FF Historical Stats and Thoughts

10-30-2007, 06:40 PM

Hi guys,

Out of curiosity I wanted to collect stats for a mod from its opening day onward. I had to stop though after my computer borked and the data seemed less interesting as time went on. Nonetheless I thought it would have been a waste not to have ever shared what I collected. So below are graphs of Players (members), Servers, and Player Minutes per Month (PMM), in millions of minutes.

As you can see, TFF had a very impressive release that was decimated by the TF2 mod. The loss of Players was close to 51%. Although the tail-end of my graph showed an upswing, the most recent data point (not included) is well under 200 Players.

The good news was that server numbers stayed mostly constant, which I guess says something about the supply of servers, and that PMM actually went up a bit even after the release of TF2 beta. People were playing longer, even if there were less people playing. I think this also coincided with PlanetHalflife's TF2-FF feature but I'm not sure on that.

For consistency, I tried to collect my data-point at around 5pm PST (8pm EST) on each day. Therefore, I would not use this to judge European/Asian player-time.

I think doing this type of graphing and analysis is important so that mod developers can see player trends, whether they are reacting to patches/marketing, who are playing (by timezone), and whether another event/release is taking away players (the obvious case here was the TF2 beta).

Are there any other mods out there that you would like to see this done? I have my sights on some others including one I'm beta testing right now.

No I didn't do this for a beta or a job, but I have always been a pro-mod person, and anything that helps mods out is a good thing. If you are a FF dev team member and you want the origianl MS Excel file, PM me.

Apologies for the long windedness, and I hope this helps.

Dr.Satan · 10-30-2007, 07:08 PM

wow you must really have nothing to do!

JK looks nice, kinda cool to see the stats!

Rutabeggar · 10-30-2007, 07:13 PM

Perhaps steps should be taken to make sure that something is done to resurrect this community and mod, I'd hate to see it fade away slowly without a fighting chance.

10-30-2007, 07:25 PM

Actually, we do know FF is dying

So, can you go away with your stats?

You are evil!

RocKwell · 10-30-2007, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neya

Actually, we do know FF is dying

So, can you go away with your stats?

You are evil!

I think the graphs are really interesting, especially if you look at the last week and see the slight improvement. That may be because of the new patch coming up, more exposure (FF was covered in this month's "Games for Windows") or people that are getting tired of TF2.

10-30-2007, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neya

Actually, we do know FF is dying

So, can you go away with your stats?

You are evil!

That was not my point. I personally would've preferred something more constant than what I have as reality. I'm only showing what is there.

As for my evilness, maybe in some other areas, my Heavy abuse perhaps, but not here.

Lost · 10-30-2007, 09:59 PM

FF just took the hit that every other Source mod has so far - short attention spans. On top of that was TF2. I also notice a large decrease is players in TF2, especially after those first few days. Not to say its dying, far from it, but again, people have short attention spans.

But really, FF will only die when there is no one left to play it at all.

KubeDawg · 10-30-2007, 10:08 PM

So basically I will never let it die cause I'll play it to the end of time if I have to.

[AE] 82694 · 10-30-2007, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lost

But really, FF will only die when there is no one left to play it at all.

Can't say it any better than that.

Major Lee High · 10-30-2007, 11:50 PM

There are alot more people playing usually then most mods ever get on at their best. And compared to TFC (which is alot of bots anyway) FF has a pretty good ammount of the fortress players, even without the fake steamfriends player count added on. I have played mods with less than a full server for years before, and tbh the small communitys are almost always better than the huge ones.

As long as the devs keep going, and the community keeps making new maps/gametypes I think the player count will go up. Whenever there is something good enough to get a news item on gamespy or anywhere hl2 owners can see it people will come back and try. Need to do more than just polish it and make more remake maps though, its been clear to me since launch that pr was never a problem. plenty of people played and left for many reasons (tf2 probably one of them) most of which have been brought up here alot, mostly gameplay related problems imo.

Private_Joker · 10-31-2007, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lost

But really, FF will only die when there is no one left to play it at all.

Looks like the closest FF will ever come to dying will be KubeDawg and I running around fragging each other in a listensever. The war is NEVER over!

FORTRESS FOREVER!

-Joker

**mervaka** · 10-31-2007, 12:49 AM

yeah i've just learned this patch is waiting on me

i'll get on and do this lua i need to do!

