Is the Playerbase Really Growing Significantly Now?

FlopsyPrince

Someone in a thread mentioned the playerbase was "exploding". Is that really the case?

EDIT: I should note this was in a context about poorer performance and many "cut backs" happening now.

thorwyn

I don't see any evidence that would support this assumption. At least on EU, the population seems to be more or less the same. Speaking from my perspective and my "bubble", it's even seems to be getting smaller. The raid scene is on life support (and has been for quite some time) and the guild chats of my most active social guilds are more or less empty outside of prime time.
Not sure where this person is coming from, but exploding sounds like a bold statement.

Pixiepumpkin

I see no indication that the game is growing, if anything it feels like its shrinking. Gold Road looks like another skippable chapter.

moderatelyfatman

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

Someone in a thread mentioned the playerbase was "exploding". Is that really the case?

EDIT: I should note this was in a context about poorer performance and many "cut backs" happening now.

When you say 'exploding' are you referring to a population increase or people getting enraged at all the bugs?

Hotdog_23

Guild sales are down by at least 50% for the last 2 weeks. Maybe everyone is taking a break until Gold Road. Definitely don't see and exploding population.

Stay safe

LaintalAy

Hotdog_23 wrote: »

Guild sales are down by at least 50% for the last 2 weeks. Maybe everyone is taking a break until Gold Road. Definitely don't see and exploding population.

Stay safe

I sold 2.5 million up until Sunday and spent 5million buying style motifs.
I then left my 3 guilds and uninstalled my game.

i can't tell if that answers the question or not.

boom-cha.

derkaiserliche

LaintalAy wrote: »

Hotdog_23 wrote: »

Guild sales are down by at least 50% for the last 2 weeks. Maybe everyone is taking a break until Gold Road. Definitely don't see and exploding population.

Stay safe

I sold 2.5 million up until Sunday and spent 5million buying style motifs.
I then left my 3 guilds and uninstalled my game.

i can't tell if that answers the question or not.

boom-cha.

weird move but whatever fits your mind

Anifaas

The game seems quieter to me on PC-NA than when I started in 2018. I suspect things will pick up when the new chapter is released.

LunaFlora

there are more people during events and the first few weeks after new updates release, especially chapters.
so it'll increase again in two weeks

DirtyDeeds765

The playerbase is definitely growing. I'm on PSNA every day and I have been seeing tons of new low cp players for months now.

@DirtyDeeds765

GooGa592

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

Someone in a thread mentioned the playerbase was "exploding". Is that really the case?

EDIT: I should note this was in a context about poorer performance and many "cut backs" happening now.

The regular, daily players are a small fraction of what they used to be. There may be more PvE casuals now who play 1-4 times per month, but the daily regular player numbers crashed with U35 and has not recovered. Add to that ZOS has all but phased out Cyrodiil PvP, which was the main attraction for most competitive end game players. I'd say the daily player population has been declining since 2019, with the exception of the COVID bump, which has stabilized at a lower number than pre-COVID numbers.

SkaiFaith

DirtyDeeds765 wrote: »

The playerbase is definitely growing. I'm on PSNA every day and I have been seeing tons of new low cp players for months now.

@DirtyDeeds765

I noticed something similar on Xbox EU. While I can't wrap my head around the specific reason, lately I've seen more players all around Tamriel early in the morning, most of them low CPs.

Still, guild traders feel empty compared to the past in my experience, but it's totally anecdotal.

Always appreciate seeing new players by the way

ghastley

Every new zone spreads the players a bit thinner, so a constant population will look like a decline. Equally, a steady density of players is actually an increase in total. They have to run faster just to stand still.

Elsonso

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

Someone in a thread mentioned the playerbase was "exploding". Is that really the case?

I don't want to explode.


I think that ESO attracts players at certain times during the year, namely big events and Chapters, and the Anniversary stuff going on is feeding into that. Other times during the year, players are off doing other things. I don't think the player base is "exploding" but it is very "nomadic". Lots of what I call "tourists". The don't live here, but they come visit a lot.

I think that we can expect that by late July and August, probably into September, people will be talking about how ESO is getting ready to shut down.

tsaescishoeshiner

Who knows, but I'm seeing a lot of new players and some returning ones. Trying to remind myself to say "welcome new and returning players" in zone chat every now and then

Surak73

LaintalAy wrote: »

I sold 2.5 million up until Sunday and spent 5million buying style motifs.
I then left my 3 guilds and uninstalled my game.

OMG, were those motifs so ugly?...

moderatelyfatman

DirtyDeeds765 wrote: »

The playerbase is definitely growing. I'm on PSNA every day and I have been seeing tons of new low cp players for months now.

@DirtyDeeds765

Not necessarily: it could just be a faster turn over of new players as the do ESO for a few months and then move onto the next shiny new thing.

@LunaFlora The population will undoubtedly increase but will it endure like after Greymoor or will it drop off after a month the way it did with High Isle and Necrom?

LunaFlora

moderatelyfatman wrote: »

DirtyDeeds765 wrote: »

The playerbase is definitely growing. I'm on PSNA every day and I have been seeing tons of new low cp players for months now.

@DirtyDeeds765

Not necessarily: it could just be a faster turn over of new players as the do ESO for a few months and then move onto the next shiny new thing.

