How many active players in ESO?

jeevin · October 2014

Nox_Aeterna wrote: »

GreyBrow wrote: »

Zenimax isn't talking because I suspect that the total number of ACTIVE players is horrendously small.

On the NA server, I would suspect that there are no more than 30,000 active players. I see the same names over and over.

Even if every faction had TEN completely full, active guilds (there aren't) there would be about 5000 per faction.

If I had to guess, 8pm EST to 2 am EST there are probably 9000 people online, max

The thing is , we just cant have any ideal at all from a player point of view.

The mega server keeps filling different instances , so there could be 1000 , probably we would think it is everything fine and dandy as long as they were all on the same place we are.

And that is the trick with this kind of server.

In a game like SWTOR we could see the game population going down because we could see the servers going into low pops and so on , in a game like ESo where we have no way of seeing it AND the server is meant to appear always full to us , we wont notice lols.

Thats assuming the game fills more than one instance. I see a lot of the same names in the same places just as GreyBrow. I play my lower level toon for alchemy, then log in with my main and can see the same people in the same places. I don't know how the phasing works(or doesn't) but thats what I see.

I don't pretend the game is empty as some towns are hives of activity. The game world is enormous too and you still see the odd players out in the wilderness. But I doubt the population is all that big.

We'll never know the real numbers anyway so I don't know why these threads keep popping up

pecheckler · October 2014

I think it is pretty clear there are not more than one instance of nearly every PvE zone. Maybe more than one for zones leading up to level 40. But if i've never seen more than a tiny number of players in a certain area's primary town, it's pretty clear that particular instance isn't near capacity. I might have believed that happens if im in the last overflow instance, but not when it is the case every single time.

The biggest problem is that Zenimax hides this information from players. Other AAA mmo games let that information be freely available, including means to take census.

If we the players knew how many players were in each area at all times, and could see historical information of the data, then we would be able to provide appropriate feedback on changes to make the gameplay more enjoyable.

I will say this though. If Zenimax came out and said that they do indeed have numerous instances of all zones (even VR zones), and they changed code to increase the number of players per-instance by 300% to 800% then I would start playing again the day of the patch. At the same time it would be nice if players were given the option to select a less populated alternate instance. That all assuming there truly are multiple instances of every zone...

Elsonso · October 2014

GreyBrow wrote: »

Zenimax isn't talking because I suspect that the total number of ACTIVE players is horrendously small.

On the NA server, I would suspect that there are no more than 30,000 active players. I see the same names over and over.

Even if every faction had TEN completely full, active guilds (there aren't) there would be about 5000 per faction.

If I had to guess, 8pm EST to 2 am EST there are probably 9000 people online, max

There have to be more than 30,000 people actively playing the game this month on NA.

If you are seeing the same people over and over it is because they are common guild and group players. In the general population, particularly in the level 1-45 zones, most of the people you are seeing are new to you and it is unlikely that you will see them again after today. There is a LARGE player base in these zones.

Surragard · October 2014

pecheckler wrote: »

I think it is pretty clear there are not more than one instance of nearly every PvE zone. Maybe more than one for zones leading up to level 40. But if i've never seen more than a tiny number of players in a certain area's primary town, it's pretty clear that particular instance isn't near capacity. I might have believed that happens if im in the last overflow instance, but not when it is the case every single time.

The biggest problem is that Zenimax hides this information from players. Other AAA mmo games let that information be freely available, including means to take census.

If we the players knew how many players were in each area at all times, and could see historical information of the data, then we would be able to provide appropriate feedback on changes to make the gameplay more enjoyable.

I will say this though. If Zenimax came out and said that they do indeed have numerous instances of all zones (even VR zones), and they changed code to increase the number of players per-instance by 300% to 800% then I would start playing again the day of the patch. At the same time it would be nice if players were given the option to select a less populated alternate instance. That all assuming there truly are multiple instances of every zone...

