Cysgodi wrote:Exactly, nothing is hard data. So you can claim because the numbers are down in Xfire that Spore is dying. I can claim because on the SPORE forum (where people come to talk about, surprising), SPORE that they are happy with the game.

A poll does not tell you how many people are actually playing the game, no matter how satisfied they are with the game. I'm not so sure that "somewhat satisfied' could be called "happy with the game" either.

A poll only tells you something at one point in time. It is essentially static. Someone could be somewhat satisfied for a while, then put it down. The xfire data is updated everyday with how much people are actually playing.

FYI, that was my poll. I know what a poll is.

And just because you were not included in the data gathering has no bearing on obtaining general trends. Only a sample of people need to have input to be able to make valid assumptions.

Exactly, nothing is hard data. So you can claim because the numbers are down in Xfire that Spore is dying. I can claim because on the SPORE forum (where people come to talk about, surprising, SPORE that they are happy with the game.

Most people here, on a site devoted to the game, rate the game as "satisfactory" with an approximately equal number of people voting "very satisfied" and "very unsatisfied" or whatever the wording was.

By your logic, since people come here to talk about Spore, people should be overall very happy with the game, or trending towards happy with it. This is a fansite for Spore and so it would be reasonable to expect that the polls would be tilted fairly grossly in favor of the game. Instead, it's getting a mediocre rating.

Since Xfire is for multiple gaming platforms it would be a little difficult to justify the numbers as on a whim someone could play 3 different games a night and enjoy all three. But since they may play the other 2 games longer than they played Spore, Spores numbers may be down a bit. Does that mean they don't like it? Not at all. So unless you know for a fact that these people have stopped playing Spore because they don't like it, than your data is much more flimsy than the poll here on the Official Spore Forums.

No, all the Xfire data says is how many xfire users are playing the game. Since we can expect Xfire to be less biased in favor of Spore than a GAME SITE DEVOTED TO SPORE, inference from the Xfire data about falloff of user interest levels is still quite meaningful.

Also, according to your logic here, Spore is so lacking in complexity and interest level that gamers who have platform alternatives are being lured away by casual games on set-top boxes. That's hardly a rousing endorsement.

Now, another thing. If you measure Spore against the Xfire performance of another EA game that was released over a year ago, C&C3, you can see that C&C3 is doing ALMOST AS WELL AS SPORE.

C&C3 has been overall rated as rather "meh" by gamers. Not great, not bad. But the fact that its performance after over a year is so close to Spore's performance is, to say the least, highly inauspicious.

Another counterexample is Warhammer Online, which was released somewhat after Spore, but is still very, very clear as to the adoption curve of the game. After the initial rush, there has been some falloff but not nearly as precipitous as the falloff of Spore. Because the polling data I am talking about is all from the Xfire site, and because all of these are dumbed down EA poo-bombs, it's perfectly valid to compare and contrast the adoption curves and interest falloffs of all three of them.

Spore is headed for the bargain bin.

A couple of other interesting points:
* Spore interest has fallen off by 10% in the last three days alone.
* Spore is doing worse among xfire users than a number of games I've never even heard OF, much less played. Cabal Online? Silk Road? WTF are those games?
* It is doing worse than WAR ROCK, FFS.

Now, consider for a moment that Spore had nearly unprecedented marketing and development budgets, and years of development time.

A poll does not tell you how many people are actually playing the game, no matter how satisfied they are with the game. I'm not so sure that "somewhat satisfied' could be called "happy with the game" either.

A poll only tells you something at one point in time. It is essentially static. Someone could be somewhat satisfied for a while, then put it down. The xfire data is updated everyday with how much people are actually playing.

Am I the only one who finds it ironic that he claims that a poll on the Spore fansite is somehow going to be less biased than polls located elsewhere, and then asks if you know what a poll is?

ENOUGH with the intellectual discussion. This has already gotten out of hand.

Here's an idea, appreciate what you HAVE instead of whining about what it COULD HAVE been.

We got what we got, there's no changing it. (Unless someone here's got a time machine, but...)

ENOUGH with the intellectual discussion. This has already gotten out of hand.

