Game has dropped in popularity to closed beta level

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BlondeKnight wrote:

I'm more inclined to question POE's longevity after official release in late September or early October. If Act III's expansion fails to address core issues with the current "end game" then we'll have a real discussion.

as far as I'm concerned, the game IS released.

it would be one thing if the shop wasn't open yet -- but it is.

it's kind of like opening a restaurant, serving meals, charging for them....

then saying "oh no, we're not even really open yet! this is just the BETA version of our restaurant! wait a couple more months and we will have THREE new items on the menu!!"

the beta thing is a gimmick that a lot of companies use to get multiple release pushes.

it's literally a marketing gimmick, nothing more.

the game is out.

People need to consider that this is still pre-release. Now, being a open beta doesn't mean all that much when it is a F2P game as you are basically playing a dry run of their F2P model, i.e. update/content scheduling, pricing, etc..., but otherwise it is in a releasable state. What does matter is that pre-release means that the game has had limited exposure.

If they can double or triple their exposure then at their current retention/return rates they will be very successful.

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Nyruami wrote:

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Flickerflare wrote:

Our traffic is currently on average what traffic was at PEAK TIMES during closed beta. It's safe to assume that while Hype has died down, they have approximately doubled their average playerbase.

Thats simply not enough. GGG are roughly 30 persons, so only paying them means about 120k US$ a month, then there is office space, server housing and bandwith to pay rent for, so about 150k is an educated guess about their monthly fixed costs.

In any given F2P-game between 7% and 9% of all players are investing money, so let´s say GGG is on the better end, and they even do better than any F2P game before them and 10% are investing money, let´s say at average 10 US$ per month.

So they would need 150k active players just to cover their costs, and even with this number they do NOT earn a cent with the game, with less than 150k active players they will lose money every month.

So rather sooner than later they will start to fire personnel, move to a smaller and cheaper office, lenghten the period between updates etc.

So they will lose even more players and the circle continues...

so what does that do to your theory that they are in fact investigating moving to a bigger office?

http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/382658

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LostForm wrote:

so what does that do to your theory that they are in fact investigating moving to a bigger office?

http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/382658

It means they are burning through personal funding and financing.

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Chris Wilson - Producer, Lead Designer

Chris graduated from the University of Auckland in 2004, gaining Bachelor of Science (Computer Science, with First Class Honours) and Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) degrees. His work in the field of software security provided the financial liquidity required to cofound and invest in Grinding Gear Games.

http://www.grindinggear.com/?page=staff

Eventually the money runs out though.

;)

Anybody labeled as a "producer"... basically means they invested their own personal finances.

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tikitaki wrote:

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BlondeKnight wrote:

I'm more inclined to question POE's longevity after official release in late September or early October. If Act III's expansion fails to address core issues with the current "end game" then we'll have a real discussion.

as far as I'm concerned, the game IS released.

it would be one thing if the shop wasn't open yet -- but it is.

it's kind of like opening a restaurant, serving meals, charging for them....

then saying "oh no, we're not even really open yet! this is just the BETA version of our restaurant! wait a couple more months and we will have THREE new items on the menu!!"

the beta thing is a gimmick that a lot of companies use to get multiple release pushes.

it's literally a marketing gimmick, nothing more.

the game is out.

Zero validity.

You're not charged for the meals. They're entirely free. You're charged to have your meals served with different cutlery and plates, and even then it's an option, a choice to support or not.

Go away.

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tikitaki wrote:

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BlondeKnight wrote:

I'm more inclined to question POE's longevity after official release in late September or early October. If Act III's expansion fails to address core issues with the current "end game" then we'll have a real discussion.

as far as I'm concerned, the game IS released.

it would be one thing if the shop wasn't open yet -- but it is.

it's kind of like opening a restaurant, serving meals, charging for them....

then saying "oh no, we're not even really open yet! this is just the BETA version of our restaurant! wait a couple more months and we will have THREE new items on the menu!!"

the beta thing is a gimmick that a lot of companies use to get multiple release pushes.

it's literally a marketing gimmick, nothing more.

the game is out.

Your analogy is flawed. Ever seen a free2eat restaurant?
If you think the game is already released that's your opinion.
Fact is, it is not.

Being free doesn't improve the gameplay. I really hate this "it's free, therefore there cannot be anything wrong" mentality.

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Jakabov wrote:

Being free doesn't improve the gameplay. I really hate this "it's free, therefore there cannot be anything wrong" mentality.

Anyone who has that mentality shouldn't be beta-TESTING. There's a lot wrong. GGG knows this, else the game would be released. Obviously.

The correct mentality should be something like 'it's free, therefore anything wrong should be pointed out and discussed critically so as to make the game more attractive to potential supporters.'

The game has dropped popularity to closed beta level.

There is nothing wrong with this.

The game is not finished yet. It has MANY problems, it is not feature or content complete. Many people are becoming "finished" with the game, having experienced most if not all of what it currently has to offer, and are moving on. The people who are left are the hardcore ARPG community.

When we hit 1.0 release, popularity will spike again.

This is all natural and to be expected.

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tikitaki wrote:

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BlondeKnight wrote:

I'm more inclined to question POE's longevity after official release in late September or early October. If Act III's expansion fails to address core issues with the current "end game" then we'll have a real discussion.

as far as I'm concerned, the game IS released.

it would be one thing if the shop wasn't open yet -- but it is.

it's kind of like opening a restaurant, serving meals, charging for them....

then saying "oh no, we're not even really open yet! this is just the BETA version of our restaurant! wait a couple more months and we will have THREE new items on the menu!!"

the beta thing is a gimmick that a lot of companies use to get multiple release pushes.

it's literally a marketing gimmick, nothing more.

the game is out.

You don`t think this is beta? No one gives a shit what you think. If GGG decides to call it "alpha" tomorrow, then it will be "alpha". Even if you jump up and down your chair and scream it at your monitor...it won`t affect reality.

The only fault GGG is currently, dangerously, repeating over and over again, is letting trolls like you and your troll-posts pass. The amount of negativity this forum oozes generates a backdraft ingame, slow, but it`s happening. That`s why other developers delete and ban on a more regular basis.
Maybe GGG isn`t awere of their forum, maybe they don`t care, but they need to act on this imho. Strangle little creatures like you breed in every game nowadays, that`s the sole reason some people call official game-boards often times "cenorship-land", it happens for a reason.
Publicity is important, even for an indie-game,
giving constructive feedback and offering a platform for it is one thing,
but there has to come the moment GGG realizes some folks just down-talk "products" for the sake of it,
which in the end can produce so much negative publicity that the "product" will suffer from it.

On the one hand i feel kinda sad for people like you or Fade, on the other hand i very well know any words are lost on your kin.