State of the Donut Addresses

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gorboth
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SOTD - 2015

Post by gorboth » 23 Jun 2018 01:05

Code: Select all

Posted Jan 28, 2016

Fellow Genesis Enthusiasts,

A new year is upon us, and the time has come for me to deliver my annual State
Of the Donut address for 2015. What a year it has been!

Before I begin, I'd like to touch on the fact that I myself have essentially
missed being part of things in Genesis since January of last year. As 2014
drew to its close, I found myself very much suffering from burnout in my
role here. That, coupled with RL developments to which I was able to 
completely devote my energy and attention, took me on a very real and
lengthy hiatus from my efforts here from which I have just now begun to
return. I apologize for not being active as my role as Keeper dictates
I should be, but I do cannot regret the time away, for I suspect that it was
necessary for me to take this break if I was to ever continue in a Keeper
role with the potential of success in the future.

But enough about me! Let's talk about this amazing year and all the great
people who made it what it was. :-)

One thing to recognize is that as someone who did not witness or participate
in the year, I will limit my assessment and report to what I have been able
to understand and gather upon my return, and analysis of the data collected
by the census tracking module. I will not be able to comment at any great
length on how things have felt or what has transpired. As such, this might
be one of the shorter of my annual posts. Nonetheless ... here we go!

So lets start by just saying it. YES! yes yes yes. We've arrived. The game
is healthier than it has been since the dawn of the new millenium, and we
have at long last begun to recapture the potentials the game enjoyed in
its glory years of the 1990's. Are we fully there yet? No, no ... there is
still much to do and much to grow ... but we have ACHIEVED RENEWAL.

So lets look at the year. If you have never read one of the census graphs
before, a major concept deals with what we call Average Per Hour (APH for
short.) This translates to the number of players (not wizards) you would
find playing the game with you, on average, at any given hour of a single
day. To illustrate this, and to show a nice representation of our rate
of improvement, consider this graph which shows all 24 hours of one day,
December 18th, over three different years:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    Comparisons between three time periods:
                                Dec 18 2015 = :
                                Dec 18 2014 = O
                                Dec 18 2013 = @
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   54|                                                          :  .  .       
   52|                                                          :  :  :       
   50|                                                    .     :  :  :  .    
   48|                                                    :     :  :  :  :    
   46|                                                    :  .  :  :  :  :  . 
   44| :                                               :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : 
   42| :                                            :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : 
   40| :                                            :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : 
   38| :                                            :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : 
   36| :  .                                      :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : 
   34| :  :     .                 .  .     .     :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : 
   32| :  :     :  .           :  :  :  :  :     :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : 
   30| :  :  :  :  :           :  :  :  :  :     :  :  :  :. :O :O :O :. :  : 
   28| :  :  :  :  :  .  .  .  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :O :O :O :O :O :  : 
   26| :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :O :O :O :O :O :O : 
   24| :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :. :O :O :O :O :O :O :O : 
   22| :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :O :O :O :O :O :O :O.:O :O
   20| :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
   16| :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
L  12| :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
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
-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 on this day in 2015 = 38.12
        Mean daily average players per hour on this day in 2014 = 19.95
        Mean daily average players per hour on this day in 2013 = 12.12
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just lovely! As you can see, 2015 shows a marked improvement from the two
prior years. The basic shape of logins over the course of the day remains
constant over all three years, with a dip in activity happening somewhere
between the hours of 5-15, and an activity peak between the hours of
18-22. This is the typical rhythm of Genesis. However, the number of
people in that distribution has grown profoundly. Logging in to the
game during the low ebb of this day in 2013 meant you would have seen just
six other people playing Genesis with you. But in 2015, the lowest ebb
would have still shown around 27 people playing the game with you. That is
quite a difference! To log in and see people enjoying what you enjoy means
a great deal to most players, and creates a sense of community and a living
world of friends and foes. If we look at the peaks, you could have seen
just 20 players on with you at the best hour here in 2013, but in 2015,
that high peak was up to 54!

But December 18th is just one day, and does not necessarily show anything
close to a yearly norm. Lets look at the entire year itself next, condensing
things way down so that one column no longer represents the average over a
given hour, but the average over an entire week:

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                         |
|  Average player activity by week for entire year, beginning Jan 01 2015 |
|                                                                         |
+---------+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+---+
|    33.5 |     |X   |     |    |     |    |    |     |    |    | X   | X |
|    33.0 |     |X   |     |    |     |    |    |     |    |    | X   | X |
|    32.5 |     |XX X| X   |    |     |    |    |     |    |    | X   | X |
|    32.0 |     |XX X| X X |    |     |    |    |     |    |    | X   | X |
|    31.5 |     |XXXX| X X |    |     |    |    |     |    |    | X   | X |
|    31.0 |     |XXXX| X X |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |XXX  | X |
|    30.5 |     |XXXX|XXXX |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |XXX  | X |
|    30.0 |     |XXXX|XXXX |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |XXX X| X |
|    29.5 |     |XXXX|XXXX |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |XXXXX|XX |
|    29.0 |     |XXXX|XXXX |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |XXXXX|XXX|
|    28.5 |     |XXXX|XXXX |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |XXXXX|XXX|
|    28.0 |    X|XXXX|XXXXX| X  |     |    |    |     |    |    |XXXXX|XXX|
|    27.5 |    X|XXXX|XXXXX|XX  |     |    |    |     |    |    |XXXXX|XXX|
|    27.0 |    X|XXXX|XXXXX|XX  |     |    |    |     |    |    |XXXXX|XXX|
|    26.5 |    X|XXXX|XXXXX|XX  |     |    |    |     |    |   X|XXXXX|XXX|
|    26.0 |    X|XXXX|XXXXX|XX  |     |    |    |     | X  |   X|XXXXX|XXX|
|    25.5 |    X|XXXX|XXXXX|XX  |     |    |    |     | X  |XX X|XXXXX|XXX|
|    25.0 |    X|XXXX|XXXXX|XX  |     |    |    |     | XX |XX X|XXXXX|XXX|
|    24.5 |    X|XXXX|XXXXX|XX  |     |    |    |     | XXX|XX X|XXXXX|XXX|
|    24.0 |    X|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX |X    |    |    |     |XXXX|XX X|XXXXX|XXX|
|    23.5 |    X|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX |X    |    |    |     |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
|    23.0 |    X|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX |X    |    |    |     |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
|    22.5 |    X|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX |X    |    |    |     |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
|    22.0 |    X|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX |X    |    |    |   XX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
|    21.5 |    X|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|X    |    |    |   XX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
|    21.0 |    X|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|X    |    |    |   XX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
|    20.5 |    X|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|X  X |    |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
|    20.0 |    X|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|X  X |    |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
|    19.5 |    X|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XX X |    |  X |  XXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
|    19.0 |    X|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XX X |    |  X |  XXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| A  18.5 |    X|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XX X | X  |  X | XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| V  18.0 |X XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XX X | X X| XX | XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| G  17.5 |X XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX | XXX| XXX| XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
|    17.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX| XXX| XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| P  16.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX| XXX| XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| E  16.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| R  15.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
|    15.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| H  14.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| O  14.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| U  13.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| R  13.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
|    12.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| E  12.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| A  11.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| C  11.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| H  10.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
|    10.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| W   9.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| E   9.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| E   8.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| K   8.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
+---------+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+---+
|  Month  |Jan  |Feb |Mar  |Apr |May  |Jun |Jul |Aug  |Sep |Oct |Nov  |   |
+---------+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+---+
|                                                                         |
|               Mean yearly average players per hour = 24.21              |
|                                                                         |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Yeah ... yeah ...

What I love about the graph above is what Cherek referred to as "the new
normal" in his mid-summer update. The typical summer slump that we see
reflected above has the low ebb for the year at two separate weeks with
an APH of only 16. 

Wait ... an APH of *ONLY* 16? Let's rewind a bit, shall we?

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                         |
|  Average player activity by week for entire year, beginning Jan 01 2012 |
|                                                                         |
+---------+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+----+
| A  17.5 |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |    |
| V  17.0 |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |    |
| G  16.5 |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |    |
|    16.0 |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |X   |
| P  15.5 |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |X   |
| E  15.0 |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |X   |
| R  14.5 |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |   X|X   |
|    14.0 |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |   X|X   |
| H  13.5 |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |   X|X   |
| O  13.0 |     |    |    |     |X   |    |     |    |     |    |  XX|X XX|
| U  12.5 |     |    |X   |   X |X   |    |     |    |     |    |  XX|X XX|
| R  12.0 |     |    |X   |   X |X   |    |     |    |     |    |  XX|XXXX|
|    11.5 |     |    |XX  |   X |X   |    |     | XX |     |    | XXX|XXXX|
| E  11.0 |     |   X|XX  |  XXX|X   |    |     | XX |X X  |  XX|XXXX|XXXX|
| A  10.5 |     |  XX|XXX |  XXX|X   |    |X    | XX |XXX  | XXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| C  10.0 |    X|  XX|XXXX| XXXX|X   |    |X  X | XXX|XXX  |XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| H   9.5 |  X X|X XX|XXXX|XXXXX|X   |    |X  X | XXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|     9.0 |X X X|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XX  |    |XX XX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| W   8.5 |X X X|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XX  |   X|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E   8.0 |X XXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX | XXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E   7.5 |X XXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| K   7.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
+---------+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+----+
|  Month  |Jan  |Feb |Mar |Apr  |May |Jun |Jul  |Aug |Sep  |Oct |Nov |    |
+---------+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+----+
|                                                                         |
|               Mean yearly average players per hour = 10.15              |
|                                                                         |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Behold. *barf* Behold behold. 2012, our most wretched year since the dawn of
the donut. Here the high peak for the entire year was one sad little week at
16 APH! Can you imagine? Oh, we all can. We lived it for far too long. If ever
you log in and are disappointed to see only 20 other players, or somesuch,
look back on this graph and *remember* how it used to feel.

But onward, to more goodness! Let's notice and discuss some other things.
The year shows a swell in the early and late months. These swells show
APH totals of 25-30 that last for two solid months at a time! The peaks
show three separate weeks of the year with a sustained APH of 33+ players!
We've never seen anything like this since the census began in 2007.

In fact, let's condense things further, and now look at the history of
the census, so we can see in perspective our recent year against the
field of time. Here, we have a graph in which each column represents not
a single week, but the APH averaged over three entire months of time.
Condensing to this resolution allows us to see every full-year we have
recorded on the census:

+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|    30.0 |                                                              X|
|    25.5 |                                                        X     X|
|    25.0 |                                                        X     X|
|    24.5 |                                                        X     X|
|    24.0 |                                                        X     X|
|    23.5 |                                                        X     X|
|    23.0 |                                                        X     X|
|    22.5 |                                                        X     X|
|    22.0 |                                                        X     X|
|    21.5 |                                                        X     X|
|    21.0 |                                                        X X   X|
|    20.5 |                                                        X X X X|
|    20.0 |                                                      X X X X X|
|    19.5 |                                                      X X X X X|
| A  19.0 |    X                                                 X X X X X|
| V  18.5 |    X                                                 X X X X X|
| G  18.0 |    X                                                 X X X X X|
|    17.5 |    X     X                                           X X X X X|
| P  17.0 |    X   X X                                           X X X X X|
| E  16.5 |  X X   X X X                                         X X X X X|
| R  16.0 |  X X   X X X               X                         X X X X X|
|    15.5 |  X X   X X X               X                         X X X X X|
| H  15.0 |X X X   X X X               X                         X X X X X|
| O  14.5 |X X X   X X X   X           X                         X X X X X|
| U  14.0 |X X X   X X X X X         X X                 X       X X X X X|
| R  13.5 |X X X   X X X X X   X     X X                 X       X X X X X|
|    13.0 |X X X   X X X X X   X     X X X               X       X X X X X|
| E  12.5 |X X X X X X X X X X X   X X X X         X     X X     X X X X X|
| A  12.0 |X X X X X X X X X X X   X X X X       X X     X X     X X X X X|
| C  11.5 |X X X X X X X X X X X   X X X X       X X X X X X     X X X X X|
| H  11.0 |X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X       X X X X X X     X X X X X|
|    10.5 |X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X     X X X X X X X     X X X X X|
| Q  10.0 |X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X   X X X X X X X X X X X X X X|
| R   9.5 |X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X|
| T   9.0 |X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X|
| R   8.5 |X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X|
|     8.0 |X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X|
|     7.5  X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X|
+---------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ 
|  Month  |1 2 3 4|1 2 3 4|1 2 3 4|1 2 3 4|1 2 3 4|1 2 3 4|1 2 3 4|1 2 3 4|
+---------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
|   Year  |  2008 |  2009 |  2010 |  2011 |  2012 |  2013 |  2014 |  2015 |
+---------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
|Yr. Ave. |  15.8 |  16.1 |  13.0 |  14.0 |  10.7 |  12.5 |  13.3 |  24.2 |
+---------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

Fascinating. Really fascinating. The steady decline from 2008 to mid-2014
is undeniable, isn't it? How do we go from such a long and well-established
trend to the sudden rebound and renewal? What set the trend in place to
begin with? If a rebound was possible, why did it take so long?

A lot of this material is addressed at length in my SOTD address from
the end of last year, when the renewal was just beginning to take place.
Not wanting to do a full retread of that very in-depth assessment, I'll
go a slightly different direction, and talk about some of the important
history that preceeded the beginning of the census numbers, and laid
the groundwork for much of our last ten years. But, for those of you
who wish to re-familiarize yourself with those details, here is a link
to the former address:

https://www.genesismud.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=3011

Some history, then ...

There can be little doubt that 2007 was a pivotal year in Genesis history
in that it was the year the old Keepers stepped down, and for the first
time the game's vision and leadership was represented by someone (me) who
did not originate from Chalmers Datafornung (CD) in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The original Keepers had presided with declining interest and motivation
over the first 15 years of development, and felt that the game did not
have a sustainable future. These Keepers had done amazing things for the
game, but in the end their vision and motivation waned to the point that
they realized they were not a part of any successful future for Genesis,
and they (with reservations) threw the control panel to me. What I
inherited was a game where, months before, the Keeper had posted on
the Common Board a note telling everyone that Genesis was essentially
a dinosaur on the path to extinction, and that we should all abandon the
idea that the game had a bright future, and accept that it was doomed
to dwindle and die. Reading this lit a fire in many of us in the wizard
community, and as I became Keeper, I was determined to forge a vision
for the game's future that would not only avoid that fate, but propel
us back to the heights we had enjoyed in our early days, and beyond.

To achieve this, I enlisted the aid of the entire playerbase, calling
for everyone to mail me a list of their top priorities in what needed
fixing in the game, and steps to take for the fixes to be achieved. The
community rose to the challenge, by the end of 2007 a massive list of
suggested fixes and priorities had been compiled. If you want to really
delve into the history, this list is preserved in an update post that
I created three years later, in 2010, to show progress in all of the
various suggestions we had determined to be worthwhile. It is a
fascinating read, and may take you down memory lane:

https://www.genesismud.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=1208

What it also shows is how ridiculously ambitious our notions were. 
We did not begin to have the workforce to take all of this on. But we
tried, and we struggled to do so, despite the odds. That list is still
not complete, and many of the items on it, nearly 10 years later, may
not align with our current notions of what the game would currently want
in the way of improvement and fixing. But, what is important to know
is the fact that the "fix" we envisioned was not something that was
possible in any short amount of time. In fact, it took years and
years to kick the ball very far down the road. But we kept on kicking.
Pieces of the puzzle kept being added. The problem was that each piece,
of its own accord, did not have the power to make the changes we
desired come to fruition.

Not seeing the work we were doing pay off in moving the playerbase
back toward health took a major toll on many of us who were working
so hard to further the vision. That decline from 2008 to 2014? That
sucked. Bad. In fact, by the end of 2014 I had become so demoralized
that, despite evidence that things were beginning to turn around,
I had reached a crisis point in my own motivation and strength to
press on. Like so many wizards before me, I could tell I had lost
my ability to keep going. It was at this point that I went on an
unannounced an unofficial hiatus that ended up lasting through
most of the next calendar year. 

What I didn't know was that as pieces continued to be laid in place, 
each interlocking with one another, shapes began to emerge, and the
individual pieces drew nearer to forming big-picture framework
just waiting for a spark to light the fuse. The spark finally came
with the client being folded into a downloadable app and Genesis going
public with new media and formats in new venues such as Facebook and
the Google App store. The spark caught, the fuse burned, and we
experienced the explosion of SYNERGY. All the developments, long
built and hard fought to establish, sprang to life and purpose as
hoards of new players began to stream into our lovingly crafted
channels. As 2014 drew to a close, we'd finally shifted into what
I'd always hoped and dreamed for. 

Unfortunately, for me, it was too late. I had to take a break from
the game, even as it experienced a renaissance. So, I did not get
to enjoy the year that was 2015. Fortunately, there was a new and
energetic wizard freshly minted as Admin. Cherek. Cherek! Thank the
Gods for Cherek. His passion, dedication, blood, sweat, and tears
have been at the forefront of the success story that has been 2015.
This, with continued and steadfast support by long-standing Admin
constants Cotillion and Mercade are why 2015 has been possible. I
cannot say how grateful I am to these guys who have stood up and
grappled with a hot-air balloon that suddenly fills with air and
needs navigation as it begins to rise skyward. We would have
crashed very early on if they hadn't been able to successfully
step up to the challenges and needs of the new arrivals. New
arrivals? How many?

Cotillion has the exact numbers, but currently our app in the Google
store gets many thousands of "views" each day, and the app is
downloaded about 60 times each 24 hrs on average. This means that we
have 60+ completely new people trying Genesis every day! This is far
more than I would have ever dared hope, and has given us the promotion
that we needed all these years to test our systems and provide the
potential for the synergy that has proved to be possible. 

We've hit a real stride now for the past three months. Let's take
a final look, then, at the daily APH since the beginning of
November of 2015 through the present, our end of the month here
in January of 2016:

+---------+-----+----+---+
|    33.5 | X   | X  |   |
|    33.0 | X   | X  |   |
|    32.5 | X   | X  |   |
|    32.0 | X   | X  |X X|
|    31.5 | X   | X X|X X|
|    31.0 |XXX  | X X|XXX|
|    30.5 |XXX  | X X|XXX|
|    30.0 |XXX X| X X|XXX|
|    29.5 |XXXXX|XX X|XXX|
|    29.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    28.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    28.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    27.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    27.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    26.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    26.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    25.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    25.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    24.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    24.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    23.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    23.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    22.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    22.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    21.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    21.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    20.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    20.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    19.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    19.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| A  18.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| V  18.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| G  17.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    17.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| P  16.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| E  16.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| R  15.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    15.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| H  14.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| O  14.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| U  13.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| R  13.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    12.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| E  12.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| A  11.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| C  11.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| H  10.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|    10.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| W   9.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| E   9.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| E   8.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| K   8.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
+---------+-----+----+---+
|  Month  |Nov  |Dec |Jan|
+---------+-----+----+---+
|                        |
|     APH = 30.70        |
|                        |
+------------------------+

So let's compare that versus all the days from 2008-2014 with a nice list
of comprehensive data, showing all days, all hours, and growth by % :

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|             Comparing player activity over two time periods:               |
|                      A: Jan 01 2008 - Jan 01 2015                          |
|                      B: Nov 01 2015 - Jan 26 2016                          |
+-------+-------+-------+----------+--+-----------+-------+-------+----------+
| Hour  |   A   |   B   | % change |  | Weekday   |   A   |   B   | % change |
+-------+-------+-------+----------+  +-----------+-------+-------+----------+
| 00.00 | 16.16 | 36.41 | +125.25 %|  | Sunday    | 14.05 | 29.64 | +110.85 %|
| 01.00 | 13.43 | 32.08 | +138.85 %|  | Monday    | 13.52 | 30.46 | +125.22 %|
| 02.00 | 11.81 | 31.51 | +166.67 %|  | Tuesday   | 13.61 | 32.16 | +136.30 %|
| 03.00 | 11.24 | 29.50 | +162.31 %|  | Wednesday | 14.02 | 31.68 | +125.94 %|
| 04.00 | 10.55 | 27.51 | +160.80 %|  | Thursday  | 13.41 | 29.45 | +119.51 %|
| 05.00 |  9.71 | 23.80 | +144.99 %|  | Friday    | 13.37 | 31.47 | +135.29 %|
| 06.00 |  8.99 | 21.54 | +139.57 %|  | Saturday  | 13.49 | 30.03 | +122.55 %|
| 07.00 |  8.86 | 20.14 | +127.34 %|  +-----------+-------+-------+----------+
| 08.00 |  9.49 | 20.31 | +113.88 %|                                         |
| 09.00 | 10.58 | 21.93 | +107.16 %|                                         |
| 10.00 | 11.48 | 23.35 | +103.33 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 11.00 | 12.03 | 24.63 | +104.64 %|  |       - - - Field  Sizes - - -       |
| 12.00 | 12.49 | 25.64 | +105.28 %|  | Number of days in Period A:    2551  |
| 13.00 | 13.26 | 26.80 | +102.11 %|  | Number of days in Period B:      87  |
| 14.00 | 14.10 | 30.70 | +117.66 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 15.00 | 15.02 | 33.90 | +125.69 %|                                         |
| 16.00 | 15.70 | 37.28 | +137.43 %|                                         |
| 17.00 | 16.07 | 38.72 | +140.92 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 18.00 | 16.92 | 39.67 | +134.49 %|  |           Overall Summary            |
| 19.00 | 18.08 | 42.31 | +133.97 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 20.00 | 19.91 | 44.73 | +124.63 %|  | Overall average for Period A:  13.64 |
| 21.00 | 20.92 | 45.28 | +116.38 %|  | Overall average for Period B:  30.70 |
| 22.00 | 20.93 | 44.35 | +111.86 %|  |                                      |
| 23.00 | 19.29 | 41.52 | +115.28 %|  | Overall increase/decrease:  +125.0 % |
+-------+-------+-------+----------+--+--------------------------------------+

So, for a sustained three months, we have averaged an APH of over 30. If
you take the combined average of all the days from 2008-2014, the APH is
less than 14. It is clear. We have MORE THAN DOUBLED THE PLAYERBASE. That
which looked like it would happen in last year's report has been borne out
and is the new reality. What is more, at peak hours, it is now the norm
to log in and see around 45 other players in the game with you.

Until now, numbers like this had only existed in the memories of our oldest
players, who have been around long enough to recall the first 10 years of the
game, from roughly 1992-2002. These were the days when guilds enjoyed rampant
and regular discussion on their in-game boards, councils were constantly
working hard to support and manage the interests of their many members, wars
were fought with huge troops on either side of a given dispute, and being in
a guild felt like having an in-game family. Have these days returned? Not
quite yet, perhaps, but such realities at long last feel not only possible,
but near at hand.

Let's move on to a discussion of the guilds and how they have fared in this
time of renewal, then.

First, we'll look at APH, by guild, averaged for an entire day. We
show two columns, one for 2014 and one for 2015.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        2014 Ranking (Entire Day)       2015 Ranking (Entire Day)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
         1.  Mercs   (1.430)             1. +Mercs     (3.578)
         2.  Rangers (1.101)             2.  Angmar    (2.394)
         3.  Monks   (1.038)             3.  Rangers   (2.038)
         4.  Angmar  (0.989)             4.  Monks     (2.016)
         5.  DArmy   (0.668)             5.  Glads     (1.353)
         6.  Knights (0.410)             6.  Neidar    (0.912)
         7.  Calian  (0.301)             7.  DArmy     (0.747)
         8.  Ogres   (0.298)             8. ^Cadets    (0.698)
         9.  Neidar  (0.293)             9.^*Academ    (0.539)
        10.  Glads   (0.268)            10.  Calian    (0.501)
        11.  Mage    (0.126)            11.  Ogres     (0.479)
        12.  ScoP    (0.109)            12.  Mages     (0.254)
        13.  Union   (0.104)            13.!-Knights   (0.147)
        14.  Cadet   (0.087)            14.  ScoP      (0.054)
        15.  Academ. (0.024)            15.  Union     (0.035)
        16.  Kender  (0.019)            16.  PoT       (0.010)
        17.  PoT     (0.019)            17. @Kender    (0.002)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                + Biggest APH gain (Mercs at +2.148)
                - Biggest APH loss (Knights at -0.263)
                * Biggest growth   (Academics at 2,148 % increase)
                @ Biggest decline  (Kender at 89% decline)
                ^ Biggest rise     (Cadet/Academ up 6 ranks)
                ! Biggest fall     (Knights down 7 ranks)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then, lets look at the guild's APH just for the game's peak hour, which
happens to be 21:00 gametime:

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  Representation During Peak Hour 
      (21:00 gametime in 2014)        (21:00 gametime in 2015)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        1.  Mercs   (2.534)             1. Mercs     (5.405)
        2.  Angmar  (2.271)             2. Angmar    (3.849)
        3.  Rangers (2.189)             3. Rangers   (3.632)
        4.  Monks   (2.043)             4. Monks     (3.578)
        5.  DArmy   (1.454)             5. Glads     (2.852)
        6.  Calian  (1.235)             6. DArmy     (1.652)
        7.  Ogres   (1.183)             7. Neidar    (1.641)
        8.  Glads   (0.813)             8. Cadets    (1.523)
        9.  Knights (0.805)             9. Ogres     (1.490)
       10.  Mage    (0.739)            10. Calian    (1.336)
       11.  Neidar  (0.783)            11. Academ    (1.252)
       12.  Union   (0.599)            12. Knights   (1.032)
       13.  ScoP    (0.506)            13. Mages     (0.909)
       14.  PoT     (0.416)            14. ScoP      (0.583)
       15.  Cadet   (0.397)            15. Union     (0.484)
       16.  Academ. (0.295)            16. PoT       (0.394)
       17.  Kender  (0.109)            17. Kender    (0.243)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally, lets look at the growth in activity for each guild in 2015
compared to the activity levels of the former year:

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                      Growth from Former Year
    =================================================================
        Ranked by APH increase           Ranked by relative change
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
       1.  Mercs      + 2.148        1.  Academ    2,146 % growth
       2.  Angmar     + 1.405        2.  Cadets      702 % growth
       3.  Glads      + 1.085        3.  Glads       405 % growth
       4.  Monks      + 0.978        4.  Neidar      211 % growth
       5.  Rangers    + 0.938        5.  Mercs       150 % growth
       6.  Neidar     + 0.619        6.  Angmar      142 % growth
       7.  Cadets     + 0.611        7.  Mages       102 % growth
       8.  Academ     + 0.515        8.  Monks        94 % growth
       9.  Calian     + 0.200        9.  Rangers      85 % growth
      10.  Ogres      + 0.181       10.  Calian       66 % growth
      11.  Mages      + 0.128       11.  Ogres        61 % growth
      12.  DArmy      + 0.079       12.  DArmy        12 % growth
      13.  PoT        - 0.009       13.  PoT          47 % decline
      14.  Kender     - 0.017       14.  ScoP         50 % decline
      15.  ScoP       - 0.055       15.  Knights      64 % decline
      16.  Union      - 0.069       16.  Union        66 % decline
      17.  Knights    - 0.263       17.  Kender       89 % decline
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Haha! Look at that! Just what you would expect for a game that is
flooded with new players! The two guilds which are meant to be the
prime guilds for newbies have risen drastically in rank, and shown
relative growth FAR surpassing other guilds. Especially dramatic is
the Academic guild, which grew to 20x its former size. Another major
success story is clearly the Gladiator guild of Athas, growing 4x in
size from the previous year. The Mercs guild, though not as impressive
in relative growth, still doubled its numbers, which were already the
highest in the game, establishing them as the undisputedly dominant
guild for occupational player interest in Genesis. 

On the other end, we have a few guilds which have almost completely
failed to draw the interest of our players. Most notably is the almost
entirely derelict Kender guild, who lost 90% of its member activity
in 2015 and has essentially ceased to exist. The Union, ScoP, and
PoT also suffered, losing half or more of their member activity
over the year, teetering on the brink of obscurity and having fewer
than one player present at any given time, on average, for the
year. Of particular concern is the Knight's guild, who tumbled a
staggering 7 ranks in guild activity levels, losing nearly two
thirds of their member activity on 2015.

These failures are excellent information for our wizards, who must
ask themselves "Why are these guilds failing?" "Why are these
guilds succeeding?" Finding answers to these questions will be an
important goal if we wish to find balance for our community
members to enjoy, regardless of which occupation they choose. 

But we now have the numbers to justify taking guild concepts that
are failing and seeing what needs to be done to prop them up. And
with new work are needed new workers. Very much, then, are we to
be grateful for the swelling ranks of the wizard community. 

Mirandus joins the Admin as AoP (Players), hardest job in the game,
and is already doing a wonderful job in the role. Cherek, formerly
of that position, has shifted to AoD (Domains) to manage
the many new wizards who have been created and give them training
and direction for their efforts. Stern, as AoE (Events) finds himself
surrounded by wizards with enthusiasm for his project list, as we
have experienced in the many events that came and went at year's end.
Cotillion as AoG (Gamedriver) continues his oversight of our
donut's health and well-being, constantly tweaking this or that
to keep us on course. Mercade as AoM (Mudlib) makes small
improvements behind the scenes on a regular basis, and is a
never ending source of knowledge and support for all wizards.
Petros, as AoB (Balance) has, like me, been sidelined by RL
for much of 2015, and hopes to renew activity in the new year
to continue the vision of progress for global balance. 

New wizards are too many to name, having answered Cherek's
call for able and willing hands. Nearly twenty "Wizard" level
developers have been active within the last two weeks, along with
six "Liege" and "Steward" level wizards who add to the six
aforementioned Admin to create a combined total of over thirty
active coders for the game.

As I stated at the outset of this mail, I am in a poor position
to comment effectively on the present levels of development or
the accomplishments of the past year. Most of those will be
visible in a re-reading of the Common Board posts from 2015,
which I will leave to those who care to make a list. Instead,
this year, I will simply say that the future looks no less
bright than the recent past. New people continue to find our
game, in droves, every day. A fresh generation of wizards has
arisen to compliment the fresh generation of players. All of
the pieces are not only in place for success, but are in 
play and moving along the board. New domains are in process.
New guilds are being coded. We continue to work to shore
up the areas and guilds that area already available.

The future has never looked so bright, and I have not felt
so fresh and new to the game since the days when I, myself,
was seeing the wonders of Genesis for the first time as a
young college student. 

Celebrate, my friends, but do not grow complacent! We have
work yet to do, and many heights yet to scale! I am so very
glad to be back on the trail with you all. The glories of
2016 await us, and I cannot wait to see what their shapes
will be.

Yours,
Gorboth
Mmmmmm ... pie ...

User avatar
gorboth
Site Admin
Posts: 2352
Joined: 03 Mar 2010 20:51
Location: Some old coffin

SOTD - 2016

Post by gorboth » 23 Jun 2018 01:07

Code: Select all

Posted Jan 10, 2017

Esteemed Fellow Genesis Enthusiasts,

A new year has dawned, and we find ourselves gazing out over the landscape
that is to come with memories of the landscape of yesteryear fresh in our
minds. As is my tradition in these times, I come to you with this, my annual
State of the Donut address. Herein I will reflect on the humble enterprise
we know as Genesis, giving special attention to those data that I have been
able to draw as hard fact and, from these, offer assessments as I am able from
both what I know, and what I feel *might* be true.

First and foremost - prepare yourselves for news that is good - VERY GOOD
INDEED! This year comes on the heels of two successive years of improvement,
where Genesis saw a Renaissance in many ways. If you wish to review what
transpired in those years, I invite you to invoke the mystic runes I make
here available to peruse the advances of the recent past:

State of the Donut 2014:
https://www.genesismud.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=3011

State of the Donut 2015:
https://www.genesismud.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=3420

Both of these posts contain a great deal of context that will assist those
who are relatively new to our realm to understand where we have been, what
has taken place in the last 20 years, and how we have come to be where we
are now. 

As I stated, the news is good - yes, quite! This will come as small surprise
to those who have been part of the realms for more than four years. Memories
of years prior to 2014 will involve a Genesis that felt almost like a
single-player game at times, with the likelihood of encountering other people
in the realm very uncertain at some hours of the day. Those days, thankfully
are almost entirely a thing of the past. Well - let's take a peek, shall we?

To begin with, a small discussion of the data and methods for their
acquisition are in order. The Genesis Census (in effect since late 2007)
takes a snapshot of the playerbase once per hour, creating a tally of all
non-wizard players who are logged in. The snapshots taken are of the player-
base as a whole, as well as for each open guild in the game. Using these
snapshots, we are able, over the course of time, to develop a sense of how
many players are logged in to the game per hour. The Average Per Hour (APH)
is then something we can discuss to understand the rise and fall of activity
in the Donut relating to individual time periods and guilds.

So - how did we do in 2016? Behold!

