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Author Topic: Lineage 2 hits 14 Million subscribers  (Read 27496 times)
Wolf
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on: May 02, 2006, 02:51:56 AM

From an NCsoft Press Release
Quote
'Lineage 2 reached more than 14-million customers in just over two years'

NCsoft celebrates Lineage II’s second anniversary with new game-time package, in-game events

           Lineage II, which recently released Chronicle 4: Scions of Destiny™, one of the largest free MMO expansions ever, continues to grow a very loyal and long-term playing customer base in North America. Worldwide, Lineage II is one of the most dominant titles in the MMO market, having reached more than 14-million customers in just over two years, and continues to grow as NCsoft takes the game into additional territories.

            “This has been a terrific two-year run for Lineage II as we have seen the game find a strong audience in North America and Europe,” said Robert Garriott, CEO of NCsoft North America. “Worldwide, Lineage II is one of the giants and will continue to be so as NCsoft successfully establishes the game in new markets such as China, Japan and Thailand. Lineage II has been a great success story for everyone at NCsoft.”

Lineage II provides players a deep, rich environment where the elite PvP gamers gather to take on the challenges that the world of Lineage IIdelivers. Since the launch of the game, NCsoft has added more than 2.3 gigabytes of new content with massive updates delivered regularly for free to its active subscribers.

Wow. I knew it was big, I had no idea it was THIS big.
« Last Edit: May 02, 2006, 03:20:20 AM by Wolf »

As a matter of fact I swallowed one of these about two hours ago and the explanation is that it is, in fact, my hand.
Reg
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Reply #1 on: May 02, 2006, 03:10:47 AM

I just can't bring myself to care much about the Asian market games no matter how big they get.
stray
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Reply #2 on: May 02, 2006, 03:13:25 AM

I just can't bring myself to care much about the Asian market games no matter how big they get.

Heh, that should be the end of the thread right there. I doubt anyone will disagree with you (or maybe not...?).
Wolf
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Reply #3 on: May 02, 2006, 03:22:18 AM

Aren't like at least half of WoW's subscribers from Asia? How come we care that WoW has 6 Million, and don't if Lineage has 14?

For the record: I still think Lineage 2 is an awful game :)

As a matter of fact I swallowed one of these about two hours ago and the explanation is that it is, in fact, my hand.
stray
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Reply #4 on: May 02, 2006, 03:23:49 AM

I don't care about WoW either...But that's just me.
Trippy
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Reply #5 on: May 02, 2006, 03:41:43 AM

Aren't like at least half of WoW's subscribers from Asia? How come we care that WoW has 6 Million, and don't if Lineage has 14?

For the record: I still think Lineage 2 is an awful game :)
More than half of WoW's subscribers are from Asia (~1 million NA, ~1 million Euro, the rest Asia). Also that 6.5 million figure is for currently active subscribers while the Lineage II one is for all customers who have ever played (note the operative word "reached" above). Plus the Koreans have a funky way of counting subscribers because of the way the game is sold to PC baangs.
Reg
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Reply #6 on: May 02, 2006, 05:26:01 AM

Lineage 2 has been pretty much a complete flop in North America and Europe though hasn't it? Does it even have 100,000 North American players?
schild
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Reply #7 on: May 02, 2006, 05:27:42 AM

Would 100,000 be a flop?

God I love having this discussion. :P I love starting it even more.
Reg
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Reply #8 on: May 02, 2006, 06:10:11 AM

In comparison to having 14,000,000 in Asia it'd certainly be a flop. And it justifies my dismissing it as one of those wacky Asian market games that never makes it in North America or Europe.
schild
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Reply #9 on: May 02, 2006, 06:15:11 AM

See, I don't think of them as comparable markets - not in any standard usage of the word comparable at least. Korea, specifically, lacks something we have in abundance - consoles. Before WoW, the biggest game America had was EQ with 400,000 people. 100,000 is nothing to scoff at in the US, even after WoW.
Venkman
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Reply #10 on: May 02, 2006, 07:21:55 AM

Because nobody's poked a hole into the number yet:
Quote
Lineage II is one of the most dominant titles in the MMO market, having reached more than 14-million customers in just over two years, and continues to grow as NCsoft takes the game into additional territories.
"Reached more than 14-million customers" is not "we have 14 million actively paying subscribers". It's more like they've sold 14 million accounts, but we don't know how many are active, and we sure as heck don't know how many people are behind the accounts. Of course, no matter how it's sliced, that's one big ass number. But we really can't say L2 is twice as large as WoW because the basis of comparison is missing. Just like it was back during similar discussions of Lineage 1.
Toast
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Reply #11 on: May 02, 2006, 07:27:54 AM

I agree with Darniaq. That language definitely means cumulative all-time accounts created. Don't you just love marketing speak?

