Real Figures? Does anyone know?

[ephemeral]

I am curious, do we know what the subscribership os EA-Land is currently? I would like to know how many PAID subscriptions there are.

We hear discussions about the economic viability of this game, yet, we don't know what the basic numbers are.

Are there 1000 paid subscriptions? 2000? 5000? 10,000?

The reasons I am asking is because in all honesty, I can't see how this can possibly be a profitable endeavor for EA. I may be completely off track (and it wouldn't be the first time), but I get the distinct impression that the number of paid subscribers is rather paltry at best. If that is the case, then surely EA-Land is doomed.

Consider if there are 5000 (actively) paid subscriptions, EA will collect approximately 50,000 dollars in a month. If EA has 18 developers assigned to EA-Land (plus Parizad), at a median salary of 30,000/year, each will be paid approximately 2500 dollars/month. 19 employees @ 2500 = 47500 in wages alone. Of course, there's health insurance, worker's comp premiums, etc. that the company has to contend with as well. Back east, there's someone who's sitting on the servers--they have to be paid too. Obviously, there are myriad other expenses the business incurs (office space and operating costs, etc)...and other variables come into play, but just these basic numbers indicate that subscription numbers have to be greater than the 5K example if EA is to realize any great profits. You can see though, that if there's only 5000 paid subscriptions each month, simply coming close to breaking even will be a great challenge.

Now I have no idea exactly how many subscriptions are being paid for. So if anyone does have an idea of what the total paid population is, I'd be much obliged if they'd let us know.

 

[Guest]

Last I heard around December was about 15k, I think, maybe it was 13k. Simone would probably remember if she was at the pub taking notes. Of couse we cant begin to guess how much players are spending at the ATM.

 

[Guest]

I do not know recent figures, only that it was last spring, when we hit our lowest point of 5,000 subscriptions....before TC3 opened.

It has increased rather dramatically since then, but I don't remember exact figures or which site I saw them on.

 

[DGLita]

Approx 15,000 paying subscribers. The Devs have mentioned figures of 13000 a few months ago, the figures were listed on the blog.

15000 subscribers cannot support this game

 

[ephemeral]

<blockquote><hr>

15000 subscribers cannot support this game

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. Not even close, I would suspect. Alas, the more I see, the more I must believe that TSO/EA-Land is doomed... :-(

 

[Guest]

I think it's strange.
EA is a huge company, they must make millions on the Sims games, and on all the sports games they have. They should have money.

Investing in EA Land / TSO imo would be a very good investment.
Sure it's run down now, but it's the Sims after all - the world's biggest selling game ever. If they fix it up and make it interesting to the public, it could very well be a new cash cow for EA.

It seems to me that they are investing too little in it.
They should splash out on some good customer support and some really good sales people to tell the programmers how to break news to the public.

Yeah it might not break even right now, but it could become great.
Let's hope EA has the business sense to let it become great.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

15000 subscribers cannot support this game

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. Not even close, I would suspect. Alas, the more I see, the more I must believe that TSO/EA-Land is doomed... :-(

[/ QUOTE ]And to add fuel to the fire, so to speak - with all the people around here cancelling/talking of cancelling their subscriptions, it's looking less and less likely any of us will have a game to play for much longer.

 

[legal1lpn]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

15000 subscribers cannot support this game

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. Not even close, I would suspect. Alas, the more I see, the more I must believe that TSO/EA-Land is doomed... :-(

[/ QUOTE ]And to add fuel to the fire, so to speak - with all the people around here cancelling/talking of cancelling their subscriptions, it's looking less and less likely any of us will have a game to play for much longer.

[/ QUOTE ]

All that said and it comes down to "it's looking less and less likely any of us will have a game to play for much longer."

Oh Bother!!!!
This makes me very sad.

 

[imported_Gracie Nito]

When it comes right down to it, the numbers don't really affect me. Even when real numbers were published, people found ways to negate those statistics and twist the numbers to mean what they wanted them to mean.

I much prefer rumors. They are more fun and full of drama

 

[imported_Dali Dalinza]

I do not think paid subscriptions are a measure of this game's health or economic viability. The free players need to buy game money from EA, and ATM transactions are the cash cow for EA.