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                         |
|  Average player activity by week for entire year, beginning Jan 01 2016 |
|                                                                         |
+---------+-----+----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+
|    33.5 |     |    |    |    |     |    |    |     | X X| X  X|    |    |
|    33.0 |     |    |    |    |  X  |    |    |     | X X| X  X|X   |    |
|    32.5 |   XX|    |    |    |  XX |    |    |     |XXXX| X  X|X   | X  |
|    32.0 |X XXX|    |    |    |  XX |    |    |     |XXXX|XX XX|X   |XXX |
|    31.5 |X XXX|    |    |    |  XX |    |    |     |XXXX|XXXXX|XX  |XXX |
|    31.0 |XXXXX|    |    |    |  XX |    |    |    X|XXXX|XXXXX|XX X|XXXX|
| A  30.5 |XXXXX|    |    |    |  XX |    |  X |    X|XXXX|XXXXX|XX X|XXXX|
| V  30.0 |XXXXX|    |    |    |  XX |    |  X |   XX|XXXX|XXXXX|XX X|XXXX|
| G  29.5 |XXXXX|X   |    |    |  XX |    |  X |   XX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    29.0 |XXXXX|X   |    |    |  XX |    |  XX|   XX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| P  28.5 |XXXXX|X   |    |    |  XX |    |  XX|   XX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E  28.0 |XXXXX|X   |    |    |  XX |    | XXX|   XX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| R  27.5 |XXXXX|X   |    |    |  XX |    | XXX|   XX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    27.0 |XXXXX|X   |    |    | XXX |    | XXX|X  XX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| H  26.5 |XXXXX|X   | X  |    | XXXX|    | XXX|X  XX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| O  26.0 |XXXXX|XX X| X  |    | XXXX|X   | XXX|X XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| U  25.5 |XXXXX|XX X| X  |    | XXXX|X X | XXX|X XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| R  25.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX |  XX|XXXXX|XXX | XXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    24.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX |  XX|XXXXX|XXX | XXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E  24.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX |  XX|XXXXX|XXX |XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| A  23.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX |  XX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| C  23.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX |  XX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| H  22.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|X XX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    22.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| W  21.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E  21.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E  20.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| K  20.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
+---------+-----+----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+
|  Month  |Jan  |Feb |Mar |Apr |May  |Jun |Jul |Aug  |Sep |Oct  |Nov |    |
+---------+-----+----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+
|                                                                         |
|               Mean yearly average players per hour = 29.14              |
|                                                                         |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Now, some of you may immediately be thinking ... hmmm, this graph
looks a bit wimpy compared to past years - I remember them being much, much
taller in 2014 and 2015. That would be true! When the Census was created,
I needed to set the bottom of the graph *MUCH* lower. If I were to use
that older metric with the graph for 2016, we would have a bunch of
very pointless rows filled with X-marks from APH 7.0 up to APH 20.0. So
this year I decided to just cut those off and set 20.0 as our *low*
mark. To give you some context, examine this chart from the end of 2013
to the end of 2014. In that older chart, you can see that 20.0 is our
very *highest* mark for those years, and we never even reached it!

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                         |
|  Average player activity by week for entire year, beginning Nov 01 2013 |
|                                                                         |
+---------+-----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+---+
|    20.0 |     |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |   |
|    19.5 |     |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |   |
|    19.0 |     |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |   |
|    18.5 |     |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |   |
|    18.0 |     |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |   |
|    17.5 |     |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |   |
|    17.0 |     |     |X   |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |   |
| A  16.5 |     |    X|X   |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |   |
| V  16.0 |     |    X|X   |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |   |
| G  15.5 |     |    X|X   |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |   |
|    15.0 |XX   |    X|X   |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |   |
| P  14.5 |XXX X|    X|X   |  X |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |X  |
| E  14.0 |XXXXX|X   X|X   | XX |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |X  |
| R  13.5 |XXXXX|X   X|X XX| XX |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |XX |
|    13.0 |XXXXX|X  XX|XXXX|XXXX|     |    |    |     |    |     |   X|XXX|
| H  12.5 |XXXXX|XX XX|XXXX|XXXX|     |    |    |     |    |     | X X|XXX|
| O  12.0 |XXXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|     |    |    |     |    |     | XXX|XXX|
| U  11.5 |XXXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|     |    |    |     |    |  X  |XXXX|XXX|
| R  11.0 |XXXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|     |    |    |     |    |  XX |XXXX|XXX|
|    10.5 |XXXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|     |    |XXX |     |    |  XX |XXXX|XXX|
| E  10.0 |XXXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|  X  |    |XXXX|XXXX |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXX|
| A   9.5 |XXXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXX  |  X |XXXX|XXXX |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXX|
| C   9.0 |XXXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXX X|  XX|XXXX|XXXXX|XX  | XXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| H   8.5 |XXXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXX X|  XX|XXXX|XXXXX|XX  | XXXX|XXXX|XXX|
|     8.0 |XXXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XX X| XXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| W   7.5 |XXXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX| XXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| E   7.0 |XXXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX| XXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| E   6.5 |XXXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX| XXXX|XXXX|XXX|
| K   6.0 |XXXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXX|
+---------+-----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+---+
|  Month  |Nov  |Dec  |Jan |Feb |Mar  |Apr |May |Jun  |Jul |Aug  |Sep |   |
+---------+-----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+---+
|                                                                         |
|               Mean yearly average players per hour = 11.25              |
|                                                                         |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Notice that where we end above in November of 2014, just slightly over
two years ago, we have an APH average for the year of 11.25. Our APH
average for 2016 is at 29.14, nearly TRIPLE where we were in very recent
memory! Speaking of memory, I always like to gaze as far backwards as we
are able, to take a true trip down memory lane with our data. As such,
I offer you now two ways to view the past. This first graph shows the full
spectrum of data we have collected in our years since the census was
created, beginning with our first full year of 2008 and leading up to the
present. This graph will show four data points for each year, offering
a quarterly bar to see how we've been doing:

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|            Population Levels in APH over the last 9 Years              |
|                       ( quarterly histogram )                          |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------------+
|    31.0 |                                                            X |
|    30.0 |                                                            X |
|    29.0 |                                                           XX |
|    28.0 |                                                     X     XX |
|    27.0 |                                                  X  X   X XX |
|    26.0 |                                                  X  X   X XX |
|    25.0 |                                                  X  X   XXXX |
| A  24.0 |                                                  X  X   XXXX |
| V  23.0 |                                                  X  X   XXXX |
| G  22.0 |                                                  X  X   XXXX |
|    21.0 |                                                  XX X   XXXX |
| P  20.0 |                                              X   XXXX   XXXX |
| E  19.0 |   X                                          X   XXXX   XXXX |
| R  18.0 |   X                                          X   XXXX   XXXX |
|    17.0 |   X    XX                                    X   XXXX   XXXX |
| H  16.0 |  XX    XXX             X                     X   XXXX   XXXX |
| O  15.0 | XXX    XXX             X                     X   XXXX   XXXX |
| U  14.0 | XXX    XXXX   X       XX              X      X   XXXX   XXXX |
| R  13.0 | XXX    XXXX   X X     XXX             X      X   XXXX   XXXX |
|    12.0 | XXXX   XXXX   XXX    XXXX      X   X  X   X  X   XXXX   XXXX |
| W  11.0 | XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX      X   XXXX   X  X   XXXX   XXXX |
| E  10.0 | XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   X XX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX |
| E   9.0 | XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX |
| K   8.0 | XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX |
+---------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| Quarter | 1234 | 1234 | 1234 | 1234 | 1234 | 1234 | 1234 | 1234 | 1234 |
+---------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
|   Year  | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
+---------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
|Yr. Ave. | 15.8 | 16.1 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 10.7 | 12.5 | 13.3 | 24.2 | 29.1 |
+---------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+

I did mention that the news this year was good, did I not? Feast your eyes
on that modern trend! The gains of 2015 have not merely been
maintained, but have continued to increase. In fact, let's go ahead and
simplify the graph somewhat to a single data-point per year, and then
add what we have seen thus far in 2017 to assess how the trend continues:

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
|          Population Levels in APH over the last 9 Years              |
|                       ( annual line-plot )                           |   O
+-------+--------------------------------------------------------------+ .'
|  31.0 |                                                              |'  ^ 
|  30.0 |                                                             .|   |
|  29.0 |                                                           O' |   |
|  28.0 |                                                          '   |*First
|  27.0 |                                                        ,'    |  ten
|  26.0 |                                                       .      | days
|  25.0 |                                                      '       |  of
|  24.0 |                                                   .O'        | 2017
|  23.0 |                                                   ;          |
|  22.0 |                                                  |           |
|  21.0 |                                                  ;           |
|  20.0 |                                                 |            |
|  19.0 |                                                 ;            |
|  18.0 |                                                |             |
|  17.0 |                                                ;             |
|  16.0 |       _,-O.                                   |              |
|  15.0 |   O-''     `.                                 ;              |
|  14.0 |              `.     _,-O.                    |               |
|  13.0 |                `O-''     \             __,--O`               |
|  12.0 |                           `.       _.O`                      |
|  11.0 |                             \   .-'                          |
|  10.0 |                              `O'                             |
|   9.0 |                                                              |
|   8.0 |                                                              |
+-------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+-- - 
| Year  | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017
+-------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+-- - 
|Yr Ave.| 15.8 | 16.1 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 10.7 | 12.5 | 13.3 | 24.2 | 29.1 |*33.0
+-------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+-- - 

What I love about the data here is that they shows that our current trend
into 2017 of 33 APH doubles the best year prior to 2015 that we've ever
recorded with our Census. From the outset the goal I have stated since
becoming Keeper is to double the playerbase. Last year we were able to
celebrate the fact that we managed to double the playerbase from one year
to another - 2015 was twice as good as 2014. But now, we can actually say
that we are in the process doubling the playerbase from the BEST YEAR
we had on record prior to our modern achievements - that of 2009. In
2009 we had an annual APH of 16.1. at 29.1 we nearly double that in
2016, and are most certainly doubling it in our days of the new year thus
far. But this is not just a trend of the New Year. Since September of 2016,
for three solid months, we have maintained 32+ APH - a true and consistent
"New Normal" that blesses us with a healthy <who> list at all hours of
the day. This is a success by any standard I have ever dared to set!

So let's go ahead and compare, exhaustively, our year of 2016 to the
previous year for an average daily APH data:

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|             Comparing player activity over two time periods:               |
|                      A: Jan 01 2015 - Dec 31 2015                          |
|                      B: Jan 01 2016 - Dec 31 2016                          |
+-------+-------+-------+----------+--+-----------+-------+-------+----------+
| Hour  |   A   |   B   | % change |  | Weekday   |   A   |   B   | % change |
+-------+-------+-------+----------+  +-----------+-------+-------+----------+
| 00.00 | 28.84 | 32.79 |  +13.69 %|  | Sunday    | 23.83 | 27.89 |  +17.05 %|
| 01.00 | 25.20 | 30.02 |  +19.11 %|  | Monday    | 24.72 | 28.63 |  +15.80 %|
| 02.00 | 23.47 | 28.65 |  +22.05 %|  | Tuesday   | 25.16 | 28.92 |  +14.94 %|
| 03.00 | 22.57 | 28.52 |  +26.35 %|  | Wednesday | 24.81 | 28.53 |  +14.96 %|
| 04.00 | 21.82 | 27.75 |  +27.16 %|  | Thursday  | 24.47 | 28.58 |  +16.77 %|
| 05.00 | 19.64 | 25.29 |  +28.75 %|  | Friday    | 25.13 | 29.64 |  +17.95 %|
| 06.00 | 17.41 | 22.70 |  +30.36 %|  | Saturday  | 23.08 | 27.91 |  +20.96 %|
| 07.00 | 16.29 | 20.67 |  +26.88 %|  +-----------+-------+-------+----------+
| 08.00 | 16.99 | 20.28 |  +19.38 %|                                         |
| 09.00 | 18.75 | 21.19 |  +13.02 %|                                         |
| 10.00 | 19.48 | 22.28 |  +14.36 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 11.00 | 20.21 | 22.92 |  +13.42 %|  |       - - - Field  Sizes - - -       |
| 12.00 | 21.33 | 23.60 |  +10.61 %|  | Number of days in Period A:     364  |
| 13.00 | 22.88 | 25.55 |  +11.63 %|  | Number of days in Period B:     365  |
| 14.00 | 25.07 | 29.07 |  +15.94 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 15.00 | 27.32 | 31.93 |  +16.90 %|                                         |
| 16.00 | 28.80 | 33.15 |  +15.09 %|                                         |
| 17.00 | 30.04 | 34.12 |  +13.55 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 18.00 | 30.53 | 36.45 |  +19.39 %|  |           Overall Summary            |
| 19.00 | 32.42 | 38.46 |  +18.62 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 20.00 | 34.75 | 40.26 |  +15.83 %|  | Overall average for Period A:  24.45 |
| 21.00 | 35.42 | 39.85 |  +12.51 %|  | Overall average for Period B:  29.14 |
| 22.00 | 35.10 | 38.78 |  +10.49 %|  |                                      |
| 23.00 | 33.05 | 36.43 |  +10.24 %|  | Overall increase/decrease:  +19.18 % |
+-------+-------+-------+----------+--+--------------------------------------+

Just look at that, will you? Every single index shows that 2016 exceeded
the previous year. Every hour of every day. 2015 was our best year on
record, and we grew an additional 20% from that success! Friday ended up
being our most popular day, and our most popular hour shifted to 20:00
gametime. 7:00 - 8:00 was our daily low ebb, and 6:00 was our biggest hour
of growth over the former year, increasing by 30%. This is just stellar
stuff, overall.

As wonderful as all the APH info this year has been, there have definitely
been fluctuations in our numbers over the months. As you will notice in
the 2016 weekly graph, we had a rather sharp decline in February that
lasted until mid-May. A spike in interest in May quickly fell off again
and and lapsed until mid-July when another spike held into mid-August.
Following a lapse in August, things picked up and remained as strong as
they have been in modern times from September until the end of the Year.

To assess this, it is useful to take a look at the developments in the
game over these months of the year. Player interest is often directly
related to developments in the game, and I suspect that such correlations
can be found if we take a moment to remember what has transpired.

Here, then, is a brief (and incomplete) history of some of the noteworthy
developments in Genesis for 2016:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jan.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Auction House retooled to handle imbuements in new ways.
 - Yule Tree Wheel Spinnng Event (begun in December of 2015)
 - Mirandus became AoP (Archwizard of Players).
     * This job handles the needs and governance of player issues.
 - Cherek became AoD (Archwizard of Domains).
     * This job handles the needs and governance of wizard coding issues.
 - The Keeper returned from long absence (who ... me?)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Feb.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Imbuement drop frequency lessened and distribution methods changed.
     * Many players did not like this.
 - Combat damage applied to all worn items on all body parts.
     * This caused imbued items formerly immune to damage to break. Also
       very unpopular, overall, but deemed necessary.
 - Stat imbuement power-levels reduced.
     * Some players left due to these three things, unhappy with the changes.
 - Armour changed to break only at "touched by battle" or worse
 - Messages added to let players know when armour conditions degrade.
 - Navarre stepped down as Liege of Krynn after many years of service.
 - Arman became the new Liege of Krynn.
 - Finwe resumed his former position as Liege of Faerun.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mar.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - New <facepalm> emote added to the game (suggested by Taro)
 - Imbuement droprates increased.
     * We deemed the former change a bit too extreme.
 - Forum thread-o-bot introduced to improve forum environment/culture.
     * We also lost a few players here, unhappy with this policing.
     * It was totally worth it!
 - Butterfly event held.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Apr.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Petros retires as AoB after many excellent, invaluable years of service.
 - Cotillion resumes former position as AoB.
     * This job assesses balance considerations for Genesis' content.
 - New Blacksmith added to Dwarfheim (thanks Varian!)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
May.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - 1st Genemon event held. (cancelled due to bugs and exploits)
     * Lots of players participated, but felt burned when it was cancelled.
 - Jaacar made Liege of Calia.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
June.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Genesis Shindig held in Denmark (thanks Danes!)
 - Varian made Liege of Gondor.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jul.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Rule update: Autohunt and speedwalk triggers prohibited in pvp.
 - 2nd Genemon Event held (with success, this time)
     * Players showed up and participated quite a bit.
 - Help commands added for archery enthusiasts.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aug.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Magic Map addition: road between Gelan and Argos (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Greenholm and Whitfurrows in Shire (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Thornlin in Gondor (Perrigrine)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sep.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Magic Map addition: Foothills of Mt. Kryus in Calia (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Qualinesti Camp in Krynn (Arman)
 - Magic Map addition: Calia-Line ships (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Pax Tharkas (Arman)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oct.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - All Hallow's Eve Scavenger Hunt.
 - Magic Map addition: Pelargir shiplines (Perrigrine)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nov.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Lapidariums improved to allow <conversion> of imbuement stones.
 - SoHM guild opened! (Huge thanks to Arman and his testers!)
     * Greatest success in the last ten years! Players joined in droves.
 - Magic Map addition: Grey Havens shipline (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Cadu (Perrigrine)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dec.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - New <options> command to prevent unwelcome intimate emotes.
 - Crackdown on botting.
 - Yule Tree Event.
 - New tracking mechanism for bugs for wizards. (thanks Mercade!)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quite the year! Some of the above helps explain the rise and fall of APH
numbers over the span of time. Nerfs and cancelled events preceed the dips
in logins here and there. Rises in interest follow and are sustained by
successful events and new guilds. 

Did I say new guilds? Oh yes! A huge round of applause is due to our
esteemed wizard Arman, who returned to Genesis after many years away. He
is far from a new face, having coded much for the Krynn areas in the
past (guilds, areas, etc.) But Genesis has not enjoyed the opening of a
new occupational guild since 2008 - nearly 10 years ago! That has changed
with Arman's new School of High Magic, which opened recently. Sadly, we do
not have census figures for this new guild, but suffice it to say that
they were the MOST POPULAR THING IN GENESIS in 2016. There were times
when I saw 20+ members of the SoHM, which dominated the scene throughout
December and into the New Year. Magic is alive and well in the Donut!

Praise is also due to the AoE team, and those wizards who took the time
to make Events possible this year. Cherek's spin at the Wheel-o-Fun under
the Yule Tree was quite popular at year's beginning and year's end. As
previously mentioned, Jaacar's Genemon Event was fun for many people,
and the Butterfly Event was revisited this year with many people taking
part, as it was also with the Scavenger Hunt. 

Many new wizards were added to Genesis in 2016, a number of whom have done
well learning the ropes, now poised to begin contributing in meaningful
ways to the game in the coming year.

Established wizards like Varian and Nerull helped make small improvements
in various domain and guild-related issues in Gondor and elsewhere, along
with the aforementioned Arman, who has actively overseen all Krynn-related
interests. Carnak tinkered with this-n-that which will perhaps see the
light of day in the coming year.

A special mention must go to the new wizard Perrigrine, who made it his
personal mission to get the Magic Map functioning in as many places in
Genesis as he could possibly manage. No single wizard has accomplished so
much mapping in so short a time as he. For this, much praise is due, and
not least from me! Arman also did a lot of nice mapping in Krynn, so some
more clapping goes to him also for mapping efforts.

Your Genesis Administrators were not idle this year. A brief summary will
include Stern being active to oversee Event management in small doses,
Mercade continuing his expert surveillance of overall game-management and
numerous updates to mudlib and wizard-tool functions, Cotillion offering
ongoing support with Gamedriver and Client tweaks as well as looking after
issues with game stability and tweaking the imbuement and armour systems
in the game, Cherek doing exhaustive work to keep the wizard workforce
indoctrinated, placed, engaged, and supported over the year as well as
doing a little bit of this-n-that pretty much everywhere, Mirandus doing
invaluable and solid work as AoP to keep players free of bugs or other
types of woe (except for cheaters), and me, who decided to actually show
up this year and confuse people with the nearly forgotten "Keeper" rank.

But enough about wizards. Genesis is primarily about its players, and that
would be all of you. I like to spend some time each year looking at the
guilds this game offers to the players, to see how each was able to function
as a healthy home and identity for our adventuring community.

Let's begin by looking at the last two years of guild activity, ranked
respectively by APH representation over the entire day:

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        2015 Ranking (Entire Day)       2016 Ranking (Entire Day)  rank change
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
         1.  Mercs     (3.578)           1. +Mercs     (5.994)         
         2.  Angmar    (2.394)           2.  Angmar    (2.717)       
         3.  Rangers   (2.038)           3.  DArmy     (1.838)       + 4
         4.  Monks     (2.016)           4.  Glads     (1.569)       + 1
         5.  Glads     (1.353)           5.  Rangers   (1.205)       - 2
         6.  Neidar    (0.912)           6. ^Knights   (1.065)       + 7
         7.  DArmy     (0.747)           7. -Monks     (0.909)       - 3
         8.  Cadets    (0.698)           8.  Cadets    (0.835)          
         9.  Academ    (0.539)           9.  Neidar    (0.824)       - 3
        10.  Calian    (0.501)          10. *Union     (0.630)       + 5
        11.  Ogres     (0.479)          11.  Ogres     (0.490)          
        12.  Mages     (0.254)          12.  Calian    (0.479)       - 2
        13.  Knights   (0.147)          13. !Academ    (0.432)       - 4
        14.  ScoP      (0.054)          14.  Mages     (0.205)       - 2
        15.  Union     (0.035)          15.  ScoP      (0.178)       - 1
        16.  PoT       (0.010)          16.  PoT       (0.128)         
        17.  Kender    (0.002)          17. @Kender    (0.000)         
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                + Biggest APH gain (Mercs at +2.416)
                - Biggest APH loss (Monks at -1.129)
                * Biggest growth   (Union at 1,700 % increase)
                @ Biggest decline  (Kender at 100% decline)
                ^ Biggest rise     (Knights up 7 ranks)
                ! Biggest fall     (Academics down 4 ranks)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fascinating! The big success stories of the year include the Mercenaries'
guild, which rose to completely dominate the landscape, more than double
any other guild's numbers; the Knights of Solamnia who, following a
dire performance in 2015, rose more ranks than any other guild to re-
assume a position of respectability in the realms for player activity;
and the Union Guild who had a spectacular relative-increase in their
player activity. The Monks suffered a fairly substantial loss of activity,
but seem to have been healthy enough to weather it, as they remain in the
top 7. Academics dropped a disappointing 4 ranks following their huge
success of the previous year. Absolutely gutteral was the no-show of the
Kender guild who faded into non-existance this year. Notably absent from
these calculations was the late-year arrival of the aforementioned School
of High Magic (SoHM) guild. Had they been tracked by the census, they would
have beaten the Mercs handily and ridden the top of the chart.

It is useful to see the specific comparison of a guild's performance to
the former year, so let's take a look at that:

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                      Growth from Former Year
    =================================================================
        Ranked by APH increase           Ranked by relative change
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
       1.  Mercs      + 2.416        1.  Union     1,700 % growth
       2.  DArmy      + 1.091        2.  PoT       1,180 % growth
       3.  Knights    + 0.918        3.  Knights     624 % growth
       4.  Union      + 0.595        4.  ScoP        230 % growth
       5.  Angmar     + 0.323        5.  DArmy       146 % growth
       6.  Glads      + 0.216        6.  Mercs        67 % growth
       7.  Cadets     + 0.137        7.  Cadets       20 % growth
       8.  ScoP       + 0.124        8.  Glads        16 % growth
       9.  PoT        + 0.118        9.  Angmar       13 % growth
______10.__Ogres______+ 0.011_______10.__Ogres_________2 % growth_________
      11.  Kender     - 0.002       11.  Calian        4 % decline
      12.  Calian     - 0.022       12.  Neidar       10 % decline
      13.  Mages      - 0.049       13.  Mages        19 % decline
      14.  Neidar     - 0.088       14.  Academ       20 % decline
      15.  Academ     - 0.107       15.  Rangers      41 % decline
      16.  Rangers    - 0.844       16.  Monks        56 % decline
      17.  Monks      - 1.129       17.  Kender      100 % decline (DEAD!)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Both the Union and the Priests of Takhisis surged from their very poor
years in 2015. As happened with the Academics in last year's tally, both
of these guilds benefitted from the fact that they had such a small
showing to build on. The PoT's 0.118 APH increase is not very big, but
relative to their near no-show in 2015, it was a significant increase.
The Union can be lauded unconditionally, as their amount of increase
alone is better than the total APH of more than half of the guilds in
Genesis. They truly had a great year. The guilds of Krynn were perhaps
the biggest success stories of the game outside of the Mercs. The Knights
completely overcame the woes of last year to surge back to health, and
the Dragonarmies were among the most popular and headline-grabbing guilds
of the year. The Rangers and Monks had a hard year. But more dreadful than
any story was that of the poor Kenders - they simply died out.

One last metric it is fun to examine is each guild's representation during
peak gaming hours. I've added one additional bit of data this time,
showing how much % of the game's total population each guild represented
during this hour each average day:

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  APH Representation During Peak Hour 
         (21:00 gametime in 2015)         (20:00 gametime in 2016)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        1.  Mercs     5.405  (15%)       1.  Mercs     8.695  (21%)
        2.  Angmar    3.849  (11%)       2.  Angmar    4.526  (11%)
        3.  Rangers   3.632  (10%)       3.  DArmy     3.271  ( 8%)
        4.  Monks     3.578  (10%)       4.  Glads     2.953  ( 7%)
      __5.  Glads     2.852  ( 8%)       5.  Rangers   2.432  ( 6%)
        6.  DArmy     1.652  ( 5%)       6.  Knights   2.238  ( 5%)
        7.  Neidar    1.641  ( 5%)       7.  Monks     1.934  ( 5%)
        8.  Cadets    1.523  ( 4%)       8.  Union     1.616  ( 4%)
        9.  Ogres     1.490  ( 4%)       9.  Neidar    1.613  ( 4%)
       10.  Calian    1.336  ( 4%)      10.  Cadets    1.564  ( 4%)
       11.  Academ    1.252  ( 3%)      11.  Ogres     1.561  ( 4%)
       12.  Knights   1.032  ( 3%)      12.  Calian    1.030  ( 2%)
       13.  Mages     0.909  ( 2%)      13.  Academ    0.997  ( 2%)
       14.  ScoP      0.583  ( 1%)      14.  ScoP      0.934  ( 2%)
       15.  Union     0.484  ( 1%)      15.  PoT       0.742  ( 2%)
       16.  PoT       0.394  ( 1%)      16.  Mages     0.632  ( 2%)
       17.  Kender    0.243  (<1%)      17.  Kender    0.106  (<1%)
     ----------------------------------------------------------------
            Gamewide  34.75  (%pop)          Gamewide  40.26  (%pop)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, a full 20% of the game were Mercenaries during peak playing hours
this year. Angmar was the second most popular, at 11%. Reading all of
these guild-related data, I encourage players to assess their guilds and
make of the trends what they are able. I find it very interesting to note
that two of last years worst performers (perhaps given a bit of fire by
seeing how poorly they had done?) turned things around in 2016. I
would love to see the same take place this year for the guilds who have
ended up in woeful positions. Obviously, there are things we wizards need
to consider to make sure each guild has a fair shake. But it will always,
in the end, fall to players to do what they can to make sure their guild
is energized and filled with life. My belief is that roleplay and
the stories you create each day are the most essential piece of this
puzzle. The mechanics and the nuts and bolts of the game that we wizards
can build are certainly no small consideration, but the heart, soul, and
passion of the players will always rise to the top in Genesis, and coax
from any situation the best and the most memorable moments.

And such moments will continue! I see nothing but promise as I look forward
to 2017. The health of the game has returned and Genesis stands tall. On
this landscape I see near at hand the rebirth of yet another guild that
has been recrafted after long years of waiting. Doubling the playerbase was
but one of our goals at the outset of the new era in 2007 - we also meant
to recode all guilds in the game. That recode nears completion, and I
finally see it coming to pass in a realistic future. With floods of new
players finding us each week through our modernized client and web-
presence, we are in a new era of opportunity to re-vision how we want this
game to feel, and look to what goals will be best for our next moves
forward. 

I continue to feel excited and lucky to be part of this rare and unique
community - the Realms of Genesis.

Onward, my friends, and upwards!
G.
Mmmmmm ... pie ...

User avatar
gorboth
Site Admin
Posts: 2352
Joined: 03 Mar 2010 20:51
Location: Some old coffin

SOTD - 2017

Post by gorboth » 23 Jun 2018 01:08

Code: Select all

Posted Jan 6, 2018

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 |                   State of the Donut Address - 2017                        |
 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Esteemed Fellow Genesis Enthusiasts,

At the dawning of each New Year my inclination is to look back over the past
twelve months to assess the well-being of the torroid that we all call home
here in the lands of Genesis. As it so happens, this year marks the 10th
Anniversary of my annual State-of-the-Donut Address tradition which was
begun in 2008, just a few months after I became Keeper. After ten years of
writing such posts as this, it has been interesting to look back and think
about how the journey has felt from that time up until now. Each year is
fascinating to analyze, but it would be far from the truth if I were to say
that each year was fun to look back on. Some of our years have been very
painful and disheartening, as the health of the playerbase took a downswing
or seemed likely to fade away. Others have been stable but shown little
real indication of growth. What we hope for in any journey or story is a
happy destination or ending. Far be it from me to say anything about an
ending (!) but where we have arrived at the end of these ten years is not
only encouraging, it is downright delightful and something to be much
celebrated. I can say without hestitation that I cannot remember ever feeling
as confident and satisfied with the State of the Donut as I do at the end
of the year that was 2017.

So ... with such a guarantee of good news, let's get things rolling!

DISCLAIMER: I am a geek for graphs and charts. Shamelessly indulgent
            analytics to follow, ad nauseum!!

To begin, it is always good to recall how I measure the health of the game
so that we can view trends and know what sort of growth or decline we have
experienced. My first act as Keeper over ten years ago was to build a tool
to count the players in the game by taking a snapshot once per hour of
everyone logged in who is not a wizard or a wizard junior, and who is not
linkdead. The snapshot that this tool (the census) creates is what I call
the APH (Average Per Hour.) As an example, here is the APH displayed in
a graph for the very first day that I turned the Census on back in October
of 2007:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     Hourly player activity for Oct 14 2007
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   26|                                                                   .    
   24|                                                                   O  . 
   22|             .                                               O  O  O  O 
   20|    O  .     O                                               O  O  O  O 
   18| .  O  O     O  O                                            O  O  O  O 
   16| 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 
L  12| 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 
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 
-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 = 15.37
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For those of you who are relatively new to Genesis, I imagine that seeing
numbers so small for each hourly snapshot might come as a surprise. This is
where the game was, just over ten years ago. Our best hour of the day was
22:00pm, with an APH of 25, and our worst hours were 10-11am with an APH of
eight. Yes, if you had been playing Genesis on that day in 2007 during those
hours, you would have seen only 8 other players awake on the <who> list with
you. Can you imagine what that would feel like? It did not feel good! We
wizards felt very strongly that things needed to change in Genesis, and we
had a great deal of energy and drive to do what we felt needed to happen to
take us in new directions to build the playerbase back up and get it where
we want it to be. So - how did we do? Well, let's now take a look at that
same day in October but overlay what we see ten years later in 2017:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     Comparisons between two time periods:
                                Oct 14 2007 = O
                                Oct 14 2017 = :
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   62|                                                                       .
   60|                                                        :              :
   58|                                                        :           .  :
   56|                                                        :        :  :  :
   54|              .                                         :        :  :  :
   52|              :                                      .  :  .  :  :  :  :
   50|              :                                      :  :  :  :  :  :  :
   48|           .  :                                      :  :  :  :  :  :  :
   46|     .     :  :                                      :  :  :  :  :  :  :
   44|  .  :  .  :  :        .  :                          :  :  :  :  :  :  :
   42|  :  :  :  :  :  .     :  :                          :  :  :  :  :  :  :
   40|  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :                          :  :  :  :  :  :  :
   38|  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :                       .  :  :  :  :  :  :  :
   36|  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :                    :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :
   34|  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :              .     :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :
   32|  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :              :  .  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :
   30|  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :     .     :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :
   28|  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  .  :  .  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :
   26|  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : .:  :
   24|  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : O: .:
   22|  :  :  :  : .:  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : O: O: O: O:
   20|  : O: .:  : O:  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : O: O: O: O:
   18| .: O: O:  : O: O:  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : O: O: O: O:
   16| 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:
L  12| 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:
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:
-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 = 15.37
        Comparison average players per hour = 43.20
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aha! What a good difference ten years have made, it would seem! Here we see
that the best hour of this day, 23:00pm, had an APH of 61 players who were
awake and playing the game together. The lowest ebb of 11am & 13pm went as
low as an APH of 26. That low ebb in 2017 is one person higher than the BEST
HOUR for the same day one decade ago. Tremendous! Let's do one more fun thing
now and look at the VERY BEST day of 2017:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     Hourly player activity for Sep 24 2017
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   58| .  .                                                  O        O       
   56| O  O                                               O  O     .  O  O    
   54| O  O  O              .                             O  O  .  O  O  O  . 
   52| O  O  O  O  .        O                             O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   50| O  O  O  O  O        O                             O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   48| O  O  O  O  O  O     O                             O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   46| O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O                             O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   44| O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O                    .  .  .  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   42| O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O                    O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   40| O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O     O           .  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   38| O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  .  O        .  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   36| O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O     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  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  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  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  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  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  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  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  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 
-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 = 48.25
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*sniff* ... it's just so ... beautiful ...