I've had multiple gaming sessions where other players were instanced and we had to tp. As to your point regarding publishing data about how many players are in a given area, is this something that could be pulled using an add-on?

wafcatb14_ESO · October 2014

Yep unlike most MMO`s that have multiple servers you can tell when the game is doing poorly, but they went with the mega server approach, so they don`t have to close servers, and it always looks like theres a bunch of people because everyone is on the same server . As far as NA. EU goes etc .

I don`t think they have more than 20k on eachfaction per server maybe 60k - 80k total per server tops .

my guild had 1300 at launch , all org guild members . they are all still in the guild but only 265 are still playing ESO the other 1100 went back to other games

Neryaz · October 2014

i've seen alot of activity on the EU server.
Got to say compared to the other months Oct has been having the most acitivity. It's packed with players in craglorn and much other zones.
if i would like to farm nodes in now and days on prime time there would be massive alot of players running around. as for the PvE and PvP its been massive ques to go into Cyrodill every day primetime till late at night, PvE there as been alot of grps for trials/dungeons/arena aswell.

but fair to say alot of the players have left cuz of the lagg there is cyrodill for example imo.

Vahrokh · October 2014

Nox_Aeterna wrote: »

The mega server keeps filling different instances , so there could be 1000 , probably we would think it is everything fine and dandy as long as they were all on the same place we are.

And that is the trick with this kind of server.

In a game like SWTOR we could see the game population going down because we could see the servers going into low pops and so on , in a game like ESo where we have no way of seeing it AND the server is meant to appear always full to us , we wont notice lols.

Go to any VR2-VR10 region and dare to say "the server is meant to appear always full".
I had to solo everything in there... like most of everybody else.

Even in Craglorn, read zone chat. It's always the same guilds and names, I don't subscribe to the notion some alien technology puts everybody in the same server instance every day so in Craglorn chat every day the same guys end up with the same other guys.

RSram · October 2014

If you're really hard up for the number of subscribers, there is an easy but time consuming way to do this using the search feature of the contacts list. Your search would go a follows:

@AA, @AB, @AC, ..... @ZA, @ZB, @ZC

Just count the number of the items displayed in the each results drop down window. If ten items are showing then you might need to go out to three characters such as @AAA, and etc.

These are the account numbers of the players, so I am assuming they are active accounts.

Of course I have better things to do then count subscribers, but then there are the fanatics...

TehMagnus · October 2014

Neizir wrote: »

Roughly 1.2 Million according to revenue figures from Superdata.
http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/137279/1-2-million-subscribers/p1

magnusnet wrote: »

Neizir wrote: »

Somewhere around 1.2 Million. See this post:
http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/137279/1-2-million-subscribers

Pure speculation.

One guy makes a forum post claiming there are 1.2 million players with 0 proof based on unreliable unconfirmed data from a company nobody has ever heard of an now we're going to be hearing this for months. On each post about the state of the game there's going to be one guy saying:

"Yeah, huh, I heard the game had 1.2 millions players, it was on forums a couple of months back".

I bet by then the post from the website will have been deleted just as the one that claimed the game had 750k subscribers witthout any proof what so ever.

As predicted

.

At least it's the same person making the same ridiculous statements and it's also OP from the post who clearly doesn't know anything about math.

GreyBrow · October 2014

Nox_Aeterna wrote: »

GreyBrow wrote: »

Zenimax isn't talking because I suspect that the total number of ACTIVE players is horrendously small.

On the NA server, I would suspect that there are no more than 30,000 active players. I see the same names over and over.

Even if every faction had TEN completely full, active guilds (there aren't) there would be about 5000 per faction.

If I had to guess, 8pm EST to 2 am EST there are probably 9000 people online, max

The thing is , we just cant have any ideal at all from a player point of view.

The mega server keeps filling different instances , so there could be 1000 , probably we would think it is everything fine and dandy as long as they were all on the same place we are.

And that is the trick with this kind of server.