It would be interesting to know how many players, total, are playing on a regular basis. Or, even more interesting, how much cash is coming in from ATM sales vs paid subscriptions. Those are the real figures I'd like to see.

 

[jasminemoon]

<blockquote><hr>

I think it's strange.
EA is a huge company, they must make millions on the Sims games, and on all the sports games they have. They should have money.

Investing in EA Land / TSO imo would be a very good investment.
Sure it's run down now, but it's the Sims after all - the world's biggest selling game ever. If they fix it up and make it interesting to the public, it could very well be a new cash cow for EA.

It seems to me that they are investing too little in it.
They should splash out on some good customer support and some really good sales people to tell the programmers how to break news to the public.

Yeah it might not break even right now, but it could become great.
Let's hope EA has the business sense to let it become great.

[/ QUOTE ]

Exactly!

This game has huge potential BUT it needs advertisement ...WHILE the devs continue to update and introduce new things!

Like many..I stumbled into TSO years ago..and this time..I stumbled back again; I didn't even get the email so many speak about because my email has changed.

I wonder..and maybe this is Poll material if it hasn't already been done- how many of that have "came back", and those of us that are "new players", actually found EA-Land?...

Did you stumble across it (again) like me?
Did you receive an email?
Did a friend tell you about it?
Did you find it on a site somewhere else?
(obviously you didn't see any advertisements..*bummer*..I'm sure it's not in the budget)

I know that WOM is supposed to be the best advertisement, but in the case of an internet game- I'm not sure if that concept is as viable.

Maybe ALL of us hardcore Sim lovers should make an extra-special effort to spread the word?...

*suddenly feels very ashamed that I haven't posted my re-discovery on my myspace..*

This game has always been the most fun with the biggest player base possible...it's really true, unlike most games - the biggest fun has always come from the creativity and in-game attitude of the players in this one!

Regardless of the gloom and doom on the boards, most all of us act much differently IN the game..wouldn't u agree?

I just cannot wait to have the $$ or content available to release my super creative self again (kinda hard to develop creative "game within game" ideas when I don't even own a property-or have any simoleans or, er, EA money w/e: but I'm workin' on it)

It is fortunate that this is NOT SL..we really have so MUCH more to offer IMO..especially if EA took it really seriously. Example: I played TSO for many years..I lasted on SL about a week before I ran out of things to do; on SL you just cannot be nearly as creative- and "we" sims can be SO creative when given the interactive (and even the ones that aren't interactive over the years) objects to do so!

Jasmine

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

I think it's strange.
EA is a huge company, they must make millions on the Sims games, and on all the sports games they have. They should have money.

Investing in EA Land / TSO imo would be a very good investment.
Sure it's run down now, but it's the Sims after all - the world's biggest selling game ever. If they fix it up and make it interesting to the public, it could very well be a new cash cow for EA.

It seems to me that they are investing too little in it.
They should splash out on some good customer support and some really good sales people to tell the programmers how to break news to the public.

Yeah it might not break even right now, but it could become great.
Let's hope EA has the business sense to let it become great.

[/ QUOTE ]

Exactly!

This game has huge potential BUT it needs advertisement ...WHILE the devs continue to update and introduce new things!

[/ QUOTE ]

This was discussed extensively when the changes started, and we were given the true state of affairs for the game.

The game has been a financial loss for EA Games from the very beginning, the early subscriptions were never as high as they needed them to be to recapture development costs, let alone gain them the prominence in the online game world, they were seeking. So even tho it looked like the numbers were doing fine from a player's perspective, from the business end, it was not a success, even in the very beginning.

It was especially unfortunate, because the failure of TSO reflected badly on their most successful game franchise...The Sims.

When push came to shove, part of the deal for 'saving' the game, was to disassociate it from The Sims franchise.

That is the reason they changed the name of the game, don't want our pixilated people called 'sims', and are changing the name of the money. EA absolutely does not want this game to be linked to the offline series, any longer.

Another hard and fast condition, was that there would be no budget for advertisement....no commercials...no print ads, this game has to succeed on word of mouth.

