR don't launch through Steam

In the old days it used to be said that about 25% of the overall population would be playing at any one time. No idea if that still holds true. I think that figure came from SOE in the early EQ days. If so, and just for a moment going along with the whole concept, that would suggest a total in the region of 600,000. However, it's a very flawed way of guesstimating something we shall never know.

eisberg

I play a non-Steam version OR don't launch through Steam

Tandor wrote: »

In the old days it used to be said that about 25% of the overall population would be playing at any one time. No idea if that still holds true. I think that figure came from SOE in the early EQ days. If so, and just for a moment going along with the whole concept, that would suggest a total in the region of 600,000. However, it's a very flawed way of guesstimating something we shall never know.

Close, it is ~25% of the overall population that would be playing during the peak hours. At any other time of the day it would be less then 25% of the overall population.

Dominoid

I play a non-Steam version OR don't launch through Steam

Tandor wrote: »

In the old days it used to be said that about 25% of the overall population would be playing at any one time. No idea if that still holds true. I think that figure came from SOE in the early EQ days. If so, and just for a moment going along with the whole concept, that would suggest a total in the region of 600,000. However, it's a very flawed way of guesstimating something we shall never know.

I would be VERY surprised if 25% of ANY MMO's player base are playing at peak times concurrently - definitely not ESO's. I'd be surprised if 25% of ESO players login at all on any given day let alone have a concurrent connection at the same time. Not to mention that ESO's player-base is skewed very heavily in the casual direction for the MMO genre.

Some quick number crunching about WOW's concurrent connections shows about a max of 414,000 concurrent connections in the last 24 hours between US and EU servers (491 of them). On a subscriber count of 8-10 million (and that's not including all the people playing for free to level 20), puts WOW's concurrent connection to subscriber ratio at just a tick above 5%.

eisberg

I play a non-Steam version OR don't launch through Steam

Dominoid wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

In the old days it used to be said that about 25% of the overall population would be playing at any one time. No idea if that still holds true. I think that figure came from SOE in the early EQ days. If so, and just for a moment going along with the whole concept, that would suggest a total in the region of 600,000. However, it's a very flawed way of guesstimating something we shall never know.

I would be VERY surprised if 25% of ANY MMO's player base are playing at peak times concurrently - definitely not ESO's. I'd be surprised if 25% of ESO players login at all on any given day let alone have a concurrent connection at the same time. Not to mention that ESO's player-base is skewed very heavily in the casual direction for the MMO genre.

Some quick number crunching about WOW's concurrent connections shows about a max of 414,000 concurrent connections in the last 24 hours between US and EU servers (491 of them). On a subscriber count of 8-10 million (and that's not including all the people playing for free to level 20), puts WOW's concurrent connection to subscriber ratio at just a tick above 5%.

That 8-10 Million is going to include the Chinese players as well, and the 414,000 is from the US/EU servers. So you would need to find out what the subscriber number is for the US/EU.

Dominoid

I play a non-Steam version OR don't launch through Steam

eisberg wrote: »

Dominoid wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

In the old days it used to be said that about 25% of the overall population would be playing at any one time. No idea if that still holds true. I think that figure came from SOE in the early EQ days. If so, and just for a moment going along with the whole concept, that would suggest a total in the region of 600,000. However, it's a very flawed way of guesstimating something we shall never know.

I would be VERY surprised if 25% of ANY MMO's player base are playing at peak times concurrently - definitely not ESO's. I'd be surprised if 25% of ESO players login at all on any given day let alone have a concurrent connection at the same time. Not to mention that ESO's player-base is skewed very heavily in the casual direction for the MMO genre.

Some quick number crunching about WOW's concurrent connections shows about a max of 414,000 concurrent connections in the last 24 hours between US and EU servers (491 of them). On a subscriber count of 8-10 million (and that's not including all the people playing for free to level 20), puts WOW's concurrent connection to subscriber ratio at just a tick above 5%.

That 8-10 Million is going to include the Chinese players as well, and the 414,000 is from the US/EU servers. So you would need to find out what the subscriber number is for the US/EU.

Are you sure those include China? China players don't subscribe, they purchase game time in minutes and refill their account when they are out of minutes. It's not really a subscription.

Bloodfang

I play a non-Steam version OR don't launch through Steam

Dominoid wrote: »

eisberg wrote: »

Dominoid wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

In the old days it used to be said that about 25% of the overall population would be playing at any one time. No idea if that still holds true. I think that figure came from SOE in the early EQ days. If so, and just for a moment going along with the whole concept, that would suggest a total in the region of 600,000. However, it's a very flawed way of guesstimating something we shall never know.

