Obviously Conan Exiles Player Base is shrinking

DaVice · 2023-04-09T01:54:02.852Z

Talk about “selective use of facts in a nutshell.”
Your 5 year graph shows exactly the same thing that the OP said in the title of this thread “Obviously Conan Exiles Player Base is Shrinking.”

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All your 5 year graph shows (which is only 3 years by the way) is that there was a tremendous spike for 9 months around the release of the Siptah DLC. If you exclude the spike, your graph shows the player base going from about 250k down to roughly 120k over the course of 3 years. This is exactly what the OP is saying, the player base is shrinking (not dead). In fact, I would say the last 1 year (excluding spikes) has shown a slow steady climb.

Taemien · 2023-04-09T04:27:53.982Z

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Decided to cook this one up based on Steam Charts. Which actually gets us some accurate and not assumed data. Unfortunately, it only shows the Steam user base. But what is significant about Steam is it shows a population set going all the way back to Early Access.

The reason I started the line where I did is it was back in 2018, a few months after launch. This is actually where I saw a few servers that I played on actually shut down from lack of players. Around this time, there was anywhere from around 2500-3600 players at most online at a given time.

The only issue with steam numbers is its a low ball type number. It only shows the most online at a single instant in a day. However, the number given is accurate to the individual. Therefor we can trust the numbers in relation to each other being 100% accurate in showing a trend, if only the Steam platform.

But again… its the oldest platform. It should be among the worst in numbers of any demographic. Thus being the most favorable to any argument saying the game is dying.

Between around October 2018 and April 2023, the difference in player base is interesting. There is 6x more players online during peak play in April of 2023 compared to the near dying game that Conan Exiles was in the fall of 2018.

The overall baseline has also risen slightly since Age of Sorcery.

Is the game dying? Well no. The numbers don’t show that. At least for Steam users. And I will say it again, the Steam user base is the oldest in the community. It should have the largest evidence of a downward trend out of any. However the numbers indicate a small growth.

Being that Steam is the oldest userbase, suffice to say, the other platforms will likely have a slightly better growth and unlikely show signs of more. But unfortunately, we don’t have exact numbers for any other part of the community.

The numbers don’t lie.

But like I said before, it doesn’t matter. If the game is dead to someone, its over and done for them. They should move on. They’ve already made their decision. I just never understood the reason for people to try to argue a case. Are they afraid of moving on alone? Is this a self imposed version of fear of missing out? Do they need a peer to justify their decision?

For me I don’t need others to tell me if the game I’m playing is dead or alive. I’ll decide that for myself, and I literally did in 2018. I literally had around four servers close due to lack of players. I simply moved on to another and another and kept playing. And I’m still here. I’ll be here long after most of you are gone probably.

But if someone isn’t happy here, then find something that makes you happy. I’m not going with you, sorry.

Pugilist · 2023-04-09T11:37:36.396Z

Taemien:

For me I don’t need others to tell me if the game I’m playing is dead or alive. I’ll decide that for myself, and I literally did in 2018. I literally had around four servers close due to lack of players. I simply moved on to another and another and kept playing. And I’m still here. I’ll be here long after most of you are gone probably.

But if someone isn’t happy here, then find something that makes you happy. I’m not going with you, sorry.

Exactly.

Akomo · 2023-04-10T15:31:59.400Z

LOL! i know right?

I know for me i dont play games because they are popular. Some people do.Some are social butterflies -nothing wrong with it.

I play this game because i like it and the genre. No other reason really.

People can stop trying to convince people to not play a game because they dont have enough people? Why waste your time?

Anyways back to the game!

Frillen · 2023-04-11T18:28:52.722Z

SnakeBitezzZ:

Dont say anything against conans playerbase etc! This forum is 1% funcom employees and 98% wannabe funcom employees with stokholm syndrom who get not listened to in real life

It’s really not healthy to have such a negative attitude, maybe turn of your computer, go out and get some fresh air and forget about all the problems playing this game seems to cause for you, you might suddenly get a more positive view on things… life and maybe games too

CodeMage · 2023-04-11T18:54:53.253Z

FreedomOfSpeechRip:

That’s just selective use of facts in a nutshell.

Isn’t it ironic that you wrote that and then proceeded to carefully select a different time period that matches your narrative?

Pot. Kettle. Black.

The only one here who didn’t fudge his data was @Taemien. He showed the totality of the existence of Conan Exiles – including the early access – and was fully transparent about what the data is supposed to represent and what is not represented in that data.

If I had to trust someone’s interpretation, it would be his. And even then I would go look at the data myself, just to see if there was something he missed.

