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[Davidion]

Many of television statistics are gathered from these "personal diary" type surveys as well in addition to Set Meters. How they distribute Set Meters is apparently random yet not really discussed. I've never known a single person with one of these boxes so I find it only natural to question the credibility of such statistics...

Me neither, I'd be lying if I said the execution of their methodology is transparent. However, I'm not exactly ready to dismiss their numbers as hogwash either.

My issue lies not with the veracity of the numbers (which seemingly puts me at odds with much of the other posters in this thread) but rather how they're being read and interpreted.

 

[Nate405]

Some more context for how they got those numbers would be helpful.

Average User % doesn't seem to correlate to Average Play Time. I would guess they took a poll to get average play time and then tried to extrapolate that to the average user % based on sales figures, which would be kind of stupid because it makes the assumption that everybody that bought the game is still playing it every week. I also wouldn't be surprised if they're using the sales figures that Microsoft has bragged about for the console version.

I also noticed they listed the publisher of Grand Theft Auto as ASC Games, meaning they thought people were referring to the top-down 2d game that came out in 1997.

 

[Slavik81]

Average User % doesn't seem to correlate to Average Play Time. I would guess they took a poll to get average play time and then tried to extrapolate that to the average user % based on sales figures, which would be kind of stupid because it makes the assumption that everybody that bought the game is still playing it every week. I also wouldn't be surprised if they're using the sales figures that Microsoft has bragged about for the console version.

I'm sure average play time only counts the people who stated they played the game. And it's counted as the length of time people list that they played it for that week.

 

[TheRipDizz]

Many of television statistics are gathered from these "personal diary" type surveys as well in addition to Set Meters. How they distribute Set Meters is apparently random yet not really discussed. I've never known a single person with one of these boxes so I find it only natural to question the credibility of such statistics...

So basically everyone in this thread is laughing at them as a credible source of statistics because of conjecture and suspicion. Wow. :lol

 

[evlcookie]

Yea ... OK :lol .

Gametracker says something different, PC gamer's dont really like halo, so i find it hard to see how this report is anything but bullshit. It's all crazy talk.

 

[Nate405]

I'm sure average play time only counts the people who stated they played the game. And it's counted as the length of time people list that they played it for that week.

Right, but Average User % is stated to be an estimate out of all people who play PC games and they're ranking according to Average User %.

 

[Kusagari]

So basically everyone in this thread is laughing at them as a credible source of statistics because of conjecture and suspicion. Wow. :lol

No we're laughing because this is IMPOSSIBLE. Halo 1/2 PC sold like shit and CS has been the most played online FPS for years.

 

[TheRipDizz]

Yea ... OK :lol .

Gametracker says something different, PC gamer's dont really like halo, so i find it hard to see how this report is anything but bullshit. It's all crazy talk.

Has it ever occured to you people that some people

Spoiler

most?

don't play their games online? **shakes head**

 

[TheRipDizz]

No we're laughing because this is IMPOSSIBLE. Halo 1/2 PC sold like shit and CS has been the most played online FPS for years.

Link?

 

[Firestorm]

Has it ever occured to you people that some people

Spoiler

most?

don't play their games online? **shakes head**

On the PC? Really now?

Halo 1 and 2 are not anywhere near Counter-Strike when measured by any unit of anything. Seriously.

 

[Slavik81]

Link?

Actually, Halo 1 sold decently well...
Halo 2 requires vista, so I think it's pretty safe to assume it sold like shit.

 

[Davidion]

Has it ever occured to you people that some people

Spoiler

most?

don't play their games online? **shakes head**

Well then that would be the reason why either of the Halo's has a higher average user% than CS now wouldn't it? CS is online only, naturally it would have a usage% disadvantage compared to a single-player game.

Actually, Halo 1 sold decently well...
Halo 2 requires vista, so I think it's pretty safe to assume it sold like shit.

No, MS just marketed it that way. Halo 2 ran fine on my rig and I've never installed Vista on my computers. Couldn't tell you how that affected sales though.

 

[TheRipDizz]

On the PC? Really now?Halo 1 and 2 are not anywhere near Counter-Strike when measured by any unit of anything. Seriously.

Among avid PC gamers with decent setups? Probably not. Among the entire PC populace. Fucking-a.

 

[No Means Nomad]

The average WoW player spends 17 hours a week playing? Almost three hours a day? Highly suspect.

 

[TheRipDizz]

Well then that would be the reason why either of the Halo's has a higher average user% than CS now wouldn't it? CS is online only, naturally it would have a usage% disadvantage compared to a single-player game.



No, MS just marketed it that way. Halo 2 ran fine on my rig and I've never installed Vista on my computers.