My own speculation, was that they do not want egg on their corporate face again, by making a big deal out of a potentially less than stellar product.[/i]

Back on topic:

As to the 'numbers' needed to be considered worthy of continued existence, I have never thought that they were demanding we instantly produce 80/100k players (size of an moderately sucessful online game) in less than a year.

I suspect, that there is a more dynamic formula.....(X)number of players, times (Y)number of months = (Z)potential player base in the future.

Or it could even be that it is not the number of players, at all, but the amount of money flowing thru the ATM's that makes the mystery formula work.

All of this is just speculation on my part, and I won't hold my breath, that the true formula (if there is one) will ever be revealed.....only the results, as to the life or death of our game.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

The reasons I am asking is because in all honesty, I can't see how this can possibly be a profitable endeavor for EA.

[/ QUOTE ]
People been making that statement since Beta 2002.

Speculation is illusion, and not real. The game is open today, so no end in site right now. Now is all there is, nothing lasts forever but speculation about an end never ends. Your real question is a matter of time (when will it end? vs when will it not end?), and that answer only time will tell.

Perhaps consider this game as time spent in a movie theatre, when you put money in and you get no money out. The only reason your there is for the thrill of the moment, in the moment that has hope for excitement to occur right now in the possible chance of being entertained.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

It was especially unfortunate, because the failure of TSO reflected badly on their most successful game franchise...The Sims.

When push came to shove, part of the deal for 'saving' the game, was to disassociate it from The Sims franchise. ... EA absolutely does not want this game to be linked to the offline series, any longer.

Another hard and fast condition, was that there would be no budget for advertisement....no commercials...no print ads, this game has to succeed on word of mouth.

[/ QUOTE ]

I shouldn't respond to this but just let the thread die. Chances are my post will only make something negative live on.
This info made me sad though. I thought they would advertise bigtime after the game is fixed.

If this is what we have, imo we should all try to do our part in preserving the game.
We can only change ourselves.
But if a lot of people do that, we might keep the game going even if all we get is word of mouth.



a) Don't spew negativity on the forums (if you want the game to live on)

b) Don't join in when other people spew negativity on the forums (if you want the game to live on)

c) Don't cancel your accounts and go play for free (if you want the game to live on)

d) Tell people about the game, if you like the game (if you want the game to live on)

e) Try to make fun things happen in the game (if you want the game to live on)

f) If you must cancel your account, don't make big threads about that (if you want the game to live on)

g) Just try to be a little positive and understanding. We're not always positive, but at least refuse to be a negative force against something you care about.
When you are grumpy, don't influence everyone else.
If the game is discontinued, at least you will know that you weren't part of the reason.




I for one would really like this game to be preserved and successful, since it was my first online game, I've had a lot of fun here, and I really like it. However naive that might sound.

Don't know how much this helps but I think we are all linked, and one more positive person in the world will make the world a better place. Our opinions and views seem to radiate out like ripples on the water.
We influence more people than we might understand.

You can only take responsibility for yourself.
Be a positive force in the world instead of a negative force.
That goes for everything in life, not just this.

 

[Guest]

I also think this game has enormous potential - I'm first of all not a 'gamer' altogether; don't even play cards in rl... My son kept pushing me to play The Sims - he said I know you'll love it. He mostly plays war/fantasy games himself. And yes - I loved it.

And then for all the years I was on line I was thinking how great it would be if Sims were on line too. I actually did a few searches and even found other people searching for it too, posting in forums and stuff. I have no clue why it was so hard to find - I am pretty good at finding any information on line, didn't find it till 5 months ago during a random search for some Sims 2 objects.

In my opinion they should have kept the Sims name: 'Sims World' rather than EA-Land, which I just don't think sounds right. And I don't think it's true that regular Sims players do not want to play a game like this - like one of the EA executives said in an interview; I've found many, as I said, in forums asking specifically for this. I don't know how they do their surveys though.

If only they would invest some real money in getting the game updated for real - better graphics, making sure the game plays well, introducing new jobs for instance - and gave it real advertising exposure - I am sure it would be very successful.

I have tried playing WoW, SL and other on line games - and none of them could keep me the way The Sims OnLine has; so I am sure there is a market out there for people who are not the usual gamer, since TSO is a unique way of playing games. But hey - who will listen to me?