Fortunately, none of us have to trust either the data or the interpretation, because this whole thing about whether Conan Exiles is “dying” or not is a red herring.

I could go on and explain what I mean, but there are two YouTubers who did it much better:

Jimbo · 2023-04-11T18:57:06.871Z

SnakeBitezzZ:

stokholm syndrom

Stockholm Syndrome*

I don’t think you know what that means, none of us are captives here. You’re free to leave whenever you want, nobody is making you comment the wacky goofy things you do.

Has it ever crossed your mind maybe some of the people here actually enjoy the game, and aren’t on this forum purely to bash it? Shocking, I know

donbzm · 2023-04-11T22:01:47.134Z

Funcom has an unquestionable merit: They created a game that no one has been able to surpass to this day. I’m not saying that there are no better games, but the formula for Conan is unique, and players who really like the game cannot find another game with the same appeal as this one. Funcom created a game that is not a combat game (PvP), nor a survival game, nor a craft game, nor an RPG/MMO, much less an adventure game… It is simply Conan Exiles, and nothing is comparable to it. It was a mixture that worked, in an unconventional universe (Conan), that attracted an audience who managed to understand it in its essence, in the genius of its creators. It attracted an audience that doesn’t even like the character Conan and his stories so much, who thinks survival games are too difficult, but at the same time thinks The Sims is too silly, doesn’t like frenetic PvP but loves being able to fight because they can walk around with a warrior thrall by their side… Thralls: perhaps the greatest genius behind the game. Add to that beautiful graphics that allow for an immersive experience that few games can achieve. That’s why the game won’t die anytime soon. Because there will probably never be a game that will replace Conan. Maybe one day it will become so obsolete that it won’t keep up with the technological resources that will emerge. But until then, those who play Conan and those who will still discover the magic of the game will not let it die.

auticus · 2023-04-11T22:21:54.586Z

I mean… I guess it sucks if thats not what you want out of the game. I can understand that.

I didn’t jump on conan to play hack hack git-gud with people that cheat or have my base destroyed because I have to work and sleep and they wait until then to raid. I prefer building and running dungeons. That the majority of conan players do the same thing just means thats what the target audience is.

I hate that sea of thieves is pvp only and I don’t play sea of thieves because within 5 minutes of logging in its some 12 year old screaming about my mom and the things he is going to do to my mom over the chat, so I totally get wanting the game to cater to what you want, because when I complain about wanting pve servers in sea of thieves I get dogpiled and told to gtfo.

mynotaure · 2023-04-12T06:37:56.954Z

Good morning .
do you really need to be vulgar and aggressive to express an opinion?
We are on a forum, a place of exchange and sharing.
That you have divergent ideas does not pose a problem, we are between adults here not in a kindergarten court but being provocative and insulting will not advance the debate, on the contrary your attitude takes away all your credibility.
I am certainly not (according to you) a lesson to give you but please remain courteous and mature.
Have a good day .

erjoh · 2023-04-12T21:44:08.762Z

Jimbo:

I don’t think you know what that means, none of us are captives here

I don’t know. I felt that way during some weeks on a PVP server. Hell I feel that now on the loot locations that I still maintain for the clan.

100K users? That isn’t bad. However the data is showing stagnation vs actual growth. This needs to change to keep sustainability because as much as I love playing…I’m old enough now to understand I am getting squirrelly and wanting a new fix (if FC would stop putting out cool sets, it would be easier but rounded tents?..for a treebuilder? You guys suck and keep drawing me back in!..ok so @AndyB and team are doing really awesome things in maintaining grouchy old guys…and I will let you try to figure out if that is a compliment or a slam )

Pugilist · 2023-04-12T23:33:04.951Z

erjoh:

However the data is showing stagnation vs actual growth.

The data is showing month over month growth.

I do not believe that fits the definition of stagnation.

Taemien · 2023-04-13T00:46:22.795Z

I wonder if they meant stagnated growth. Which would be technically correct. Getting a few dozen new players a week is rather small growth even if it is growth.

But I would argue that growing a little in off peak (inbetween major updates) is a good sign. Major update do increase the player base considerably. From 2.8 to 3.0 the numbers are practically double. When a major update hits you will always have a massive growth as players come back. Which declines. When it gets to the breakover point of core players, you want that to be higher than prior to the update.

They’ve been able to do that. And do it well. Enough even during the slower pre 3.0 updates to make the 3.0 update great. Hopefully the (3.1?) next update can continue the trend of growth.

erjoh · 2023-04-13T01:19:32.283Z

Yep…it’s not enough growth I would sink my retirement funds into and therefore it’s not the growth I think this company should be achieving with this product. I think, even with all of the bugs, this product just needs some more marketing and change from this “growth”. I don’t mean to insult but I look at companies going 10 to 20% YOY and I think why can’t this come get that? There really isn’t a reason. This is why I encourage the core game being f2p so that they get more players and more in-game exposure to the Bazaar and battle pass.