But one day is a very small sample, offering questionable validity. To get
a better picture, lets rewind and look at the entire first year we had on
the Census, that of 2008:

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                         |
|  Average player activity by week for entire year, beginning Jan 01 2008 |
|                                                                         |
+---------+-----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+-----+---+
|    22.5 |     |    |     |    |    |     |X   |X    |    |    |     |   |
|    22.0 |     |    |     |    |    |   X |XX  |X    |    |    |     |   |
|    21.5 |     |    |     |    |    |   XX|XX  |X    |    |    |     |   |
|    21.0 |     |    |     |    |    |   XX|XX X|XXX  |    |    |     |   |
|    20.5 |     |    |     |    |    |   XX|XX X|XXX  |    |    |     |   |
|    20.0 |     |    |     |    |    |   XX|XX X|XXXX |    |    |     |   |
|    19.5 |     |    |     |    |    |   XX|XX X|XXXX |    |    |     |   |
|    19.0 |     |    |     |  X |    |   XX|XXXX|XXXX |    |    |     |   |
| A  18.5 |X    |    |     |  X |    |   XX|XXXX|XXXX |    |    |     |   |
| V  18.0 |X    |    |     |  X |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|    |    |     |   |
| G  17.5 |X    |    |     |  X |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|    |    |     |   |
|    17.0 |XX   | X  |     |  X |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|    |    |     |   |
| P  16.5 |XX   | X  |     |XXX |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|    |    |     |   |
| E  16.0 |XX  X| XX |     |XXX |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|    |    |     |   |
| R  15.5 |XX  X| XX |    X|XXX |   X|  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|    |    |     |   |
|    15.0 |XX  X|XXX |    X|XXXX|   X|  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|    |    |     |   |
| H  14.5 |XXXXX|XXX |    X|XXXX|   X|  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XX  |    |     |   |
| O  14.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|X  XX|XXXX|XX X|  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XX  |    |     |   |
| U  13.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|X  XX|XXXX|XXXX|X XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX | X  |X    |   |
| R  13.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XX XX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXX |X    |  X|
|    12.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXX |X    |X X|
| E  12.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXX |XX   |XXX|
| A  11.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXX X|XXX|
| C  11.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXX X|XXX|
| H  10.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXX X|XXX|
|    10.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| W   9.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| E   9.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| E   8.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
| K   8.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX|
+---------+-----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+-----+---+
|  Month  |Jan  |Feb |Mar  |Apr |May |Jun  |Jul |Aug  |Sep |Oct |Nov  |   |
+---------+-----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+-----+---+
|                                                                         |
|               Mean yearly average players per hour = 15.44              |
|                                                                         |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

This was a very interesting year in Genesis. The Magic Map was created and
implemented in Sparkle and the (still relatively new) Tutorial. That big
bump in June corresponded to the re-opening of the Angmar Army, which was
the single-most popular guild reactivation in the history of Genesis. It
instantly brought back to the game many eager players who had left when their
beloved Army had closed nearly ten years prior. Unfortunately, most of them
again left following a sharp nerf to their abilities (doh!) What is amazing
is that those peaks up around 22 APH were AMAZINGLY EXCITING for us at the
time - they were the sort of numbers we had hoped and dreamed to see again.
So let's go ahead now and look at our year for 2017, ten years later:

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                         |
|  Average player activity by week for entire year, beginning Jan 01 2017 |
|                                                                         |
+---------+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+
|    42.5 |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |  X |    X| X  |    |
|    42.0 |     |    |    |     |    |X   |     |    |  X |  X X|XX  |    |
|    41.5 |     |    |    |     |    |X   |     |    |  X |  X X|XX  |    |
|    41.0 |     |    |    |     |X   |X   |     |    |  X |  XXX|XX X|    |
|    40.5 |     |    |    |    X|X   |X   |     |    |  XX|X XXX|XX X|X   |
|    40.0 |     |    |    |    X|X X |XXX |     |    |  XX|X XXX|XX X|X   |
|    39.5 |     |    |    |    X|XXXX|XXX |     |    |  XX|XXXXX|XX X|X   |
|    39.0 |     |    |    |    X|XXXX|XXX |     |    |XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|X   |
|    38.5 |     |    |    |    X|XXXX|XXX |     |    |XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|X   |
|    38.0 |     |    |    |    X|XXXX|XXX |X X  |    |XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|X   |
|    37.5 |     |    |    |    X|XXXX|XXXX|X X  |    |XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|X XX|
|    37.0 |     |    |    |    X|XXXX|XXXX|X X  |    |XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    36.5 |     |    |    |    X|XXXX|XXXX|X X  |   X|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    36.0 |     |    |    |    X|XXXX|XXXX|XXX  |X XX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    35.5 |   X |    |    |    X|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX |X XX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    35.0 |   X |    |    |    X|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    34.5 |   X |X   |    |    X|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    34.0 |   X |X   |    |    X|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    33.5 |   X |X   |    |    X|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    33.0 |X XXX|X   |    |    X|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    32.5 |X XXX|X   |    |    X|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    32.0 |X XXX|X   |    |   XX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    31.5 |X XXX|X   |    |   XX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    31.0 |XXXXX|X   | X  |   XX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    30.5 |XXXXX|X   | X  |   XX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    30.0 |XXXXX|X  X| X  |   XX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    29.5 |XXXXX|X XX|XXX | X XX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    29.0 |XXXXX|X XX|XXX | X XX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    28.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX | XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    28.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX | XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    27.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    27.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    26.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXX |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    26.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    25.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    25.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    24.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    24.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    23.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    23.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    22.5 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    22.0 |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
+---------+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+
|  Month  |Jan  |Feb |Mar |Apr  |May |Jun |Jul  |Aug |Sep |Oct  |Nov |    |
+---------+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+
|                                                                         |
|               Mean yearly average players per hour = 36.17              |
|                                                                         |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Heh ... indeed, indeed! One thing to note right away is that I have chopped
the bottom half of this graph off. 22 APH is the BOTTOM LINE of this graph,
which we just finished discussing as the amazing peaks of our graph 10 years
ago. In fact, the worst week of 2017 was an APH of 26, four players higher
than our very best peaks in 2008. And you can see that we have had three
separate weeks with an APH this last year up above 42. Graphs are fun to see,
and give you a good visual sense of things, but to really dig in, let's go
ahead and look at some comprehensive data in a chart to compare where we are
now to where we were back then:

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|             Comparing player activity over two time periods:               |
|                      A: Jan 01 2008 - Jan 01 2009                          |
|                      B: Jan 01 2017 - Jan 01 2018                          |
+-------+-------+-------+----------+--+-----------+-------+-------+----------+
| Hour  |   A   |   B   | % change |  | Weekday   |   A   |   B   | % change |
+-------+-------+-------+----------+  +-----------+-------+-------+----------+
| 00.00 | 19.59 | 40.83 | +108.36 %|  | Sunday    | 16.49 | 36.86 | +123.45 %|
| 01.00 | 17.22 | 38.12 | +121.40 %|  | Monday    | 15.43 | 35.59 | +130.66 %|
| 02.00 | 15.97 | 37.83 | +136.84 %|  | Tuesday   | 15.81 | 35.70 | +125.80 %|
| 03.00 | 15.40 | 38.20 | +147.97 %|  | Wednesday | 15.98 | 35.66 | +123.10 %|
| 04.00 | 14.59 | 38.48 | +163.70 %|  | Thursday  | 15.15 | 35.55 | +134.59 %|
| 05.00 | 13.08 | 36.36 | +178.01 %|  | Friday    | 15.54 | 35.00 | +125.27 %|
| 06.00 | 11.77 | 33.56 | +185.00 %|  | Saturday  | 16.12 | 36.12 | +124.02 %|
| 07.00 | 10.53 | 31.47 | +198.71 %|  +-----------+-------+-------+----------+
| 08.00 | 10.06 | 29.84 | +196.57 %|                                         |
| 09.00 | 10.17 | 29.50 | +190.10 %|                                         |
| 10.00 | 10.93 | 28.79 | +163.24 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 11.00 | 11.57 | 28.04 | +142.33 %|  |       - - - Field  Sizes - - -       |
| 12.00 | 12.16 | 28.46 | +133.91 %|  | Number of days in Period A:     366  |
| 13.00 | 13.55 | 29.57 | +118.16 %|  | Number of days in Period B:     365  |
| 14.00 | 15.19 | 31.86 | +109.70 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 15.00 | 16.68 | 34.90 | +109.20 %|                                         |
| 16.00 | 18.18 | 37.91 | +108.50 %|                                         |
| 17.00 | 18.94 | 40.41 | +113.33 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 18.00 | 20.13 | 43.00 | +113.61 %|  |           Overall Summary            |
| 19.00 | 21.56 | 45.52 | +111.13 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 20.00 | 23.12 | 47.34 | +104.76 %|  | Overall average for Period A:  15.79 |
| 21.00 | 23.91 | 48.21 | +101.61 %|  | Overall average for Period B:  35.79 |
| 22.00 | 24.06 | 47.47 |  +97.31 %|  |                                      |
| 23.00 | 22.40 | 45.06 | +101.12 %|  | Overall increase/decrease:  +126.6 % |
+-------+-------+-------+----------+--+--------------------------------------+

What a nifty thing to see! In just about every index, there has been more
than 100% of growth from where we started ten years ago. In some hours, the
APH has nearly tripled! That final number shows that we have improved 125%
from that initial census year, when the stated goal was to double the
playerbase. We have done that and now gone further. 

Considering 2008 to 2017, one might imagine the journey between them as being
a straight line. Oh, not so! Let's look at a nice display of each year moving
from then to now:

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                Population Levels in APH over the last 10 Years              |
|                            ( quarterly histogram )                          |
+-------+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  40.0 |                                                                   X |
|  39.0 |                                                                   X |
|  38.0 |                                                                  XX |
|  37.0 |                                                                 XXX |
|  36.0 |                                                                 XXX |
|  35.0 |                                                                 XXX |
|  34.0 |                                                                 XXX |
|  33.0 |                                                                 XXX |
|  32.0 |                                                                 XXX |
|  31.0 |                                                            X   XXXX |
|  30.0 |                                                            X   XXXX |
|  29.0 |                                                           XX   XXXX |
|  28.0 |                                                     X     XX   XXXX |
|  27.0 |                                                  X  X   X XX   XXXX |
|  26.0 |                                                  X  X   X XX   XXXX |
|  25.0 |                                                  X  X   XXXX   XXXX |
|  24.0 |                                                  X  X   XXXX   XXXX |
|  23.0 |                                                  X  X   XXXX   XXXX |
|  22.0 |                                                  X  X   XXXX   XXXX |
|  21.0 |                                                  XX X   XXXX   XXXX |
|  20.0 |                                              X   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX |
|  19.0 |   X                                          X   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX |
|  18.0 |   X                                          X   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX |
|  17.0 |   X    XX                                    X   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX |
|  16.0 |  XX    XXX             X                     X   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX |
|  15.0 | XXX    XXX             X                     X   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX |
|  14.0 | XXX    XXXX   X       XX              X      X   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX |
|  13.0 | XXX    XXXX   X X     XXX             X      X   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX |
|  12.0 | XXXX   XXXX   XXX    XXXX      X   X  X   X  X   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX |
|  11.0 | XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX      X   XXXX   X  X   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX |
|  10.0 | XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   X XX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX |
|   9.0 | XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX |
|   8.0 | XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX   XXXX |
+-------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| Qtr.  | 1234 | 1234 | 1234 | 1234 | 1234 | 1234 | 1234 | 1234 | 1234 | 1234 |
+-------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| Year  | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
+-------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
|Yr. Ave| 15.8 | 16.1 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 10.7 | 12.5 | 13.3 | 24.2 | 29.1 | 36.6 |
+-------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+

Let's do that same thing, but now with single-point resolution:

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|             Population Levels in APH over the last 10 Years                 |
|                          ( annual line-plot )                               |
+-------+--------------------------------------------------------------+------+
|  37.0 |                                                                     |
|  36.0 |                                                                  O  |
|  35.0 |                                                                 /   |
|  34.0 |                                                                /    |
|  33.0 |                                                               /     |
|  32.0 |                                                              /      |
|  31.0 |                                                             /       |
|  30.0 |                                                            /        |
|  29.0 |                                                           O         |
|  28.0 |                                                          '          |
|  27.0 |                                                        ,'           |
|  26.0 |                                                       .             |
|  25.0 |                                                      '              |
|  24.0 |                                                    O'               |
|  23.0 |                                                   ;                 |
|  22.0 |                                                  |                  |
|  21.0 |                                                  ;                  |
|  20.0 |                                                 |                   |
|  19.0 |                                                 ;                   |
|  18.0 |                                                |                    |
|  17.0 |                                                ;                    |
|  16.0 |       _,-O.                                   |                     |
|  15.0 |   O-''     `.                                 ;                     |
|  14.0 |              `.     _,-O.                    |                      |
|  13.0 |                `O-''     \             __,--O`                      |
|  12.0 |                           `.       _.O`                             |
|  11.0 |                             \   .-'                                 |
|  10.0 |                              `O'                                    |
|   9.0 |                                                                     |
|   8.0 |                                                                     |
+-------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| Year  | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
+-------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
|Yr Ave.| 15.8 | 16.1 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 10.7 | 12.5 | 13.3 | 24.2 | 29.1 | 36.6 |
+-------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
|%change|  --  | +2%  | -19% | +8%  | -24% | +17% | +7%  | +82% | +20% | +25% |
+-------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+

My friends, the trends of the last three years are absolutely undeniable. The
health of the playerbase has returned to nearly what it was in the heyday of
the game, pre-millenium. The census did not exist then, but our very oldest
players will still tell you stories of 100+ players on the who list and
needing to wait in a queue to log in and play in the 1994-1997 era. On three
separate occasions in 2017, I was logged into the game and saw 100 players
on the who list. One occasion actually displayed 101! Keep in mind that
unlike the census, the <who> list includes both wizards and linkdead players
in its count. So when you look at the graphs above and see the highest peaks
at around 60 APH, you should remember to factor in the missing data which
would likely put it up closer to 80 or 90 on a <who> command.

What we see in the last three years is a trend. This trend is not slowing
down, and it is not something I can easily predict. Even if we were to hit
a plateau, and stay up around the 30+ mark for our daily APH, the game would
feel like a place where you can log in and expect to find dozens of your
fellow Denizens of the Donut awake and active. These are good times, and there
is every reason to expect they can continue to improve. Let's make it so!

Some people enjoy knowing specifics from year to year, and so for my last
graph before we move on, I will look at how we did in comparison to the
prior year:

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|             Comparing player activity over two time periods:               |
|                      A: Jan 01 2016 - Jan 01 2017                          |
|                      B: Jan 01 2017 - Jan 01 2018                          |
+-------+-------+-------+----------+--+-----------+-------+-------+----------+
| Hour  |   A   |   B   | % change |  | Weekday   |   A   |   B   | % change |
+-------+-------+-------+----------+  +-----------+-------+-------+----------+
| 00.00 | 32.80 | 40.83 |  +24.49 %|  | Sunday    | 27.93 | 36.86 |  +31.94 %|
| 01.00 | 30.02 | 38.12 |  +27.00 %|  | Monday    | 28.63 | 35.59 |  +24.33 %|
| 02.00 | 28.64 | 37.83 |  +32.05 %|  | Tuesday   | 28.92 | 35.70 |  +23.45 %|
| 03.00 | 28.51 | 38.20 |  +33.96 %|  | Wednesday | 28.53 | 35.66 |  +25.01 %|
| 04.00 | 27.77 | 38.48 |  +38.57 %|  | Thursday  | 28.58 | 35.55 |  +24.40 %|
| 05.00 | 25.31 | 36.36 |  +43.65 %|  | Friday    | 29.64 | 35.00 |  +18.08 %|
| 06.00 | 22.70 | 33.56 |  +47.79 %|  | Saturday  | 27.91 | 36.12 |  +29.38 %|
| 07.00 | 20.67 | 31.47 |  +52.21 %|  +-----------+-------+-------+----------+
| 08.00 | 20.28 | 29.84 |  +47.14 %|                                         |
| 09.00 | 21.18 | 29.50 |  +39.28 %|                                         |
| 10.00 | 22.27 | 28.79 |  +29.25 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 11.00 | 22.92 | 28.04 |  +22.32 %|  |       - - - Field  Sizes - - -       |
| 12.00 | 23.59 | 28.46 |  +20.65 %|  | Number of days in Period A:     366  |
| 13.00 | 25.55 | 29.57 |  +15.73 %|  | Number of days in Period B:     365  |
| 14.00 | 29.09 | 31.86 |   +9.53 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 15.00 | 31.93 | 34.90 |   +9.27 %|                                         |
| 16.00 | 33.16 | 37.91 |  +14.31 %|                                         |
| 17.00 | 34.12 | 40.41 |  +18.40 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 18.00 | 36.45 | 43.00 |  +17.96 %|  |           Overall Summary            |
| 19.00 | 38.47 | 45.52 |  +18.31 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 20.00 | 40.28 | 47.34 |  +17.52 %|  | Overall average for Period A:  28.59 |
| 21.00 | 39.85 | 48.21 |  +20.95 %|  | Overall average for Period B:  35.79 |
| 22.00 | 38.79 | 47.47 |  +22.37 %|  |                                      |
| 23.00 | 36.45 | 45.06 |  +23.60 %|  | Overall increase/decrease:  +25.16 % |
+-------+-------+-------+----------+--+--------------------------------------+

Quite good! As you can see, the game grew by 25% in 2017 from where it had
been in the year before that. One thing I have noticed in the most recent
graphs is an evening out of our "valley" effect when in the past most of
our game population went to bed. We seem to have a more diverse field in
these modern times, with people filling in the gaps due to their different
sleep cycles around the globe. 

So ... what leads to such improvement over a decade of time? Rather than
recounting all of that, I will point interested readers to a breakdown of
the major developments that I drew up in my SotD Address two years ago:

https://www.genesismud.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=3011

Reading that middle section with the year-to-year summary is a good way to
get a sense of the major developments that have moved the game into the
modern era, paving the way for our current success and giving players a place
that supports their enjoyment more than at any time in our history.

What I would like to do is to recount the major developments in the game
in 2017. I have done my best to look back and detail each of the things
that took place, but it is more than likely that a few things I may have
failed to mention. My apologies are extended to anyone responsible for any
such omissions, and you are invited to post addendums on the forum thread.

Here follows a (hopefully mostly) complete list of developer accomplishments
in Genesis in 2017:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
January:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Magic Map addition: Farmer Maggot's farm in Shire (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Docks, north&south flats in Raumdor (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Path from docks to Drakmere in Raumdor (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: City of Drakmere in Raumdor (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Port Macdunn in Khalakhor (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Baile Ashlagh in Khalakhor (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: SaMorgan in Khalakhor (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: plains, forest and Tabor Sogn in Khalakhor (Per.)
 - Magic Map addition: The Golden Isle (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Bazaar in Sybarus (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Eil-Galaith in Khakalhor (Perrigrine)
 - A new Halflings Guild created in Faerun (Finwe)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
February:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Magic Map addition: Barrow Downs, Old Forest, Bombadil's,
                       Road to Moria in Shire (Perrigrine)
 - PoT recode completed (Arman/Carnak)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
March:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Gizmo upgrade/replacement (Cotillion and Lunatari?)
 - Magic Map addition: Eldoral Isle and Firedome in Calia (Perrigrine)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
April:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Newbie pin upgraded: possible now to ignore abusive spammers (Gorboth)
 - Tutorial reworked, signs upgraded, improvements throughout (Gorboth)
 - Simple occupational guild added to tutorial (Gorboth)
 - Ghastly Keep opened in Terel (Znagsnuf)
    * Goes on to become the most popular myth area of the year!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
May:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - "Quest-progress" info added to the <stats> command (Gorboth/Mercade)
 - Magic Map addition: Heralds of the Valar Guildhalls (Perrigrine)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
June:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Recode of the Kender guild (Carnak)
 - Cherek retires from his position as AoD.
 - Gorboth resumes AoD duties and reforms Liege Council as AoD staff.
 - Magic Map changed: only displays if player can see in room (Cotillion)
 - Crackdown and rule-clarification on alt-revealing (Mirandus/Gorboth)
    * resulted in unfortunate deletions of both wizard and mortal chars.
 - Game uptime extended from 12 to 14 days (Mercade)
 - Wizard manuals reviewed, revised and supplemented (Gorboth)
 - Comprehensive wizard-training document created (Gorboth)
 - Magic Map addition: Dephonian Temple in Calia (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Helm's Deep in Gondor (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Holm and baths in Avenir (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Isengard plains and road in Gondor (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Green Dragonarmy Camp in Ansalon (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Walls of Isengard in Gondor (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Emyn Arnen and Goblin Caves in Gondor (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Fangorn Forest in Gondor (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Moria in Shire (Perrigrine)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
July:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Quiet ... everyone is out enjoying the sun?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
August:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Gorboth steps down as AoD (now he's just Keeper again)
 - Lucius joins the Admin as AoD.
    * This position oversees global management wizard and code development.
 - Cotillion steps down as AoB after much good work in recent years.
 - Arman joins the Admin as AoB.
    * This job assesses balance considerations for Genesis' content.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
September:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Magic Element skills now trainable in Adventurer Guilds (Arman)
 - Shields are retooled to impact spellcasting when equipped (Arman)
 - Rules for applying magic-resistance retooled (Arman)
 - Stern steps down as AoE after more than a decade of legendary service.
 - Petros rejoins the Admin as AoE
    * This job is responsible for creating and running events for the game.
 - Event-Donation machine turned on, requesting pearls (Petros)
 - Magic Map addition: Icewall in Krynn (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Council halls, Fire Brigade, Barracks,
                       Citadel, and sewer in Kabal (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Prestigious Knights Club and Xak Tsaroth
                       in Krynn (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Kalad Wastes (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Pelennor Fields and hills of southern Anorien
                       in Gondor (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Minas Morgul in Gondor (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Solamnian Knights Guildhalls in Krynn (Perrigrine)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
October:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Magic Map addition: Dwarven mines, moors, and gate near Palanthas
                       in Krynn (Arman - what??! Not Perrigrine?!?)
 - Magic Map addition: Kalaman palace/poor district in Ansalon (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Solace Cemetery & Tantallon sewers in Krynn (Perr.)
 - Magic Map addition: Gnomish area & Inventors in Krynn (Arman)
 - Magic Map addition: Rivendell & Trollshaws (Finwe)
 - Cherek rejoins the Admin as AoW.
    * This job updates and maintains webpage content and moderates the
      official forum and Facebook pages.
 - Graduation from "newbie" status raised from Wanderer to Gt. Adventurer.
 - Backstabbing functionality retooled and updated (Carnak/Arman)
 - Support for multi-domain Lieges implemented (Lucius)
 - Finwe assumes Liege duties for Middle Earth (in addition to Faerun)
 - Lucius assumes Liege duties for Avenir (in addition to AoD duties)
 - Arman assumes Liege duties of Krynn/Ansalon (in addition to AoB)
 - Most npcs in Kalad recoded for stats and gear to meet modern needs
   for player interest and enjoyment. New areas added and modern steeds
   implemented in Red Fang guild. (Zignur)
 - Login retooled to facilitate mudstats tracking (Cotillion)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
November:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Trollshaws in Shire recoded for improved player interest (Finwe/Arman)
 - Silence imposed in the Sparkle Church (Arman)
    * This decision proved controversial and is still under review.
 - Turkey-Gobbling event held, many players compete for top spots. (Petros)
 - Guild-exp changed to no longer benefit from brutality (Cotillion)
 - Malus becomes Liege of Raumdor.
 - Mirandus becomes Liege of Cirath and Kalad (in addition to being AoP)
 - Ckrik becomes Liege of Khalakhor in addition to Earthsea.
 - Gorboth becomes Liege of Emerald (in addition to being Keeper)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
December:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Irk completes his final (250th) Market Quest - the first to do so!
 - Botting rules updated (Mirandus)
 - Wheel-of-Fun returns for the Winter Holidays (Cherek)
 - Event stats and winners announced (Petros)
 - Mobile-friendly revision of website completed (Cherek)
 - Elemental Clerics Guild opens (Jaacar)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you can see, your friendly neighborhood wizards have been busy beavers
this year! Much thanks to them for all their hard work, and for the many
things still in development that could not be listed as completed yet.

There remains one vitally important aspect of the game that we must take
stock of now, dear reader, and that would be the contributions of you, the
players, to the stories told in Genesis! I speak, of course, of the rise
and fall of the Guilds through which we define our roles and live out our
daily lives in the realms. The census tracks individual guild performances
in the overall picture, and so let us look at how things have changed from
2016 to 2017. The second column is the most recent year:

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        2016 Ranking (Entire Day)       2017 Ranking (Entire Day)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
         1.  Mercs     (5.994)           1.  Mercs     (5.553)  
         2.  Angmar    (2.717)           2.  SoHM      (5.120)
         3.  DArmy     (1.838)           3.  DArmy     (2.430)
         4.  Glads     (1.569)           4. -Angmar    (2.043)
         5.  Rangers   (1.205)           5.  Knights   (1.336)
         6.  Knights   (1.065)           6.  Cadets    (1.282)
         7.  Monks     (0.909)           7.  Glads     (1.279)
         8.  Cadets    (0.835)           8.^+Mages     (1.131)
         9.  Neidar    (0.824)           9.  Rangers   (1.117)
        10.  Union     (0.630)          10.  Calian    (1.038)
        11.  Ogres     (0.490)          11.  Neidar    (0.832)
        12.  Calian    (0.479)          12.  Ogres     (0.583)
        13.  Academ    (0.432)          13.  Monks     (0.460)
        14.  Mages     (0.205)          14.  PoT       (0.378)
        15.  ScoP      (0.178)          15.  Academ    (0.350)
        16.  PoT       (0.128)          16. *Kender    (0.246)
        17.  Kender    (0.000)          17. !Union     (0.221)
                                        18. @ScoP      (0.024)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                + Biggest APH gain (Mages at +0.926)
                - Biggest APH loss (Angmar at -0.674)
                * Biggest growth   (Kender at infinite growth)
                @ Biggest decline  (ScoP at 86% decline)
                ^ Biggest rise     (Mages up 6 ranks)
                ! Biggest fall     (Union down 7 ranks)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fascinating! As you can see, we have numbers in 2017 for our newest guild,
the School of High Magic, which was the second-most populous guild in Genesis
this year. It is not surprising that a new guild is popular, but few have
seen as much success as this! The Mercenaries remain on top, offering their
utilitarian if roleplay-lite options for gameplay. Success stories this
year include the Kender guild who literally rose from oblivion. When you
start at zero, you automatically win the percentage game! Much more impressive
was the rise of the Morgul Mages both in ranks and APH gain. Troubles this
year fell on the Union and ScoP guilds, both whom fell dramatically in
representation.

To get a better sense of growth and decline, let's look at those metrics:

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                      Growth from Former Year
    =================================================================
        Ranked by APH increase           Ranked by relative change
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

         1.  Mages     + 0.926       1.  Kender    infinite growth
         2.  DArmy     + 0.592       2.  Mages     451 % growth
         3.  Calian    + 0.559       3.  PoT       195 % growth
         4.  Cadets    + 0.447       4.  Calian    116 % growth
         5.  Knights   + 0.271       5.  Cadets     55 % growth
         6.  PoT       + 0.250       6.  DArmy      32 % growth
         7.  Kender    + 0.246       7.  Knights    25 % growth
         8.  Ogres     + 0.093       8.  Ogres      19 % growth
_________9.__Neidar____+ 0.008_______9.__Neidar______1 % growth_________
        10.  Academ    - 0.082      10.  Mercs       7 % decline
        11.  Rangers   - 0.088           Rangers     7 % decline
        12.  ScoP      - 0.154      11.  Academ     18 % decline
        13.  Glads     - 0.290           Glads      18 % decline
        14.  Union     - 0.409      12.  Angmar     24 % decline
        15.  Mercs     - 0.441      13.  Monks      49 % decline
        16.  Monks     - 0.449      14.  Union      65 % decline
        17.  Angmar    - 0.674      15.  ScoP       86 % decline

         *   SoHM      (new)         *   SoHM      (new)   
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We cannot factor the SoHM here, since they do not have numbers from last
year with which to compare. One thing I feel is worth mentioning is that
two different guilds, the Calians and Mages, are guilds that I am aware
experimented with new admission policies, essentially throwing open their
doors to new members with the idea that all are welcome, but that they will
then have to prove themselves to move up in rank. It seems to have worked
out well, as both guilds had extremely good success in terms of growth. The
PoT, who enjoyed recoded abilities, naturally saw a boost to their numbers.
It was a good year for many guilds!

Finally, it is fun to see how populous each guild was during the peak
hour of play. You can compare last year to this year below:

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  APH Representation During Peak Hour 
         (20:00 gametime in 2016)         (21:00 gametime in 2017)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        1.  Mercs     8.695  (21%)     1.  Mercs     7.991  (16%)
        2.  Angmar    4.526  (11%)     2.  SoHM      6.358  (13%)
        3.  DArmy     3.271  ( 8%)     3.  DArmy     3.731  ( 7%)
        4.  Glads     2.953  ( 7%)     4.  Angmar    3.616  ( 7%)
        5.  Rangers   2.432  ( 6%)     5.  Knights   2.416  ( 5%)
        6.  Knights   2.238  ( 5%)     6.  Cadets    2.372  ( 5%)
        7.  Monks     1.934  ( 5%)     7.  Mages     2.336  ( 5%)
        8.  Union     1.616  ( 4%)     8.  Glads     2.232  ( 4%)
        9.  Neidar    1.613  ( 4%)     9.  Calian    2.063  ( 4%)
       10.  Cadets    1.564  ( 4%)    10.  Rangers   1.701  ( 3%)
       11.  Ogres     1.561  ( 4%)    11.  Ogres     1.457  ( 3%)
       12.  Calian    1.030  ( 2%)    12.  Neidar    1.435  ( 3%)
       13.  Academ    0.997  ( 2%)    13.  Monks     1.210  ( 2%)
       14.  ScoP      0.934  ( 2%)    14.  Academ    1.123  ( 2%)
       15.  PoT       0.742  ( 2%)    15.  PoT       0.931  ( 2%)
       16.  Mages     0.632  ( 2%)    16.  Union     0.882  ( 1%)
       17.  Kender    0.106  (<1%)    17.  Kender    0.599  ( 1%)
                                      18.  ScoP      0.372  (<1%)
     ----------------------------------------------------------------
            Gamewide  40.26  (%pop)          Gamewide  48.21  (%pop)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've included in the above readout the % of the total pie that each guild
represents. In 2016, Mercs were over 1/5th of the population during peak
hours. That dominance was eroded somewhat this year, and numerous guilds
were looking for a bite of the action.

Phew ... what a lot of analysis!

If you are still with me, dear reader, then in addition to deserving some
sort of medal (and possible some headache medication) I hope you have enjoyed
a thorough mulling-over of the many ways to look at not just the most recent
era, but the journey we have been on together in the past decade. I continue
to feel very lucky indeed to help guide Genesis on its course toward greater
things and more exciting times. The trust you place in we wizards is not
something that we take lightly - and we thank you for your patience as we
have all gotten older and our lives have filled with responsibilities that
include very busy jobs, spouses, children, and in some cases (my own!)
even grandchildren. For all of us, Genesis remains a blessed place where we
come to have fun, dream big, and do what we can to create something that
we have only been able to find and do together here. 

As the donut spins forward, it nears upon a true milestone in the year 2019,
when the game will be 30 years old. Three decades of magic, mayhem, and
mudding! I look forward to finding ways to ring in that birthday with new
kinds of fun, and perhaps even an opportunity to come together and celebrate.
In the meanwhile, I look with great fondness and satisfaction on the year
to come, knowing that 2018 will be a year of many good new things in Genesis.
I trust that each of you will set your own goals, make new friends and
enemies, and do what you can to push the goodness forward. Ours is not just
a game of moments and passing interest - ours is a game of years. Ours is
a game of decades. I suspect as time bears such things out, ours will be
seen and remembered as a game of our lives. I am so glad to be living mine
with all of you.

Onward and upward, my friends! 
G.
Mmmmmm ... pie ...

User avatar
gorboth
Site Admin
Posts: 2352
Joined: 03 Mar 2010 20:51
Location: Some old coffin

SOTD - 2018

Post by gorboth » 24 Jan 2020 22:55

Code: Select all

Esteemed Fellow Genesis Enthusiasts,

As is my annual impulse, I have spent the past week reflecting on the year
that was 2018, and analyzing the data available so that I might come to you
with this, my State of the Donut Address. Before we get started, I will offer
forwarning and apology to those who like things neatly stated in brief. My
tendancy tends towards the verbose, and I am a man who enjoys graphs, charts,
and statistical calculations the way some people enjoy a freshly opened carton
of chocolate ice cream. There will be many spoonfuls ahead!

Context is always important. Last year's Address for 2017 was noteworthy in
that it stood at the 10-year-mark since I became Keeper, and laid out my
vision for the future of Genesis, and my plans for what I felt needed to
happen to take the game forward. I spent a good deal of that address looking
back over the decade, making comparisons between where we started and where
we had travelled in terms of progress along the lines of that vision. It
showed how very much we have built the game and grown our numbers. It gave
us all a lot to smile about if, for no other reason, that it always
feels good to meet your goals. Ten years from where we set out in 2008, we
had done that and more!

This address will not take that path. Looking back over the ten years is
good, however, and all the things we have learned in that time period are
very much worth recalling. If you feel like you would like to do that, I
offer you this link which will take you to the repository I created last
year so that all of the annual progress reports made in that time period
can be easily browsed at your leisure:

    https://www.genesismud.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=4452

To read all of that, you will probably want to give yourself an entire
weekend! (and a couple bottles of wine ...)

Looking now at 2018, the context to consider is that we have just come off
of 2017, which was the most fantastically successful year we have had in the
new millenium. I did not present specific goals at the end of that year, but
if I had, it might have been to maintain the momentum we had, and make sure
we used our resources well to continue to grow, strengthen, and promote the
game for the future. How well have we done in that regard? Let's take some
looks at data first!

It is always good to firstly describe the way we chart data in Genesis. In
2007 my first act as Keeper was to create a tool we could use to measure the
population of the game. This tool, the census, takes a snapshot once per hour
of the people logged in, taking note also of their guilds. The 24 snapshots
together give us an Average Per Hour (APH) for any given day in Genesis. The
higher the APH, the more people came to play the game on that day, and we can
imagine that anyone who visited Genesis on that day would have seen at least
that many people with them in the game. 