In a game like SWTOR we could see the game population going down because we could see the servers going into low pops and so on , in a game like ESo where we have no way of seeing it AND the server is meant to appear always full to us , we wont notice lols.

I'd wager a lot of money that most zones have only one instance. If you're AD, go to rawlka (sp), which should be the highest population zone, and look around. Relog. Look around. Same exact people. If there were more than one instance, you'd see different people... But you don't. Always the same handful of names.

Go to crag, same thing. Auridon might have multiples, but I doubt it.

Lifecode666 · October 2014

I stopped playing when I got all my vet14 items to gold. I only play pvp, and I just... boom.. lost all motivation to play the same pvp map all the time. If they focus more pvp this game will win!

Pendrillion · October 2014

Just to weigh in about empty zones. What I noticed in this game is, that people progress in waves through the zones. And at least one wave in EP arrived in Glenumbra just mid this month. I was usually pretty alone when I started with Cadwells silver. But when I last time visited Daggerfall it was bustling with people like never before. Also more in Bangkorai Rivenspire and Stormhaven. I don't know how other Factions look. It also could be that EP is more popular than other factions. I doubt it though. I bet that at least AD has a great many players.

What I want to say. If you are unlucky, and concerning that the servers try to be continent specific, you could very well be alone at some times of day. Or when a wave already has passed. Judging the state of the game by an empty zone, not a good strategy really... Also think about that some people have alts in other factions or play PVP. Or just farm Craglorn to death in Vet levels.

Gedalya · October 2014

Fewer than World of Warcraft.

OrangeTheCat · October 2014

Nox_Aeterna wrote: »

GreyBrow wrote: »

Zenimax isn't talking because I suspect that the total number of ACTIVE players is horrendously small.

On the NA server, I would suspect that there are no more than 30,000 active players. I see the same names over and over.

Even if every faction had TEN completely full, active guilds (there aren't) there would be about 5000 per faction.

If I had to guess, 8pm EST to 2 am EST there are probably 9000 people online, max

The thing is , we just cant have any ideal at all from a player point of view.

The mega server keeps filling different instances , so there could be 1000 , probably we would think it is everything fine and dandy as long as they were all on the same place we are.

And that is the trick with this kind of server.

In a game like SWTOR we could see the game population going down because we could see the servers going into low pops and so on , in a game like ESo where we have no way of seeing it AND the server is meant to appear always full to us , we wont notice lols.

The perceived attrition in population after the initial post-hype decline may very well be due to the megserver. An increased number of instances relative to players may even be intentional as one of the complaints early on was that so many people running around the zones, bumping into so many in dungeons, toting the same NPC, etc, was so unlike a ES game. If so, too bad they could not increase the player population in cities. I guess that would require instanced cities.

Elsonso · October 2014

GreyBrow wrote: »

I'd wager a lot of money that most zones have only one instance. If you're AD, go to rawlka (sp), which should be the highest population zone, and look around. Relog. Look around. Same exact people. If there were more than one instance, you'd see different people... But you don't. Always the same handful of names.

Yes, you will see the same people on the same day. What makes you think that you are being randomly assigned to a channel when you relog?

In the leveling zones, random strangers in the game are ships that pass in the night. Tomorrow, they will be gone, replaced by a new crowd of random strangers. This is because the game has many overlapping channels and you are not placed into the same channel with the same random people every day.

OrangeTheCat wrote: »

The perceived attrition in population after the initial post-hype decline may very well be due to the megserver. An increased number of instances relative to players may even be intentional as one of the complaints early on was that so many people running around the zones, bumping into so many in dungeons, toting the same NPC, etc, was so unlike a ES game. If so, too bad they could not increase the player population in cities. I guess that would require instanced cities.

We are shoppers sitting in a food court trying to determine the size of the city the mall is in by watching the other shoppers in the food court.

When the population in the food court changes, we are assuming that the population of the city is changing.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to take a census of the city by watching the shoppers.