Could be. I don't know. But then neither do any of the asstards in this thread that are so adament that it is impossible no matter what.

 

[Nate405]

Has it ever occured to you people that some people

Spoiler

most?

don't play their games online? **shakes head**

So you think that there are just a ton of people playing Halo single player for PC right now? Like 150-200k? That's what these numbers are suggesting, based on the stats that Valve makes available for Counter-Strike.

Edit: Just to clarify, the higher Average User % indicates that at any given moment, more people are playing Halo PC than Counter-Strike. It doesn't mean that more people have played Halo ever, which might be true.

 

[Davidion]

The average WoW player spends 17 hours a week playing? Almost three hours a day? Highly suspect.

I'm no longer so sure anymore; a friend of mine is a recent convert and his "light" playing schedule is about three hours a day. :lol

I'm trying to arrange an intervention as we speak.

 

[Joseph Merrick]

The average WoW player spends 17 hours a week playing? Almost three hours a day? Highly suspect.

don't know about average but this CRAZY (crazy) guy I know of plays it 50 hours a week

 

[medze]

The average WoW player spends 17 hours a week playing? Almost three hours a day? Highly suspect.

Seems low! :lol

 

[TheRipDizz]

So you think that there are just a ton of people playing Halo single player for PC right now? Like 150-200k? That's what these numbers are suggesting, based on the stats that Valve makes available for Counter-Strike.

I found it surprising that 42% of time spent on gaming in this country is still played on the PS2, considering its software is being bought less that the 360 even, and has been for a year now. Could people really be still playing all the legacy games on the PS2 that much? I wouldn't think so, but then what the hell do I know really in that regard? Not much it seems.

 

[KittenMaster]

Am I the only one that noticed Runescape on that list?

 

[medze]

Not that Xfire is any more statistically accurate than Nielson (well maybe it is :lol ) but they sure tell a different story, which makes these statistics even harder to believe

 

[Joseph Merrick]

Am I the only one that noticed Runescape on that list?

runescape is a monster

 

[Grayman]

People who like shitty shows like american idol also like blank like blank?

 

[MickeyKnox]

:lol :lol :lol

 

[BlazeHedgehog]

Yeah but... how many people is Nielsen polling?

I mean, if I install Halo PC right now I know there's less servers than there is if I fire up CS. And 80% of the Halo PC servers are shitty "Stunts only!" About a year ago when I decided to fool around with Halo PC online I was banned from nearly every server I went to because I thought it was deathmatch.

The one server I wasn't banned from? The admin started fooling around with the console and noclipped himself to the highest point on the map with a sniper rifle. You can probably guess what happened after that.

 

[Mike Works]

clamshell penetration :lol

 

[Grayman]

I found it surprising that 42% of time spent on gaming in this country is still played on the PS2, considering its software is being bought less that the 360 even, and has been for a year now. Could people really be still playing all the legacy games on the PS2 that much? I wouldn't think so, but then what the hell do I know really in that regard? Not much it seems.

I played PS1 nearly everyday well into the PS2 generation before I had bought a current system and gotten games for it.

 

[Sinatar]

 

[Oldschoolgamer]

:lol :lol :lol

 

[Firestorm]

Among avid PC gamers with decent setups? Probably not. Among the entire PC populace. Fucking-a.

A lot of people are on broadband. Counter-Strike can play great on a shitty old computer. Halo will not. Seriously. CS beats out Halo in every category when it comes to PCs. There's no way that Halo has sold more, has more players, or has more minutes logged than Counter-Strike. Not this year, not last year, not ever.

 

[Davidion]

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i20/Sinatar/ehbu54.gif

:lol :lol

 

[Mr.Squirrel]

Many of television statistics are gathered from these "personal diary" type surveys as well in addition to Set Meters. How they distribute Set Meters is apparently random yet not really discussed. I've never known a single person with one of these boxes so I find it only natural to question the credibility of such statistics...

i work at nielsen (i do IT) and these guys are very good at what they do. you dont become a 40,000+ global company by bullshitting people with fake numbers.....

i still dont believe the halo shit tho

 

[medze]

you dont become a 40,000+ global company by bullshitting people with fake numbers.....

Then, what exactly are they doing by releasing these numbers?

 

[TheRipDizz]

A lot of people are on broadband. Counter-Strike can play great on a shitty old computer. Halo will not. Seriously. CS beats out Halo in every category when it comes to PCs. There's no way that Halo has sold more, has more players, or has more minutes logged than Counter-Strike. Not this year, not last year, not ever.

I guarentee you people have spent more time playing halo's sp campain than cs's.