So, let's start out with a truly lovely graph from 2018. In July, something
remarkable happened. PC Gamer magazing surprised us with two online-only
articles that mentioned Genesis, one of which put us into a category of games
from the 80's and 90's that (amazingly, to them) still were running and
getting development updates. These articles were seen by many people worldwide
which resulted in a spike in July like nothing we have seen before. The effect
on our numbers is evident in this chart for July, which is a good way to
understand what APH is:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20180701  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX               (31)
20180702  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX                (30)
20180703  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX               (31)
20180704  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX              (32)
20180705  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX         (29)
20180706  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX              (32)
20180707  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX              (48)
20180708  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX          (44)
20180709  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX             (41)
20180710  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX <----!! (56)
20180711  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX          (55)
20180712  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX              (48)
20180713  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX          (44)
20180714  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX               (39)
20180715  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX                (46)
20180716  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX               (39)
20180717  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX           (43)
20180718  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX            (42)
20180719  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX                (38)
20180720  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX              (40)
20180721  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX         (37)
20180722  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX                (38)
20180723  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX               (39)
20180724  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX         (37)
20180725  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX          (36)
20180726  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX             (33)
20180727  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX               (31)
20180728  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX                (38)
20180729  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX                (38)
20180730  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX             (33)
20180801  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX          (36)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For each day, an X represents one player, and you can see the number of
players in parenthesis - the number is the APH for that day. The highest day
in July was the 10th, which we can look at by itself to see those snapshots
all lined up for each of the 24 hours:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     Hourly player activity for Jul 10 2018
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   92| <--------- INCREDIBLE!!!                                          .    
   90|                                                                   O    
   88|                                                                   O    
   86|                                                                   O    
   84|                                                    .           O  O    
   82|                                                    O           O  O    
   80|                                                    O  O  O  O  O  O    
   78|                                                    O  O  O  O  O  O    
   76|                                                    O  O  O  O  O  O    
   74|                                                    O  O  O  O  O  O  . 
   72|                                                    O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   70|                                                    O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   68|                                                 .  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   66|                                                 O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   64|                                              .  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   62|                                              O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   60|                                              O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   58|                                              O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   56|                                              O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   54|                                              O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   52|             .                          .  .  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   50| .           O                    .     O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   48| O           O                    O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   46| O           O  O        O  .     O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   44| O        .  O  O  .     O  O     O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   42| O        O  O  O  O     O  O     O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   40| O        O  O  O  O     O  O     O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   38| O        O  O  O  O  O  O  O  .  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   36| O        O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  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  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  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  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  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  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  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  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  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 
-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 = 56.79
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stunningly beautiful! As you can see, the snapshot that was taken at 22:00
on July 10th showed 91 people on the who list! This was not at all the most
seen that year, but we have never captured such a high number on our census
data. Seeing a number like that was thrilling, and on this day a few of us
noticed that the who list got as high as 108 people at one point. This was
a new record for us, and generated a lot of excitement. 

So, how did this translate for us throughout the year? Let's take a look at
the overall graph so we can get a sense of how 2018 was in terms of the
number of people who were playing the game on average:

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                         |
| Average player activity by week for entire year, beginning January 2018 |
|                                                                         |
+---------+----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+-----+
|    45.5 |    |    |    |     |    |    | X   |    |     |    |    |     |
|    45.0 |    |    |    |     |    |    | X   |    |     |    |    |     |
|    44.5 |    |    |    |     |    |    | X   |    |     |    |    |     |
|    44.0 |    |    |    |     |    |    | X   |    |     |    |    |     |
|    43.5 |    |    |    |     |    |    | X   |    |     |    |    |     |
|    43.0 |    |    |    |     |    |    | X   |    |     |    |X   |     |
|    42.5 |    |    |    |     |    |    | X   |    |     |    |X   |     |
|    42.0 |    |    |    |     |    |    | X   |    |     |    |XX  |     |
|    41.5 |    |    |    |     |    |    | X   |    |     |    |XX  |     |
|    41.0 |    |    |    |     |    |    | X   |    |     |    |XX  |     |
|    40.5 |    |    |    |     |    |    | XX  |    |     |   X|XX  |     |
|    40.0 |    |    |    |     |    |    | XX  |    |     |   X|XX  |     |
|    39.5 |    |    |    |     |    |    | XX  |    |     |   X|XXX |     |
|    39.0 |    |    |    |     |    |    | XX  |    |     |   X|XXXX|     |
|    38.5 |   X|    |    |     |    |    | XX  |    |     |  XX|XXXX|     |
|    38.0 |   X|    |    |     |    |    | XX  |    |     |  XX|XXXX|  X  |
|    37.5 |   X|    |    |     |    |    | XX  |    |     |  XX|XXXX|  X  |
|    37.0 |   X|    |    |     |    |    | XX  |    |   X |  XX|XXXX|X X  |
|    36.5 |X  X|    |X   |     |    |    | XX  |   X|   X |  XX|XXXX|X X X|
|    36.0 |X XX|    |X   |     |    |    | XXX |   X|   X |  XX|XXXX|X X X|
|    35.5 |X XX|X   |X   |     |    |    | XXX | XXX|   X |  XX|XXXX|X X X|
|    35.0 |X XX|X   |X   |     |   X|X   | XXX |XXXX|   X |  XX|XXXX|X XXX|
|    34.5 |X XX|X   |X X |     |  XX|X   | XXXX|XXXX|   X | XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    34.0 |XXXX|X   |X X |     |XXXX|X   | XXXX|XXXX|   X | XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    33.5 |XXXX|X  X|X XX|     |XXXX|X   | XXXX|XXXX|   X |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    33.0 |XXXX|X  X|X XX|     |XXXX|X   |XXXXX|XXXX|X  X |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    32.5 |XXXX|X  X|XXXX|     |XXXX|X   |XXXXX|XXXX|X  XX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    32.0 |XXXX|X  X|XXXX| X   |XXXX|X   |XXXXX|XXXX|X XXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    31.5 |XXXX|X  X|XXXX|XX   |XXXX|X   |XXXXX|XXXX|X XXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    31.0 |XXXX|XX X|XXXX|XX  X|XXXX|XXX |XXXXX|XXXX|X XXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    30.5 |XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XX XX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|X XXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    30.0 |XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XX XX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|X XXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    29.5 |XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XX XX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|X XXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    29.0 |XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XX XX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|X XXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    28.5 |XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    28.0 |XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    27.5 |XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    27.0 |XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    26.5 |XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    26.0 |XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    25.5 |XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    25.0 |XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    24.5 |XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    24.0 |XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    23.5 |XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
|    23.0 |XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|
+---------+----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+-----+
|  Month  |Jan |Feb |Mar |Apr  |May |Jun |Jul  |Aug |Sep  |Oct |Nov |Dec  |
+---------+----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+-----+
|                                                                         |
|               Mean yearly average players per hour = 34.71              |
|                                                                         |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

This chart's resolution of one column for each week of the year gives us a
very clear look at that July spike, and how much the PC Gamer articles did
for us in terms of people coming to try the game. But this was not to be the
end of that type of effect. See that nice fat bulge from mid October on
through November? PC Gamer had one more trick up it's sleeve for us. But
that deserves its own discussion, so more on that later. What we see by
looking at the year overall is that Genesis had another strong year, on
average guaranteeing that you would see an average 33-36 players in the realms
with you just about any time you chose to log in. Peak hours and low hours
would be a bit different, of course. And, we have a way to look at that, too.
We can use our comprehensive charting analytics to compare 2018 to the prior
year 2017 to see how the two match up:

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|             Comparing player activity over two time periods:               |
|                      A: Jan 01 2017 - Jan 01 2018                          |
|                      B: Jan 01 2018 - Jan 01 2019                          |
+-------+-------+-------+----------+--+-----------+-------+-------+----------+
| Hour  |   A   |   B   | % change |  | Weekday   |   A   |   B   | % change |
+-------+-------+-------+----------+  +-----------+-------+-------+----------+
| 00.00 | 40.83 | 39.40 |   -3.50 %|  | Sunday    | 36.86 | 35.05 |   -4.89 %|
| 01.00 | 38.12 | 36.01 |   -5.53 %|  | Monday    | 35.59 | 33.86 |   -4.88 %|
| 02.00 | 37.83 | 34.77 |   -8.06 %|  | Tuesday   | 35.70 | 34.82 |   -2.46 %|
| 03.00 | 38.20 | 35.29 |   -7.60 %|  | Wednesday | 35.66 | 34.52 |   -3.20 %|
| 04.00 | 38.48 | 34.97 |   -9.12 %|  | Thursday  | 35.55 | 34.11 |   -4.06 %|
| 05.00 | 36.36 | 33.14 |   -8.87 %|  | Friday    | 35.00 | 33.72 |   -3.66 %|
| 06.00 | 33.56 | 31.20 |   -7.01 %|  | Saturday  | 36.12 | 34.75 |   -3.77 %|
| 07.00 | 31.47 | 28.46 |   -9.54 %|  +-----------+-------+-------+----------+
| 08.00 | 29.84 | 27.78 |   -6.91 %|                                         |
| 09.00 | 29.50 | 28.27 |   -4.17 %|                                         |
| 10.00 | 28.79 | 28.68 |   -0.37 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 11.00 | 28.04 | 29.13 |   +3.88 %|  |       - - - Field  Sizes - - -       |
| 12.00 | 28.46 | 29.83 |   +4.79 %|  | Number of days in Period A:     365  |
| 13.00 | 29.57 | 30.28 |   +2.39 %|  | Number of days in Period B:     365  |
| 14.00 | 31.86 | 32.18 |   +0.99 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 15.00 | 34.90 | 34.61 |   -0.83 %|                                         |
| 16.00 | 37.91 | 36.46 |   -3.82 %|                                         |
| 17.00 | 40.41 | 39.12 |   -3.18 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 18.00 | 43.00 | 41.43 |   -3.65 %|  |           Overall Summary            |
| 19.00 | 45.52 | 44.63 |   -1.95 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 20.00 | 47.34 | 46.12 |   -2.56 %|  | Overall average for Period A:  35.79 |
| 21.00 | 48.21 | 46.45 |   -3.64 %|  | Overall average for Period B:  34.40 |
| 22.00 | 47.47 | 44.89 |   -5.44 %|  |                                      |
| 23.00 | 45.06 | 43.01 |   -4.54 %|  | Overall increase/decrease:  -3.86 %  |
+-------+-------+-------+----------+--+--------------------------------------+

Right away, it is clear that 2018 was not quite as strong as 2017. We were
down about 4% from the prior year. Am I worried about that? Oh, no ... not
even a little bit. More on that in a minute. First, let's look at what we do
see here. As with the prior year, the peak hour in 2018 was 21:00. Logging in
at that time meant you were likely to be playing with 45 or more other people
in most cases. The low hour, however, changed a bit. In 2017 it was 11:00,
but in 2018 it was 8:00, where you typically saw just 26 other people in the
game with you. One of the most interesting things I notice looking at all of
this is that 2018 saw a bit of a flattening out of the peaks and valleys
over the course of a day. You see those hours from 11:00 - 14:00 all gained
in APH from the previous year, such that our formerly lowest hours all rose
a bit. People are either logging in at more times of the day, or they are
staying logged in over periods of the day that they did not used to.

One graph that became somewhat more familiar to wizards like myself who like
to spend many long hours sipping cocktails while pouring over census data is
well-represented by this particular graph from December:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     Hourly player activity for Dec 20 2018
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   48|                                                                      . 
   46| O                                                              O  O  O 
   44| O           O  O  .                                            O  O  O 
   42| O           O  O  O                                         .  O  O  O 
   40| O  .        O  O  O  O     O                       O  .     O  O  O  O 
   38| O  O        O  O  O  O  .  O                 .     O  O  .  O  O  O  O 
   36| O  O  .  .  O  O  O  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  .  O  O  O  O  O  O  O 
   32| O  O  O  O  O  O  O  O  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  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  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  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  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  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  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 
-----+------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 = 39.04
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More and more often we are seeing this type of login pattern, where there is
not that great a difference between the hours of the day, and you have a good
chance of being surrounded by a very healthy number of players no matter when
you choose to play. For comparison, look back at that graph from July 10th
above, and you'll notice how different this looks. I actually find this very
exciting, indeed!

Now, just a bit earlier I was saying that I do not find it troubling that we
fell slightly from the prior year. This is another one of those areas where
context and history are extremely important. If we consider the totality of
the census, and each year that has lead up to this, we can see just how well
we are continuing to do:

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|              Population Levels in APH over the last 11 Years             |
|                          ( quarterly histogram )                         |
+-------+------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  40.0 |                                                          X       |
|  39.0 |                                                          X       |
|  38.0 |                                                         XX     X |
|  37.0 |                                                        XXX     X |
|  36.0 |                                                        XXX    XX |
|  35.0 |                                                        XXX  X XX |
|  34.0 |                                                        XXX  X XX |
|  33.0 |                                                        XXX  X XX |
|  32.0 |                                                        XXX  XXXX |
|  31.0 |                                                    X  XXXX  XXXX |
|  30.0 |                                                    X  XXXX  XXXX |
|  29.0 |                                                   XX  XXXX  XXXX |
|  28.0 |                                              X    XX  XXXX  XXXX |
|  27.0 |                                           X  X  X XX  XXXX  XXXX |
|  26.0 |                                           X  X  X XX  XXXX  XXXX |
|  25.0 |                                           X  X  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX |
|  24.0 |                                           X  X  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX |
|  23.0 |                                           X  X  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX |
|  22.0 |                                           X  X  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX |
|  21.0 |                                           XX X  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX |
|  20.0 |                                        X  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX |
|  19.0 |   X                                    X  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX |
|  18.0 |   X                                    X  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX |
|  17.0 |   X   XX                               X  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX |
|  16.0 |  XX   XXX           X                  X  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX |
|  15.0 | XXX   XXX           X                  X  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX |
|  14.0 | XXX   XXXX  X      XX            X     X  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX |
|  13.0 | XXX   XXXX  X X    XXX           X     X  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX |
|  12.0 | XXXX  XXXX  XXX   XXXX     X  X  X  X  X  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX |
|  11.0 | XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX     X  XXXX  X  X  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX |
|  10.0 | XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  X XX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX |
|   9.0 | XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX |
|   8.0 | XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX |
+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+
| Qtr.  | 1234| 1234| 1234| 1234| 1234| 1234| 1234| 1234| 1234| 1234| 1234 |
+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+
| Year  | 2008| 2009| 2010| 2011| 2012| 2013| 2014| 2015| 2016| 2017| 2018 |
+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+
|Yr. Ave| 15.8| 16.1| 13.0| 14.0| 10.7| 12.5| 13.3| 24.2| 29.1| 36.6| 35.2 |
+-------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+

So, yes, we had a slightly stronger year in 2017. But look how much stronger
2018 is than what we had in 2016 or 2015, both of which felt (at the time)
like very good years where Genesis was growing in ways that gave us all a
great deal of hope. And, of course, now we can look back on those years of
2014 and earlier and simply smile in gratitude. Those lean years where the
game was in TERRIBLE need of growth and support seem happily in the rear-view-
mirror. Falling 4% from an amazing and beautiful year means that we are still
in amazing and beautiful territory. Genesis is strong and healthy, and we
ended the year with our best quarter, as high or higher than every quarter
in 2017 but one. Excellent!

Quantitative data is fun, but let us turn now to qualitative data, putting
details and stories of the doings in Genesis in front of all these numbers
and charts. The game, as wonderful as we all know it is, is but an empty
hall without the people who visit it every day to fill it with energy and
life. First, let us look at the accomplishments of those of us who come to
build the game as developers - our esteemed wizards.

Perhaps more than any other, Arman has carried Genesis forward in 2018 with
his tireless and brilliant efforts to not only maintain his steadfast watch
and work on balance as AoB, but also with his work in the Krynn domain, 
opening two new major areas, two new guilds, and a complete update and 
re-imagining of the warfare system implemented by Aridor nearly 20 years
ago. Few years since the VERY early days have seen such rampant development
by a single individual. Suffice it to say that we are all DEEPLY grateful
to Arman for his amazing work, his professionalism, and his helpful and
friendly attitude. What a godsend!

Also noteworthy has been the work of Nerull, who returned to Liegehood in
Faerun to oversee matters there, bringing to life a new guild for those
who would darken their souls in the (disturbing!) ways of the Warlock.
Genesis is not just a place for cuddles and cookies - oh no ... there will
be sacrifices and screams for the feeding of the darkest spirits. I'm a
sucker for that stuff. Well done, Nerull!

Perrigrine has been a mainstay in the cartography sector, working unceasingly
in his relentless pursuit of no-room-left-unmapped. We are all so grateful
for his ongoing efforts, and very real impact on the game's overall quality.

Finwe has returned to take the mantle in Middle Earth once more, and we
look forward to seeing where things will head now that management is in
place in this important sector of the game. 

Zignur did quite a few improvements to Kalad, working on areas that have
been much beloved in the past, but faded into obscurity for most of the
game's population in recent years. We hope these will bring some life back
to the place.

Lucius has needed to fade into retirement, finding RL demands made it
impossible to continue his work as AoD. He made a huge difference in many
ways during his tenure, and I am hopeful he will be able to find time for
such work in unknown days ahead. For now, AoD duties have shifted back to
myself. 

Petros, likewise, found RL impossible to escape from. Even so, he was
able to run an Easter event before needing to retire. Fortunately, Cherek
was waiting in the shadows, and popped into the AoE position like someone
born to do it (which he very likely WAS.) Since then, he has run two events
and done so with his standard good cheer, creative themes, and awesome fun.

Quite a few new wizards made their interests known to the Admin, and have
been in the process of getting their feet wet. In some cases, quite a bit
of excellent progress has been made and we look forward to 2019's list
next year where, doubtless, some of those things will have come to fruition!

Mirandus has done his job brilliantly, keeping tabs on the needs and woes
of the players in his AoP role. This role is often very thankless, so let's
be sure to give him a hearty THANK YOU if you ever get the chance. 

Cotillion has continued his steady watch of the game - he being our most
accomplished developer and master of the coding arts. Many tweaks,
improvements, and conceptual workings have been thanks to him, as always.

I have been working on things, and taking my usual thirteen centuries to
complete even the smallest one of them. *sigh* I hope to make the 2019
list a bit more than this year's!

As always, it is more than likely that I have omitted important things -
always the danger of trying to write such addresses as this. That being said,
here is the rundown month-by-month of the major doings of development:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
January:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Update of Kalad for modern player sizes (Zignur)
 - Combat specials changed to prevent pvp bouncing (Arman)
 - Website modernized and made more mobile-friendly (Cherek)
 - Magic Map addition: Top area of Minas Tirith (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Terel Trolls area (Perrigrine)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
February:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Thanar race guild altered to admit demi-humans (Mirandus)
 - Magic Map addition: Ruins in Raumdor (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Crystal Palace in Calia (Perrigrine/Macumba)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
March:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - NEW AREA: Tharkadan Mountain Pass in Krynn (Arman)
 - New Balance Rule: Tank rotation abilities limited
                     to occupational guilds (Arman/Gorboth)
 - Angmar's Army guild given occupational tank rotation abilities (Carnak)
 - New mana system implemented globally (Cotillion/Petros/Eowul)
 - Easter Egg Shard Event (Petros)
 - New Krynn Guild: Order of the Stars - layman cleric (Arman)
 - Magic Map addition: Ranger Guild (Perrigrine)
 - Magic Map addition: Zuggrat, Forbidden City, dark underground
                       in Avenir (Perrigrine)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
April:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Decades-old Shire bug fixed to reduce money awarded by npcs (Cotillion)
 - Mail-reader <from> feature extended to allow sorting emails you
   have received from players who may no longer exist any longer (Lucius)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
May & June
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Nothing! Well, people are busy coding for the amazing accomplishments
   of the coming months, obviously. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
July:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Genesis written up briefly in online PC Gamer article on "The 80s and
   90s PC games still unbelievably being updated today". Genesis gets
   more visitors and logins in this month than any other time in the
   new millenium.
 - New quest added to Faerun (Nerull)
 - NEW GUILD: Warlocks of Faerun - layman (Nerull)
 - Ghastly Keep improved to remember access over logouts. (Cotillion)
 - Heralds of the Valar recode complete! (Arman)
 - NEW GUILD: Wizards of High Sorcery - recoded! (Arman)
 - Tweaks to monk guild to address certain issues (Ckrik)
 - Magic Map addition: Hall of Warriors in Iron Delving (Perrigrine)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
August:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Nerull becomes Liege of Faerun
 - Necromancers of Vile Darkness lay guild closes (Nerull)
 - Interviews given to author Lewis Packwood for feature article due
   to come out in PC Gamer about Genesis by two wizards and two players.
 - Storytelling Contest run by mortals! (Goldbezie & Zillian)
 - Lucius steps down as AoD, Gorboth assumes AoD duties.
 - NEW AREA: Kurinost in Krynn (Arman/Kellon)
 - Warlocks now admit occ membership with lay powers if desired,
   like Archers and Thornlin Militia (Nerull)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
September:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Cherek replaces Petros as AoE (Arch of Events) - his dream job!
 - PC Gamer UK issue #323 is published, including author Lewis Packwood's
   feature-length article on Genesis, giving (brief) worldwide exposure
   to our little corner of the internet. Gorboth loses his mind.
 - Glowing item system replaced by "everything saves" mechanic when
   you quit. (analysis of new realities by Admin remain ongoing)
 - Quest fixes: Porter, Oats, Denethor quests in Gondor (Gorboth)
 - Update of Darconian Auraks to follow standard magic system (Arman)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
October:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Genesis article is also published in PC Gamer US Edition. 
 - Scavenger Hunt event launched with new twist! (Cherek, AoE team)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
November:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - <quit> changed so that you start in the room you quit out of
   if you have been gone less than 15 minutes. (Cotillion)
 - Specials that use quickness changed to use new formula. (Arman)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
December:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 - Wheel-of-Fun Event makes it's annual appearance! (Cherek)
 - Massive improvements of Krynnish Warfare System (Arman)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well done, wizards! We are lucky to have you with us. 

But these stories of wizards are much less than half of the full picture.
As always, it is the players who bring the most life to the game, minute by
minute, hour by hour, day by day, and month by month, playing out the roles
which will be remembered as we look back on 2018 in future years. These
roles are most clearly defined by the occupational guilds of Genesis. And,
as in year's past, it is useful to see how each guild represented itself
in the people who came and spent time in the realms. 

Using the census, we can see how each guild ranked in terms of popularity
in 2018, comparing also to the year prior. The second column shows this most
recent year:

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        2017 Ranking (Entire Day)       2018 Ranking (Entire Day)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
         1.  Mercs     (5.553)           1. +Mercs     (6.561)
         2.  SoHM      (5.120)           2.  SoHM      (4.320)
         3.  DArmy     (2.430)           3.  DArmy     (2.572)
         4.  Angmar    (2.043)           4.  WoHS      (1.625) new!
         5.  Knights   (1.336)           5. ^Calian    (1.435)
         6.  Cadets    (1.282)           6.  Knights   (1.150)
         7.  Glads     (1.279)           7.  Rangers   (1.098)
         8.  Mages     (1.131)           8.  Glads     (1.065)
         9.  Rangers   (1.117)           9.  Cadets    (1.030)
        10.  Calian    (1.038)          10.  Mages     (0.884)
        11.  Neidar    (0.832)          11.  Neidar    (0.863)
        12.  Ogres     (0.583)          12.  Clerics   (0.855) new!
        13.  Monks     (0.460)          13. *Monks     (0.704)
        14.  PoT       (0.378)          14.!-Angmar    (0.608)
        15.  Academ    (0.350)          15.  Ogres     (0.569)
        16.  Kender    (0.246)          16.  Academ    (0.350)
        17.  Union     (0.221)          17.  PoT       (0.084)
        18.  ScoP      (0.024) gone!    18.  Kender    (0.046)
                                        19. @Union     (0.002)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                + Biggest APH gain (Mercs at +1.008)
                - Biggest APH loss (Angmar at -1.435)
                * Biggest growth   (Monks at 53% growth)
                @ Biggest decline  (Union at 99% decline)
                ^ Biggest rise     (Calians up 5 ranks)
                ! Biggest fall     (Angmar down 10 ranks)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Most popular, by far, is again the Free Mercenary guild, owning the top
spot for many years in a row. The School of High Magic and Dragonarmy
guilds retained their 2nd and 3rd place. Going on from there, however, things
changed quite a bit from the former year. Something seems to have devastated
the Angmar's Army guild in 2018, which fell a staggering 10 ranks in the 
largest drop in the history of these lists! Calians, by contrast, rose
a significant 5 ranks, to figure just beneath the Wizards of High Sorcery,
who (perhaps because new guilds are naturally interesting) occupied the
4th rank.

Things can look very different, however, if we just take the peak hours of
play:

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  APH Representation During Peak Hour 
         (21:00 gametime in 2017)       (21:00 gametime in 2018)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        1.  Mercs     7.991  (16%)     1.  Mercs     8.419  (18%)
        2.  SoHM      6.358  (13%)     2.  SoHM      5.747  (12%)
        3.  DArmy     3.731  ( 7%)     3.  DArmy     3.767  ( 8%)
        4.  Angmar    3.616  ( 7%)     4.  WoHS      2.680  ( 8%) new!
        5.  Knights   2.416  ( 5%)     5.  Calian    3.008  ( 6%)
        6.  Cadets    2.372  ( 5%)     6.  Clerics   2.233  ( 5%) new!
        7.  Mages     2.336  ( 5%)     7.  Cadets    1.994  ( 4%)
        8.  Glads     2.232  ( 4%)     8.  Monks     1.915  ( 4%)
        9.  Calian    2.063  ( 4%)     9.  Rangers   1.909  ( 4%)
       10.  Rangers   1.701  ( 3%)    10.  Glads     1.838  ( 4%)
       11.  Ogres     1.457  ( 3%)    11.  Knights   1.797  ( 4%)
       12.  Neidar    1.435  ( 3%)    12.  Mages     1.728  ( 4%)
       13.  Monks     1.210  ( 2%)    13.  Neidar    1.630  ( 3%)
       14.  Academ    1.123  ( 2%)    14.  Angmar    1.520  ( 3%)
       15.  PoT       0.931  ( 2%)    15.  Ogres     1.367  ( 3%)
       16.  Union     0.882  ( 1%)    16.  Academ    1.060  ( 2%)
       17.  Kender    0.599  ( 1%)    17.  Kender    0.605  ( 1%)
       18.  ScoP      0.372  (<1%)    18.  PoT       0.435  ( 1%)
                                      19.  Union     0.424  (<1%)
     ----------------------------------------------------------------
            Gamewide  48.21  (%pop)        Gamewide  46.45  (%pop)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Indeed! Here, the Elemental Clerics, Genesis' other new guild in 2018,
display what we would expect to see, with lots of players trying them out,
and figuring for 5% of the total population. In these top hours, it is
interesting to note that nearly 1 in every 5 players is a Mercenary.

Let's now look at how guilds did in comparison to themselves, accounting
for growth or decline from the prior year:

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                        Growth from Former Year
    =================================================================
        Ranked by APH increase           Ranked by relative change
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

         1.  Mercs     + 1.008       1.  Monks      53 % growth
         2.  Calian    + 0.397       2.  Calian     38 % growth
         3.  Monks     + 0.244       3.  Mercs      18 % growth
         4.  DArmy     + 0.142       4.  DArmy       6 % growth
         5.  Neidar    + 0.031       5.  Neidar      4 % growth
---------------------------------------------------------------------
         6.  Academ      0.000       6.  Academ   - no change! -
---------------------------------------------------------------------
         7.  Ogres     - 0.014       7.  Ogres       2 % decline
         8.  Rangers   - 0.019           Rangers     2 % decline
         9.  Knights   - 0.186       8.  Knights    14 % decline
        10.  Kender    - 0.200       9.  SoHM       16 % decline
        11.  Glads     - 0.214      10.  Glads      17 % decline
        12.  Union     - 0.219      11.  Cadets     20 % decline
        13.  Cadets    - 0.252      12.  Mages      22 % decline
        14.  Mages     - 0.247      13.  Angmar     70 % decline
        15.  PoT       - 0.294      14.  PoT        78 % decline
        16.  SoHM      - 0.800      15.  Kender     81 % decline
        17.  Angmar    - 1.435      16.  Union      99 % decline

         *   SoHM      (new)         *   Clerics   (new) 
         *   WoHS      (new)         *   WoHS      (new)  
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I actually feel this type of list shows things about the health of guilds
perhaps more truly than simple rankings. Here we see the Monks doing 
fantastically well compared to their former year's membership. The Calians,
likewise, rose significantly in their population, with Mercs, Dragonarmy
and Neidar Clan having better years than in 2017. The Ogres, Rangers,
Knights, SoHM, Glads, Cadets, and Mages all had somewhat weaker years
than in 2017, but things turned downright dire for the Angmar, PoT, and
Kender. The Union appears to be flirting with oblivion.

What I appreciate and want to be sure people understand, though, is that
some guilds function just fine with few members, and can even feel more
correct this way. As with the concept of Master and Pupil, some guilds
prefer exclusive and highly restrictive roleplay to foster intimacy and
deep singular roles and experiences. We cannot judge based on these numbers,
and we do not have those deep stories displayed in rankings. Not every
guild is an Army, nor should they be.

The stories of the mortals this year have been many and fascinating, as in
every year of Genesis. Yet there is one very special mention I wish to make
of a type of roleplay we have not seen in many years. Not since the days
of Strider, known as the Vociferous Opiner of Calia, have we had so singular
a reknown for one person in the way of posting on bulletin boards. That
person, of course, is Zillian the Troubador. It began with delightful and
sometimes strange verse appearing place after place, almost like a tag in
each town throughout Genesis - something written to capture the spirit of
things around that area. Gradually, verses became more regular on the boards
in Sparkle, leading up to this Christmas where the evolution had grown to
include artwork to illuminate the already picturesque wordplay. Cries went
up of the master's hand! We all fell to our knees, tears of joy and
gratitude flowing from our eyes upon each new offering. And then, picking
up from this example, others began to take up the pen. Verses began to
sprout from other minds. What an unexpected and powerful contribution! So,
we offer our thanks to Zillian for filling Genesis not only with adventure
and persona, but also with art. We are all richer for your gifts to the
community!

It is on this note of the written word that I must now turn to that tidbit
I mentioned early on in this address, the thing that I had said lead to
the wonderful blossoming of our playerbase in October and November. Genesis
is an old game. We have been doing this thing we do here for decades. In
fact, in April of this coming Spring, Genesis will celebrate its 30th 
Anniversary. All of us who come here, we tend to like computer cames. Most
of us don't exclusively play Genesis. We appreciate other great games. We
might play The Witcher III, or we might play a bit of Hollow Knight, or
perhaps Stardew Valley ... other really wonderful games. But, many of us
know that Genesis is special - Genesis is better than those games in the
minds of many of us. We don't play those games year after year after year.
We play those games a bit, and then move on. We don't move on from Genesis.
Perhaps like me, many of you have read PC Gamer over the years. As game
enthusiasts, we like to know about the industry, the many titles that are
in the landscape, what we can look forward to, what there is to know about
the games people are playing. Perhaps, like me, you have thought, "Wouldn't
it be amazing, and TOTALLY CORRECT, if Genesis were to somehow get a
writeup in PC Gamer magazine? Maybe one of their writers might stumble on
Genesis and give it a try. Of course they'd love it and then maybe we'd
get some actual exposure! It ... it could happen?? Couldn't it????" Well,
those have been my thoughts, at least. I've been thinking that for the
last 20 years. 

And so, by whatever hand of fate the donut spins in the oven of the Creator,
nearly 30 years into its happy history, this very thing actually, ACTUALLY
happened. Unless you were away for most of the year, you heard my many
breathless reports of the lead up to the publication of the article. You
heard of the interviews given by myself and others. You heard us all
speculate about the potentials. You probably could practically taste my
salty tears of joy and incredulity as it all came to pass. In September,
we were published in PC Gamer UK with a feature-length (6 page) article.
The following month, the same article was published in PC Gamer's USA
Edition. Let's say it again - PC Gamer wrote about Genesis. At length.
They told our story. They told it REALLY WELL.

Now, bear with me here. This is a thing. I am not going to be writing about
this and thinking about it in future addresses. This happened in 2018, and
so it needs to be chewed a bit. Let's really get at this. Consider. There
are hundreds, thousands of games that people are working on all the time.
Some of them have a lot of money behind them. These little teams or single
coders pour their lifeblood and do anything they can to get their game to
be noticed, to get it out there, to be heard of. Any of these thousands of
games would feel that they won the LOTTERY OF LIFE if they got just a small
mention of ANY KIND in PC Gamer. If they got a three paragraph review, they
would LOSE THEIR MIND. But ... a six-page feature length article? Who gets
that? Maybe World of Warcraft when their new expansion comes out? Sure. They
do. They get that. Who else? No one, because you can't get that. It isn't
available. 

Except - we did.

Somehow ... we did. It happened. Geez. I'm actually getting a bit teary
eyed even typing this again. 

Well, anyway. That's a thing. 2018 is the year PC Gamer wrote about Genesis.
Did it change the game? Did it take us to a new planet of players? Did it
represent a turning point we will always look back on? I guess not, but I
am still so happy about it that I feel lucky to be alive. I hope it felt that
way to you too.

*grabs handkerchief*

*blows nose*

Ahem ... okay! So, let's wrap this up. If we look back on 2018, we see a year
where our favorite place on the internet had another 365 days of interesting
and fun times, quietly doing what it does and growing how it grows, fostered
by the developers who make it what it is behind the curtain, and the players
who light up the stage. We are now the ongoing product of 30 years of very
painstaking, careful, labour-of-love crafstmanship by countless individuals
to gift to the now and to the future this story of the Donut. Even Lars
himself, who has sat out most of the development since he created this game
with the original Founders back in 1989, has begun to reach out to us with
renewed fondness and appreciation for what we have grown with the little seed
he planted. He likes what he sees, and he has told me that he might have some
fun himself again one of these days.