DeaconElie · 2023-04-13T12:16:34.181Z

erjoh:

This is why I encourage the core game being f2p so that they get more players and more in-game exposure to the Bazaar and battle pass.

Don’t think I have ever seen a game go from P2P to F2P and it not ruin the game.
Funcom admin can’t keep up with the servers as is. How well do you think they’ll do with a few grand more people? How well do you think the servers will deal with the stress?

You want to see Conan exiles grow?
Have Funcom fix the base issues with the game on the consoles.

Move the game to better servers for public play. If the server cap is 40 the game should function fine till 35, not start crying at 20.

Drop the over all prices on bazaar items by 15%. Rotate another 10% off an item/set. Offer all items 25% off for 24 hours before the next series of bazaar item comes up.

Make a server upgrade part of the battle pass.

Skip a month between “Ages” to do a QoL update.

Do a better job of policing the public servers. People shouldn’t be able to get away with TOS violations on PVE simply because there is no huge clan to mass report them.

The fewer issues people have while playing the longer they will play and the longer they will stay.

Taemien · 2023-04-13T13:21:50.486Z

The best way to get and keep more players in all honesty would be to dump the provided servers (assuming contracts allow for it, the partnership with G-portal is very restricting on what can be done with those servers). Then do a marketing campaign to get more exposure.

Without servers with fancy tags that can’t run the game properly, the incoming playerbase would only be able to play on servers that can (usually) handle the load. Then 90% of the problems you see in negative steam reviews evaporate overnight.

Course this assumes PC. Consoles are boned. I just don’t see a game like this running well on them at all. Maybe a PS6 or similar Xbox whatever is made can do it. I honestly think if they ceased making anything new for the next 10 years they couldn’t solve those issues.

Maybe if they reverted the version to a pre early access one where it was only the newbie river and the darfari desert with no DLC it could run somewhat passable on those systems. Even then you’re gonna need a PS5/Xbox Series.

mynotaure · 2023-04-13T13:22:07.712Z

@Deaconelie to sum up perfectly.
If you want to increase the number of players, it will only be done if the quality is present, excluding at the moment this is not the case.
The lack of construction options (although Conan Exile is one of the best games in this style).

the lack of optimization on the PS and Xbox Suffer.
the bug has extended to each maj (the fault of the marketing service that wants to sell At all costs).
to verrify it go to the forum (we are already there, but those responsible for Funcom or are not).
So many black points and I overstepped that harm the good reputation of the gam.
if a game has a good reputation, the players will come , otherwise if the players will flee.
The problems recruit games make new players leave and the bad advertisement agrave the phenomenon.
We love ourselves this game is why we are going beyond, but the potential new players do not.

darthphysicist · 2023-04-14T11:22:09.855Z

Number of players is now not as relevant as it once was. The question is a number we don’t have; bp/bazaar/game sales/old dlc sales vs prior game sales/dlc sales. If the revenue is increasing at the desired rate for the business plan, player numbers could even be acceptable if shrinking. What difference to a player does it make if there are 100 people playing or 1,000,000 playing? The only relevance is that 1,000,000 players likely spend more money than 100 on the bp/bazaar. Anyone who left because of the changes tho wasn’t going to be bp/bazaar revenue anyway. That being said, the numbers are growing, so my suspicion is, everything is just fine.

Taemien · 2023-04-14T11:54:06.209Z

One thing I would point out is with how many players that actually play every day currently, we as individual players don’t have anything to worry about. Right now on just Steam numbers alone, there is a enough players to completely fill a few hundred servers. So if numbers are needed for your enjoyment, then you have plenty of people to play with.

If servers seem empty, its because there’s thousands of them. This is a relatively unique thing to Conan Exiles from my experience. I don’t have numbers on Ark or Rust, but other survival games, I’ve noticed there’s usually less than a hundred servers. If every server was full, or even near full. Conan Exiles would be like in the top 5 games played. Which is unrealistic due to the niche nature of it. Its neither a shooter or a moba.

JJDancer · 2023-04-14T12:49:51.410Z

Pugilist:

It’s a pretty stable player base.

Agreed. Those of us that have been around since EA day 1 will still be here when it shuts down.
Started playing because my ex-BF wanted someone to PVP with him and his buddy. They are gone, I don’t PVP ( On CE ), but I came to love this game, mainly due to the beautiful graphics, storyline, and building.