-=Roland=- · 10-31-2007, 01:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mervaka

yeah i've just learned this patch is waiting on me

i'll get on and do this lua i need to do!

Ack...What are you doing posting here then? Get to work j/k

Stankyfingers · 10-31-2007, 02:05 AM

Dont make me get out the work whip....

Camphlobactor · 10-31-2007, 02:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neya

Actually, we do know FF is dying

So, can you go away with your stats?

You are evil!

Uhh no. A mod is only as dead as the community, and this community is probably one of the tops in Source mods. If you want to see a dead community take a look at SourceForts where every thread contains half the members flaming each other and the other half flaming the devs for not updating.

KubeDawg · 10-31-2007, 02:47 AM

Yeah we're more civilized here, more pessimistic, but civilized nonetheless.

Johnny Mullet · 10-31-2007, 03:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lost

But really, FF will only die when there is no one left to play it at all.

Well, that means that QWTF and ETF are both still alive! Look how long those games been around.

Dr.Uudge · 10-31-2007, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Javert

Hi guys,

Out of curiosity I wanted to collect stats for a mod from its opening day onward. I had to stop though after my computer borked and the data seemed less interesting as time went on. Nonetheless I thought it would have been a waste not to have ever shared what I collected. So below are graphs of Players (members), Servers, and Player Minutes per Month (PMM), in millions of minutes.

As you can see, TFF had a very impressive release that was decimated by the TF2 mod. The loss of Players was close to 51%. Although the tail-end of my graph showed an upswing, the most recent data point (not included) is well under 200 Players.

The good news was that server numbers stayed mostly constant, which I guess says something about the supply of servers, and that PMM actually went up a bit even after the release of TF2 beta. People were playing longer, even if there were less people playing. I think this also coincided with PlanetHalflife's TF2-FF feature but I'm not sure on that.

For consistency, I tried to collect my data-point at around 5pm PST (8pm EST) on each day. Therefore, I would not use this to judge European/Asian player-time.

I think doing this type of graphing and analysis is important so that mod developers can see player trends, whether they are reacting to patches/marketing, who are playing (by timezone), and whether another event/release is taking away players (the obvious case here was the TF2 beta).

Are there any other mods out there that you would like to see this done? I have my sights on some others including one I'm beta testing right now.

No I didn't do this for a beta or a job, but I have always been a pro-mod person, and anything that helps mods out is a good thing. If you are a FF dev team member and you want the origianl MS Excel file, PM me.

Apologies for the long windedness, and I hope this helps.

Yea this is a good study worth investigating. Translating the data as visual makes it easier to identify the dates that significant events happened. Do you plan to collect data only for the 5pm PST or eventually add perhaps times for the euro/asia/africa/australia playing times? After a few patches, it'd be nice if the FF forums had a section dedicated to these types of data. I know game monitor has something like that too, but their graph only shows 1 month =\. So it'd be awsome if the data can be kepted since ff outing.

stino · 10-31-2007, 01:50 PM

i can do this automaticly, i could write a fast windows application that checks ever X minutes, or i can make a slow php script

only thing i need is a windows server to host the fast app, if nobody has one i'll have to use the php script.

SoBe Green · 10-31-2007, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mervaka

yeah i've just learned this patch is waiting on me

i'll get on and do this lua i need to do!

You want that to be your last words?

10-30-2007, 06:40 PM	#1
Javert Guest Posts Rated Helpful 1 Times	FF Historical Stats and Thoughts Hi guys, Out of curiosity I wanted to collect stats for a mod from its opening day onward. I had to stop though after my computer borked and the data seemed less interesting as time went on. Nonetheless I thought it would have been a waste not to have ever shared what I collected. So below are graphs of Players (members), Servers, and Player Minutes per Month (PMM), in millions of minutes. As you can see, TFF had a very impressive release that was decimated by the TF2 mod. The loss of Players was close to 51%. Although the tail-end of my graph showed an upswing, the most recent data point (not included) is well under 200 Players. The good news was that server numbers stayed mostly constant, which I guess says something about the supply of servers, and that PMM actually went up a bit even after the release of TF2 beta. People were playing longer, even if there were less people playing. I think this also coincided with PlanetHalflife's TF2-FF feature but I'm not sure on that. For consistency, I tried to collect my data-point at around 5pm PST (8pm EST) on each day. Therefore, I would not use this to judge European/Asian player-time. I think doing this type of graphing and analysis is important so that mod developers can see player trends, whether they are reacting to patches/marketing, who are playing (by timezone), and whether another event/release is taking away players (the obvious case here was the TF2 beta). Are there any other mods out there that you would like to see this done? I have my sights on some others including one I'm beta testing right now. No I didn't do this for a beta or a job, but I have always been a pro-mod person, and anything that helps mods out is a good thing. If you are a FF dev team member and you want the origianl MS Excel file, PM me. Apologies for the long windedness, and I hope this helps.

