In the PC Gamer article, when you get a chance to read it, there is a segment titled "END OF DAYS." In that segment is the following quote:
This was the beginning of Genesis's dark age. Cooper recalls this nadir: "The toughest period in the game was probably from around 2005 up until 2013. World of Warcraft came out around 2004, and created this new opportunity for people who wanted to live alternative lives online, which is what people had been doing with Genesis since the early '90s. We saw a steep decline, and 2012 was our lowest point ever. That was when we really had existential thoughts, like, "Are we going to be able to continue?" The lowest point was when I logged on and I did the so-called 'who-list' which tells you who else is on, and it said "You are alone in the realms." I was the only player logged on. That only happened one time, but it was kind of an incredible moment for me, and I thought, "Wow, this could be the end."
I decided to look that day up. Behold ...
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Hourly player activity for Jan 14 2012
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30|
28|
26| Gorboth, you are alone
24| in the realms!
22|
20| |
18| |
16| |
P 14| | O
L 12| | O O O
A 10| . | . O O O
Y 8| O O . . | . O O O O O
E 6| O . O . O O V O O . O O O O O O O
R 4| O O O O O O O O O O . . O O O O O O O O O O
S 2| O O O O O O O O O O O O . O O O O O O O O O O O
-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hour | 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mean daily average players per hour = 6.291
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Ugh ... I still get a dull emotional chill when I look at that graph and remember how it felt to be there. We must not take for granted how far we have come. Our game is in great shape now, and here is a nice graph for comparison. These are the numbers from Thursday, the day the article came out:
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Hourly player activity for Sep 20 2018
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68| O
66| . O
64| O O
62| O O .
60| O O O
58| O O O
56| O O O
54| . O O O
52| O O O O
50| O O O O O
48| O O O O O
46| O O O O O O O .
44| O O O O O O O O
42| O O O O O O O O
40| O O O O O O O . O
38| . O O O O O O O O O O O
36| O . O O O O O O O O O O O
34| . O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
32| O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
30| O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
28| . . O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
26| O O O O O . . O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
24| O O O O O O . O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
22| O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
20| O O O O O O O . O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
18| O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
16| O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
P 14| O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
L 12| O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
A 10| O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
Y 8| O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
E 6| O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
R 4| O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
S 2| O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
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Hour | 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
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Mean daily average players per hour = 37.91
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My friends ... you are FAR from alone in the realms. Savor it!
G.
Mmmmmm ... pie ...