Simu is such a joke

[Hulkein]

On a night when they know they're having this huge event in which plenty of people will turn out for, even those who may not play and considering cancelling their account, and what do they do? They let the game and website crash. Could they be any more unprepared and stupid? I dunno, I'm just waiting for the day they file for bankruptcy and end the games.

[Edited on 2-17-2004 by Hulkein]

[Soulpieced]

I dunno, I'm just waiting for the day they file for bankruptcy and end the games.

.

Freedom!!

[Hulkein]

I wonder if they were desperate enough if they would just sell the rights to a company who actually cared more about promoting a good game enviroment etc over milking as much money as possible before their window closes (No doubt Simu sees text based games fading quickly).

[Anebriated]

My major thing with simu is their view on lag. They say that they now have tools to control it. If they can control it then why is there any lag at all. This plays in with what you brought up. If they know that there will be a large turnout somewhere, they should be prepared. They said that they would be able to do alot more when they rewrote the game, would be nice if they started with the basics instead of trying to make the game 'pretty'.

[Latrinsorm]

They should give it to the guy who runs Eaxia. He's a standup guy.

[TheEschaton]

They should give it to me.

I'd then make myself uber 1337 and go around killing PC people all day long, in weird and exotic ways, and you all would like it because you'd get to brag to your friends about how you got killed by teh rox0r game admin, because that is what rules all your lives! Muahaha.

/end fantasy
-TheE-

[Hulkein]

For posting some really intelligent posts Eschaton, you post the wierdest shit sometimes

[LilHellcat]

Originally posted by Latrinsorm
They should give it to the guy who runs Eaxia. He's a standup guy.

He's even better to you if your a girl and will show him pictures of your tits, yes Exxy is really great. I played it for two months and got tired of him constantly trying to get into my pants. But if you pay him enough he'll let you buy uber items.

/end sarcasm

To stay on topic: Why do they care about lag? They know we are addicted and will keep paying its basically all about the money anyway.

[TheEschaton]

Originally posted by Hulkein
For posting some really intelligent posts Eschaton, you post the wierdest shit sometimes

That's my M.O., baby! Keep 'em on their toes. Does anyone actually play Modus? I mean, seriously.

In all seriousness, I just think I'm loopy from the fact that I have to go back to work tomorrow. Work is teh suck.

-TheE-

[Xcalibur]

How much do you think the whole game is worth? I mean what would be a reasonnable price to think Gs3-4 is worth?

[Syberus]

heh on ebay? just kidding..

[Xcalibur]

Don't ever question the professionalism of simutronics! (I wouldn't be surprised if it happened, though :lol: )

[Hulkein]

Originally posted by LilHellcat
To stay on topic: Why do they care about lag? They know we are addicted and will keep paying its basically all about the money anyway.

If everyone was addicted they wouldn't have gone from 2000+ people at peak times three years ago to around 900-1000 now, even after massive game improvements.

[LilHellcat]

Originally posted by Hulkein


If everyone was addicted they wouldn't have gone from 2000+ people at peak times three years ago to around 900-1000 now, even after massive game improvements. [/quote]

Thats still 1000 people at 12, or 30 bucks a pop and thats just Gemstone, not counting DR, DR the fallen, Modus (all 50 most of which are 6 multi accounts) , and the 3 people that play what Hercules and Xena used to be (I'm to lazy to look) and the 2 person who multi account for cyber strike. :yes:

[Hulkein]

I'm not saying they're poor, just saying their business has been declining.

[Bobmuhthol]

2000 people (which I find inaccurate because it was considerably lower when I started playing over two and a half years ago) paying $9.95 compared to 1000 people paying $12.95, and that's just for standard accounts. More people are paying for platinum/premium and more people are MA'ing. Their business is just fine.

[Hulkein]

There were 2000 people peak times, I know for a fact. I'm sure others remember those days.
Text based games are constantly facing loss of business due to the fact that each year less young people will play it, choosing the new high end graphic game. You realize Simu isn't just putting 12.95 into their pockets each month, they do have expenses. And the more people MA'ing point is moot, they're in the game, and the peak times still only hit 1000 for an hour or two. It doesn't matter if it is 1000 single people playing or 500 people MA'ing, it's the same amount of characters in the game.

[Hulkein]

Again I'm not saying they're in danger but Simu is passed it's prime and will slowly decline until (if ever) they release a graphic MMORG (Hero's Journey or whatever it's rumored) that will compete with Everquest, World of Warcraft etc. Then we'll all be able to still play Gemstone in peace.

[Bobmuhthol]

Plus extra character slots, plus pay events.

Simu is paid $59.80 by my household monthly, plus pay events, which I do attend.

A $30 pay event will fetch, let's say just for demonstrative purposes, 300 people. That $9000 tri-monthly helps.

[Scott]

Originally posted by Hulkein

Originally posted by LilHellcat
To stay on topic: Why do they care about lag? They know we are addicted and will keep paying its basically all about the money anyway.

If everyone was addicted they wouldn't have gone from 2000+ people at peak times three years ago to around 900-1000 now, even after massive game improvements.

3 years ago, 2000+ people?

[Bobmuhthol]

I think more people are online at once now than three years ago.

When I first started playing, I thought 1000 was a rare occurrance.

[HarmNone]

Nah, Sintik. I would venture to guess the last time there were 2K people on at peak times was at least five years ago, wouldn't you?

HarmNone cannot remember for sure

[Edaarin]

Not since the days of AOL Keyword: Gemstone.

AOL rising in popularity + free game = lots of people.