Yes, use caps and bold text to shout down intellectual discussion of statistics with which you don't agree.

If intellectual stuff bothers you, why not just play some Spore?

Kezlo wrote:

AnotherPoster wrote:These are the steps you need to take to save the sinking ship.

Screw that. Let the sink ship. There is zero reason for me to load up this game after a week of playing. In this day and age, if you can't make a game that costs $50 have more than a week's worth of entertainment then you don't deserve to have a penny of my money and never will get a penny from me again. This game has zero depth and anyone who pays for expansions should run for congress and hang around with the rest of the idiots.

Run for Congress -- hang around with the rest of the idiots.. .. .... LOL!!!! thats priceless.

ghadis wrote:

ENOUGH with the intellectual discussion. This has already gotten out of hand.

Yes, use caps and bold text to shout down intellectual discussion of statistics with which you don't agree.

If intellectual stuff bothers you, why not just play some Spore?

Lol. why not just play some spore.. hahahahhahahhahhaha that had me rolling out of my chair.

Midin wrote:You know whats worse than this game? The Fan Boys who want to argue with ppls OPINIONS!!!! Dont come to a general discussion forum unless you want to hear all sides. You Fan Boys are like Dems, you like ppl as long as they agree with you.

Now thats a laugh... Did you write that just to get a dig at the Dems...

On to reality... Statistics like those contained on Xfire don't work as it is a certain group of people, namely hardcore gamers who actually use it. Many of these people expected a more complex game and as a result have been disappointed and stopped playing. Polls need to cover a wide variety of pollsters to get true results. You wouldn't expect to poll the democratic party and get a result of McCain should win the election would you ?

Spore isn't for everyone and frustrated a lot of people because of mismanaged expectations, noone can argue that. I'm still amazed at the amount of people still here though despite saying "its rubbish" and "I've uninstalled it". Some are here because they can see potential in the "franchise", others just because they like arguing and/or griping I guess.

You forgot that some of us are still here hoping that EA fixes the problems so we can go back to our games without it crashing or securom disabling our pc functions.

Some of us don't like to just throw away a game that we paid good money for. So we will be here harking on EA until they fix the patch issues and the gameplay problems due to securom. I think that the majority of people who have complained and are still here fall under this catagory.

What the poll shows is that people with taste in games have lost interest in it. If you look at it compared to other games and what we were led to believe about this game...

It sort of disgusts me how people want to blank-ride EA and Maxis. Grow some blanketies.

Also don't forget that you can not change your vote on a poll.

I am pretty sure that people who voted satisfied would vote differently now.

Or the other way around. A poll is useless in the sense that it only captures a moment in time. It does not capture people's real opinions over a subject. People change, opinions change, a voted Poll does not change.

Falras wrote:ENOUGH with the intellectual discussion. This has already gotten out of hand.

Here's an idea, appreciate what you HAVE instead of whining about what it COULD HAVE been.

We got what we got, there's no changing it. (Unless someone here's got a time machine, but...)

FINALLY someone with some smarts says something.


The very IDEA of this thread is nonsensical and moronic.

Even Will Wright himself said "This game is being overhyped for what it's going to be", and some such.


Let me put it to you very simply:

THIS GAME IS EXACTLY WHAT MAXIS WANTED IT TO BE. As a longtime Maxis fan, this game came out EXACTLY like I'd thought it would. Considering the nature of the game, you just are NOT going to get an uber-deep spam-tastic Command & Conquer experience with the Tribe stage, you arent gonna get WoW with the Creature stage, and the Space stage isnt.... whatever that compares to!!!!

And I know you hate to hear this, but guess what? THEY ARENT **SUPPOSED** TO COMPARE TO THOSE!!!!! That's NOT the point of the game (and I mean the gameplay part, not the creators here).

And yeah, I am the "hardcore" gamer type, before you think otherwise. I been doing this since the days of the NES, and I do it even MORE nowadays. I love all of the super-hard games, shmups, Roguelikes, and I've been an MMO fan for a long time.... you name it, I've played it, or been in it's beta. And every other genre that isnt sports, chances are I enjoy it. So yeah. I know gaming.