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schild
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Reply #12 on: May 02, 2006, 07:30:39 AM

Customers implied paid. Which implies 14M boxes sold. Which is uh, more than WoW has sold. Odds are WoW will sell 20-30M (conservative guess? Maybe). They're tossing around a number while they can, I don't blame them.
tazelbain
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Reply #13 on: May 02, 2006, 07:36:23 AM

People buy boxes to play at a pc bang? I don't think so.

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Murgos
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Reply #14 on: May 02, 2006, 07:39:26 AM

Customers implied paid. Which implies 14M boxes sold.

I disagree.  In this instance of market speak customers implies anyone who has used the service and since the face of the intarbut is anonymous then this could be some really fast and loose accounting.

"You have all recieved youre last warning. I am in the process of currently tracking all of youre ips and pinging your home adressess. you should not have commencemed a war with me" - Aaron Rayburn
schild
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Reply #15 on: May 02, 2006, 07:40:55 AM

People buy boxes to play at a pc bang? I don't think so.

WoW Blizzard doesn't count the net cafe folks?
tazelbain
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Reply #16 on: May 02, 2006, 07:57:30 AM

Quote
World of Warcraft's Paying Customer Definition
World of Warcraft customers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or purchased a prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the installation box bundled with one free month access. Internet Game Room players having accessed the game over the last seven days are also counted as customers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or canceled subscriptions, and expired pre-paid cards. Customers in licensees' territories are defined along the same rules.

I was just saying that pc bangs probably break the correlation between subscriptions and boxes sold.  And I aggree that Lineage has a much more loose definition of subscribers.

Also why should I care about a market that doesn't produce games I want to play?  So what, Pogo may have a billion middle-age women playing it.  I am sure we can all site many examples where popularity != good.

"Me am play gods"
Nebu
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Reply #17 on: May 02, 2006, 08:03:36 AM

I think we should be apalled. Both games are shallow, both involved the same diku-inspired grind, both have horrific endgames.

If this is what we race out to the stores to buy (meaning WoW and/or Lineage), it's just proof of how little most people are willing to settle for.


"Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other."

-  Mark Twain
schild
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Reply #18 on: May 02, 2006, 08:05:14 AM

it's just proof of how little most people are willing to settle for.

Sudoku.
Nebu
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Reply #19 on: May 02, 2006, 08:07:30 AM



Do I win?

"Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other."

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MrHat
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Reply #20 on: May 02, 2006, 08:34:13 AM

I can't do Sudoku's.  Because I can see the program it would take to solve that fucker for me.

Soln
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Reply #21 on: May 02, 2006, 08:39:33 AM

I just can't bring myself to care much about the Asian market games no matter how big they get.

Heh, that should be the end of the thread right there. I doubt anyone will disagree with you (or maybe not...?).

agreed.  /end
Venkman
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Reply #22 on: May 02, 2006, 08:50:28 AM

Asian games matter because people will be playing imports of them starting this year. And if those are successful, more will be imported. And iterated. So you'll either be playing them, iterations of them, or not playing the genre at all within a few years. It's just the continuation of trends. Nobody bitches about importing the handhelds that launch overseas first, nor cellphones.

Quote from: schild
Which implies 14M boxes sold

Digital download? New accounts without a new box? Like I said, this doesn't mean 14mil is anything to sneer at. It just means they attracted 14mil customers (not even "individual people") with some sort of relationship. Shit, we don't even know if all of them paid to become a "customer", since there's no referenced monetary transaction.

It's sophestry, but the reason why such numbers are only worth as much as the paper the press release is printed on. It isn't just a bunch of ranters asking these questions either.
HaemishM
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Reply #23 on: May 02, 2006, 08:59:36 AM

Aren't like at least half of WoW's subscribers from Asia? How come we care that WoW has 6 Million, and don't if Lineage has 14?

Because as has been proven over and over again, Koreans are BATSHIT INSANE, and would play anything that allows them to kill other players while screaming RANG RANG at the top of their gold-farming, dim-sung soaked lungs.

Engels
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Reply #24 on: May 02, 2006, 09:16:27 AM

Now now, Haem, that's sounding a bit 'culturist' right there. L2 makes a huge production of group/guild effort ala EQ raid style and has obviously captured the spirit with which Koreans and other Asian cultures like to play a game. Its hardly their fault they do not share the culture of individual uberness that we do in the west.