@LunaFlora The population will undoubtedly increase but will it endure like after Greymoor or will it drop off after a month the way it did with High Isle and Necrom?

i said there would be more people the first few weeks after updates, especially chapters.
because that happens every year.

what would the population enduring mean?

furiouslog

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

Who knows, but I'm seeing a lot of new players and some returning ones. Trying to remind myself to say "welcome new and returning players" in zone chat every now and then

I think I've seen you say that. Nice!

Tandor

I have been seeing a lot more players in central hubs like Vulkhel Guard and Leyawiin for a little while now, and just a few minutes ago there were a lot of players running around Stros M'kai. How many of these are new players or new alts, and to what degree it could be down to reduced instancing of such zones we shall never know.

Xarc

Is playerbase the amount of accounts on ESO ? If it is the case then each time a player create a new account for 6€ he increases the playerbase but there's no more player...

Rkindaleft

DirtyDeeds765 wrote: »

The playerbase is definitely growing. I'm on PSNA every day and I have been seeing tons of new low cp players for months now.

@DirtyDeeds765

The question that I have is how many of those players actually stick around after low levels, though?

I'm also on PS/NA and have 2 different accounts that are in 10 different close to max population guilds and most of the low CP players are the players who haven't logged into the game in months and are the ones getting kicked for being inactive. That might be anecdotal though.

Player retention especially for players who participate in PvP and high level PvE isn't good because of repeated bad updates, bad performance and non-sensical nerfs. The endgame trial community at least on PlayStation is probably the smallest it's been in years. 90% of the people that I have played with in the last 2-3 years barely log in or have stopped entirely. There are more people leaving high level PvE then there are new players joining it.

Is it really "growth" if they get to 500CP and then never log in again?

moderatelyfatman

Steamcharts are not great for actual numbers but they are a good indicator for trends. Overall, the number of players login in each day over the last few months has increased a little with the recent events but definitely not back at the levels on 2020 (49k players)

notyuu

moderatelyfatman wrote: »

Steamcharts are not great for actual numbers but they are a good indicator for trends. Overall, the number of players login in each day over the last few months has increased a little with the recent events but definitely not back at the levels on 2020 (49k players)

Well in all fairness we do t have a pandemic going on to keep people at home to play eso

LalMirchi

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

Someone in a thread mentioned the playerbase was "exploding". Is that really the case?

EDIT: I should note this was in a context about poorer performance and many "cut backs" happening now.

Grandfather used to describe a chicken soup made from a feather and this reminds me of that.

"Someone in a thread..." is rather thin gruel

moderatelyfatman

Rkindaleft wrote: »

DirtyDeeds765 wrote: »

The playerbase is definitely growing. I'm on PSNA every day and I have been seeing tons of new low cp players for months now.

@DirtyDeeds765

The question that I have is how many of those players actually stick around after low levels, though?

I'm also on PS/NA and have 2 different accounts that are in 10 different close to max population guilds and most of the low CP players are the players who haven't logged into the game in months and are the ones getting kicked for being inactive. That might be anecdotal though.

Player retention especially for players who participate in PvP and high level PvE isn't good because of repeated bad updates, bad performance and non-sensical nerfs. The endgame trial community at least on PlayStation is probably the smallest it's been in years. 90% of the people that I have played with in the last 2-3 years barely log in or have stopped entirely. There are more people leaving high level PvE then there are new players joining it.

Is it really "growth" if they get to 500CP and then never log in again?

I agree with you 100% as I've seen plenty of evidence of this in PC.

The playerbase changed after patch 35 with a large number of long term players leaving. Just watch Nefas's video on Project Vitality to see the effect on endgame. Lets just say that when some of the oldest ESO discords shut down, you know it's bad.

ZOS has responded (successfully, especially on PC) by bringing in more short term players but I feel this has led to a vicious cycle of simplifying the game aspects to appeal to newer players but reducing the game's long term appeal. An example of this was Oakensoul when suddenly relatively inexperienced players could now complete vet and hard mode challenges without developing the level of skill needed on other builds. When Oakensoul HA builds were 'nerfed', many of these players quit because they'd gotten their achievements and chose to next shiny new toy rather learning a more difficult class. And don't get me started on the arcanist!

The higher proportion of new players is a possible explanation as to why Necrom, considered by many to be one of the best new releases in years, sold poorly. After all, why would a new player pay $50 to access the latest zone and trial when you still haven't finshed all the other zones, trials and content you received for $20?

Anyway, here's hoping for the future and hoping that more of these new players stay on long enough to become long term players.

MasterSpatula

On the one hand, my friends list and guild rosters are showing people I haven't seen in ages, so interest in the new chapter is definitely bringing people in.

On the other hand, in ten years I haven't seen the game as dead during off-peak hours.

All anecdotal evidence, of course, so not sure what, if anything, it says.

Hapexamendios

If it has,, I haven't noticed.

Elsonso

moderatelyfatman wrote: »

The higher proportion of new players is a possible explanation as to why Necrom, considered by many to be one of the best new releases in years, sold poorly. After all, why would a new player pay $50 to access the latest zone and trial when you still haven't finshed all the other zones, trials and content you received for $20?

I wasn't aware that they released the Necrom sales figures and these showed poor sales.

As for finishing the stories, yes, there are a TON of stories to be done, and there is no reason to buy new stories before they are needed. Chapters can be purchased for non-story content, though.

As for retaining new players, I can see how the fragmented stories with no clear path through them can be a problem. The way that ZOS has laid out their stories and how the stories are selected, is very intimidating. They provide little guidance to remediate that. It is sort of like teaching someone to swim by having them wade around the shallow end, and when they have done that enough, tossing them into the deep end and telling them to swim.