Will Wright's description of this, and other games he's done, as "software toys" couldnt be more correct. It's a game that's meant to be played around with in any way you feel like. Some of us like creating something, going through the different stages, and seeing what we end up with. Some like mucking around in the creators. Some like doing both. The point of this type of game, his type of game, is that anyone can play it however the heck they want.

And what's more.... do you REALLY think that Maxis and EA are going to follow this "plan"? You think they dont know what they're doing? Hah. Lets look at just what we're dealing with here, shall we? First we've got Maxis... they've been around for a long time, quite a long time, and are the masterminds behind the rediculously popular Sims series, as well as the Simcity games, and many others. They've been doing this for AWHILE, and they make good money out of it. Their games have always sold well, and that is continuing here with Spore, and will continue even FURTHER once the Sims 3 comes out. They know the type of games they like to make, and they know the type of audience (the non-whiny ones) that play these.

And then there's EA. The infamous juggernaut that could be compared to the Empire from Star Wars. A gigantic company known for EATING development teams that they take any interest in. They're HUGE. Heck, Im not sure "huge" can even describe them. They too have been around for AWHILE. And what's more, they know the business, they know the industry..... almost too well. Much as Im not fond of them, I have to say that much, and anyone that denies it is a fool. Basically, they're gigantic and unstoppable, and masterful publishers in this industry. THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING.


And here we are, these two strong companies both involved in this. Two companies that know alot, know a HECK of alot more than the MMO-board-style whiny people that inevitably plague message boards like this..... AND YOU THINK TO TELL THEM WHAT *YOU* THINK THEY SHOULD DO IN THEIR BUSINESS? You think you know BETTER?


I think NOT.


I've seen this before. Time and time and time and time again. This very same type of topic, with the very same type of responses, on similar boards filled with complaining. I've seen it OFTEN. And guess what? NOT ONE OF THE GAMES I'VE SEEN IT ON WENT DOWN. Or even DID BADLY.

WHY is this?

Simple: The negative players are ALWAYS THE MOST VOCAL. The POSITIVE players who like the game? Most of us dont bother coming here, because the whining is ANNOYING, and we'd rather be.... you know..... playing the game. Or doing other stuff. I only come here VERY rarely myself, as is the case with many other boards of this type.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If you dont like the game? Dont freaking play it. But dont sit here and WHINE about it and think that these two huge companies will do as you say simply because you say so. Because THEY also know that the negative players are the most vocal, and they're taking that into account when they look this stuff over, I can guarantee you that one. They're well aware of how many people LIKE the game.... even despite the SecuROM issue, which is another thing, and a stupid one. But that has nothing to do with the game and how it plays. That one is just EA's dippy mistake.


Go find something else to do except complaining, whining, and attempting to boss around one of the most powerful companies in the industry. Cause guess what, it wont work.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled doldrums. *leaves*

to the poster above me:

If you have said it before and people didn't listen that means they don't want to listen.

Do not try to reinvent the wheel.
No point getting wound up over it.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8372603330420559198

That's what I saw about 3 weeks before Spore was released. I immediately downloaded the CC and even proceeded to buy the full version of it. The editors looked mostly the same between the CC and the demo by Will...Then I pre-ordered Spore.

Then I watched the live streams of players in Australia. All I could find were Space players, and it again, looked similar to the demo.
Then I got the game. I was excited. I played one full through. I was displeased. I had been looking for the things I saw in the Demo. I was wondering "What happened to the freedom to create my tribe in a unique way? Where is the weapons editor? The plant editor? Where are all the different things that people would be using in a time like this..."
And I couldn't find it. Let me say this again...I knew nothing of Spore until about three weeks before the release date. I watched that demo and after probably the fourth time, i realized the date on it was 2005. I searched high and low for more clues as to how the development went and found little to nothing. And so naturally, I concluded that things were going smoothly and that the game would be FANTASTIC because it had been THREE YEARS since that demo.

I was wrong.
End line, customer was not satisfied.

...we need a forum spot for threads that are just annoying to see 50 of.. when you get on the forums.. in the morning.