10-30-2007, 07:08 PM	#2
Dr.Satan Wiki Team Fortress Forever Staff Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Greeley, CO Class/Position: Med / Solly Gametype: PAYLOAD Affiliations: DET- Posts Rated Helpful 19 Times	wow you must really have nothing to do! JK looks nice, kinda cool to see the stats! __________________ FF Community Map Pack(s): 1 / 2 (Released) conc_school \| hellion_classic \| ksour_PAYLOAD \| mulch_faf (Beta) alchimy_b1 (Lua) base_payload_2015 (Models) props_trainyard Support FF:

10-30-2007, 09:59 PM	#7
Lost Fear teh crowbar. Retired FF Staff Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Oklahoma Gametype: CTF ftw, yeh Posts Rated Helpful 6 Times	FF just took the hit that every other Source mod has so far - short attention spans. On top of that was TF2. I also notice a large decrease is players in TF2, especially after those first few days. Not to say its dying, far from it, but again, people have short attention spans. But really, FF will only die when there is no one left to play it at all. __________________ Do what you want cuz a pirate is free! You are a pirate!

10-30-2007, 10:08 PM	#8
KubeDawg Nade Whore Server Owner Beta Tester Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Oklahoma Class/Position: Scout/Soldier Gametype: CTF/TDM Affiliations: blunt. Moto Posts Rated Helpful 128 Times	So basically I will never let it die cause I'll play it to the end of time if I have to. __________________ Moto's Funhouse \| Dallas, TX - 74.91.114.247:27015 ff_plunder - Complete

10-31-2007, 12:49 AM	#12
mervaka A Very Sound Guy! Fortress Forever Staff Join Date: May 2005 Location: UK Posts Rated Helpful 15 Times	yeah i've just learned this patch is waiting on me i'll get on and do this lua i need to do! __________________ Support FF:

10-30-2007, 07:13 PM	#3
Rutabeggar D&A Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	Perhaps steps should be taken to make sure that something is done to resurrect this community and mod, I'd hate to see it fade away slowly without a fighting chance.

10-30-2007, 07:25 PM	#4
Neya Guest Posts Rated Helpful 1 Times	Actually, we do know FF is dying So, can you go away with your stats? You are evil!

10-30-2007, 11:50 PM	#10
Major Lee High Retired Mapper Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Tulsa, OK Posts Rated Helpful 1 Times	There are alot more people playing usually then most mods ever get on at their best. And compared to TFC (which is alot of bots anyway) FF has a pretty good ammount of the fortress players, even without the fake steamfriends player count added on. I have played mods with less than a full server for years before, and tbh the small communitys are almost always better than the huge ones. As long as the devs keep going, and the community keeps making new maps/gametypes I think the player count will go up. Whenever there is something good enough to get a news item on gamespy or anywhere hl2 owners can see it people will come back and try. Need to do more than just polish it and make more remake maps though, its been clear to me since launch that pr was never a problem. plenty of people played and left for many reasons (tf2 probably one of them) most of which have been brought up here alot, mostly gameplay related problems imo.

10-31-2007, 02:05 AM	#14
Stankyfingers Kalikop Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	Dont make me get out the work whip....

10-31-2007, 02:47 AM	#16
KubeDawg Nade Whore Server Owner Beta Tester Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Oklahoma Class/Position: Scout/Soldier Gametype: CTF/TDM Affiliations: blunt. Moto Posts Rated Helpful 128 Times	Yeah we're more civilized here, more pessimistic, but civilized nonetheless. __________________ Moto's Funhouse \| Dallas, TX - 74.91.114.247:27015 ff_plunder - Complete

10-31-2007, 01:50 PM	#19
stino Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	i can do this automaticly, i could write a fast windows application that checks ever X minutes, or i can make a slow php script only thing i need is a windows server to host the fast app, if nobody has one i'll have to use the php script.

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