[HarmNone]

Yeah, Edaarin! It was after the AOL influx! Seemed like half the world had suddenly been transported to Elanthia...clueless! :D

HarmNone remembers now

[Tsa`ah]

There were occasions when GS had a 2k peak post-AOL.

Major peaks such as those were fridays and saturdays 5pm - 12am and they were never consistent.

I don't see Whatley keeping Simu, or at least some of the titles, very much longer. I would agree that business is declining and the interest to keep the technology (declining cost) up to date just isn't there.

I see certain titles, or Simutronics as a whole, absorbed into a larger company (a la Ultima and Sony) or just dropped on the roadside all together.

[Ravenstorm]

GS also would break 2000 after the move to the net when they were offering the increased XP rate.

Raven

[HarmNone]

Yes, Raven, of course! My old memory is really lousy, I guess.

I think there were some times a few years ago, during special events, that figures would be in that neighborhood, but I am pretty sure it has been at least five years since figures like that were achieved. I suppose it is inevitable, considering the lure of the graphics-based games for the younger generation. ;)

HarmNone hates graphics-based games

Originally posted by TheEschaton

Originally posted by Hulkein
For posting some really intelligent posts Eschaton, you post the wierdest shit sometimes

That's my M.O., baby! Keep 'em on their toes. Does anyone actually play Modus? I mean, seriously.

In all seriousness, I just think I'm loopy from the fact that I have to go back to work tomorrow. Work is teh suck.

-TheE-

I used to play Modus, with Jieret, Quavvy and a few other people.

[Ansherak]

Harmnone, do you play any games now? or have you given up on games and just play baby sitter here on the PC?

D-

[HarmNone]

Heh. I am not playing anything at present. I have these boards, and my house...which is always a work in progress. ;) I just do not have the time to devote to playing any roleplaying game with the intensity that I enjoy. I shall get back to it when I can find the time, though.

HarmNone

[Hulkein]

Was it really that long ago that it was 2k people? Damn, I'm 19 and my memory fucking sucks, lol. You got nothing to worry about HN.

And Tsa`ah pretty much summed up what I was saying though, just wondering outloud what will be the final end for GS down the road.

[Galleazzo]

Originally posted by Hulkein
On a night when they know they're having this huge event in which plenty of people will turn out for, even those who may not play and considering cancelling their account, and what do they do? They let the game and website crash. Could they be any more unprepared and stupid? I dunno, I'm just waiting for the day they file for bankruptcy and end the games.

DAMN them! What losers! Fuck their stupid fucking asses! How dare they "let" their site crash! Why, you'd think they WANTED the game to crash! Even crashed it on purpose!

<<There were 2000 people peak times, I know for a fact. I'm sure others remember those days. >>

THere were 2000 people playing 2 months after AOL linked. That's eight years ago now, guy.

[Hulkein]

<<
How dare they "let" their site crash! Why, you'd think they WANTED the game to crash! Even crashed it on purpose!>>

I don't know if you know much about webhosting or how game servers work but it is possible to get increased bandwidth whether from other games or from the source for times when you know there will be increased activity. My point is Simu overlooked that. Whether they did it on purpose or not doesn't matter in the business world.

<<THere were 2000 people playing 2 months after AOL linked. That's eight years ago now, guy. >>

Yeah, but there was also 2000 at other various points later in Gemstone's timeline, someone already confirmed that in this thread.

[Galleazzo]

Someone alleged it. It's a long way from confirmation.

[Moist Happenings]

Personally I don't remember 2000+ people since before simu went to the web and gemstone was no longer free.

I think the only time it ever got up that high in the early days of the web was when there was some huge merchant event or something.

Simu's lost some business, but compared to other text based games around, it's doing really well.

[Edited on 2-18-2004 by Neff]

[Hulkein]

Originally posted by Neff
Simu's lost some business, but compared to other text based games around, it's doing really well.


No doubt about that.

[Caramia]

Originally posted by Bobmuhthol
2000 people (which I find inaccurate because it was considerably lower when I started playing over two and a half years ago).

The fiction that is the 2,000 people mark was a short period that existed for 6 months or slightly more.

GS lived with 50 people and less for about 5 or 6 years before AOL came along. Then the numbers jumped up, and yes, some nights came very close to the 2,000 mark. But it was never for an extended period, like years, as some people allude to.

The game is back to the levels before that peak, and while it might not be as heavily played during prime hours, its certainly more populated consistently around the clock.

[Caramia]

Timeline:

GS3 beta's on AOL, summer of 1995.
GS3 goes gold on AOL, spring of 1996.
GS3 migrates to the Web, summer of 1997.

The only time there was a peak close to 2,000 people, was during major events, and that was 7 to 8 years ago.

Currently, of all the text roleplaying games online, Simutronics is definitely at the lead.

Graphical games are not a fair comparison, and are probably owned by big companies, like Sony.

A lot of people who have player DOAC, Ultima Online, and EverCrack have come back to GS for, ::gasps:: the roleplaying.

I personally have no problem with GS attracting an older range of gameplayers, and letting the youth of today have fun in their hack and slash games.

[Edited on 2-18-2004 by Caramia]

[Bobmuhthol]

Fall 1995 GemStone III De-ICEd, opens on AOL

December 1, 1996 AOL switches to flat-rate pricing

December, 1996 GemStone III and DragonRealms are the top two titles (hours/month) in industry

December, 1996 GemStone III does over 1.4 Million hours in one month, with over 2000 simultaneous users

July 3, 1997 (my birthday omg) Simutronics website opens: http://www.play.net