Won't that be nice. :-)

In the meanwhile - we roam and we ramble, we kill and die, we read and write
and keep the stories going - year after year.

2018 was a grand one.

Onward and upward, my friends!
G.
Mmmmmm ... pie ...

User avatar
Cherek
Site Admin
Posts: 3609
Joined: 04 Mar 2010 04:36

SOTD - 2019

Post by Cherek » 06 Feb 2020 01:14

Code: Select all

                    +=====================================+
                    |    THE STATE OF THE DONUT - 2019    |
                    +=====================================+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                            |
|  Greetings fellow Genesisians,                                             |
|                                                                            |
|  As many of you know, Gorboth started a tradition to, at the end of        |
|  every year, write a "State of the Donut" common board post. This post     |
|  often included interesting facts and statistics about the last year in    |
|  Genesis, as well as a look ahead. Now, who am I to break such a great     |
|  tradition?                                                                |
|                                                                            |
|  Of course there will be a "SotD" post this year too. It's a little later  |
|  than usual, and of course written by me instead of Gorboth, but here it   |
|  is - The State of the Donut 2019.                                         |
|                                                                            |
|============================================================================|
|                              THE PLAYER NUMBERS                            |
|============================================================================|
|                                                                            |
|  Now, I am not the same statistical mastermind (*cough*, nerd!) as         |
|  Gorboth, but I will do my best to shake up some numbers and compare       |
|  them to previous years. Thankfully one of Gorboth's resignation gifts     |
|  was to compute some nice graphs for me to use in this post. So, I have    |
|  a whole year to figure out how to do them myself for 2020...              |
|                                                                            |
|  Please note that in the below charts only online mortal players (not      |
|  wizards) that are NOT linkdead are counted.                               |
|                                                                            |
|  Let's start by taking a look at the average player numbers during 2019.   |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|   Average player activity by week for entire year, beginning Jan 01 2019   |
|                                                                            |
|------------+-----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+----|
|    36.5    |X X  |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |    |
|    36.0    |X X  |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |    |
|    35.5    |X XX |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |    |
|    35.0    |X XX |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |    |
|    34.5    |X XX |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |    |
|    34.0    |XXXX |    |     |    |    | X   |  X |  X |     |    |    |    |
|    33.5    |XXXX |    |     |    |    | X   |  X |  X |     |    |    |    |
|    33.0    |XXXX |  X |     |    |    |XXX  |  XX|  X |     |    | X  |    |
|    32.5    |XXXXX|  X |     |    |    |XXX  | XXX|  X |     |    | X  |    |
|    32.0    |XXXXX| XX |   X |    |   X|XXX  | XXX|  X |  X  |    |XX  |    |
|    31.5    |XXXXX| XX |  XX |    |  XX|XXX  |XXXX|X X |  X  |    |XX  |    |
|    31.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|  XX |X X |X XX|XXXX |XXXX|XXX | XX  |    |XX  |  X |
|    30.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|  XX |X XX|X XX|XXXX |XXXX|XXX | XX  |    |XX  |  X |
|    30.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|X XX|X XX|XXXX |XXXX|XXX |XXXX |    |XX  |  X |
|    29.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|X XX|X XX|XXXX |XXXX|XXXX|XXXX |    |XX  |  X |
|    29.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|X XX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX |   X|XX  |XXX |
|    28.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|X XX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX |   X|XXX |XXX |
|    28.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX |  XX|XXX |XXXX|
|    27.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX |  XX|XXX |XXXX|
|    27.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|  XX|XXX |XXXX|
|    26.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|X XX|XXX |XXXX|
|    26.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXX |XXXX|
|    25.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXX |XXXX|
|    25.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXX |XXXX|
|    24.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXX |XXXX|
|    24.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    23.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    23.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    22.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    22.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    21.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    21.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    20.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    20.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    19.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    19.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| A  18.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| V  18.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| G  17.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    17.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| P  16.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E  16.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| R  15.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    15.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| H  14.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| O  14.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| U  13.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| R  13.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    12.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E  12.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| A  11.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| C  11.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| H  10.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    10.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| W   9.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E   9.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E   8.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| K   8.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|------------+-----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+----|
|  Month     |Jan  |Feb |Mar  |Apr |May |Jun  |Jul |Aug |Sep  |Oct |Nov |Dec |
|------------+-----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+----|
|                                                                            |
|                Mean yearly average players per hour = 30.86                |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  What do we make from this? Well, January was great, and the summer months |
|  were also surprisingly strong compared to how it usually is during the    |
|  summer. Looking at the year as a whole we can, however, see a small but   |
|  clear decline.                                                            |
|                                                                            |
|  So, how does an APH (average players per hour) of 30.86 stand up compared |
|  to previous years? The answer can be found in this nice chart that shows  |
|  the APH for the last 11 years.                                            |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|              Population Levels in APH over the last 11 Years               |
|                         ( quarterly histogram )                            |
|--------------+-------------------------------------------------------------|
|       40.0   |                                                 X           |
|       39.0   |                                                 X           |
|       38.0   |                                                XX    X      |
|       37.0   |                                               XXX    X      |
|       36.0   |                                               XXX   XX      |
|       35.0   |                                               XXX X XX      |
|       34.0   |                                               XXX X XX      |
|       33.0   |                                               XXX X XX      |
|       32.0   |                                               XXX XXXX X    |
|       31.0   |                                            X XXXX XXXX XXX  |
|       30.0   |                                            X XXXX XXXX XXX  |
|       29.0   |                                           XX XXXX XXXX XXX  |
|       28.0   |                                       X   XX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|       27.0   |                                    X  X X XX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|       26.0   |                                    X  X X XX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|       25.0   |                                    X  X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|       24.0   |                                    X  X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|       23.0   |                                    X  X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|       22.0   |                                    X  X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|       21.0   |                                    XX X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|       20.0   |                                  X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|       19.0   |   X                              X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|       18.0   |   X                              X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|       17.0   |   X  XX                          X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|       16.0   |  XX  XXX         X               X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|       15.0   | XXX  XXX         X               X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|       14.0   | XXX  XXXX X     XX          X    X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|       13.0   | XXX  XXXX X X   XXX         X    X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|       12.0   | XXXX XXXX XXX  XXXX    X X  X X  X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|       11.0   | XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX    X XXXX X  X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|       10.0   | XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX X XX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|        9.0   | XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|        8.0   | XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|--------------+-----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----|
|      Qtr.    | 1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234 |
|--------------+-----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----|
|      Year    | 2008|2009|2010|2011|2012|2013|2014|2015|2016|2017|2018|2019 |
|--------------+-----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----|
|      Yr. Ave | 15.8|16.1|13.0|14.0|10.7|12.5|13.3|24.2|29.1|36.6|35.2|30.5 |
|--------------+-----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----|
|                                                                            |
|  This proves what we already suspected from looking at the other graph,    |
|  the player numbers HAVE declined a little in 2019. However, if we look    |
|  at the big picture, 2019 was still the third best year since Gorboth      |
|  started measuring APH back in 2008. Not too bad after all!                |
|                                                                            |
|  Here's a more detailed look at our player numbers compared to 2018 only.  |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|             Comparing player activity over two time periods:               |
|                      A: Jan 01 2018 - Dec 31 2018                          |
|                      B: Jan 01 2019 - Dec 31 2019                          |
|-------+-------+-------+----------+--+-----------+-------+-------+----------|
| Hour  |   A   |   B   | % change |  | Weekday   |   A   |   B   | % change |
|-------+-------+-------+----------+  +-----------+-------+-------+----------|
| 00.00 | 39.41 | 35.45 |  -10.03 %|  | Sunday    | 35.05 | 30.60 |  -12.70 %|
| 01.00 | 36.00 | 33.04 |   -8.23 %|  | Monday    | 33.86 | 30.37 |  -10.30 %|
| 02.00 | 34.75 | 31.95 |   -8.06 %|  | Tuesday   | 34.80 | 31.23 |  -10.24 %|
| 03.00 | 35.26 | 32.51 |   -7.79 %|  | Wednesday | 34.52 | 30.81 |  -10.75 %|
| 04.00 | 34.95 | 31.54 |   -9.74 %|  | Thursday  | 34.11 | 30.11 |  -11.71 %|
| 05.00 | 33.11 | 29.51 |  -10.86 %|  | Friday    | 33.72 | 29.91 |  -11.31 %|
| 06.00 | 31.19 | 26.00 |  -16.63 %|  | Saturday  | 34.75 | 30.66 |  -11.77 %|
| 07.00 | 28.46 | 23.54 |  -17.26 %|  +-----------+-------+-------+----------|
| 08.00 | 27.79 | 23.14 |  -16.76 %|                                         |
| 09.00 | 28.30 | 24.07 |  -14.95 %|                                         |
| 10.00 | 28.70 | 24.5  |  -14.64 %|  +--------------------------------------|
| 11.00 | 29.14 | 25.34 |  -13.03 %|  |       - - - Field  Sizes - - -       |
| 12.00 | 29.83 | 26.77 |  -10.25 %|  | Number of days in Period A:     364  |
| 13.00 | 30.28 | 27.40 |   -9.48 %|  | Number of days in Period B:     364  |
| 14.00 | 32.16 | 28.87 |  -10.24 %|  +--------------------------------------|
| 15.00 | 34.60 | 31.12 |  -10.04 %|                                         |
| 16.00 | 36.45 | 33.44 |   -8.25 %|                                         |
| 17.00 | 39.11 | 35.28 |   -9.78 %|  +--------------------------------------|
| 18.00 | 41.44 | 36.91 |  -10.93 %|  |           Overall Summary            |
| 19.00 | 44.62 | 39.00 |  -12.59 %|  +--------------------------------------|
| 20.00 | 46.12 | 40.51 |  -12.17 %|  | Overall average for Period A:  34.40 |
| 21.00 | 46.45 | 41.04 |  -11.65 %|  | Overall average for Period B:  30.53 |
| 22.00 | 44.89 | 39.43 |  -12.16 %|  |                                      |
| 23.00 | 43.00 | 38.88 |   -9.58 %|  | Overall increase/decrease:  -11.2 %  |
|-------+-------+-------+----------+--+--------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  So, in short, we're down 11.2% compared to last year. Now, we should      |
|  remember that 2018 had quite the spike thanks to the PC Gamer article,    |
|  and especially the links from their social media accounts. We obviously   |
|  won't receive that kind of exposure every year, so, statistically 2018's  |
|  numbers are somewhat inflated due to that, but still, -11.2% is -11.2%.   |
|  That's of course something we need to work to turn around in 2020.        |
|                                                                            |
|  Now we know how the playerbase has changed overall, but has there been    |
|  any interesting changes within the playerbase during 2019? This chart     |
|  that shows which occupational guilds our active players belong to is      |
|  always fun to look at (unless you are a kender).                          |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|             Average number of active players per guild per day             |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       2018 Ranking                    2019 Ranking                         |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1.  Mercs     (6.561)           1.   Mercs     (6.164)              |
|        2.  SoHM      (4.320)           2.  -SoHM      (2.552)              |
|        3.  DArmy     (2.572)           3.   DArmy     (2.464)              |
|        4.  WoHS      (1.625)           4.   WoHS      (1.370)              |
|        5.  Calians   (1.435)           5.   Knives    (1.338) new!         |
|        6.  Knights   (1.150)           6.   Rangers   (1.115)              |
|        7.  Rangers   (1.098)           7. ^+Angmar    (0.906)              |
|        8.  Glads     (1.065)           8.   Clerics   (0.708)              |
|        9.  Cadets    (1.030)           9.   Neidar    (0.706)              |
|       10.  Mages     (0.884)           10.  Monks     (0.703)              |
|       11.  Neidar    (0.863)           11.  Cadets    (0.700)              |
|       12.  Clerics   (0.855)           12.  Ogres     (0.585)              |
|       13.  Monks     (0.704)           13.  Glads     (0.472)              |
|       14.  Angmar    (0.608)           14. !Calians   (0.401)              |
|       15.  Ogres     (0.569)           15. !Knights   (0.351)              |
|       16.  Academy   (0.350)           16.  Academy   (0.214)              |
|       17.  PoT       (0.084)           17. @Mages     (0.170)              |
|       18.  Kender    (0.046)           18. *Union     (0.109)              |
|       19.  Union     (0.002)           19.  PoT       (0.085)              |
|                                        20.  Kender    (0.021)              |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|               + Biggest APH gain (Angmar at +0.298)                        |
|               - Biggest APH loss (SoHM at -1.768)                          |
|               * Biggest growth   (Union at 5,350% growth)                  |
|               @ Biggest decline  (Mages at 81% decline)                    |
|               ^ Biggest rise     (Angmar up 7 ranks)                       |
|               ! Biggest fall     (Calians & Knights down 9 ranks)          |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  Note that guilds with two distinct factions (Rangers and Dragonarmy)      |
|  count as one guild in the statistics above, and that the Fire Knives      |
|  numbers are based on the time they have been open, and not the entire     |
|  year. Also, the Elvish Archers are not part of this chart as they were    |
|  recoded near the end of the year, and using data from only a few months   |
|  would not give us very reliable numbers I think. Before the recode they   |
|  were considered a layman guild with an occupational option of layman      |
|  power. So, that's why they have not been included in these charts in      |
|  the past. But from next year, they will be!                               |
|                                                                            |
|  This clearly shows which guilds are the most popular, right? Or? Well,    |
|  statistics are fun, and sometimes they definitely tell the truth.         |
|  However, sometimes it's good to be a little sceptical too. For example,   |
|  the Shadow Union have a crazy growth of 5,350%, which sounds awesome,     |
|  but they are still ranked near the very bottom of the list. The huge      |
|  increase in growth percentage-wise is mainly due to the fact that they    |
|  were more or less extinct in 2018, not that they suddenly have become     |
|  very popular.                                                             |
|                                                                            |
|  Also, this chart does not take into account all factors, for example      |
|  some guilds are much more restrictive about taking on new members than    |
|  others, and some guilds only allow players of certain race(s) or align.   |
|  For example the Mercenaries allow all players of all sizes, races, and    |
|  aligns to join, while on the other end of the spectrum we find the        |
|  Secret Society who only allow ONE specific align-restricted sub-race.     |
|  It's of course an unfair comparison, but it does make sense to compare    |
|  similar guilds, and we can for example clearly see that the Mercenaries   |
|  are much more popular than the other  free for all melee guild - the      |
|  Gladiators.                                                               |
|                                                                            |
|  Another thing that skews the statistics is the fact that different        |
|  guilds also have different policies regarding idling players. Some        |
|  guilds work to promote active players, while in other guilds it's         |
|  perfectly okay to stay logged in and idle for days or even weeks. One     |
|  player idling in their guild for weeks or months obviously bumps up       |
|  that guild's popularity in the statistics, but in reality it may not      |
|  reflect that guild's actual activity.                                     |
|                                                                            |
|  So, while the guild statistics above give an indication about which       |
|  guilds are the most popular, it's far from the whole truth. But what      |
|  if we compare the guilds to themselves, perhaps that would give a         |
|  better idea about how a guild is doing? Below you can see the average     |
|  players per hour for each occupational guild compared to their own        |
|  numbers the previous year.                                                |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|                       Guild growth from former year                        |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        Ranked by APH increase         Ranked by relative change            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1. Angmar     + 0.298          1.  Union   +5,350% growth           |
|        2. Union      + 0.107          2.  Angmar  +49.0 % growth           |
|        3. Rangers    + 0.017          3.  Ogres   +2.8  % growth           |
|        4. Ogres      + 0.016          4.  Rangers +1.6  % growth           |
|        5. PoT        + 0.001          5.  PoT     +1.2  % growth           |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        6. Monks      - 0.001          6.  Monks   -0.1  % decline          |
|        7. Kender     - 0.025          7.  DArmy   -4.2  % decline          |
|        8. DArmy      - 0.108          8.  Mercs   -6.0  % decline          |
|        9. Academy    - 0.136          9.  WoHS    -15.7 % decline          |
|       10. Clerics    - 0.147         10.  Clerics -17.2 % decline          |
|       11. Neidar     - 0.157         11.  Neidar  -18.2 % decline          |
|       12. WoHS       - 0.255         12.  Cadets  -32.0 % decline          |
|       13. Cadets     - 0.330         13.  Academy -38.9 % decline          |
|       14. Mercs      - 0.397         14.  SoHM    -40.9 % decline          |
|       15. Glads      - 0.593         15.  Kender  -54.4 % decline          |
|       16. Mages      - 0.714         16.  Glads   -55.7 % decline          |
|       17. Knights    - 0.799         17.  Knights -69.5 % decline          |
|       18. Calians    - 1.034         18.  Calians -72.1 % decline          |
|       19. SoHM       - 1.768         19.  Mages   -80.8 % decline          |
|                                                                            |
|        * knives      (new)                                                 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  Interesting. What do we make of this? We already mentioned the Shadow     |
|  Union with their whopping 5,350 percent growth, but the Army of Angmar    |
|  has also done well this year. A number of guilds have remained steady,    |
|  while the biggest losers are clearly the Knights, Calians, and Mages who  |
|  have lost a large number of their active players compared to 2018. Ouch!  |
|                                                                            |
|  Overall, it's easy to see that most guilds have lost players compared to  |
|  2018, which of course is not surprising. We saw earlier that the player   |
|  numbers are down overall, and we have also added a new guild to the mix.  |
|  And I am not even counting the Elvish Archers now, who we can probably    |
|  count as a new guild as well, since they are now a relevant occupational  |
|  option. More guilds and fewer players can only lead to one thing - less   |
|  players per guild.                                                        |
|                                                                            |
|  On average, only six guilds enjoy an APH over 1.0, meaning that at any    |
|  given time only six guilds have one or more players awake. We now have    |
|  21 occupational guilds (23 if you count BDA/RDA and the ranger companies  |
|  as separate guilds), and with around 30 players awake on average, this    |
|  means we are getting quite close to a situation where there is one        |
|  occupational guild per player. This is not a good development, and it's   |
|  no wonder many complain on inactive guild leaders and long joining        |
|  processes. It's clear we do not really have the number of players to      |
|  support this many guilds.                                                 |
|                                                                            |
|  The solution? If we don't think outside the box, the only solutions are   |
|  to get more players and/or close and/or merge guilds. Close guilds?!?     |
|  What?? Wait, wait, I said "If we DON'T think outside the box there are    |
|  two solutions". If we do think outside the box perhaps we can think of    |
|  something better. I've been thinking a lot about an alliance system       |
|  lately.                                                                   |
|                                                                            |
|  I also want to mention that I am not complaining on the wizards who put   |
|  in a lot of work in creating guilds in the last few years. I think all    |
|  new guilds (and the recode of the Archers) were very good additions that  |
|  filled needs in Genesis. But, we have to perhaps calm down with more      |
|  occupational guilds unless they add something very unique or fill a       |
|  clear void. Occupational guilds that is, layman, craft, and racials I     |
|  definitely think we could have more of. We have two very unique           |
|  occupational guilds in development, and these two may very well be the    |
|  last new occupational guilds for some time. But, more about the future    |
|  below, let's focus on last year's statistics for now.                     |
|                                                                            |
|  One thing that I am curious to know is the good/neutral/evil balance      |
|  when it comes to guilds. Let's check it out, and also see how things      |
|  changed from 2018. It should be noted that some of the neutral guilds     |
|  tend to lean towards one side or the other, but since they do allow       |
|  their members to be both good or evil they are listed as neutral.         |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|                      Guild activity by align - 2019                        |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        Good-aligned         Neutral-aligned       Evil-aligned             |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        Rangers  1.115       Mercs    6.164        DArmy    2.464           |
|        Clerics  0.708       SoHM     2.552        Knives   1.338           |
|        Neidar   0.706       WoHS     1.370        Angmar   0.906           |
|        Calians  0.401       Monks    0.703        Mages    0.170           |
|        Knights  0.351       Cadets   0.700        PoT      0.085           |
|        Kender   0.021       Ogres    0.585                                 |
|                             Glads    0.472                                 |
|                             Academy  0.214                                 |
|                             Union    0.109                                 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Total:   3.302                12.869                4.963                 |
|  Total %: 15.6%                60.9%                 23.5%                 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  As expected the neutral guilds rule Genesis, mainly because there are     |
|  more of them (and mercs are neutral). More interesting is that it's a     |
|  pretty big gap between the good and evil guilds, with a clear edge for    |
|  the evils. But how was it in 2018?                                        |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|                       Guild activity by align - 2018                       |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        Good-aligned         Neutral-aligned       Evil-aligned             |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        Calians  1.435       Mercs    6.561        DArmy    2.572           |
|        Knights  1.150       SoHM     4.320        Mages    0.884           |
|        Rangers  1.098       WoHS     1.625        Angmar   0.608           |
|        Neidar   0.863       Glads    1.065        PoT      0.084           |
|        Clerics  0.855       Cadets   1.030                                 |
|        Kender   0.046       Monks    0.704                                 |
|                             Ogres    0.569                                 |
|                             Academy  0.350                                 |
|                             Union    0.002                                 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Total:    5.447                16.226                4.148                |
|  Total %:  21.1%                62.8%                 16.1%                |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  The neutral guilds remain quite stable, but we can see a clear shift      |
|  of balance between the good and evil guilds, where things are the         |
|  opposite now compared to how it was in 2018. The opening of the Fire      |
|  Knives is of course one part of the reason, but even without that, the    |
|  goodie guilds definitely took a hit in 2019.                              |
|                                                                            |
|  Again, this doesn't tell the whole story of course, as many of the        |
|  neutral guilds members tend to align with either the good or the evil     |
|  side, especially the Wizards of High Sorcery with their different         |
|  orders. Still, it does give an indication of the good vs evil balance     |
|  in terms of guilds and their active members.                              |
|                                                                            |
|  Okay, enough statistics, I know I promised to share some of my thoughts   |
|  for the future. However, before we do that, let's stay in 2019 for a      |
|  little longer and look at what our fantastic volunteer workforce          |
|  achieved during the year.                                                 |
|                                                                            |
|============================================================================|
|                            WIZARD ACCOMPLISHMENTS                          |
|============================================================================|
|                                                                            |
|  Trying to create a list of EVERYTHING that changed or was added to the    |
|  game is of course an impossible mission, but hopefully I have managed     |
|  to cover most of the major stuff.                                         |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  January:                                                                  |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  - With equipment now always surviving Armageddon, the ironstone           |
|    imbuements become unstable and are temporarily removed. (Gorboth)       |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  February & March:                                                         |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  - Not much happened here, most likely the wizards were busy working on    |
|    the rather big changes and additions that were introduced in April,     |
|    May, and June.                                                          |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  April:                                                                    |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  - EVENT: The first brand new event in several years, the Golden Egg       |
|    Event, takes place during Easter. Zail is the first to turn his egg     |
|    into a golden egg and wins the event. (Cherek, assisted by Varian)      |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  May:                                                                      |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  - The <home> command used by newbies to teleport back to their start      |
|    location is changed so it can no longer be used in combat. (Shanoga)    |
|  - The global rules regarding guilds skill allocation is changed in        |
|    order to allow for more interesting, and better balanced, guild types.  |
|    Especially rogue class guilds benefit from this change. (Arman and      |
|    the AoB team)                                                           |
|  - NEW GUILD: The Fire Knives of Faerun opens its doors to the world.      |
|    Watch your backs! (Nerull)                                              |
|  - An expansion option called "The Doomseekers" is added to the Neidar     |
|    Clan guild. (Arman)                                                     |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  June:                                                                     |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  - The Secret Society of Uncle Trapspringer has their skills reviewed      |
|    and updated. (Arman and the AoB team)                                   |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  July:                                                                     |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  - Quietstone imbuements become less effective. (Arman and the AoB team)   |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  August:                                                                   |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  - The powers of layman guilds (and one occupational) are adjusted to      |
|    provide a more balanced game experience. Significant changes were       |
|    made to the Elemental Worshippers, Warlocks, Holy Order of the Stars,   |
|    and Heralds. Minor adjustments were made to the Army of Angmar (both    |
|    occupational and layman), Templars of Neraka, and Thornlin Militia.     |
|    (Arman and the AoB team)                                                |
|  - NEW AREA: A new pub opens at the docks in Sparkle, replacing the old    |
|    one. It comes with several new quests, a room for arm wrestling         |
|    competitions, and the pub's bartender, Ellingnor, becomes the first     |
|    non-binary NPC in Genesis. (Gorboth)                                    |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  September:                                                                |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  - A quiet month leading up to an eventful end of the year.                |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  October:                                                                  |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------  |
|  - GUILD RECODE: The Elvish Archers guild (both occupational and layman    |
|    branches) is completely recoded and now provides a much better and      |
|    more balanced experience. (Carnak)                                      |
|  - Due to the suddenly popular archer guild, arrows are changed so         |
|    that they eventually decay, and the huge piles of arrows are no more.   |
|    (Cotillion)                                                             |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  November:                                                                 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  - EVENT: The 14th Scavenger Hunt Event is held with 100 completely new    |
|    and harder riddles. After an exhausting week Diri & Creed are           |
|    victorious in the most prestigious, and probably toughest, event in     |
|    Genesis. (Cherek and Varian)                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  December:                                                                 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  - EVENT: The annual Wheel-of-Fun Event is updated with some new features, |
|    and Montagu wins the "Luckiest Player in Genesis"-award for a second    |
|    straight year. The odds of the same person winning a purely luck-based  |
|    event two years in a row are astronomical, but it somehow happened      |
|    anyway. (Cherek)                                                        |
|  - GUILD RECODE: The Minstrel guild receives a much-needed recode, and     |
|    the world is filled with music. Who will be number one on the charts    |
|    in 2020? (Arman)                                                        |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|============================================================================|
|                THE YEAR OF THE AZURE RUNE-ETCHED LONGSWORD                 |
|============================================================================|
|                                                                            |
|  One thing that you may feel is missing from the above list is a mention   |
|  of the ever-saving equipment system and the change to a decay system.     |
|  That's because the ever-saving system was implemented in the fall of      |
|  2018, and the decay system arrived in early January 2020. While the       |
|  actual changes do not belong on a 2019 list, I think it's still worth     |
|  mentioning, as the year of 2019 was truly special in Genesis history.     |
|  Players inventories and racks have never been so full of awesome EQ, and  |
|  one story from the Discord chat pretty much sums it up. I don't           |
|  remember who said it, but he or she had tried to give away some really    |
|  good EQ to newbies in Sparkle, but they had all declined saying they      |
|  already had better EQ...                                                  |
|                                                                            |
|  2019 was truly a unique gear, err, year for the players of Genesis, and   |
|  those of us who got to experience it can tell fond stories of piles of    |
|  intense-imbued azure swords and more great helms of the hawk than you     |
|  could carry. Those who were not here to see it probably won't believe     |
|  you, but then you can at least refer to this common board post as proof!  |
|                                                                            |
|============================================================================|
|                        WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?                          |
|============================================================================|
|                                                                            |
|  That was that. 2019 is over. 2020 has been here for over a month, and     |
|  a few notable things have happened already. We have a new and much-       |
|  needed system for equipment decay (thanks Arman and Carnak), we have a    |
|  whole bunch of new wizards, and shockingly we have a new Keeper! As I     |
|  promised in my "Hello" post, I would share some of my plans for the       |
|  future in this post, so, here we go...                                    |
|                                                                            |
|  Let me start by saying that I love Genesis, and I am sure many of you do  |
|  as well. It's a fantastic game created by hundreds of different people    |
|  during the course of more than 30 years. You are part of a community      |
|  that has existed online for more than 10,950 days. Very few online games, |
|  if any, can rival those numbers. Genesis might actually be THE oldest     |
|  Massively Multiplayer Online game that is still alive and kicking, and    |
|  we are still doing quite well!                                            |
|                                                                            |
|  However, to continue for another 30 years and beyond, we can't just sit   |
|  back and relax. Genesis may be wondrous in many ways, but there are       |
|  still ways for us to improve. Obviously, we want to keep attracting new   |
|  players, and have as many as possible stay around for a long time. So,    |
|  what can we do to continue growing as a game?                             |
|                                                                            |
|  Well, to attract more players we need to let people know that we exist.   |
|  It's as simple as that. At some point, I would like to try to form a      |
|  dedicated team of wizards (with mortal assistance) who will ONLY focus    |
|  on promoting the game. If you're interested in being a "seller" of        |
|  Genesis, feel free to contact me.                                         |
|                                                                            |
|  The other way to increase the number of players is of course to make the  |
|  game more fun. But how do we make the game more fun? Well, the game is    |
|  fun already for many players, but in my opinion, the best way to make it  |
|  more fun for MORE players is to offer more ways to enjoy the game. I      |
|  think there is definitely room for improvement when it comes to keeping   |
|  players around after they've done all the things that are fun when you    |
|  experience them the first time.                                           |
|                                                                            |
|  Sure, grinding, questing, and advancing within your guild can be fun,     |
|  and should definitely always be a part of the Genesis experience, but     |
|  all those things aren't eternal. Eventually you have finished all or      |
|  most quests, you've hit myth (or at least been grinding enough so it      |
|  stops being fun), and you've tried all the guilds you are interested in.  |
|  But what is eternal? What can't you run out of? Well, as long as the      |
|  game has players in it, you can't run out of players to interact with.    |
|  Players interacting with players is in my opinion what makes Genesis,     |
|  and most other similar games, the most interesting.                       |
|                                                                            |
|  I think it's time to shift our focus from individual growth and solo      |
|  play to finding ways to improve player interaction and conflict. I think  |
|  more than anything Genesis needs more conflicts, more politics, more      |
|  roleplay, more socializing, more competition, and simply more ways to     |
|  keep players engaged that aren't necessarily related to grinding.         |
|                                                                            |
|  Some of the things I would like to see are:                               |
|                                                                            |
|  * Player versus player combat that is actually FUN for both sides.        |
|  * More guildwide conflicts that are FUN for everyone involved.            |
|  * Now, as you noticed above, we have way too many guilds compared to      |
|    the number of players for any serious guild wars to even be possible,   |
|    so, I would like to introduce a way for guilds to becomes allies,       |
|    declare war, etc, with benefits, drawbacks and rewards for the          |
|    involved guilds.                                                        |
|  * New players being able to take part and being successful in these       |
|    conflicts and fights without having to spend 3+ years grinding          |
|    to myth++ first.                                                        |
|  * More opportunities to just socialize and roleplay with other players    |
|    without feeling the need to always grind to "keep up".                  |
|  * Make the Genesis world and NPC's challenging again. Soloing huge        |
|    bosses and large groups of powerful enemies is just silly, and          |
|    doesn't exactly encourage teaming and socializing either.               |
|  * Make grinding more interesting for high-level players. Counting         |
|    fantastics and not watching your stats grow is fun for some, but        |
|    surely we can come up with something that's more fun.                   |
|  * Make all Genesis races equally good. Different, sure, but no race       |
|    should be clearly superior or inferior to another race overall.         |
|                                                                            |
|  Wow, those are some serious goals. Well, I didn't accept the offer to     |
|  become Keeper just because it's a fun title. I am supposed to barge in    |
|  with new energy and ideas and dust off some old lazy wizards, get         |
|  everyone working towards a common goal, and all those things all Keepers  |
|  do when they are new. After all, Gorboth claimed he would double the      |
|  playerbase, which nobody really thought was likely at the time. But,      |
|  as you can see in the graphs above, he did! Compared to that, my tiny     |
|  goals should be a piece of donut-cake.                                    |
|                                                                            |
|  All of the above will of course require some serious work, and as most    |
|  of you know it's impossible to promise anything in the ever-changing      |
|  wizard world where the workforce is 100% volunteers. However, I will do   |
|  my best to make these things happen at some point. If we could just make  |
|  half of them a reality, I think Genesis would become an even better       |
|  experience, and it isn't bad today. Not at all!                           |
|                                                                            |
|  Gorboth always ended these posts with his famous words "Onward and        |
|  Upward". I am not entirely sure if it's a tradition for all Keepers to    |
|  have their own slogan, but if anyone has a good suggestion, let me know.  |
|                                                                            |
|  <insert cool slogan here>                                                 |
|  Cherek, Fresh Keeper of Genesis                                           |
|                                                                            |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