I still think a wild-west MMO could be designed with all the bells and wistles required to tickle Americans' sense of rugged individualism and it would be a big hit here. Not so much in Korea. Who cares either way, since noone has written the book on fun yet.

I should get back to nature, too.  You know, like going to a shop for groceries instead of the computer.  Maybe a condo in the woods that doesn't even have a health club or restaurant attached.  Buy a car with only two cup holders or something. -Signe

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HaemishM
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Reply #25 on: May 02, 2006, 10:06:28 AM

Now now, Haem, that's sounding a bit 'culturist' right there.

I've seen Korean MMOG's. There is barely an original thought amongst all 7,000 of them.

Murgos
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Reply #26 on: May 02, 2006, 10:18:59 AM

I can't do Sudoku's.  Because I can see the program it would take to solve that fucker for me.



First time I saw one I started thinking up the algorithm to solve it in my head before I realized I was being an idiot and I didn't really give a shit anyway.  I'll stick with crossword puzzles.  At least sometimes the authors of those can be clever with plays on words and themes.

"You have all recieved youre last warning. I am in the process of currently tracking all of youre ips and pinging your home adressess. you should not have commencemed a war with me" - Aaron Rayburn
Venkman
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Reply #27 on: May 02, 2006, 10:21:15 AM

I've seen Korean MMOG's. There is barely an original thought amongst all 7,000 of them.
If someone on the outside looked at the Western market, how much diversity would they see? From the 30,000 foot level (media, console gamers, etc.) would they even see an Eve, ATITD, SL? Or would they just see the long list of diku-inspired EQ clones?

The Korean market is pretty diverse once you get past the 10 titles that get talked about.
HRose
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Reply #28 on: May 02, 2006, 11:09:21 AM

Press release bullshit?

NCsoft always releases very precise numbers. This last december L2 had 1.5M.

Now they say 14M? So they gained 12.5M in four months?

Come on.

Btw, they have 76k for US+EU.

And, most improtant, do I arouse you when I play SirBruce?
« Last Edit: May 02, 2006, 11:15:01 AM by HRose »

-HRose / Abalieno
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Samwise
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Reply #29 on: May 02, 2006, 11:19:34 AM

I can't do Sudoku's.  Because I can see the program it would take to solve that fucker for me.

That's the same reason I can't play WoW.

Incidentally, my first thought upon seeing the thread title was "wow, they must have had to create a few more dog spawns to keep up with demand.  That's a lot of dead dogs."

"I have not actually recommended many games, and I'll go on the record here saying my track record is probably best in the industry." - schild
Trippy
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Reply #30 on: May 02, 2006, 12:24:14 PM

Quote
World of Warcraft's Paying Customer Definition
World of Warcraft customers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or purchased a prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the installation box bundled with one free month access. Internet Game Room players having accessed the game over the last seven days are also counted as customers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or canceled subscriptions, and expired pre-paid cards. Customers in licensees' territories are defined along the same rules.
I was just saying that pc bangs probably break the correlation between subscriptions and boxes sold.
Yes for most of the games you play in PC baangs you don't "buy" the software first, you simply pay an hourly or other usage fee plus any applicable subscription fees for online games and the PC baangs are the ones responsible for purchasing the game licenses from the publishers. WoW in Korea is a bit different than here in NA and Europe in that you can also buy 7 day subscriptions as well as your normal 30 day ones, hence the line above about Internet Game Room players. Here's a recent article about WoW's price drop in Korea (sorry about the Google cache link but this paper's archives are subscription only).
Strazos
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Reply #31 on: May 02, 2006, 10:01:21 PM

14m for this shit?

LIES!

That's like, what, 10% of South Korea's population?

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Trippy
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Reply #32 on: May 02, 2006, 10:06:33 PM

14m for this shit?

LIES!

That's like, what, 10% of South Korea's population?
More like 29% but that 14 million is a worldwide figure and not just for South Korea.
Strazos
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Reply #33 on: May 02, 2006, 10:11:17 PM

I'd like to see how many people play outside of S. Korea....you might knock a whole million off that 14m.

Fear the Backstab!
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Tisirin
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Reply #34 on: May 03, 2006, 07:11:45 AM


Hey, folks.   I just want to jump in and clarify a few things.  If anyone is wondering, the numbers that we are reporting are indeed accurate.  Lineage II has reached more than 14 million customers worldwide in our two-year run.  Active Lineage II territories include Korea, Europe, the United States, Thailand, Taiwan and Japan.  Is there some confusion between Blizzard reporting a customer base of 6 million for WoW versus NCsoft reporting a customer base of 14 million for Lineage II?  NCsoft's active subscribers, of course, are reported publicly on a quarterly basis.

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