I understand praising the game you enjoy playing. I also understand defending it against those that would tarnish its good name. What I want to know is what YOU believe is the reason that EQ2 is currently (well, as of February) number 6 in Market Share. From what I read, it appears that most people that play EQ2 say its the best game ever with the most potential. If this is so, please explain the following.
Please note, I am not attacking anyone or any game. I simply want to know what your feelings are about the current ranking. If EQ2 is really the next level of gaming, why do you believe its number 6 in total number of subscribers. This in no way is a justification or 'proof' that a specific game is better/worse than the rest. I simply want to know what you believe are the cause(s) for this ranking.
Lineage 1 25.6% market share with 2,085,385 subscribers
Lineage 2 25.3% market share with 2,065,187 subscribers
WoW 15.3% market share with 1,250,000 subscribers
FFXI 6.7% market share with 550,000 subscribers
EQ 5.1% market share with 420,000 subscribers
EQ2 3.8% market share with 310,000 subscribers
SOE made an announcement on 3/1 that they have 350,000 players logging in weekly. These figures have not been added to the total list since I do not know how many more/less players the rest of the games have added/lost.
So my question again, what is driving the top games to be number 1? Is it really the marketing? Are MMORPG players simply being told what to play through marketing?
On a side note, I would really love to see numbers on player attrition on these games. It would be interesting to see if most players stop playing after the free month, 2 months, 6 months or year. Also, did in-game patches or updates cause players to join/leave the games?