User avatar
Cherek
Site Admin
Posts: 3609
Joined: 04 Mar 2010 04:36

Re: State of the Donut Addresses

Post by Cherek » 22 Jan 2021 15:59

Code: Select all

                    +=====================================+
                    |    THE STATE OF THE DONUT - 2020    |
                    +=====================================+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                            |
|  Greetings fellow Genesisians,                                             |
|                                                                            |
|  It's that time of the year again. What time? Well, the time when we       |
|  look back at the previous year of course!                                 |
|                                                                            |
|============================================================================|
|                              THE PLAYER NUMBERS                            |
|============================================================================|
|                                                                            |
|  Let's start by taking a look at the average player numbers during 2020,   |
|  and then break it down into lots of different pieces.                     |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|   Average player activity by week for entire year, beginning Jan 01 2020   |
|                                                                            |
|------------+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----|
|    47.5    |    |    |     |X   |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    47.0    |    |    |     |X   |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    46.5    |    |    |     |X   |X    |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    46.0    |    |    |     |X   |X    |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    45.5    |    |    |    X|X  X|X    |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    45.0    |    |    |    X|X  X|X    |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    44.5    |    |    |    X|X XX|XX   |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    44.0    |    |    |    X|XXXX|XX   |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    43.5    |    |    |   XX|XXXX|XX   |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    43.0    |    |    |   XX|XXXX|XX   |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    42.5    |    |    |   XX|XXXX|XX   |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    42.0    |    |    |   XX|XXXX|XX   |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    41.5    |    |    |   XX|XXXX|XXX  |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    41.0    |    |    |   XX|XXXX|XXX  |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    40.5    |    |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXX  |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    40.0    |    |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXX  |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    39.5    |    |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXX X|X   |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    39.0    |    |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|X   |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    38.5    |    |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|X   |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    38.0    |    |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|X   |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    37.5    |    |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|X   |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    37.0    |    |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|X   |    |     |    |    |     |    |
|    36.5    |    |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XX  |    |  X  |    |    |     |    |
|    36.0    |    |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XX  |    |  X X|    | X  | X   |    |
|    35.5    |    |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX |    |  X X|    | X  | X   |    |
|    35.0    |    |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX |    |  XXX|    | X  | X   |    |
|    34.5    |    |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX |    |  XXX|    |XX  | X   |   X|
|    34.0    |    |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX |    |  XXX|X   |XX  | X   |   X|
|    33.5    |    |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX |    |  XXX|XX  |XX  | X   | X X|
|    33.0    |    |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX | X  |  XXX|XX  |XX  |XXX  | XXX|
|    32.5    |    |    |  XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX | XX |  XXX|XX X|XX  |XXX  | XXX|
|    32.0    |    |    |X XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX| XX | XXXX|XX X|XXX |XXX X| XXX|
|    31.5    |    |    |X XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX| XX | XXXX|XX X|XXXX|XXX X|XXXX|
|    31.0    |    |    |X XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXX | XXXX|XX X|XXXX|XXX X|XXXX|
|    30.5    |    |    |X XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXX | XXXX|XX X|XXXX|XXX X|XXXX|
|    30.0    |    |  X |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX| XXXX|XX X|XXXX|XXX X|XXXX|
|    29.5    |X   |  X |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXX X|XXXX|
|    29.0    |X   |  X |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    28.5    |X   |  X |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    28.0    |XX  | XXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    27.5    |XX  | XXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    27.0    |XX X|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    26.5    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    26.0    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    25.5    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    25.0    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    24.5    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    24.0    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    23.5    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    23.0    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    22.5    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    22.0    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    21.5    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    21.0    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    20.5    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    20.0    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    19.5    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    19.0    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
| A  18.5    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
| V  18.0    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
| G  17.5    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    17.0    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
| P  16.5    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
| E  16.0    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
| R  15.5    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    15.0    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
| H  14.5    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
| O  14.0    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
| U  13.5    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
| R  13.0    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    12.5    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
| E  12.0    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
| A  11.5    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
| C  11.0    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
| H  10.5    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
|    10.0    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
| W   9.5    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
| E   9.0    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
| E   8.5    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
| K   8.0    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|
+------------+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+
|  Month     |Jan |Feb |Mar  |Apr |May  |Jun |Jul |Aug  |Sep |Oct |Nov  |Dec |
+------------+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+
|                                                                            |
|                Mean yearly average players per hour = 34.5                 |
|                                                                            |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                            |
|  Wow, that's a big spring spike. Greneth, who was promoted to liege of     |
|  promotion in February, thinks it's all his work. Now, I do think          |
|  Greneth's work this year definitely has had an effect on our players      |
|  numbers... but... sorry Greneth, that spring spike is of course related   |
|  to Covid-19 restrictions iRL. Suddenly, lots of people found themselves   |
|  with a lot of extra time, which caused a spike in player numbers for      |
|  almost all online games - including Genesis.                              |
|                                                                            |
|  So, did Covid-19 help make this the best year since we started            |
|  measuring player numbers back in 2008? Well, let's find out by comparing  |
|  2020 to the last 13 years.                                                |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|               Population Levels in APH over the last 13 Years              |
|                          ( quarterly histogram )                           |
|---------+------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  42.0   |                                                                  |
|  41.0   |                                                              X   |
|  40.0   |                                                 X            X   |
|  39.0   |                                                 X            X   |
|  38.0   |                                                XX    X       X   |
|  37.0   |                                               XXX    X       X   |
|  36.0   |                                               XXX   XX       X   |
|  35.0   |                                               XXX X XX       X   |
|  34.0   |                                               XXX X XX       X   |
|  33.0   |                                               XXX X XX       X   |
|  32.0   |                                               XXX XXXX X     XXX |
|  31.0   |                                            X XXXX XXXX XXX  XXXX |
|  30.0   |                                            X XXXX XXXX XXX  XXXX |
|  29.0   |                                           XX XXXX XXXX XXX  XXXX |
|  28.0   |                                       X   XX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|  27.0   |                                    X  X X XX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|  26.0   |                                    X  X X XX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|  25.0   |                                    X  X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|  24.0   |                                    X  X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|  23.0   |                                    X  X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|  22.0   |                                    X  X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|  21.0   |                                    XX X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|  20.0   |                                  X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|  19.0   |   X                              X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|  18.0   |   X                              X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|  17.0   |   X  XX                          X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|  16.0   |  XX  XXX         X               X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|  15.0   | XXX  XXX         X               X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|  14.0   | XXX  XXXX X     XX          X    X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|  13.0   | XXX  XXXX X X   XXX         X    X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|  12.0   | XXXX XXXX XXX  XXXX    X X  X X  X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|  11.0   | XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX    X XXXX X  X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|  10.0   | XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX X XX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|   9.0   | XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|   8.0   | XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
+---------+-----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| Qtr.    | 1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234 |
+---------+-----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
| Year    | 2008|2009|2010|2011|2012|2013|2014|2015|2016|2017|2018|2019|2020 |
+---------+-----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
|Yr. Ave  | 15.8|16.1|13.0|14.0|10.7|12.5|13.3|24.2|29.1|36.6|35.2|30.5|34.5 |
+---------+-----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
|                                                                            |
|  Turns out the answer is no. 2017 is still our best year, followed by      |
|  2018, and with 2020 on third place. However, the second quarter of 2020   |
|  now holds the record for the best quarter in recorded history.            |
|                                                                            |
|  Here's a more detailed look at our player numbers compared to 2019 only.  |
|                                                                            |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|             Comparing player activity over two time periods:               |
|                      A: Jan 01 2019 - Dec 31 2019                          |
|                      B: Jan 01 2020 - Dec 31 2020                          |
+-------+-------+-------+----------+--+-----------+-------+-------+----------+
| Hour  |   A   |   B   | % change |  | Weekday   |   A   |   B   | % change |
+-------+-------+-------+----------+  +-----------+-------+-------+----------+
| 00.00 | 35.45 | 37.03 |   +4.43 %|  | Sunday    | 30.60 | 32.50 |   +6.21 %|
| 01.00 | 33.04 | 33.49 |   +1.35 %|  | Monday    | 30.37 | 34.31 |  +12.97 %|
| 02.00 | 31.95 | 32.72 |   +2.43 %|  | Tuesday   | 31.23 | 34.73 |  +11.18 %|
| 03.00 | 32.51 | 33.30 |   +2.42 %|  | Wednesday | 30.81 | 35.11 |  +13.94 %|
| 04.00 | 31.54 | 32.83 |   +4.07 %|  | Thursday  | 30.11 | 34.24 |  +13.69 %|
| 05.00 | 29.51 | 31.40 |   +6.41 %|  | Friday    | 29.91 | 34.29 |  +14.64 %|
| 06.00 | 26.00 | 29.15 |  +12.12 %|  | Saturday  | 30.66 | 33.45 |   +9.08 %|
| 07.00 | 23.54 | 28.64 |  +21.62 %|  +-----------+-------+-------+----------+
| 08.00 | 23.14 | 29.40 |  +27.07 %|                                         |
| 09.00 | 24.07 | 29.80 |  +23.80 %|                                         |
| 10.00 | 24.5  | 30.42 |  +24.17 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 11.00 | 25.34 | 30.39 |  +19.93 %|  |       - - - Field  Sizes - - -       |
| 12.00 | 26.77 | 31.04 |  +15.96 %|  | Number of days in Period A:     364  |
| 13.00 | 27.40 | 32.12 |  +17.18 %|  | Number of days in Period B:     365  |
| 14.00 | 28.87 | 33.79 |  +17.07 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 15.00 | 31.12 | 36.97 |  +18.79 %|                                         |
| 16.00 | 33.44 | 39.08 |  +16.85 %|                                         |
| 17.00 | 35.28 | 40.20 |  +13.93 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 18.00 | 36.91 | 40.93 |  +10.89 %|  |           Overall Summary            |
| 19.00 | 39.00 | 41.94 |   +7.52 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 20.00 | 40.51 | 44.17 |   +9.04 %|  | Overall average for Period A:  30.53 |
| 21.00 | 41.04 | 44.83 |   +9.23 %|  | Overall average for Period B:  34.09 |
| 22.00 | 39.43 | 43.80 |  +11.09 %|  |                                      |
| 23.00 | 38.88 | 40.83 |   +5.02 %|  | Overall increase/decrease:  +11.66 % |
+-------+-------+-------+----------+--+--------------------------------------+
|                                                                            |
|  So, in short, we're up 11.66% compared to last year. Yay! Although, if    |
|  we exclude the Q2-spike, the player numbers are actually almost           |
|  identical to 2019. To be honest, I would have preferred somewhat lower    |
|  numbers and no global pandemic, but hopefully Covid-19 has at least       |
|  come with a small silver lining by introducing a few more new players to  |
|  our wonderful world.                                                      |
|                                                                            |
|  Now, let's look at a new stat for this year. With the help of Lucius and  |
|  Cotillion, we now have a better way to measure how many new players we    |
|  get and how many players leave the tutorial. Let's take a look at the     |
|  last five years.                                                          |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|            New players created / players leaving the tutorial              |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Year   | New player | Avg. per |  Best   |  Worst  | Leaving  | Leaving   |
|         | total      | day      |  day    |  Day    | tutorial | tutorial  |
|         |            |          |         |         | total    | %         |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  2016   |   12,465   |   34.1   |    81   |    7    |  1,445   |  11.6%    |
|  2017   |   15,647   |   42.9   |    88   |   14    |  2,012   |  12.9%    |
|  2018   |   10,902   |   29.9   |    97   |    5    |  1,982   |  18.2%    |
|  2019   |    8,235   |   22.6   |    97   |    4    |  1,693   |  20.6%    |
|  2020   |    7,694   |   21.0   |   321   |    3    |  1,451   |  18.9%    |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  Hmm. It looks like things are going in the wrong direction. Good thing    |
|  we have a liege of promotion now! One interesting thing to note is that   |
|  even though the player numbers dropped between 2017 and 2019, the         |
|  percentage of players leaving the tutorial went up. That number remained  |
|  pretty high for 2020 as well, so that's promising.                        |
|                                                                            |
|  Another thing to note is that even though 2020 had lowest numbers of new  |
|  players, it also had the by far best day. What happened there? Well, what |
|  happened was that some players on Discord made a joint effort to post the |
|  link to Genesis on various forums and websites, which caused a massive    |
|  spike of new players. This clearly shows that you players can do A LOT to |
|  help improve our numbers, so, please keep doing that. It works!           |
|                                                                            |
|  Okay, let's move on to the guild statistics.                              |
|                                                                            |
|  NOTE: In the statistics below, guilds with two distinct factions (Rangers |
|  and Dragonarmy) count as one guild. Also, since we allow players to idle  |
|  indefinitely in Genesis, these numbers should be taken with a grain of    |
|  salt. A guild with a player, or players, that idle 24/7 may seem very     |
|  active, while in fact they are not. On the other hand, guilds that have   |
|  rules preventing their members from idling may look quite inactive, but   |
|  the players are actually always active when they do play. There are of    |
|  course other factors in play as well, for example some guilds are much    |
|  more restrictive about taking on new members than others, and some guilds |
|  only allow players of specific race(s) and/or align.                      |
|                                                                            |
|  That said, the below statistics still give an indication about which      |
|  guilds are the most popular, even if it's not the whole truth.            |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|             Average number of active players per guild per day             |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       2019 Ranking                    2020 Ranking                         |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       1.   Mercs     (6.164)          1.  -Mercs     (5.673)               |
|       2.  -SoHM      (2.552)          2.   SoHM      (3.153)               |
|       3.   DArmy     (2.464)          3.   DArmy     (2.632)               |
|       4.   WoHS      (1.370)          4.   Angmar    (1.586)               |
|       5.   Knives    (1.338)          5. ^+Glads     (1.252)               |
|       6.   Rangers   (1.115)          6.  ^Calians   (1.030)               |
|       7.   Angmar    (0.906)          7.   Neidar    (0.972)               |
|       8.   Clerics   (0.708)          8.   Clerics   (0.956)               |
|       9.   Neidar    (0.706)          9.   Knives    (0.950)               |
|       10.  Monks     (0.703)          10. !WoHS      (0.934)               |
|       11.  Cadets    (0.700)          11.  Rangers   (0.887)               |
|       12.  Ogres     (0.585)          12.  Cadets    (0.873)               |
|       13.  Glads     (0.472)          13.  Archers   (0.857) new!          |
|       14.  Calians   (0.401)          14.  Mages     (0.471)               |
|       15.  Knights   (0.351)          15.  Monks     (0.438)               |
|       16.  Academy   (0.214)          16. *Union     (0.394)               |
|       17.  Mages     (0.170)          17.  Knights   (0.369)               |
|       18.  Union     (0.109)          18.!@Ogres     (0.279)               |
|       19.  PoT       (0.085)          19.  PoT       (0.208)               |
|       20.  Kender    (0.021)          20.  Academy   (0.169)               |
                                        21.  Kender    (0.024)               |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|               + Biggest APH gain (Glads at +0.780)                         |
|               - Biggest APH loss (Mercs at -0.491)                         |
|               * Biggest growth   (Union at 261% growth)                    |
|               @ Biggest decline  (Ogres at 52% decline)                    |
|               ^ Biggest rise     (Glads & Calians up 8 ranks)              |
|               ! Biggest fall     (WoHS & Ogres down 6 ranks)               |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  Unsurprisingly the neutral free-to-join options continue to rule Genesis  |
|  in terms of player numbers. Mercs have lost some members, but both SoHM   |
|  and Gladiators have gained members. The bottom also remain fairly stable, |
|  with the Kenders hopelessly last again. Overall, it looks like things     |
|  have evened out a bit, and the difference between the most and least      |
|  popular guilds is a little smaller than last year.                        |
|                                                                            |
|  Let's compare the guilds by align, and see if there has been any notable  |
|  changes since last year.                                                  |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|                       Guild activity by align - 2020                       |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        Good-aligned         Neutral-aligned       Evil-aligned             |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        Calians  1.030       Mercs    5.673          DArmy    2.632         |
|        Neidar   0.972       SoHM     3.153          Angmar   1.586         |
|        Clerics  0.956       Glads    1.252          Knives   0.950         |
|        Rangers  0.887       WoHS     0.934          Mages    0.471         |
|        Archers  0.857       Cadets   0.873          PoT      0.208         |
|        Knights  0.369       Monks    0.438                                 |
|        Kender   0.024       Union    0.394                                 |
|                             Ogres    0.279                                 |
|                             Academy  0.169                                 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Total:    5.673                13.165                5.847                |
|  Total %:  23.0%                53.3%                 23.7%                |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|                      Guild activity by align - 2019                        |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        Good-aligned         Neutral-aligned       Evil-aligned             |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        Rangers  1.115       Mercs    6.164        DArmy    2.464           |
|        Clerics  0.708       SoHM     2.552        Knives   1.338           |
|        Neidar   0.706       WoHS     1.370        Angmar   0.906           |
|        Calians  0.401       Monks    0.703        Mages    0.170           |
|        Knights  0.351       Cadets   0.700        PoT      0.085           |
|        Kender   0.021       Ogres    0.585                                 |
|                             Glads    0.472                                 |
|                             Academy  0.214                                 |
|                             Union    0.109                                 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Total:   3.302                12.869                4.963                 |
|  Total %: 15.6%                60.9%                 23.5%                 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  Interesting! The evil guilds have very similar numbers compared to last   |
|  year, but it looks like the neutral guilds have lost a big chunk of       |
|  members to goodie guilds. These numbers are impressively balanced         |
|  actually, with about half the players in neutral guilds, and a quarter    |
|  each in goodie and evil guilds. Can we get one third in each during 2021  |
|  for perfect balance? :)                                                   |
|                                                                            |
|  We have lots of player number statistics as usual, but what about wizard  |
|  numbers? We don't really have a system to track wizard numbers as we      |
|  track player numbers, and it's harder to measure as well, as most wizards |
|  spend a lot of time idle. However, we CAN look at the number of new       |
|  wizards. So, lets do just that.                                           |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|                          New wizards per year                              |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  2019: 4                                                                   |
|  2020: 12                                                                  |
|                                                                            |
|  Wow! That's quite the increase. Now, many new wizards don't stick         |
|  around for long, as most tend to be overwhelmed by the amount of time     |
|  and effort that is needed. Still, the more new wizards we get, the        |
|  bigger the chances are that some will turn out to be the next             |
|  superstar wizard. A 200% increase is promising for sure!                  |
|                                                                            |
|============================================================================|
|                            WIZARD ACCOMPLISHMENTS                          |
|============================================================================|
|                                                                            |
|  Trying to create a list of EVERYTHING that changed or was added to the    |
|  game is of course an impossible mission, but hopefully I have managed     |
|  to cover most of the major stuff.                                         |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  First Quarter 2020                                                        |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  - Gorboth steps down as keeper and is succeeded by Cherek.                |
|  - A new wizard position is added, and Greneth becomes the first ever      |
|    Liege of Promotion. (Cherek)                                            |
|  - A brand new equipment decay system is created. (Carnak, Arman, Cherek)  |
|  - The <nban> command is one of several small updates to the newbie pin    |
|    aimed to make it harder for spammers. (Cotillion, Mirandus, Cherek)     |
|  - The auction house receives an update. Various minor things are fixed    |
|    and it's also now possible to sell 'heaps' of items. (Cotillion)        |
|  - Ironstones are re-added to the game. (Arman)                            |
|  - A bug that has plagued the realms for a long time is finally fixed.     |
|    Players no longer need to worry about losing items if disconnected      |
|    while recovering items on login. (Cotillion)                            |
|  - EVENT: A cooking event is held. (Greneth)                               |
|  - NEW AREA: A haunted farm appears near Argos, Calia, and it comes        |
|    with a fun little quest too. (Brine)                                    |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Second Quarter 2020                                                       |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  - An introduction to magic in Genesis is added to the tutorial. (Arman)   |
|  - NEW AREA: The basement of Cair Andros opens. (Varian)                   |
|  - NEW AREA: The villages of Longbottom and Waymeet opens in Shire, along  |
|    with some fun shops and quests. (Raymundo)                              |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Third Quarter 2020                                                        |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  - NEW AREA: Throtyl Pass opens, allowing players to travel by foot from   |
|    the Solamnian plans to Sanction. (Arman)                                |
|    NEW GUILD: The drums of war beat loudly as the Throtyl Raiders          |
|    layman guild starts recruiting. (Arman)                                 |
|  - A global change to the acrobat skill is introduced, making it           |
|    useful in combat. (Ckrik, Arman)                                        |
|  - NEW AREA: A new Thanar Cathedral opens in Kabal. This area includes     |
|    a new Thanar boss, new quests, and new cool items. (Mirandus)           |
|  - NEW AREA: An oasis appears south of Tyr, which includes a new quest     |
|    and a new system for magic in Cirath. (Meton)                           |
|  - The player behind one of the most beloved characters in Genesis         |
|    history passes away, and a statue of Grampal is created in the          |
|    memorial Garden. (Cherek)                                               |
|                                                                            |
|                            We miss you Grampal.                            |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Fourth Quarter 2020                                                       |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  - Cherek steps down as Arch of Events, and is succeeded by Gorboth.       |
|  - EVENT: The brand new Trick-or-Treating event is held for the first      |
|    time, and it's a smashing success. (Gorboth)                            |
|  - EVENT: The Wheel-of-Fun lottery is back in Sparkle, and Teraven is      |
|    crowned the luckiest player in Genesis.                                 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  Except the things mentioned above, the AoP team lead by Mirandus has,     |
|  as always, helped a lot of players. Also, many wizards have fixed a       |
|  lot of bugs. I also would like to mention Lucius, who has taken on the    |
|  massive job of going through domain after domain, fixing bugs and typos.  |
|  He's done with Sparkle, and has now moved on to Terel. Finally, I think   |
|  it's great to see that three brand new wizards added new content to the   |
|  game during 2020. Well done Brine, Meton and Raymundo!                    |
|                                                                            |
|============================================================================|
|                        WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?                          |
|============================================================================|
|                                                                            |
|  I ended my last State of the Donut post by listing a number of things I   |
|  would like to accomplish at some point during my time as Keeper, and      |
|  all of then still apply. I am not going to repeat myself here, so if you  |
|  are curious to know what those goals were, you can check my State of the  |
|  Donut post from last year.                                                |
|                                                                            |
|  Those were all long term goals, and I of couse did not expect to make     |
|  them all happen during 2020, but I am glad that we can check off one of   |
|  them, since we now have a Liege of Promotion.                             |
|                                                                            |
|  So, what will happen during 2021?                                         |
|                                                                            |
|  Well, as most of you know, since we're a volunteer workforce, it's        |
|  always dangerous to make promises, so I am not going to do that.          |
|  However, I am going to make some educated GUESSES for 2021:               |
|                                                                            |
|  - We're going to get a new magic system that will be more balanced        |
|    and more fun for everyone.                                              |
|                                                                            |
|  - We're going to have much more balanced races in Genesis before          |
|    2021 ends.                                                              |
|                                                                            |
|  - The Bloodsea will expand.                                               |
|                                                                            |
|  - Faerun will become bigger.                                              |
|                                                                            |
|  - Genesis will get a Patreon page, and the donated money will be used     |
|    for paid promotional ads.                                               |
|                                                                            |
|  - There will be more new players created during this year compared to     |
|    last year.                                                              |
|                                                                            |
|  - We're going to get more new wizards during 2021 than we got during      |
|    2020.                                                                   |
|                                                                            |
|  - There will be at least four events.                                     |
|                                                                            |
|  - At least one new guild will open.                                       |
|                                                                            |
|  - Cassius will stop idling and start killing people again.                |
|                                                                            |
|  Now, like I said, it's possible none of these things happens, but those   |
|  are my predictions. We'll find out in about 11 months if I was right      |
|  or wrong!                                                                 |
|                                                                            |
|  Cherek, The Established Keeper of Genesis                                 |
|                                                                            |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                                                                             