Gyudan · October 2014

lordrichter wrote: »

We are shoppers sitting in a food court trying to determine the size of the city the mall is in by watching the other shoppers in the food court.

When the population in the food court changes, we are assuming that the population of the city is changing.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to take a census of the city by watching the shoppers.

Do the shoppers in the food court get to eat and drink at the same time or do they have to pick one over the other?

Elsonso · October 2014

Gyudan wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

We are shoppers sitting in a food court trying to determine the size of the city the mall is in by watching the other shoppers in the food court.

When the population in the food court changes, we are assuming that the population of the city is changing.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to take a census of the city by watching the shoppers.

Do the shoppers in the food court get to eat and drink at the same time or do they have to pick one over the other?

Some can eat and drink at the same time. Fewer can do both of those while walking. Sadly, most are unable to do both at the same time.

asdf0716 · October 2014

who cares? go play.

Darklord_Tiberius · October 2014

Adonikam wrote: »

The game is dead. The PVP servers are locked at around 2k players per server and the PVE leaderboards are all the same people. Do the math.. The only reason ESO is not free to play is because they made a lot of money up front on hype.

The reason these articles released such high numbers were due to sales and how many people were duped into buying 6 month subscriptions thinking Zenimax could release a quality product. They failed on every level...

LOL you just post anywhere and everywhere. You are like that piece of plastic garbage that one tries to flick off ones hand, but somehow you find away to cling on.

OrangeTheCat · October 2014

lordrichter wrote: »

GreyBrow wrote: »

I'd wager a lot of money that most zones have only one instance. If you're AD, go to rawlka (sp), which should be the highest population zone, and look around. Relog. Look around. Same exact people. If there were more than one instance, you'd see different people... But you don't. Always the same handful of names.

Yes, you will see the same people on the same day. What makes you think that you are being randomly assigned to a channel when you relog?

In the leveling zones, random strangers in the game are ships that pass in the night. Tomorrow, they will be gone, replaced by a new crowd of random strangers. This is because the game has many overlapping channels and you are not placed into the same channel with the same random people every day.

OrangeTheCat wrote: »

The perceived attrition in population after the initial post-hype decline may very well be due to the megserver. An increased number of instances relative to players may even be intentional as one of the complaints early on was that so many people running around the zones, bumping into so many in dungeons, toting the same NPC, etc, was so unlike a ES game. If so, too bad they could not increase the player population in cities. I guess that would require instanced cities.

We are shoppers sitting in a food court trying to determine the size of the city the mall is in by watching the other shoppers in the food court.

When the population in the food court changes, we are assuming that the population of the city is changing.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to take a census of the city by watching the shoppers.

Well I choose to use cities for this purpose because that is where it is easiest to find players as opposed to the wilds outside of cities. Furthermore, I choose low level cities - I do all my city stuff in Vulkhel Guard; in a game everyone passes through cities and in particular, this one (for AD). The theory being if there was an increase of new players then the increasing trend should be clear in that city (for AD).

Anyway, I am glad to be wrong.

Lord_Kreegan · October 2014

The game population is not so low that they have fired ZOS' management staff, yet not so high as to be a roaring success.

The game population is certainly nowhere near the glowing numbers the fanbois like to make up using their ridiculous and absolutely unbelievable assumptions, but nowhere near doom or "Hurry! We have to change to FTP to save our ass!" either.

The game had a very bad launch and earned its deservedly bad reviews as a result. Now it's recovering... slowly. Either play it and enjoy it or don't. The number of active players really doesn't matter.

Kego · October 2014

The Population of ESO will be quite low. If not, ZOS would use the big numbers for Marketing.

Nerouyn · October 2014

Lord_Kreegan wrote: »

The game population is not so low that they have fired ZOS' management staff, yet not so high as to be a roaring success.

It says a lot about the industry that senior management not being fired is a good sign. And it is compared to recent titles with game leads fired days after launch, CEO's stepping down, boards being investigated for fraud etc.