I would be VERY surprised if 25% of ANY MMO's player base are playing at peak times concurrently - definitely not ESO's. I'd be surprised if 25% of ESO players login at all on any given day let alone have a concurrent connection at the same time. Not to mention that ESO's player-base is skewed very heavily in the casual direction for the MMO genre.

Some quick number crunching about WOW's concurrent connections shows about a max of 414,000 concurrent connections in the last 24 hours between US and EU servers (491 of them). On a subscriber count of 8-10 million (and that's not including all the people playing for free to level 20), puts WOW's concurrent connection to subscriber ratio at just a tick above 5%.

That 8-10 Million is going to include the Chinese players as well, and the 414,000 is from the US/EU servers. So you would need to find out what the subscriber number is for the US/EU.

Are you sure those include China? China players don't subscribe, they purchase game time in minutes and refill their account when they are out of minutes. It's not really a subscription.

Actually Blizzard does count that as a subscription.
Even though out of 10mil, it was about 7mil just from the East.
(A good way to market your subs number).

eisberg

I play a non-Steam version OR don't launch through Steam

Dominoid wrote: »

eisberg wrote: »

Dominoid wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

In the old days it used to be said that about 25% of the overall population would be playing at any one time. No idea if that still holds true. I think that figure came from SOE in the early EQ days. If so, and just for a moment going along with the whole concept, that would suggest a total in the region of 600,000. However, it's a very flawed way of guesstimating something we shall never know.

I would be VERY surprised if 25% of ANY MMO's player base are playing at peak times concurrently - definitely not ESO's. I'd be surprised if 25% of ESO players login at all on any given day let alone have a concurrent connection at the same time. Not to mention that ESO's player-base is skewed very heavily in the casual direction for the MMO genre.

Some quick number crunching about WOW's concurrent connections shows about a max of 414,000 concurrent connections in the last 24 hours between US and EU servers (491 of them). On a subscriber count of 8-10 million (and that's not including all the people playing for free to level 20), puts WOW's concurrent connection to subscriber ratio at just a tick above 5%.

That 8-10 Million is going to include the Chinese players as well, and the 414,000 is from the US/EU servers. So you would need to find out what the subscriber number is for the US/EU.

Are you sure those include China? China players don't subscribe, they purchase game time in minutes and refill their account when they are out of minutes. It's not really a subscription.

Yes

World of Warcraft’ s Subscriber Definition
World of Warcraft subscribers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access. Internet game room players who have accessed the game over the last thirty days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards. Subscribers in licensees’ territories are defined along the same rules.

http://blizzard.gamespress.com/WORLD-OF-WARCRAFT-SURPASSES-10-MILLION-SUBSCRIBERS-AS-WARLORDS-OF-DRAE

If they played even a minute in the last 30 days, they were counted as a subscriber.
it has always been known that the Chinese players were considered as subscribers in the announced subscriber numbers.

Dominoid

I play a non-Steam version OR don't launch through Steam

eisberg wrote: »

Dominoid wrote: »

eisberg wrote: »

Dominoid wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

In the old days it used to be said that about 25% of the overall population would be playing at any one time. No idea if that still holds true. I think that figure came from SOE in the early EQ days. If so, and just for a moment going along with the whole concept, that would suggest a total in the region of 600,000. However, it's a very flawed way of guesstimating something we shall never know.

I would be VERY surprised if 25% of ANY MMO's player base are playing at peak times concurrently - definitely not ESO's. I'd be surprised if 25% of ESO players login at all on any given day let alone have a concurrent connection at the same time. Not to mention that ESO's player-base is skewed very heavily in the casual direction for the MMO genre.

Some quick number crunching about WOW's concurrent connections shows about a max of 414,000 concurrent connections in the last 24 hours between US and EU servers (491 of them). On a subscriber count of 8-10 million (and that's not including all the people playing for free to level 20), puts WOW's concurrent connection to subscriber ratio at just a tick above 5%.

That 8-10 Million is going to include the Chinese players as well, and the 414,000 is from the US/EU servers. So you would need to find out what the subscriber number is for the US/EU.

Are you sure those include China? China players don't subscribe, they purchase game time in minutes and refill their account when they are out of minutes. It's not really a subscription.