User avatar
Cherek
Site Admin
Posts: 3609
Joined: 04 Mar 2010 04:36

Re: State of the Donut Addresses

Post by Cherek » 07 Mar 2022 16:20

Code: Select all

                    +=====================================+                  
                    |    THE STATE OF THE DONUT - 2021    |                   
                    +=====================================+                   
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                            |
|  Greetings fellow Genesisians,                                             |
|                                                                            |
|  Yes, yes, I know it's already March, but it would be a shame to break     |
|  the "State of the Donut"-tradition just because it's a few months late.   |
|                                                                            |
|============================================================================|
|                              THE PLAYER NUMBERS                            |
|============================================================================|
|                                                                            |
|  Let's start by taking a look at the average player numbers during 2021,   |
|  and then break it down into lots of different pieces.                     |
|                                                                            |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                            |
|    Average player activity by week for entire year, beginning Jan 01 2021  |
|                                                                            |
+------------+-----+----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+
|    38.5    |  X  |    |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    38.0    |  X  |    |X   |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    37.5    |  X  |  X |X   |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    37.0    |  X  |  X |X   |    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    36.5    | XX  |  XX|X   |X   |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    36.0    |XXXX |  XX|XXX |X   |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    35.5    |XXXX |X XX|XXXX|X   |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    35.0    |XXXX |X XX|XXXX|XX  |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    34.5    |XXXXX|X XX|XXXX|XX  |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    34.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XX  |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    33.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XX  |     |    |    |     |    |   X |    |    |
|    33.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XX  |X    |    |    |     |    |   X |    |    |
|    32.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XX  |X    |    |    |     |    |   X |    |X   |
|    32.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XX  |X    |    |    |     |    |   X |    |X   |
|    31.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XX  |X    |    |    |     |    |  XX |    |XX  |
|    31.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XX X|XX   |    |    |     |    |  XX |    |XX  |
|    30.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XX   |    |    |     |    |  XX |    |XXX |
|    30.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XX   |    |    |     |    |  XXX|    |XXX |
|    29.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXX  |    |    |     |    |  XXX|   X|XXX |
|    29.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXX  |    |   X|     |  XX| XXXX|X  X|XXXX|
|    28.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXX  |    |   X|     | XXX| XXXX|X  X|XXXX|
|    28.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXX  |    |   X|     | XXX| XXXX|X  X|XXXX|
|    27.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXX  |    |   X|X    | XXX| XXXX|X XX|XXXX|
|    27.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX |    |   X|X    | XXX| XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    26.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX |    |   X|X X  | XXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    26.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX |    |  XX|XXX X| XXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    25.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX |    |  XX|XXXXX| XXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    25.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX |X   | XXX|XXXXX| XXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    24.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|X   | XXX|XXXXX| XXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    24.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|X   | XXX|XXXXX| XXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    23.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XX  | XXX|XXXXX| XXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    23.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XX  | XXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    22.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX | XXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    22.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    21.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    21.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    20.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    20.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    19.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    19.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| A  18.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| V  18.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| G  17.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    17.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| P  16.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E  16.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| R  15.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    15.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| H  14.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| O  14.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| U  13.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| R  13.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    12.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E  12.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| A  11.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| C  11.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| H  10.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    10.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| W   9.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E   9.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E   8.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| K   8.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
+------------+-----+----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+
|  Month     |Jan  |Feb |Mar |Apr |May  |Jun |Jul |Aug  |Sep |Oct  |Nov |Dec |
+------------+-----+----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+
|                                                                            |
|                Mean yearly average players per hour = 29.90                |
|                                                                            |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                            |
|  Compared to 2020, this graph is basically inverted, but 2020 was a        |
|  weird one due to Covid, so this year's graph looks much more normal.      |
|  As usual there is more activity in Genesis during the winter months       |
|  (in the northern hemisphere), and less activity during the summer.        |
|  That the numbers were especially high at the start of the year is         |
|  likely a leftover from Covid-restrictions. These restrictions started     |
|  to ease up a bit around spring in most parts of the world, and that       |
|  together with summer approaching meant our number dropped, which is       |
|  quite normal, and so is the increase during fall and winter. It looks     |
|  like we're back to business as usual in terms of our highs and lows in    |
|  player activity.                                                          |
|                                                                            |
|  So, how did we do compared to 2020?                                       |
|                                                                            |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|             Comparing player activity over two time periods:               |
|                      A: Jan 01 2020 - Dec 31 2020                          |
|                      B: Jan 01 2021 - Dec 31 2021                          |
+-------+-------+-------+----------+--+-----------+-------+-------+----------|
| Hour  |   A   |   B   | % change |  | Weekday   |   A   |   B   | % change |
+-------+-------+-------+----------+  +-----------+-------+-------+----------|
| 00.00 | 37.03 | 33.20 |  -10.31 %|  | Sunday    | 32.50 | 27.92 |  -14.08 %|
| 01.00 | 33.49 | 29.79 |  -11.04 %|  | Monday    | 34.31 | 29.63 |  -13.63 %|
| 02.00 | 32.72 | 28.30 |  -13.51 %|  | Tuesday   | 34.73 | 30.44 |  -12.33 %|
| 03.00 | 33.30 | 27.94 |  -16.09 %|  | Wednesday | 35.11 | 31.01 |  -11.66 %|
| 04.00 | 32.83 | 26.70 |  -18.67 %|  | Thursday  | 34.24 | 31.02 |   -9.40 %|
| 05.00 | 31.40 | 24.81 |  -20.98 %|  | Friday    | 34.29 | 30.51 |  -11.02 %|
| 06.00 | 29.15 | 23.09 |  -20.77 %|  | Saturday  | 33.45 | 28.75 |  -14.04 %|
| 07.00 | 28.64 | 23.25 |  -18.81 %|  +-----------+-------+-------+----------|
| 08.00 | 29.40 | 24.12 |  -17.97 %|                                         |
| 09.00 | 29.80 | 25.53 |  -14.33 %|                                         |
| 10.00 | 30.42 | 27.23 |  -10.46 %|  +--------------------------------------|
| 11.00 | 30.39 | 27.63 |   -9.08 %|  |       - - - Field  Sizes - - -       |
| 12.00 | 31.04 | 28.86 |   -7.03 %|  | Number of days in Period A:     365  |
| 13.00 | 32.12 | 29.68 |   -7.57 %|  | Number of days in Period B:     364  |
| 14.00 | 33.79 | 30.90 |   -8.56 %|  +--------------------------------------|
| 15.00 | 36.97 | 33.24 |  -10.09 %|                                         |
| 16.00 | 39.08 | 34.33 |  -12.13 %|                                         |
| 17.00 | 40.20 | 35.28 |  -12.24 %|  +--------------------------------------|
| 18.00 | 40.93 | 35.98 |  -12.08 %|  |           Overall Summary            |
| 19.00 | 41.94 | 37.43 |  -10.75 %|  +--------------------------------------+
| 20.00 | 44.17 | 39.57 |  -10.40 %|  | Overall average for Period A:  34.09 |
| 21.00 | 44.83 | 40.53 |   -9.58 %|  | Overall average for Period B:  29.90 |
| 22.00 | 43.80 | 39.37 |  -10.11 %|  |                                      |
| 23.00 | 40.83 | 36.78 |   -9.92 %|  | Overall increase/decrease:  -12.2 %  |
+-------+-------+-------+----------+--+--------------------------------------+
|                                                                            |
|  Yup, we are down 12.2%, but our numbers were clearly inflated during      |
|  2020 due to/thanks to Covid-19.                                           |
|                                                                            |
|  Now, let's have a look at all the years since we started collecting       |
|  player number data, and see how 2021 measures up.                         |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|               Population Levels in APH over the last 14 Years              |
|                          ( quarterly histogram )                           |
|----+-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|42.0|                                                                       |
|41.0|                                                              X        |
|40.0|                                                 X            X        |
|39.0|                                                 X            X        |
|38.0|                                                XX    X       X        |
|37.0|                                               XXX    X       X        |
|36.0|                                               XXX   XX       X        |
|35.0|                                               XXX X XX       X   X    |
|34.0|                                               XXX X XX       X   X    |
|33.0|                                               XXX X XX       X   X    |
|32.0|                                               XXX XXXX X     XXX X    |
|31.0|                                            X XXXX XXXX XXX  XXXX X    |
|30.0|                                            X XXXX XXXX XXX  XXXX X    |
|29.0|                                           XX XXXX XXXX XXX  XXXX X  X |
|28.0|                                       X   XX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XX X |
|27.0|                                    X  X X XX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XX X |
|26.0|                                    X  X X XX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|25.0|                                    X  X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|24.0|                                    X  X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|23.0|                                    X  X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|22.0|                                    X  X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|21.0|                                    XX X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|20.0|                                  X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|19.0|   X                              X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|18.0|   X                              X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|17.0|   X  XX                          X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|16.0|  XX  XXX         X               X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|15.0| XXX  XXX         X               X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|14.0| XXX  XXXX X     XX          X    X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|13.0| XXX  XXXX X X   XXX         X    X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|12.0| XXXX XXXX XXX  XXXX    X X  X X  X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|11.0| XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX    X XXXX X  X XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|10.0| XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX X XX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
| 9.0| XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
| 8.0| XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
+----+-----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
|Qtr.| 1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234|1234 |
+----+-----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
|Year| 2008|2009|2010|2011|2012|2013|2014|2015|2016|2017|2018|2019|2020|2021 |
+----+-----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
|Ave | 15.8|16.1|13.0|14.0|10.7|12.5|13.3|24.2|29.1|36.6|35.2|30.5|34.5|29.9 |
+----+-----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+
|                                                                            |
|  Not too shabby. If we compare our numbers to 2019, which is the last      |
|  "pre-Covid year", the numbers are pretty similar. However, 2021 is        |
|  probably partly Covid-inflated too, so it's a bit worrying that the       |
|  numbers are slightly lower than 2019. On the other hand we also did a lot |
|  of major changes to the core mechanics of the game, which likely did not  |
|  have a positive effect on our player numbers. Hopefully, the end result   |
|  will be worth it (I definitely believe so), and many players who have     |
|  taken a break or left due to the changes will hopefully return.           |
|                                                                            |
|  If we look at the big picture, 2021 was still the 5th best year since     |
|  we started to measure player numbers.                                     |
|                                                                            |
|  That said, regardless of what happens in the real world, and what kind    |
|  of changes we make in the game, it would be much better to see our        |
|  numbers go UP instead of down. And for the numbers to go up, getting new  |
|  players is very helpful, so let's have a look at those stats.             |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|            New players created / players leaving the tutorial              |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Year   | New player | Avg. per |  Best   |  Worst  | Leaving  | Leaving   |
|         | total      | day      |  day    |  Day    | tutorial | tutorial  |
|         |            |          |         |         | total    | %         |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  2017   |   15,647   |   42.9   |    88   |   14    |  2,012   |  12.9%    |
|  2018   |   10,902   |   29.9   |    97   |    5    |  1,982   |  18.2%    |
|  2019   |    8,235   |   22.6   |    97   |    4    |  1,693   |  20.6%    |
|  2020   |    7,694   |   21.0   |   321   |    3    |  1,451   |  18.9%    |
|  2021   |    4,438   |   12.2   |    61   |    1    |    824   |  18.6%    |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  This is also somewhat worrying numbers. The number of new players who     |
|  try Genesis are clearly going down. It's positive that, even though the   |
|  numbers of new players are steadily going down between 2017 and 2021,     |
|  the average number of active players have remained fairly steady. So, it  |
|  seems like we're at least keeping most of the players we already have.    |
|  If we can "only" start increasing the number of new players, we           |
|  hopefully will see an increase in average player numbers as well. Easier  |
|  said than done of course, but we do have some plans in motion for that.   |
|  (more about that later).                                                  |
|                                                                            |
|  Okay, let's move on to the guild statistics.                              |
|                                                                            |
|  NOTE: In the statistics below, guilds with two distinct factions (Rangers |
|  and Dragonarmy) count as one guild. Also, since we allow players to idle  |
|  indefinitely in Genesis, these numbers should be taken with a grain of    |
|  salt. A guild with a player, or players, that idle 24/7 may seem very     |
|  active, while in fact they are not. On the other hand, guilds that have   |
|  rules preventing their members from idling may look quite inactive, but   |
|  the players are actually always active when they do play. There are of    |
|  course other factors in play as well, for example some guilds are much    |
|  more restrictive about taking on new members than others, and some guilds |
|  only allow players of specific race(s) and/or align.                      |
|                                                                            |
|  That said, the below statistics still give an indication about which      |
|  guilds are the most popular, even if it's not the whole truth.            |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|             Average number of active players per guild per day             |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       2020 Ranking                    2021 Ranking                         |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       1.  -Mercs     (5.673)          1.  +Mercs     (6.945)               |
|       2.   SoHM      (3.153)          2.   Vampires  (6.553) new!          |
|       3.   DArmy     (2.632)          3.   DArmy     (1.752)               |
|       4.   Angmar    (1.586)          4.  -SoHM      (1.728)               |
|       5.   Glads     (1.252)          5.   Knives    (1.546)               |
|       6.   Calians   (1.030)          6.   Rangers   (0.967)               |
|       7.   Neidar    (0.972)          7.   Glads     (0.936)               |
|       8.   Clerics   (0.956)          8.   Angmar    (0.928)               |
|       9.   Knives    (0.950)          9.   Clerics   (0.763)               |
|       10.  WoHS      (0.934)          10.  Neidar    (0.689)               |
|       11.  Rangers   (0.887)          11. ^Knights   (0.585)               |
|       12.  Cadets    (0.873)          12.  Calians   (0.516)               |
|       13.  Archers   (0.857)          13. @Ogres     (0.510)               |
|       14.  Mages     (0.471)          14.  Cadets    (0.456)               |
|       15.  Monks     (0.438)          15.  Archers   (0.439)               |
|       16.  Union     (0.394)          16.  Monks     (0.428)               |
|       17.  Knights   (0.369)          17.  Union     (0.310)               |
|       18.  Ogres     (0.279)          18. !WoHS      (0.260)               |
|       19.  PoT       (0.208)          19. *Kender    (0.285)               |
|       20.  Academy   (0.169)          20.  PoT       (0.184)               |
|       21.  Kender    (0.024)          21.  Academy   (0.115)               |
|                                       22. !Mages     (0.096)               |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|               + Biggest APH gain (Mercs at +1.272)                         |
|               - Biggest APH loss (SoHM at -1.425)                          |
|               * Biggest growth   (Kender at 1,088% growth)                 |
|               @ Biggest decline  (Ogres at 80% decline)                    |
|               ^ Biggest rise     (Knights up 6 ranks)                      |
|               ! Biggest fall     (Mages and WoHS down 8 ranks)             |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  Hmmmm. Yes, we kind of suspected it, didn't we? Vamps and Mercs currently |
|  rule Genesis in term of active players. Or do they? We need to take       |
|  these numbers with an especially big grain of salt. First of all, due to  |
|  the unique "Layman first then Occupational/Layman"-setup of the Vampire   |
|  guild, most new vampires tend to be mercenaries as occupational guild and |
|  Vampires as layman guild - until the Vampire guilds eventually takes up   |
|  both slots. So, a Merc/Vamp will of course be counted "twice" in the      |
|  data above, just like a Merc/Monk would.                                  |
|                                                                            |
|  Also, it should be noted that some Vampires tend to be daydreaming (idle) |
|  more than most guilds, which also is inflating the numbers for both Mercs |
|  and Vampries in the data. Vampire numbers are of course also up due to    |
|  the "new guild"-effect.                                                   |
|                                                                            |
|  That said, at any given time there are 13,498 Merceneries and/or Vampires |
|  in the game. If we combine ALL the other TWENTY guilds, their numbers are |
|  almost exactly the same (13,493). So, the two most popular guilds beat    |
|  the other 20 guilds in terms of active players on average. Yes, the       |
|  numbers are inflated due to the occ/lay structure of the Vampire guild,   |
|  and an unusually large number of idling players, but it's hard to know    |
|  _how_ inflated the numbers are.                                           |
|                                                                            |
|  It would be interesting to hear what you players think about this. Why    |
|  are Mercs and Vampires so much more popular than other guilds? And        |
|  are they really, or are the numbers completely bonkers due to heavy       |
|  idling by these players? Feel free to share your thoughts on this by      |
|  replying to this post on the forums!                                      |
|                                                                            |
|  Now, what about the other guilds? Well, the caster guilds are plummeting  |
|  with SoHM losing the most players percentage-wise, while Mages and        |
|  WoHS tie for the biggest fall rank-wise. Considering the balance-changes  |
|  that has been going on this year, this is of course not surprising. We    |
|  kind of knew their numbers were down already, and this simply solidifies  |
|  that fact. Hopefully, as we are getting closer to finishing the magic     |
|  recode project, we will also see an improvement in terms of caster        |
|  numbers.                                                                  |
|                                                                            |
|  Not too many ups and down in the other guilds, except the Secret Society  |
|  of Kenders who is up over a THOUSAND percent. Hold on to your purses,     |
|  kenders are all over the realms! Well, not really, it just means their    |
|  numbers were super-low last year. Still, it's nice when the almost "dead" |
|  guilds stir a bit.                                                        |
|                                                                            |
|  Now, let's compare the guilds by align, and see if there has been any     |
|  notable changes since last year.                                          |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|                       Guild activity by align - 2021                       |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        Good-aligned         Neutral-aligned       Evil-aligned             |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        Calians  0.516       Mercs    6.945          DArmy    1.752         |
|        Neidar   0.689       Vampires 6.553          Angmar   0.928         |
|        Clerics  0.763       SoHM     1.728          Knives   1.546         |
|        Rangers  0.967       Glads    0.936          Mages    0.096         |
|        Archers  0.439       WoHS     0.260          PoT      0.184         |
|        Knights  0.585       Cadets   0.456                                 |
|        Kender   0.285       Monks    0.428                                 |
|                             Union    0.310                                 |
|                             Ogres    0.510                                 |
|                             Academy  0.115                                 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Total:    3.805                18.241                4.506                |
|  Total %:  14.3%                68.7%                 17.0%                |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|                       Guild activity by align - 2020                       |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        Good-aligned         Neutral-aligned       Evil-aligned             |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        Calians  1.030       Mercs    5.673          DArmy    2.632         |
|        Neidar   0.972       SoHM     3.153          Angmar   1.586         |
|        Clerics  0.956       Glads    1.252          Knives   0.950         |
|        Rangers  0.887       WoHS     0.934          Mages    0.471         |
|        Archers  0.857       Cadets   0.873          PoT      0.208         |
|        Knights  0.369       Monks    0.438                                 |
|        Kender   0.024       Union    0.394                                 |
|                             Ogres    0.279                                 |
|                             Academy  0.169                                 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Total:    5.673                13.165                5.847                |
|  Total %:  23.0%                53.3%                 23.7%                |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  No surprises here. The neutral guilds continue to rule Genesis in terms   |
|  of playes numbers, and with the addition of the Vampire guild their       |
|  chunk is now larger. The Good vs Evil balance remains very even, but      |
|  both sides lost quite a few players to the neutral guilds.                |
|                                                                            |
|  NOTE: Archers were placed in the good-aligned category in last year's     |
|  post, but since they allow you to be evil, and even have evil titles      |
|  as well as good, I think they belong in the neutral category.             |
|                                                                            |
|  Okay, that's enough stats about mortals. Let's take a look at how many    |
|  new wizards we got last year, and what our wizards have been up to.       |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|                          New wizards per year                              |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  2019: 4                                                                   |
|  2020: 12                                                                  |
|  2021: 7                                                                   |
|                                                                            |
|  Not as many new wizards as in 2020, but seven is a healthy number. We     |
|  also had a couple of experienced wizards return, and they've been quite   |
|  busy as you will see in the next section.                                 |
|                                                                            |
|============================================================================|
|                            WIZARD ACCOMPLISHMENTS                          |
|============================================================================|
|                                                                            |
|  Wow, 2021 has been a really busy year in the wizard world. Trying to      |
|  create a list of EVERYTHING that changed or was added to the game is      |
|  of course always an impossible mission, and especially this year, but     |
|  hopefully I have managed to cover most of the major stuff at least.       |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  First Quarter 2021                                                        |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  - A number of updates to equipment droprates and durability. (Cotillion)  |
|  - Skill costs updated to be more fair. (Cotillion)                        |
|  - UPDATED AREA: Code modernization/update to the troll caves and goblin   |
|    caves in Terel. (Lucius)                                                |
|  - Carnak succeeds Arman as Arch of Balance, while Arman takes over the    |
|    previously vacant position as Arch of Domains.                          |
|  - A massive project to change how both melee and magic combat works in    |
|    Genesis is launched. This project will go on throughout the year, and   |
|    there are many changes and tweaks to all sorts of things regarding      |
|    both melee combat and magic. (Carnak)                                   |
|  - Cotillion succeeds Mercade as Arch of Mudlib. For the first time in     |
|    several decades, Mercade is no longer part of the admin. Thank you for  |
|    everything you've done for Genesis all these years Mercade!             |
|  - NEW AREA: A new Khiraa temple opens in Raumdor. (Nerull)                |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Second Quarter 2021                                                       |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  - The arena in Tyr undergo renovations and modernisations. (Mirandus)     |
|  - The Mariners club moves to Palanthas and now provides players with      |
|    the ability to order customized ships. (Arman)                          |
|  - NEW SYSTEM: It's now possible to fish in many places around Krynn and   |
|    Ansalon. (Arman, inspired by Greneth's fishing rod project)             |
|  - NEW CLUB: The Distinguished Hunters and Anglers Association opens in    |
|    Palanthas. (Arman)                                                      |
|  - NEW AREA: A massive expansion allows sailing all over Krynn and         |
|    Ansalon. New islands, quests, creatures, and adventures awaits. (Arman) |
|  - The compare command is updated to be more useful. (Zizuph)              |
|  - A new <select> comand is added that allows selection of arrows for      |
|    those who use bows. (Ckrik)                                             |
|  - The Arch of Web position is removed and is replaced by the Liege of     |
|    Web position. Cherek is now the Liege of Web instead of Arch of Web.    |
|  - NEW SYSTEM: A brewery system is opened in Iron Delving along with       |
|    a new area and two new quests. Player-made brews are exported to inns   |
|    and pubs all over Krynn and Ansalon - and even as far away as Sparkle.  |
|    (Vitwitch)                                                              |
|  - Tapakah returns from slumber and becomes the new liege of Khalakhor.    |
|  - UPDATED AREA: The village of Sa Morgan in Khalakhor is updated and      |
|    expanded. Some new quests are also added. (Tapakah)                     |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Third Quarter 2021                                                        |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  - UPDATED QUESTS: The quest rewards for a number of quests in Khalakhor   |
|    are raised, including the (in)famous Cadu Maze. Players who completed   |
|    these quests before can "top up" their quest experience. (Tapakah)      |
|  - NEW AREA: A camp with Dunlendings, together with a new quest, appear    |
|    near Edoras. (Raymundo)                                                 |
|  - The auction house in Sparkle is impoved/updated. Most notably money     |
|    can now be transferred directly from a player's bank account when       |
|    bidding on really expensive items. (Zizuph)                             |
|  - NEW SYSTEM: A new housing system in launched along with a real estate   |
|    office in Sparkle. For the first time in Genesis history it's now       |
|    possible for players to purchase a permanent place to live in. The      |
|    first house, a quaint townhouse in Bree, is sold for 58,700 platinum    |
|    coins. (Zizuph, Varian, Cherek)                                         |
|  - Lilith returns from slumber and becomes the new liege of both Avenir    |
|    and Terel.                                                              |
|  - NEW GUILD: The Vampires of Faerun opens and suddenly there are          |
|    both coffins and coffin-hunters all over Genesis. (Nerull)              |
|  - UPDATED GUILD: The Dragon Order is recoded and updated. (Ckrik)         |
|  - NEW AREA: A new area, quest, and boss-encounter for myths is added      |
|    to Raumdor, along with other smaller updates to Raumdor. (Nerull)       |
|  - UPDATED AREA: Several old areas in Calia are updated. Most notably      |
|    the Satyr area is updated and expanded. (Greneth)                       |
|  - UPDATED AREA: Numerous updates and bug fixes to many places in          |
|    Avenir and Terel. (Lilith)                                              |
|  - New alchemy-related content is added to Faerun. (Nerull)                |
|  - Hundreds(!) of bugs are fixed in Khalakhor, and the magic map           |
|    coverage of the domain is also expanded. (Tapakah, Treacher)            |
|  - NEW AREA: A new and larger Golbar camp opens in Cadu. (Treacher)        |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Fourth Quarter 2021                                                       |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  - The mounts in Tyr are updated. (Meton)                                  |
|  - Cadu gets a new quest, the first in a loooooong time. (Treacher)        |
|  - NEW SYSTEM: Various pieces of equipment are updated to also become      |
|    unarmed enhancers, which, (as the name implies) will aid players in     |
|    unarmed combat. (Ckrik, Zizuph)                                         |
|  - GUILD UPDATED: The Blademaster guild is updated with a new skill and    |
|    a new ability. (Tapakah)                                                |
|  - AREA UPDATED: The Underdark in Avenir is expanded. (Lilith)             |
|  - AREA UPDATED: The Bazaar Museum in Avenir is expanded. (Lilith)         |
|  - AREA UPDATED: A new circle for unarmed sparring opens in Avenir, and    |
|    there are also minor updates to the Ziggurat. (Lilith)                  |
|  - AREA UPDATED: The port area in Avenir is updated to allow fishing,      |
|    and a new quest is added as well. (Lilith)                              |
|  - A new service in Palanthas makes it possible for players to change      |
|    their stat focus without going suicidal. (Zizuph, Cherek)               |
|  - NEW AREA: The catacombs of Sybarus on the isle of dead opens. In this   |
|    spooky area players can find a number of new interesting artifacts, as  |
|    well as several new quests. (Lilith)                                    |
|  - NEW AREA: Two new camps and a new quest appears in Cirath. (Meton)      |
|  - Carnak steps down as Arch of Balance and is succeeded by Arman while    |
|    Cherek takes over Arman's old role as Arch of Domains.                  |
|  - Arman, together with Zizuph and Ckrik in the AoB team, takes over the   |
|    massive melee and magic recode project started by Carnak.               |
|  - NEW AREA: It's now possible to sail the waters in and around            |
|    Khalakhor. (Tapakah)                                                    |
|  - NEW AREA: A new area opens northwest of Port Macdunn. (Tapakah)         |
|  - EVENT: The Trick-or-Treating event is updated and held again, and it's  |
|    even more fun this time. (Gorboth)                                      |
|  - Armour weights are adjusted to make more sense. (Ckrik)                 |
|  - EVENT: A brand new Genesis Advent Calendar Event is held. It's          |
|    possibly the weirdest and most quirky event ever made. (Gorboth)        |
|  - EVENT: The Wheel-of-Fun lottery is back in Sparkle, and Magius is       |
|    crowned the luckiest player in Genesis. (Cherek)                        |
|  - NEW SYSTEM: Various magical artifacts throughout the realms are updated |
|    to also become spell enchancers. This is a major part of the brand      |
|    new magic system that will be rolled out during 2022. (Zizuph, Arman)   |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  Wow, that's a lot of things. And I probably missed a bunch of stuff too.  |
|  Actually, this year has without a doubt been the busiest year in the      |
|  wizard world in a very long time, and 2022 looks to be just as busy, or   |
|  busier. The wizard world is currently bustling with both activity and     |
|  positivity, and that's great for Genesis!                                 |
|                                                                            |
|============================================================================|
|                        WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?                          |
|============================================================================|
|                                                                            |
|  I ended my last State of the Donut post by making a number of guesses     |
|  (not predictions or goals) about what I thought would happen during       |
|  2021. So, let's start by checking how that went. These were my guesses    |
|  for 2021:                                                                 |
|                                                                            |
|  - We're going to get a new magic system that will be more balanced        |
|    and more fun for everyone.                                              |
|  * We're not there yet, but we did get started, and we got quite far.      |
|                                                                            |
|  - We're going to have much more balanced races in Genesis before          |
|    2021 ends.                                                              |
|  * Nope.                                                                   |
|                                                                            |
|  - The Bloodsea will expand.                                               |
|  * It sure did, way more than I had thought too. And sailing even          |
|    expanded beyond Krynn/Ansalon!                                          |
|                                                                            |
|  - Faerun will become bigger.                                              |
|  * Well, the room count did not change that much, but quite a bit of new   |
|    content, including a new guild has been added, so I am counting this    |
|    as a correct guess.                                                     |
|                                                                            |
|  - Genesis will get a Patreon page, and the donated money will be used     |
|    for paid promotional ads.                                               |
|  * We do have a Patreon page, but it's not live yet, so it does not        |
|    count as a correct guess.                                               |
|                                                                            |
|  - There will be more new players created during this year compared to     |
|    last year.                                                              |
|  * Nope.                                                                   |
|                                                                            |
|  - We're going to get more new wizards during 2021 than we got during      |
|    2020.                                                                   |
|  * Nope, we got 5 fewer new wizards, but still more than 2019 at least.    |
|                                                                            |
|  - There will be at least four events.                                     |
|  * Close, there was three events during 2021.                              |
|                                                                            |
|  - At least one new guild will open.                                       |
|  * Yes, Vampires opened. And we also got a new club (Anglers), and a       |
|    guild recoded (Dragon Order).                                           |
|                                                                            |
|  - Cassius will stop idling and start killing people again.                |
|  * This was meant as a joke, but some people saw it like I was egging      |
|    Cassius on. That was not the intention at all. I think he was           |
|    involved in killing some players, though, so my guess ended up being    |
|    correct.                                                                |
|                                                                            |
|  All in all, I only got 4 of 10 guesses right (40%). I really thought I    |
|  would do better. On the flip side, A LOT of very positive things          |
|  happened during 2021 that I did not see coming at all. This goes to show  |
|  how unpredictable the wizard world can be, and this is also the reason    |
|  we rarely make promises.                                                  |
|                                                                            |
|  So, what will happen during 2022?                                         |
|                                                                            |
|  Since it's already early March, I am making my guesses for 2022 with      |
|  a bit more knowledge. Hopefully this little "cheat" will help me beat     |
|  last year's poor guesses. I clearly need it!                              |
|                                                                            |
|  These are my somewhat educated GUESSES for 2022:                          |
|                                                                            |
|  - The new magic system will be completed, and magic and melee will be     |
|    much better balanced and fun.                                           |
|                                                                            |
|  - The Ranger guild will be recoded.                                       |
|                                                                            |
|  - Two or more layman guilds will open.                                    |
|                                                                            |
|  - Two or more houses will be added.                                       |
|                                                                            |
|  - The Petron page will go live and we will have continuous ads for        |
|    Genesis running.                                                        |
|                                                                            |
|  - We will get more new players during 2022 compared to 2021.              |
|                                                                            |
|  - There will be at least three new areas of decent size added to          |
|    the game.                                                               |
|                                                                            |
|  Now, like I said, it's possible none of these things happens, but those   |
|  are my predictions. We'll find out in about 10 months if I was right      |
|  or wrong!                                                                 |
|                                                                            |
|  Cherek, The Recognized Keeper of Genesis                                  |
|                                                                            |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                                                                              