Especially given the PHENOMENAL success of Skryim, ESO had the potential to be really huge. Last time I checked I think they were past $700 million in either sales or profits (fantastic either way). But they made certain mistakes which narrowed ESO's potential audience and instead they've just done ok.

Since they're a private company they're not obliged to release financial data which we could use to at least make a good guess at subscription numbers. But the very fact they haven't released subscription numbers is a sure sign they're not happy with them.

Elsonso · October 2014

Kego wrote: »

The Population of ESO will be quite low. If not, ZOS would use the big numbers for Marketing.

Typical ploy to get a company to release numbers.

Once they release the numbers, they have to continue to release the numbers. Eventually the numbers are all that matter.

Blizzard did this. For a while they could use them to drum up excitement for WoW. Look where it got them. They are a slave to the numbers. They release expansions and market them with the purpose of being very public so that the numbers go up. The expansions are about making the reported subscription numbers go up. When they don't, they trot someone out to say that it doesn't matter, but people see these as lame excuses.

No one who has posted in this thread has even a sliver of perspective on this matter. Everyone is looking at a tiny little data set and drawing big conclusions.

asdf0716 wrote: »

who cares? go play.

Best comment of the entire thread.

OrangeTheCat · October 2014

Lord_Kreegan wrote: »

The game had a very bad launch and earned its deservedly bad reviews as a result. Now it's recovering... slowly. Either play it and enjoy it or don't. The number of active players really doesn't matter.

Exactly, we'll said. If admitting the truth of it makes us "haters" or "doom and gloomers", so be it.

Nerouyn · October 2014

lordrichter wrote: »

Typical ploy to get a company to release numbers.

Once they release the numbers, they have to continue to release the numbers. Eventually the numbers are all that matter.

The reality is that numbers do matter. That's precisely why when games underperform they don't release them. We the public are not idiots. We know this. So when they don't release numbers we know exactly what it means.

Fair enough they haven't released the numbers. I don't care. It's their product and as a business the responsible thing for them to do is protect it. But in that instance I and most others will correctly infer that means the numbers are at least not great.

Elsonso · October 2014

Nerouyn wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

Typical ploy to get a company to release numbers.

Once they release the numbers, they have to continue to release the numbers. Eventually the numbers are all that matter.

The reality is that numbers do matter. That's precisely why when games underperform they don't release them. We the public are not idiots. We know this. So when they don't release numbers we know exactly what it means.

Fair enough they haven't released the numbers. I don't care. It's their product and as a business the responsible thing for them to do is protect it. But in that instance I and most others will correctly infer that means the numbers are at least not great.

What decision are you making where the subscriber and active players numbers are important?

Nerouyn · November 2014

lordrichter wrote: »

What decision are you making where the subscriber and active players numbers are important?

The reason numbers get don't get released when games underperform is that these numbers obviously do matter. If a game's performance is perceived to be poor then many potential customers will use that information to inform their decision about whether they buy it or not. And that is smart. Works the other way too, just as obviously.

kevlarto_ESO · November 2014

Lord_Draevan wrote: »

Even if ZOS released the numbers, the haters wouldn't believe them, so there's not much point in doing so :P

If the game is still getting updated on a weekly basis, it's safe to say it hasn't failed. Might not have set the world on fire, but it's doing well enough.

Look at SW:TOR for a good example, it's still being called a "failure" by haters... yet it's still active, coming up on 4 years, and it's getting a new expansion pack. People just like to call something a "failure" if they dislike it, no idea why, but there it is.

This ^^^^^
Fail for most is on a personal opinion level not an industry fail, games that really did fail are no longer online. I played wow to me it sucked, I could shout it out as a fail, but really that would be just silly.

Katinas · November 2014

LeoRJBrazil wrote: »

Just out of curiosity, anyone knows or have an idea how many active players ESO has up to date?

About half of them. Other half is not very active at all.