Yes

World of Warcraft’ s Subscriber Definition
World of Warcraft subscribers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access. Internet game room players who have accessed the game over the last thirty days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards. Subscribers in licensees’ territories are defined along the same rules.

http://blizzard.gamespress.com/WORLD-OF-WARCRAFT-SURPASSES-10-MILLION-SUBSCRIBERS-AS-WARLORDS-OF-DRAE

If they played even a minute in the last 30 days, they were counted as a subscriber.
it has always been known that the Chinese players were considered as subscribers in the announced subscriber numbers.

The only thing I could find is about four years old. Looks like China accounted for about 30% of the whole.

http://www.wowwiki.com/WoW_population_by_country

That still puts concurrent players to subscriber ratio under 10%. Of course all of this doesn't mean a damn thing. Lol

seaef

I play a Steam version AND launch through Steam

If a game isn't on Steam, it's very unlikely I'll try it. I like the way Steam manages my games.

Glurin

I play a non-Steam version OR don't launch through Steam

GrimGryphon wrote: »

If a game isn't on Steam, it's very unlikely I'll try it. I like the way Steam manages my games.

As do I.

But then Steam goes down, and then I really, really don't like how steam manages my games.

seaef

I play a Steam version AND launch through Steam

Glurin wrote: »

GrimGryphon wrote: »

If a game isn't on Steam, it's very unlikely I'll try it. I like the way Steam manages my games.

As do I.

But then Steam goes down, and then I really, really don't like how steam manages my games.

Except that you can still play most games installed via Steam if it is offline.

seanvwolf

I play a non-Steam version OR don't launch through Steam

Dominoid wrote: »

Reserved for OP comments, additions or edits to original subject as for some reason you can't edit the first post.

Edit 1:

So it seems to be settling initially at above 95% which isn't a large surprise to me. So I think the current peak this weekend was 5,117 concurrent steam players puts the overall concurrent players at 125,000 or so. I'm trying to find a correlation in other MMOs for concurrent peak versus overall player base now.

You can edit the first post by editing the title/subject headline.

seanvwolf

I play a non-Steam version OR don't launch through Steam

It is also flawed as you aren't sure how many forum poll responders (much less visitors) represent aggregate average Steam or Non-Steam users. Too many variables and other population statistics to consider. I would say that Steam users are more likely than Non-Steam users to visit and respond to forums. But this would require more studies.

Dominoid

I play a non-Steam version OR don't launch through Steam

seanvwolf wrote: »

Dominoid wrote: »

Reserved for OP comments, additions or edits to original subject as for some reason you can't edit the first post.

Edit 1:

So it seems to be settling initially at above 95% which isn't a large surprise to me. So I think the current peak this weekend was 5,117 concurrent steam players puts the overall concurrent players at 125,000 or so. I'm trying to find a correlation in other MMOs for concurrent peak versus overall player base now.

You can edit the first post by editing the title/subject headline.

Hey look at that! Thanks.

Dominoid

I play a non-Steam version OR don't launch through Steam

seanvwolf wrote: »

It is also flawed as you aren't sure how many forum poll responders (much less visitors) represent aggregate average Steam or Non-Steam users. Too many variables and other population statistics to consider. I would say that Steam users are more likely than Non-Steam users to visit and respond to forums. But this would require more studies.

I don't think "visitors" can vote. Pretty sure you have to at least own the game. But this is clearly a scientific poll in every way imaginable. ;-)

Keepercraft

I play a non-Steam version OR don't launch through Steam

Why Zenimax don't show statistics of server population like in EVE-online?

Dominoid

I play a non-Steam version OR don't launch through Steam

Keepercraft wrote: »

Why Zenimax don't show statistics of server population like in EVE-online?

Public company versus privately held company. EVE is owned by CCP Games which is publicly traded on the stock market. They are forced by law to release financial statements once per quarter.This gives you the numbers you see. Same thing for games like WOW(Activision Blizzard) or Wildstar(NCSoft). Zenimax Online Studios/Bethesda are privately owned without "public" money and as such don't have to tell jack.

The rebuttal is always then, well if it was doing well they would tell us anyway. But would they? Why would they want to let competitors know where a lucrative market may lie. We will most likely never get population numbers from ZOS, but it wouldn't surprise me if we do hear "boxes" sold totals or "registered accounts" after console launch.


Edit: For example the "one of the 5 million people that have registered for the ESO beta" official statement found here:
http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/2014/03/14/eso-road-ahead