P.S.
As a second thought - we are only in Beta... Once the game goes on line officially - so to speak - maybe there will be more advertising? And more players... I perfer to remain optimistic till proven wrong.

 

[Guest]

Words to live by Raisin! Thanks

 

[Pkmn_knight]

They could get a bump by calling it the sims online and geting thesims2.com to have a thing at the welcome page about it.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>



I shouldn't respond to this but just let the thread die. Chances are my post will only make something negative live on.
This info made me sad though. I thought they would advertise bigtime after the game is fixed.

If this is what we have, imo we should all try to do our part in preserving the game.
We can only change ourselves.
But if a lot of people do that, we might keep the game going even if all we get is word of mouth.



a) Don't spew negativity on the forums (if you want the game to live on)

b) Don't join in when other people spew negativity on the forums (if you want the game to live on)

c) Don't cancel your accounts and go play for free (if you want the game to live on)

d) Tell people about the game, if you like the game (if you want the game to live on)

e) Try to make fun things happen in the game (if you want the game to live on)

f) If you must cancel your account, don't make big threads about that (if you want the game to live on)

g) Just try to be a little positive and understanding. We're not always positive, but at least refuse to be a negative force against something you care about.
When you are grumpy, don't influence everyone else.
If the game is discontinued, at least you will know that you weren't part of the reason.




I for one would really like this game to be preserved and successful, since it was my first online game, I've had a lot of fun here, and I really like it. However naive that might sound.

Don't know how much this helps but I think we are all linked, and one more positive person in the world will make the world a better place. Our opinions and views seem to radiate out like ripples on the water.
We influence more people than we might understand.

You can only take responsibility for yourself.
Be a positive force in the world instead of a negative force.
That goes for everything in life, not just this.

[/ QUOTE ]

<blockquote><hr>

I also think this game has enormous potential - I'm first of all not a 'gamer' altogether; don't even play cards in rl... My son kept pushing me to play The Sims - he said I know you'll love it. He mostly plays war/fantasy games himself. And yes - I loved it.

And then for all the years I was on line I was thinking how great it would be if Sims were on line too. I actually did a few searches and even found other people searching for it too, posting in forums and stuff. I have no clue why it was so hard to find - I am pretty good at finding any information on line, didn't find it till 5 months ago during a random search for some Sims 2 objects.

In my opinion they should have kept the Sims name: 'Sims World' rather than EA-Land, which I just don't think sounds right. And I don't think it's true that regular Sims players do not want to play a game like this - like one of the EA executives said in an interview; I've found many, as I said, in forums asking specifically for this. I don't know how they do their surveys though.

If only they would invest some real money in getting the game updated for real - better graphics, making sure the game plays well, introducing new jobs for instance - and gave it real advertising exposure - I am sure it would be very successful.

I have tried playing WoW, SL and other on line games - and none of them could keep me the way The Sims OnLine has; so I am sure there is a market out there for people who are not the usual gamer, since TSO is a unique way of playing games. But hey - who will listen to me?

P.S.
As a second thought - we are only in Beta... Once the game goes on line officially - so to speak - maybe there will be more advertising? And more players... I perfer to remain optimistic till proven wrong.

[/ QUOTE ]

These words keep me optimistic that there is still hope for the game. Sometimes reading all the negativity can get to you. I admit, this happened to me but I haven't given up yet. That won't happen until we get the 90-day notice telling us that TSO is no more. Even then...you'll find me fighting.

 

[Guest]

*TTL*

When is the last time Parizad or a dev confirmed 90 days as being the current notice period? The number 90 is not in the ToS.

 

[imported_Gracie Nito]

<blockquote><hr>

*TTL*

When is the last time Parizad or a dev confirmed 90 days as being the current notice period? The number 90 is not in the ToS.

[/ QUOTE ]

The "90 day notice" has always been an assumption because EA sells 90 day time cards. Probably easiest to stop selling 90 day time cards and then let everyone play out their remaining time.

 

[Guest]

EA sells 90 day time cards

Makes good sense. I just hope that the EA suits who dictated the name change don't think differently.