 

[Sinatar]

 

[IzumiK]

I don't know about now, but some years ago, study showed that CS clocked a million hours of gaming all over the world each day.

 

[Mr.Squirrel]

Then, what exactly are they doing by releasing these numbers?

i could probably find out exactly where they got those numbers from tomorrow, but i dont really care about this shit that much to put in the effort. but trust me, they dont pull shit out their ass. they definately wouldn't do it now with everything thats happening internally within the company (and no i cant talk about it, but its pretty big).

if someone did that they're career would be over. not only would the analyst get fired, but everyone involved would get axed at a moments notice.

 

[Borys]

If by PC they mean Xbox then yeah, it's true.

 

[BolognaOni]

I found it surprising that 42% of time spent on gaming in this country is still played on the PS2, considering its software is being bought less that the 360 even, and has been for a year now. Could people really be still playing all the legacy games on the PS2 that much? I wouldn't think so, but then what the hell do I know really in that regard? Not much it seems.

You gotta remember the install base is much, much larger. Those numbers didn't seem too out of reach, the PC ones reek of a sample size that's too small, and is getting skewed by a few users. I mean... WoW at #1, 20 hours seems bit much... Halo 1, I can maybe... maybe see, but honestly, how can a Vista only game even make this list? Vista is how much of the total PC gaming market? Did they limit the sample to people with Vista or something? That would make sense, I guess...

Honestly, I think the thread title should be change: "Nielsen Report: More PC gamers playing Runescape than everything but WoW and Sims". Yeah... Right... I mean, I know a lot of guys that play MMOs, and not one of them plays Runescape...

Also, results may be getting bungled by this "% of gamers playing at any given moment" BS. Worthless statistic if I've ever seen one, how is that calculated? Average out the % across the day? Wow, you've effectively characterized the mom's basement population that doesn't work and just plays games all day...

 

[Grayman]

You gotta remember the install base is much, much larger. Those numbers didn't seem too out of reach, the PC ones reek of a sample size that's too small, and is getting skewed by a few users. I mean... WoW at #1, 20 hours seems bit much... Halo 1, I can maybe... maybe see, but honestly, how can a Vista only game even make this list? Vista is how much of the total PC gaming market? Did they limit the sample to people with Vista or something? That would make sense, I guess...

Honestly, I think the thread title should be change: "Nielsen Report: More PC gamers playing Runescape than everything but WoW and Sims". Yeah... Right... I mean, I know a lot of guys that play MMOs, and not one of them plays Runescape...

Also, results may be getting bungled by this "% of gamers playing at any given moment" BS. Worthless statistic if I've ever seen one, how is that calculated? Average out the % across the day? Wow, you've effectively characterized the mom's basement population that doesn't work and just plays games all day...

My cousin and aunt have talked about runescape. It is a casual gamer game i think. They didn't play it, her ex did or something. I've played multiple MMOs and no one has ever even talked about runescape, maple story or any other "free" games.

 

[Grayman]

i could probably find out exactly where they got those numbers from tomorrow, but i dont really care about this shit that much to put in the effort. but trust me, they dont pull shit out their ass. they definately wouldn't do it now with everything thats happening internally within the company (and no i cant talk about it, but its pretty big).

if someone did that they're career would be over. not only would the analyst get fired, but everyone involved would get axed at a moments notice.

I'm sure the halo number wasn't just made up but it fails the bullshit sensor test. Whatever method was used to get it doesn't reflect the reality.

 

[I AM JOHN!]

I don't buy it.

 

[Mr.Squirrel]

I'm sure the halo number wasn't just made up but it fails the bullshit sensor test. Whatever method was used to get it doesn't reflect the reality.

i dont believe the numbers either, but one thing i do know is they dont pull numbers out their tookus.

 

[methane47]

This statistic makes me wonder how much of Nielson does Microsoft own?

 

[X26]

Nielsen ratings have always been stupid, but that's something else

 

[Stinkles]

So Bungie is actually destroying gaming faster than Nintendo.

LOL halo is a non game rite?

 

[Tiktaalik]

Why is it a joke? Nielson is a pretty respected numbers gatherer. Probably the most.

:lol

I'm not surprised buy Nielson fucking up these numbers. They're a horrible numbers gatherer. Their methods are complete crap. The fact that they weren't tracking what college campuses were watching for example guaranteed that Arrested Development went off the air.

 

[Xisiqomelir]

Lies, damned lies and

Spoiler

Nielsen

statistics.

 

[Metalmurphy]

No, they don't, it's not even close, not even in the same universe. And it will never never change.

Not once has Halo 1 or 2 showed up in Xfire most played and CS:S and CS are always on top.

www.xfire.com


My Game server browsers show me the same thing.