User avatar
Cherek
Site Admin
Posts: 3609
Joined: 04 Mar 2010 04:36

Re: State of the Donut Addresses

Post by Cherek » 09 Feb 2023 19:05

Code: Select all

                    +=====================================+
                    |    THE STATE OF THE DONUT - 2022    |
                    +=====================================+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                            |
|  Greetings fellow Genesisians,                                             |
|                                                                            |
|  Okay, it's time to take a look at last year's statistics and also peek    |
|  into the crystal ball to try to figure out what will happen in 2023.      |
|                                                                            |
|============================================================================|
|                              THE PLAYER NUMBERS                            |
|============================================================================|
|                                                                            |
|  Let's start by taking a look at the average player numbers during 2022    |
|  and then break it down into lots of different pieces.                     |
|                                                                            |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                            |
|  Average player activity by week for entire year, beginning Jan 01, 2022.  |
|                                                                            |
+------------+-----+----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+
|    37.5    |     |    |  XX|    |     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    37.0    |     |    |  XX|   X|     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    36.5    |     |    |  XX|   X|     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    36.0    |   X |    | XXX|   X|     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    35.5    |   X |  X | XXX|   X|     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    35.0    |   X |  XX| XXX|   X|     |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    34.5    |  XX |  XX| XXX|   X|X    |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    34.0    |  XX |X XX| XXX|  XX|X    |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    33.5    |  XX |XXXX| XXX|X XX|X    |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    33.0    |X XX |XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|X    |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    32.5    |X XX |XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|X    |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    32.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|X    |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    31.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|X    |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    31.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|X    |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    30.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XX   |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    30.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XX   |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    29.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XX   |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    29.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XX   |    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    28.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XX   |X  X|    |     |    |     |    |    |
|    28.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XX   |X  X|    |     |    |   X |X   |  X |
|    27.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXX X|X  X|    |     |    |   X |XX  | XX |
|    27.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXX X|X  X| XX | XX  |X   |  XXX|XX  | XX |
|    26.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XX X| XX | XX  |X   |  XXX|XX  |XXX |
|    26.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX| XX  |X   |  XXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    25.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX| XX  |X   |  XXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    25.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX |X   |  XXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    24.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX |X   | XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    24.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX |X X |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    23.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    23.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    22.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    22.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    21.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    21.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    20.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    20.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    19.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    19.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| A  18.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| V  18.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| G  17.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    17.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| P  16.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E  16.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| R  15.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    15.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| H  14.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| O  14.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| U  13.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| R  13.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    12.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E  12.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| A  11.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| C  11.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| H  10.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    10.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| W   9.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E   9.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E   8.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| K   8.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
+------------+-----+----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+
|  Month     |Jan  |Feb |Mar |Apr |May  |Jun |Jul |Aug  |Sep |Oct  |Nov |Dec |
+------------+-----+----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+
|                                                                            |
|                Mean yearly average players per hour = 28.92                |
|                                                                            |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                            |
|  Well, this is very similar to the graph of 2021. Player numbers are       |
|  up during the winter months and lower during the summer, as always.       |
|  However, it is interesting to note that the summer decline wasn't as      |
|  big this year, and the 'winter peak' numbers were not as high as in       |
|  2021. So, while the overall average number of players were almost the     |
|  same for 2021 and 2022, we had more even player numbers throughout        |
|  the year in 2022. Let's compare 2021 and 2022 in more detail.             |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|             Comparing player activity over two time periods:               |
|                      A: Jan 01 2021 - Dec 31 2021                          |
|                      B: Jan 01 2022 - Dec 31 2022                          |
|-------+-------+-------+----------+--+-----------+-------+-------+----------|
| Hour  |   A   |   B   | % change |  | Weekday   |   A   |   B   | % change |
|-------+-------+-------+----------+  +-----------+-------+-------+----------|
| 00.00 | 33.20 | 30.07 |   -9.42 %|  | Sunday    | 27.92 | 28.65 |   +2.62 %|
| 01.00 | 29.79 | 27.04 |   -9.22 %|  | Monday    | 29.63 | 29.71 |   +0.28 %|
| 02.00 | 28.30 | 25.98 |   -8.20 %|  | Tuesday   | 30.44 | 29.21 |   -4.04 %|
| 03.00 | 27.94 | 26.39 |   -5.54 %|  | Wednesday | 31.01 | 28.43 |   -8.32 %|
| 04.00 | 26.70 | 26.29 |   -1.53 %|  | Thursday  | 31.02 | 28.89 |   -6.84 %|
| 05.00 | 24.81 | 25.48 |   +2.70 %|  | Friday    | 30.51 | 29.02 |   -4.87 %|
| 06.00 | 23.09 | 23.42 |   +1.42 %|  | Saturday  | 28.75 | 28.50 |   -0.87 %|
| 07.00 | 23.25 | 22.98 |   -1.16 %|  +-----------+-------+-------+----------|
| 08.00 | 24.12 | 24.72 |   +2.49 %|                                         |
| 09.00 | 25.53 | 25.97 |   +1.74 %|                                         |
| 10.00 | 27.23 | 27.28 |   +0.17 %|  +--------------------------------------|
| 11.00 | 27.63 | 27.12 |   -1.83 %|  |       - - - Field  Sizes - - -       |
| 12.00 | 28.86 | 27.78 |   -3.72 %|  | Number of days in Period A:     364  |
| 13.00 | 29.68 | 29.03 |   -2.18 %|  | Number of days in Period B:     364  |
| 14.00 | 30.90 | 29.92 |   -3.18 %|  +--------------------------------------|
| 15.00 | 33.24 | 31.68 |   -4.67 %|                                         |
| 16.00 | 34.33 | 32.79 |   -4.48 %|                                         |
| 17.00 | 35.28 | 33.75 |   -4.32 %|  +--------------------------------------|
| 18.00 | 35.98 | 35.39 |   -1.64 %|  |           Overall Summary            |
| 19.00 | 37.43 | 37.48 |   +0.15 %|  +--------------------------------------|
| 20.00 | 39.57 | 38.55 |   -2.58 %|  | Overall average for Period A:  29.90 |
| 21.00 | 40.53 | 38.09 |   -6.01 %|  | Overall average for Period B:  28.92 |
| 22.00 | 39.37 | 37.34 |   -5.15 %|  |                                      |
| 23.00 | 36.78 | 34.33 |   -6.64 %|  | Overall increase/decrease:  -3.29 %  |
|-------+-------+-------+----------+--+--------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  Yeah, as I already mentioned above, our player numbers in 2022 are very   |
|  close to our player numbers in 2021. A slight decline, though, which      |
|  always is sad to see, even if it's a very small decline.                  |
|                                                                            |
|  Now, let's have a look at all the years since we started collecting       |
|  player number data and see how 2022 measures up. Please note that in      |
|  order for the graph to fit I have removed the quarterly details in the    |
|  below graph. From now on, this graph will only show the total average     |
|  number of players for each year (not broken down into quarters).          |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|               Population levels in APH over the last 15 years              |
|                                                                            |
|----+-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|40.0|                                                                       |
|39.0|                                                                       |
|38.0|                                                                       |
|37.0|                                                                       |
|36.0|                                          XX                           |
|35.0|                                          XX  XX                       |
|34.0|                                          XX  XX      XX               |
|33.0|                                          XX  XX      XX               |
|32.0|                                          XX  XX      XX               |
|31.0|                                          XX  XX      XX               |
|30.0|                                          XX  XX  XX  XX  XX           |
|29.0|                                      XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
|28.0|                                      XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
|27.0|                                      XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
|26.0|                                      XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
|25.0|                                      XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
|24.0|                                  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
|23.0|                                  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
|22.0|                                  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
|21.0|                                  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
|20.0|                                  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
|19.0|                                  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
|18.0|                                  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
|17.0|                                  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
|16.0|      XX  XX                      XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
|15.0|      XX  XX                      XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
|14.0|      XX  XX      XX              XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
|13.0|      XX  XX  XX  XX          XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
|12.0|      XX  XX  XX  XX      XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
|11.0|      XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
|10.0|      XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
| 9.0|      XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
| 8.0|      XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX       |
|--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---------|
|Year|      08 |09 |10 |11 |12 |13 |14 |15 |16 |17 |18 |19 |20 |21 |22       |
|--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---------|
|Ave |      15 |16 |13 |14 |10 |12 |13 |24 |29 |36 |35 |30 |34 |29 |28       |
|    |      .8 |.1 |.0 |.0 |.7 |.5 |.3 |.2 |.1 |.6 |.2 |.5 |.5 |.9 |.9       |
|--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---------|
|                                                                            |
|  Okay, so what do we make of this? Well, first of all, the numbers in 2022 |
|  and at least part of 2021 are definitely affected by the Covid pandemic,  |
|  so I think we almost have to ignore those years as our numbers went up    |
|  due to a global iRL event we had no control over. I think it makes more   |
|  sense to compare our numbers to 2017, 2018, and 2019. As you can see,     |
|  we are currently in a decline, but a decline that seems to be relatively  |
|  slow at the moment. But, why are our player numbers declining?            |
|                                                                            |
|  I know some of you feel that the amount of major changes to the game in   |
|  recent years have had a negative effect on player numbers. While this     |
|  can certainly effect player numbers, I think the effect is overall quite  |
|  small, and that the real key to why numbers are down is found in the      |
|  below stats.                                                              |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|            New players created / players leaving the tutorial              |
|     (No data from previous years as we started measuring this in 2017)     |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Year   | New player | Avg. per |  Best   |  Worst  | Leaving  | Leaving   |
|         | total      | day      |  day    |  Day    | tutorial | tutorial  |
|         |            |          |         |         | total    | %         |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  2017   |   15,647   |   42.9   |    88   |   14    |  2,012   |  12.9%    |
|  2018   |   10,902   |   29.9   |    97   |    5    |  1,982   |  18.2%    |
|  2019   |    8,235   |   22.6   |    97   |    4    |  1,693   |  20.6%    |
|  2020   |    7,694   |   21.0   |   321   |    3    |  1,451   |  18.9%    |
|  2021   |    4,438   |   12.2   |    61   |    1    |    824   |  18.6%    |
|  2022   |    3,670   |   10.1   |    96   |    1    |    557   |  15.2%    |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  Well it's pretty obvious I think. The numbers here reflect the yearly     |
|  average player numbers perfectly. Our player numbers go down because we   |
|  don't attract enough new players. Simple as that. During our best years   |
|  in terms of player numbers we also attracted the most new players. The    |
|  only way to turn things around is to either prevent people from leaving   |
|  or attracting more new players. I think our playerbase already is very    |
|  loyal compared to many other games, and while we always can improve when  |
|  it comes to encouraging existing players to stay around, and think the    |
|  easiest way to increase player numbers is to increase the number of new   |
|  players.                                                                  |
|                                                                            |
|  We have enough data to show that around 15-16% of new characters do       |
|  leave the tutorial, and it's quite obvious if we look at the average      |
|  player number data that at least some of them remain and become more      |
|  permanent additions to our community.                                     |
|                                                                            |
|  But why aren't we attracting more players then? Why has it gone down      |
|  so dramatically the last couple of years? Well, the main reason is        |
|  because the Google Chrome App Store, which was our main way to get new    |
|  players in recent years, has been discontinued by Google. So, we need     |
|  a new way to attract players. Now, the Google Chrome Store still exists,  |
|  however not for _apps_, and Genesis was an app, so we don't exist there   |
|  anymore. At least not for Windows and Mac users, which of course are      |
|  operating systems many of our new players used. Google started talking    |
|  about removing Google Chrome Apps back in 2016, and there has been a lot  |
|  of dates changing back and forth, but it's clear that the popularity of   |
|  the Google App Store was already declining in 2017, and it just went      |
|  downhill from there as Google announced it would be shut down. Support    |
|  for Windows and Mac Google Apps finally seems to have ended in 2021.      |
|  I _think_ our app can still be downloaded on Chromebooks, but as I        |
|  understand it, the Chrome App Store will eventually be discontinued       |
|  for Chromebooks as well. There is, however, conflicting information       |
|  regarding this.                                                           |
|                                                                            |
|  Now, there are of course other factors that affect our new player         |
|  numbers, but there is no doubt Google's decision and the fall of          |
|  their Chrome App Store is the main reason for our decline as well.        |
|                                                                            |
|  The current plan to get new players is to use Patreon.com to collect      |
|  funds in order to spend the money on paid ads. We think this is the way   |
|  that could have the most immediate impact, however, this project has      |
|  been delayed due to all sorts of things. All from legal to technical      |
|  reasons, as well as me (Cherek) simply not having time for it, both due   |
|  to RL stuff and the many other global changes we have worked on lately.   |
|  I will really aim to make it a priority for 2023, though, beacause I am   |
|  very convinced that it WILL turn things around when it comes to player    |
|  numbers. The data above clearly shows that it will work, we just need     |
|  to make it happen. We've also made very good progress on this project     |
|  recently, so I really do think it could happen pretty soon.               |
|                                                                            |
|  That said, ALL players and wizards can help turning things around.        |
|  Simply reach out to Greneth, the liege of the 'Promotion' domain, and     |
|  offer to help out.                                                        |
|                                                                            |
|  Okay, let's move on to the guild statistics.                              |
|                                                                            |
|  NOTE: In the statistics below, the Blue and Red Dragomarmies count as     |
|  one guild. (Not sure if Rangers still have factions, but if they do,      |
|  they also cound as one guild. Also, since we allow players to idle        |
|  indefinitely in Genesis these numbers should be taken with a BIG grain    |
|  of salt. A guild with a player, or players, that idle 24/7 may seem very  |
|  active while in fact they are not. On the other hand, guilds that have    |
|  rules preventing their members from idling may look quite inactive, but   |
|  the players are actually always active when they do play. There are of    |
|  course other factors in play as well, for example some guilds are much    |
|  more restrictive about taking on new members than others, and some guilds |
|  only allow players of specific race(s) and/or align.                      |
|                                                                            |
|  That said, the below statistics still give an indication about which      |
|  guilds are the most popular, even if it's not the whole truth.            |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|             Average number of active players per guild per day             |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       2021 Ranking                    2022 Ranking                         |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       1.   Mercs     (6.945)          1.    Vampires  (6.546)              |
|       2.   Vampires  (6.553)          2.   -Mercs     (4.365)              |
|       3.   DArmy     (1.752)          3.    Knives    (1.662)              |
|       4.   SoHM      (1.728)          4.    SoHM      (1.434)              |
|       5.   Knives    (1.546)          5.    Glads     (1.282)              |
|       6.   Rangers   (0.967)          6. +*^Monks     (1.140)              |
|       7.   Glads     (0.936)          7.    Ogres     (1.013)              |
|       8.   Angmar    (0.928)          8.    Angmar    (0.434)              |
|       9.   Clerics   (0.763)          9.    Knights   (0.365)              |
|       10.  Neidar    (0.689)          10.   Archers   (0.321)              |
|       11.  Knights   (0.585)          11.   Cadets    (0.288)              |
|       12.  Calians   (0.516)          12.  !DArmy     (0.255)              |
|       13.  Ogres     (0.510)          13.   Rangers   (0.252)              |
|       14.  Cadets    (0.456)          14.   Calians   (0.214)              |
|       15.  Archers   (0.439)          15.   PoT       (0.134)              |
|       16.  Monks     (0.428)          16.   Union     (0.120)              |
|       17.  Union     (0.310)          17.   Neidar    (0.109)              |
|       18.  WoHS      (0.260)          18. @!Clerics   (0.090)              |
|       19.  Kender    (0.285)          19.   WoHS      (0.090)              |
|       20.  PoT       (0.184)          20.   Kender    (0.057)              |
|       21.  Academy   (0.115)          21.   Mages     (0.052)              |
|       22.  Mages     (0.096)          22.   Academy   (0.016)              |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|               + Biggest APH gain (Monks at +0.712)                         |
|               - Biggest APH loss (Mercs at -2.580)                         |
|               * Biggest growth   (Monks at 266% growth)                    |
|               @ Biggest decline  (Clerics at 89% decline)                  |
|               ^ Biggest rise     (Monks up 10 ranks)                       |
|               ! Biggest fall     (DArmy and Clerics down 9 ranks)          |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  First of all, a BIG thank you to Baz for crunching the numbers for both   |
|  the guild data above and the align data below. This is the most time      |
|  consuming part of the statistics in this post, so, getting some help was  |
|  very nice.                                                                |
|                                                                            |
|  Now, what do we make of this? Well, Mercs are Vampires are still          |
|  clearly ahead of the pack, but the Merc numbers have dropped quite a      |
|  bit. With changes taking place in the Vampire guild during the second     |
|  half of 2022 I also expect their numbers for 2023 to be quite different.  |
|  But, for now, Mercs and Vampires continue to rule Genesis. However,       |
|  Vampires are also the number one idler's guild in Genesis (by design),    |
|  so it's no wonder their numbers will always be high. Speaking of idling,  |
|  the Dragonarmy guilds appear to have lost a lot of players, but,          |
|  in 2021 they had one specific player who idled 24/7 for most of the       |
|  year, so, that probably added 1.0 to their numbers for that year. Monks   |
|  are clearly the big winner otherwise, leapfrogging many guilds in the     |
|  list above, but whether that is due to actual activity or having a few    |
|  big idlers in the guild is of course unclear. Like I said, these stats    |
|  should be taken with a grain of salt, as idling players have a big        |
|  effect on the stats.                                                      |
|                                                                            |
|  That said, one thing that is pretty clear is that the caster guilds       |
|  aren't doing too well right now. This is of course likely due to all      |
|  the magic changes that we've been doing in 2021 and 2022. The magic       |
|  recode did finish in 2022, so we might hope for more positive caster      |
|  numbers in 2023.                                                          |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|                       Guild activity by align - 2022                       |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        Good-aligned         Neutral-aligned       Evil-aligned             |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        Knights  0.365       Vampires 6.546          Knives   1.662         |
|        Archers  0.321       Mercs    4.365          Angmar   0.434         |
|        Rangers  0.252       SoHM     1.434          DArmy    0.255         |
|        Calians  0.214       Glads    1.282          PoT      0.134         |
|        Neidar   0.109       Monks    1.140          Mages    0.052         |
|        Clerics  0.090       Ogres    1.013                                 |
|        Kender   0.057       Cadets   0.288                                 |
|                             Union    0.120                                 |
|                             WoHS     0.090                                 |
|                             Academy  0.016                                 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Total:    1.408                16.204                2.537                |
|  Total %:   7.0%                80.4%                 12.6%                |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|                       Guild activity by align - 2021                       |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        Good-aligned         Neutral-aligned       Evil-aligned             |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        Calians  0.516       Mercs    6.945          DArmy    1.752         |
|        Neidar   0.689       Vampires 6.553          Angmar   0.928         |
|        Clerics  0.763       SoHM     1.728          Knives   1.546         |
|        Rangers  0.967       Glads    0.936          Mages    0.096         |
|        Archers  0.439       WoHS     0.260          PoT      0.184         |
|        Knights  0.585       Cadets   0.456                                 |
|        Kender   0.285       Monks    0.428                                 |
|                             Union    0.310                                 |
|                             Ogres    0.510                                 |
|                             Academy  0.115                                 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Total:    3.805                18.241                4.506                 |
| Total %:  14.3%                68.7%                 17.0%                 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  Neutral guilds continue to attract the most players, as always. This is   |
|  something that has become more and more clear each year. A big part of    |
|  the reason is of course that we have more neutral guilds in total and     |
|  that several of the neutral guilds are free to join and leave. The main   |
|  guilds new players choose are also neutral (cadets, academy, glads,       |
|  mercs, and sometimes SoHM). Then we also have idling vamps on top of      |
|  that, so it's no wonder the statistics make it seem like almost everyone  |
|  are in neutral guilds.                                                    |
|                                                                            |
|  It would be interesting to see how the numbers would look if we could     |
|  remove all characters under a certain age and the idling-time for vamps   |
|  from the data. However, that is currently not possible, so we'll never    |
|  it's hard to guess how those numbers would look.                          |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|                           New wizards per year                             |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  2019: 4                                                                   |
|  2020: 12                                                                  |
|  2021: 7                                                                   |
|  2022: 8                                                                   |
|                                                                            |
|  Look at that, one more compared to 2021! These numbers of course also     |
|  go hand in hand with our average player numbers, so no surprise that it   |
|  was similar to 2021.                                                      |
|                                                                            |
|============================================================================|
|                            WIZARD ACCOMPLISHMENTS                          |
|============================================================================|
|                                                                            |
|  Just like 2021, 2022 has also been a busy year in the wizard world.       |
|  Trying to create a list of EVERYTHING that changed or been added to the   |
|  game is of course always an impossible mission, and especially years like |
|  2021 and 2022, when so much has happened. In the list below I have tried  |
|  to group together a number of changes, since so much has happened that    |
|  making a seprate entry for each change/addition would make this post      |
|  extremely long (and it's not short as it is). I also left out some very   |
|  minor changes, but I think I've managed to list all of the big important  |
|  stuff and most of the smaller stuff.                                      |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  First Quarter 2022                                                        |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  - SYSTEM UPDATED: The new magic system is launched. This means that       |
|    the spell enhancers launched in late 2021 will be used to boost the     |
|    effectiveness of many spells. But the change also includes a new way    |
|    to calculate mana, changes to how maintained spells work, a much better |
|    way to calculate and use resistances to magic, individual adjustments   |
|    to all our magic guilds, and much more. Changes, additions, and         |
|    tweaks to this new magic system continue for most of year, but I will   |
|    not post everything here as it would just flood the 'Wizard             |
|    accomplishments' section. Let's just say that this was a massive        |
|    project that took a lot of time and effort. Arman and Zizuph handled    |
|    most of this and deserves a big thank you, but several other wizards    |
|    were also involved, including myself, Ckrik, Cotillion, and others.     |
|    I'd also like to say thank you to all players who helped test things    |
|    and provide feedback. (Arman, Zizuph)                                   |
|  - AREA UPDATED: Avenir receives a number of updates. There are minor      |
|    updates to the Ziggurat, the Holm, and a larger update to the           |
|    Utterdark, as the entire area is reshaped. (Lilith)                     |
|  - AREA UPDATED: It's now possible for players to sail to the Rift of      |
|    Sybarus using their own/chartered ships. (Lilith, Arman, Tapakah)       |
|  - AREA UPDATED: A number of updates to northern Terel. For                |
|    example it's now possible to repair armours in the town of Last and     |
|    the doctor there has learned how to heal broken bones.                  |
|  - NEW QUEST: A new quest is added to northern Terel. (Lilith)             |
|  - AREA UPDATED: Faerun expands with a small new area. (Brine)             |
|  - SYSTEM UPDATED: Three new imbuements appears, along with a number of    |
|    other imbuement-related updates. (Ckrik)                                |
|  - A long standing problem with armours weighs is fixed. (Cotillion)       |
|  - NEW HOUSE: A townhouse in Calathin is sold to a player for a huge       |
|    pile of platinum coins. This is the second house that is created and    |
|    sold in our new housing system. (Lilith, Zizuph)                        |
|  - Guild racks are updated so it's now easier to sort out broken           |
|    items. (Ckrik)                                                          |
|  - NEW BOSS: The legendary Terel boss Benton returns to Genesis and he     |
|    brings lots of new top-tier equipment with him. (Lilith)                |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Second Quarter 2022                                                       |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  - Arman steps down as Arch of Balance and is replaced by Ckrik.           |
|  - NEW GUILD: The Saurian layman/racial guild opens somewhere in Kalad,    |
|    which allows players to become lizard-people. Sssssssweet!              |
|  - NEW QUEST: Goblins are sighted near Port McDunn and a new quests is     |
|    added as well. (Tapakah)                                                |
|  - AREA UPDATED: Various updates to Khalakhor. This includes changes to    |
|    the Cadu bard and undertaker, new wildlife (including fish) outside     |
|    Port McDunn, a new herb shop in Eil Galaith, as well as minor changes   |
|    to the village of Baile Ashlagh. (Tapakah)                              |
|  - Genesis is mentioned on the well-read website Lifehacker.com, which is  |
|    the second time in just a few years that we get some major press (the   |
|    other of course being the PC Gamer article).                            |
|  - The undead race is updated so they will now also suffer fatigue when    |
|    moving around, although still less than living beings. (Ckrik, Cherek)  |
|  - A problem with temporary unarmed combat skill not actually affecting    |
|    combat is fixed. (Cotillion)                                            |
|  - The player behind Finwe passes away and a statue of him is created in   |
|    the memorial Garden. Upon hearing that Finwe was seriously ill and had  |
|    been taken to a hospital our community rallied to sign an e-card for    |
|    him. In less than 48 hours over a hundred different players wrote       |
|    personal greetings to Finwe, however, he passed away before he could    |
|    get it. We often squabble and complain about game-related stuff in      |
|    our community, but when it really mattered everyone put aside their     |
|    differences and joined forces, proving what a tight-knit community we   |
|    really are. When something like this happens, it affects us greatly,    |
|    and it shows how deeply we really do care for each other.               |
|    And that's one of the best things with Genesis - the lifelong           |
|    friendships. (Cherek)                                                   |
|  - AREA UPDATED: Both big and small updates to many places in Avenir and   |
|    Terel. The largest change is the new additions to the Fort Sybarus area |
|    that includes new amenities in the form of a post office, a place for   |
|    weapon and armour care, a barber who works with facial har, and a       |
|    dining hall. (Lilith)                                                   |
|  - NEW-ISH QUESTS: Two very old quests in the Shire that have been closed  |
|    for a long time reopens. (Tapakah)                                      |
|  - AREA UPDATED: A new direct route from Sparkle to Port McDunn is added   |
|    and other shiplines within Khalakhor are also rerouted. (Tapakah)       |
|  - SYSTEM UPDATED: Many players discover that it's possible to almost      |
|    instantly travel between many places using the very fast ships on the   |
|    relatively new seas of Genesis. In order to make travel by private ship |
|    a little less unrealistically instant, 'sailing events' are added,      |
|    which slow things down a bit. (Arman, Cherek)                           |
|  - NEW SYSTEM: A pilot study for a potential new 'stumble' system takes    |
|    place north of Port McDunn. (Tapkah)                                    |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Third Quarter 2022                                                         |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  - NEW GUILD: Half-orcs, a new racial guild for humans and goblins opens   |
|    in Faerun. (Nerull)                                                     |
|  - NEW SYSTEM: Another pilot study for a potential new bank fees system    |
|    takes place in the lands of Khalakhor. (Tapakah)                        |
|  - Various updates to Krynn and Ansalon guilds. This includes hightened    |
|    security for Vingaard Keep and the Towers of High Sorcery, uniform      |
|    updates for the Dragonarmies, as well as some quality of life updates   |
|    to the Raiders. (Vitwitch)                                              |
|  - NEW AREA: Coille Leathann, a forest northeast of Sa Morgan in Khalakhor |
|    can now be visisted. (Zhar)                                             |
|  - GUILD UPDATE: The Ranger guild is recoded and updated to the 'new'      |
|    guild standard. This is quite the milestone, because the huge project   |
|    to update all our guilds to use the same system was started back in     |
|    2008. Prior to this, all different guilds used different systems, which |
|    created a number of bugs and balance issues. It took 14 years, but we   |
|    got it done eventually! Zizuph and Varian were the lucky(?) wizards     |
|    who got to finish this project with the Ranger guild, but during the    |
|    last 14 years countless of wizards have worked on updating our many     |
|    guilds. (Zizuph, Varian)                                                |
|  - The player behind Raelle passes away and a statue of her is created in  |
|    the memorial Garden. This time, since Raelle was in an accident, there  |
|    was no time to rally the community, but Raelle, just like Finwe, was a  |
|    belowed member of our community and had there been something we could   |
|    have done to help her in any little way, I am 100% sure everyone would  |
|    have pitched in. Sadly, it all happened very quickly and there was      |
|    nothing anyone could have done. (Cherek)                                |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Fourth Quarter 2022                                                       |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  - BOSS UPDATED: The nazgul encounter is changed to provide a more         |
|    balanced challenge for all types of players. A new piece of equipment   |
|    is also added. (Zizuph, Varian, Ckrik)                                  |
|  - Rooms that allow for free emote are changed so only those with <options |
|    intimate on> can enter. (Zizuph, Cherek)                                |
|  - AREA UPDATED: Various minor updates to Khalakhor, including more        |
|    locations to find herbs, and an update to the fishmonger of Port        |
|    McDunn. (Tapakah)                                                       |
|    NEW BOSS: A great serpent is added to Emerald, along with some nice     |
|    equipment. (Velith)                                                     |
|   - Casters get improved an improved spell-targetting system. (Zizuph)     |
|  - SYSTEM UPDATED: The weight of various spell components are reduced,     |
|    making life a little easier for many spellcasters. (Zizuph)             |
|  - GUILD UPDATE: An old issue with the Drow guild which caused many        |
|    houses to become unjoinable is fixed. (Zizuph, Nerull)                  |
|   - Old issues with Morgul Mage steeds fixed. (Zizuph)                     |
|  - SYSTEM UPDATED: There is a global update to combat that aims to slow    |
|    down fights and make it more similar speed-wise to how it was before    |
|    the so called 'white hits change'. That change brought many positive    |
|    things to the game, but the fast combat was an unwanted side effect     |
|    that now has been fixed. This change also included tweaks to evade,     |
|    stun and stoneskin abilities since a design problem was identified.     |
|    It took a while, but the major white hits combat change that was        |
|    launched in 2021 now finally works more like it  was intended from      |
|    the start. (Zizuph, Ckrik)                                              |
|  - Greneth becomes the liege of Calia.                                     |
|  - EVENT: The wonderfully quirky Advent Calendar Event is held for the     |
|    second year in a row. (Gorboth)                                         |
|  - EVENT: The Wheel-of-Fun lottery is back in Sparkle and Noxxio is        |
|    crowned the luckiest player in Genesis. (Cherek)                        |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  Wow, that was a lot of stuff. It took me quite some time to just write    |
|  the list of everything that has been done, and the effort involved of     |
|  actually DOING all these things is of course immense. A BIG thank you to  |
|  all wizards who use their valuable free time to improve our game.         |
|                                                                            |
|============================================================================|
|                        WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?                          |
|============================================================================|
|                                                                            |
|  It's become a tradition that I end my State of the Donut posts by         |
|  making a number of guesses (not predictions or goals) about what I think  |
|  will happen during the follow year. So, let's start by checking how I     |
|  did with my guesses for 2022:                                             |
|                                                                            |
|  - The new magic system will be completed, and magic and melee will be     |
|    much better balanced and fun.                                           |
|  * Yay, this did happen.                                                   |
|                                                                            |
|  - The Ranger guild will be recoded.                                       |
|  * Two in a row!                                                           |
|                                                                            |
|  - Two or more layman guilds will open.                                    |
|  * We did get one (Saurians (and a racial guild (half-orcs). So, I am      |
|    going to count that as half a point.                                    |
|                                                                            |
|  - Two or more houses will be added.                                       |
|  * One new house was added, so I am giving myself half a point for this    |
|    one too.                                                                |
|                                                                            |
|  - The Petron page will go live and we will have continuous ads for        |
|    Genesis running.                                                        |
|  * I really did think this would happen, but so many other things got      |
|    in the way. Goes to show how unreliable Genesis development can be      |
|    sometimes. We made lots of progress, though, so it's close.             |
|                                                                            |
|  - We will get more new players during 2022 compared to 2021.              |
|  * Nope. I of course made this guess based on the fact that I thought      |
|    we would have the Patreon thing up and running. Without that, more      |
|    players was pretty unlikely. Wasn't THAT far off, though.               |
|                                                                            |
|  - There will be at least three new areas of decent size added to          |
|    the game.                                                               |
|  * Okay, maybe we did not get three new areas 'of decent size', but we     |
|    got a lot updated areas, a number of smaller new areas, as well as new  |
|    quests and bosses. I am giving myself a point for this guess, because   |
|    we did get a lot of new content.                                        |
|                                                                            |
|  Last time I got 4 of 10 (40%) of my guesses right, this time I got        |
|  4 of 7 (57%) of my guesses right. Not great, but it seems like I am       |
|  at least getting better. Let's see if I can improve on that for 2023.     |
|                                                                            |
|  These are my somewhat educated GUESSES for 2023:                          |
|                                                                            |
|  - The Patreon page will go live and we will have continuous ads for       |
|    Genesis running (I'll eat my hat if it doesn't happen this time).       |
|                                                                            |
|  - The Genesis races will be rebalanced.                                   |
|                                                                            |
|  - Death will become kinder.                                               |
|                                                                            |
|  - The size differences between players will be smaller.                   |
|                                                                            |
|  - At least one new racial, layman, or craft guild will open.              |
|                                                                            |
|  - At least two new clubs will open.                                       |
|                                                                            |
|  - We will get more new players during 2023 compared to 2022.              |
|                                                                            |
|  - At least one well-known player will dramatically declare that they      |
|    will leave the game.                                                    |
|                                                                            |
|  Gorboth used to end many of his posts with his classic slogan "Onward     |
|  and upward", but I still haven't thought of a slogan for myself. So, I'll |
|  just end this post here. It's long enough. Perhaps that should be my new  |
|  slogan? "It's long enough now". Hmm. I don't know. I think I can come up  |
|  with something better. Maybe that's the one? "Let's do better". I'll try  |
|  it out.                                                                   |
|                                                                            |
|  Let's do better!                                                          |
|                                                                            |
|  Cherek, The Respectable Keeper of Genesis                                 |
|                                                                            |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

User avatar
Cherek
Site Admin
Posts: 3609
Joined: 04 Mar 2010 04:36

Re: State of the Donut Addresses

Post by Cherek » 28 Jan 2024 04:32

Code: Select all

                    +=====================================+
                    |    THE STATE OF THE DONUT - 2023    |
                    +=====================================+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                            |
|  Greetings fellow Genesisians,                                             |
|                                                                            |
|  Okay, it's once again time to take a look at last year's statistics and   |
|  also peek into the crystal ball to try to figure out what will happen     |
|  in 2024.                                                                  |
|                                                                            |
|============================================================================|
|                              THE PLAYER NUMBERS                            |
|============================================================================|
|                                                                            |
|  Let's start by taking a look at the average player numbers during 2023    |
|  and then break it down into lots of different pieces.                     |
|                                                                            |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------   |
|                                                                            |
|   Average player activity by week for entire year, beginning Jan 01 2023   |
|                                                                            |
|------------+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----|
|    46.5    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | X  |    |
|    46.0    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | X  |    |
|    45.5    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | X  |    |
|    45.0    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | X  |    |
|    44.5    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | X  |    |
|    44.0    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | X  |    |
|    43.5    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | X  |    |
|    43.0    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | X  |    |
|    42.5    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | X  |    |
|    42.0    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | X  |    |
|    41.5    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | X  |    |
|    41.0    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    40.5    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    40.0    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    39.5    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    39.0    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    38.5    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    38.0    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    37.5    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    37.0    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    36.5    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    36.0    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    35.5    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    35.0    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    34.5    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    34.0    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    33.5    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    33.0    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    32.5    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    32.0    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    31.5    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    31.0    |X    |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    30.5    |X    |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    30.0    |X    |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    29.5    |X    |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    29.0    |X    |    |    |     |    |    |     |    |    |     | XX |    |
|    28.5    |X    |    |   X|  X  | X  |    |     |    |    |   X |XXX |    |
|    28.0    |X    |    |  XX|  XX | X  |    |     |    |   X|   X |XXX |    |
|    27.5    |X    |    |  XX|  XX | X  |    |     |    |   X|   X |XXX |  X |
|    27.0    |XXX  |    |  XX|X XXX| X  |    |     |    | X X|XXXX |XXXX|X X |
|    26.5    |XXX  |    | XXX|X XXX|XX  |    |     |    | XXX|XXXX |XXXX|X X |
|    26.0    |XXXX | X X| XXX|X XXX|XXX |    |     |    | XXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXX |
|    25.5    |XXXXX| X X| XXX|X XXX|XXX |    |     |    |XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXX |
|    25.0    |XXXXX| X X|XXXX|XXXXX|XXX |    |     |  XX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXX |
|    24.5    |XXXXX| XXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|    |     |  XX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXX |
|    24.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|    |     |  XX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXX |
|    23.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX| X  |     |  XX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXX |
|    23.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XX X|     |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    22.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|     |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    22.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|X    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    21.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|X    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    21.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|X    |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    20.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XX   |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    20.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXX  |XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    19.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXX X|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    19.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| A  18.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| V  18.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| G  17.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    17.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| P  16.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E  16.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| R  15.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    15.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| H  14.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| O  14.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| U  13.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| R  13.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    12.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E  12.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| A  11.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| C  11.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| H  10.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|    10.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| W   9.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E   9.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| E   8.5    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
| K   8.0    |XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|XXXXX|XXXX|XXXX|
|------------+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----|
|  Month     |Jan  |Feb |Mar |Apr  |May |Jun |Jul  |Aug |Sep |Oct  |Nov |Dec |
|------------+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+----|
|                                                                            |
|               Mean yearly average players per hour = 26.03                 |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  What happened in November?! Well, Gorboth's turkey idler's event of       |
|  course. Fun event, that, but it does mess up the statistics :) If we      |
|  ignore the masive November spike, things look quite normal. Numbers go    |
|  down during the summer and remain relatively stable the rest of the       |
|  year. But the next graph is the more interesting one, where we compare    |
|  the average player numbers with the previous year.                        |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|             Comparing player activity over two time periods:               |
|                      A: Jan 01 2022 - Dec 31 2022                          |
|                      B: Jan 01 2023 - Dec 31 2023                          |
|-------+-------+-------+----------+--+-----------+-------+-------+----------|
| Hour  |   A   |   B   | % change |  | Weekday   |   A   |   B   | % change |
|-------+-------+-------+----------+  +-----------+-------+-------+----------|
| 00.00 | 30.07 | 29.39 |   -2.27 %|  | Sunday    | 28.65 | 25.61 |  -10.60 %|
| 01.00 | 27.04 | 25.70 |   -4.95 %|  | Monday    | 29.71 | 26.68 |  -10.20 %|
| 02.00 | 25.98 | 23.74 |   -8.61 %|  | Tuesday   | 29.21 | 26.27 |  -10.07 %|
| 03.00 | 26.39 | 23.04 |  -12.69 %|  | Wednesday | 28.43 | 26.13 |   -8.07 %|
| 04.00 | 26.29 | 22.36 |  -14.92 %|  | Thursday  | 28.89 | 25.80 |  -10.69 %|
| 05.00 | 25.48 | 21.52 |  -15.55 %|  | Friday    | 29.02 | 26.14 |   -9.90 %|
| 06.00 | 23.42 | 20.45 |  -12.67 %|  | Saturday  | 28.50 | 25.57 |  -10.26 %|
| 07.00 | 22.98 | 20.15 |  -12.27 %|  +-----------+-------+-------+----------|
| 08.00 | 24.72 | 21.89 |  -11.44 %|                                         |
| 09.00 | 25.97 | 23.27 |  -10.39 %|                                         |
| 10.00 | 27.28 | 24.21 |  -11.24 %|  +--------------------------------------|
| 11.00 | 27.12 | 24.60 |   -9.30 %|  |       - - - Field  Sizes - - -       |
| 12.00 | 27.78 | 25.17 |   -9.39 %|  | Number of days in Period A:     364  |
| 13.00 | 29.03 | 26.15 |   -9.93 %|  | Number of days in Period B:     364  |
| 14.00 | 29.92 | 27.43 |   -8.32 %|  +--------------------------------------|
| 15.00 | 31.68 | 28.63 |   -9.64 %|                                         |
| 16.00 | 32.79 | 29.49 |  -10.06 %|                                         |
| 17.00 | 33.75 | 29.80 |  -11.69 %|  +--------------------------------------|
| 18.00 | 35.39 | 30.72 |  -13.18 %|  |           Overall Summary            |
| 19.00 | 37.48 | 32.09 |  -14.39 %|  +--------------------------------------|
| 20.00 | 38.55 | 33.71 |  -12.54 %|  | Overall average for Period A:  28.92 |
| 21.00 | 38.09 | 34.77 |   -8.71 %|  | Overall average for Period B:  26.03 |
| 22.00 | 37.34 | 35.01 |   -6.23 %|  |                                      |
| 23.00 | 34.33 | 33.40 |   -2.72 %|  | Overall increase/decrease:  -9.98 %  |
|-------+-------+-------+----------+--+--------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  Quite the decrease, which is not good. However, there is a big reason to  |
|  be hopeful. More about that below, but first, let's take a look at the    |
|  graph that shows the yearly player numbers since we started measuring     |
|  this back in 2008.                                                        |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|               Population levels in APH over the last 16 years              |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|40.0|                                                                       |
|39.0|                                                                       |
|38.0|                                                                       |
|37.0|                                                                       |
|36.0|                                        XX                             |
|35.0|                                        XX  XX                         |
|34.0|                                        XX  XX      XX                 |
|33.0|                                        XX  XX      XX                 |
|32.0|                                        XX  XX      XX                 |
|31.0|                                        XX  XX      XX                 |
|30.0|                                        XX  XX  XX  XX  XX             |
|29.0|                                    XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX         |
|28.0|                                    XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX         |
|27.0|                                    XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX         |
|26.0|                                    XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX     |
|25.0|                                    XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX     |
|24.0|                                XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX     |
|23.0|                                XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX     |
|22.0|                                XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX     |
|21.0|                                XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX     |
|20.0|                                XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX     |
|19.0|                                XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX     |
|18.0|                                XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX     |
|17.0|                                XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX     |
|16.0|    XX  XX                      XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX     |
|15.0|    XX  XX                      XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX     |
|14.0|    XX  XX      XX              XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX     |
|13.0|    XX  XX  XX  XX          XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX     |
|12.0|    XX  XX  XX  XX      XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX     |
|11.0|    XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX     |
|10.0|    XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX     |
| 9.0|    XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX     |
| 8.0|    XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX  XX     |
|------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+-------|
|Year|    08 |09 |10 |11 |12 |13 |14 |15 |16 |17 |18 |19 |20 |21 |22 |22     |
|------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+-------|
|Ave |    15 |16 |13 |14 |10 |12 |13 |24 |29 |36 |35 |30 |34 |29 |28 |26     |
|    |    .8 |.1 |.0 |.0 |.7 |.5 |.3 |.2 |.1 |.6 |.2 |.5 |.5 |.9 |.9 |.0     |
|------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+-------|
|                                                                            |
|  Yes, we already knew it's not great. The worst numbers since 2015.        |
|  However, all hope is not lost. Actually things are looking BETTER than    |
|  in a very long time. What? How? Let's forget the numbers above and look   |
|  at the much more promising numbers below.                                 |
|                                                                            |
|  As you know we launched a Patreon page this summer, and in August we      |
|  started running ads on Facebook. September was the first full month we    |
|  ran ads. Below are the numbers for September 1 to November 10 2022        |
|  compared to the same time period in 2023. Please note that I selected     |
|  these dates in order to NOT include the turkey event that started on      |
|  November 11. As we saw in the first graph, this event greatly affects     |
|  player numbers since it encourages players to idle 24/7. So, lets leave   |
|  that out of the equation.                                                 |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|             Comparing player activity over two time periods:               |
|                      A: Sep 01 2022 - Nov 10 2022                          |
|                      B: Sep 01 2023 - Nov 10 2023                          |
|-------+-------+-------+----------+--+-----------+-------+-------+----------|
| Hour  |   A   |   B   | % change |  | Weekday   |   A   |   B   | % change |
|-------+-------+-------+----------+  +-----------+-------+-------+----------|
| 00.00 | 25.32 | 27.80 |   +9.78 %|  | Sunday    | 25.91 | 26.27 |   +1.38 %|
| 01.00 | 22.23 | 23.97 |   +7.78 %|  | Monday    | 26.07 | 27.64 |   +6.04 %|
| 02.00 | 22.09 | 22.14 |   +0.19 %|  | Tuesday   | 25.45 | 26.17 |   +2.81 %|
| 03.00 | 22.59 | 21.60 |   -4.36 %|  | Wednesday | 25.33 | 26.88 |   +6.07 %|
| 04.00 | 22.94 | 21.43 |   -6.56 %|  | Thursday  | 24.66 | 26.87 |   +8.97 %|
| 05.00 | 22.19 | 20.98 |   -5.45 %|  | Friday    | 24.83 | 27.01 |   +8.80 %|
| 06.00 | 19.77 | 20.14 |   +1.85 %|  | Saturday  | 24.97 | 25.61 |   +2.57 %|
| 07.00 | 19.97 | 20.46 |   +2.46 %|  +-----------+-------+-------+----------|
| 08.00 | 21    | 22.12 |   +5.36 %|                                         |
| 09.00 | 23.39 | 25.30 |   +8.18 %|                                         |
| 10.00 | 24.92 | 26.69 |   +7.06 %|  +--------------------------------------|
| 11.00 | 24.84 | 27.12 |   +9.18 %|  |       - - - Field  Sizes - - -       |
| 12.00 | 25.60 | 27.28 |   +6.54 %|  | Number of days in Period A:      71  |
| 13.00 | 27.01 | 29.05 |   +7.55 %|  | Number of days in Period B:      71  |
| 14.00 | 27.01 | 30.14 |  +11.57 %|  +--------------------------------------|
| 15.00 | 28.40 | 31.28 |  +10.11 %|                                         |
| 16.00 | 28.32 | 32.05 |  +13.17 %|                                         |
| 17.00 | 28.56 | 30.54 |   +6.95 %|  +--------------------------------------|
| 18.00 | 30.25 | 31.11 |   +2.83 %|  |           Overall Summary            |
| 19.00 | 32.19 | 32.38 |   +0.56 %|  +--------------------------------------|
| 20.00 | 33.83 | 34.33 |   +1.49 %|  | Overall average for Period A:  25.31 |
| 21.00 | 33.49 | 35.98 |   +7.44 %|  | Overall average for Period B:  26.64 |
| 22.00 | 32.63 | 35.11 |   +7.59 %|  |                                      |
| 23.00 | 30.15 | 33.04 |   +9.57 %|  | Overall increase/decrease:  +5.270 % |
|-------+-------+-------+----------+--+--------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  Now, this is much more promising. Since we started with the ads, player   |
|  numbers are going up. And they are NOT inflated by some event, or by      |
|  some global pandemic, or something else. That's great, and the first      |
|  time in many years that we have a 'natural' and sustainable playerbase    |
|  growth. The below graph is also very promising.                           |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|            New players created / players leaving the tutorial              |
|     (No data from previous years as we started measuring this in 2017)     |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Year   | New player | Avg. per |  Best   |  Worst  | Leaving  | Leaving   |
|         | total      | day      |  day    |  Day    | tutorial | tutorial  |
|         |            |          |         |         | total    | %         |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  2017   |   15,647   |   42.9   |    88   |   14    |  2,012   |  12.9%    |
|  2018   |   10,902   |   29.9   |    97   |    5    |  1,982   |  18.2%    |
|  2019   |    8,235   |   22.6   |    97   |    4    |  1,693   |  20.6%    |
|  2020   |    7,694   |   21.0   |   321   |    3    |  1,451   |  18.9%    |
|  2021   |    4,438   |   12.2   |    61   |    1    |    824   |  18.6%    |
|  2022   |    3,670   |   10.1   |    96   |    1    |    557   |  15.2%    |
|  2023   |    4,192   |   11.5   |    69   |    1    |    472   |  11.3%    |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  Look at that! So beautiful! For the first time since we started tracking  |
|  new players created, the numbers are going UP! And remember that the      |
|  above are the numbers for the entire year, and that we only ran ads for   |
|  the last few months during 2023. Let's for example have a look at         |
|  October. I chose October since we did some tweaking of the ads in         |
|  September, so those numbers are a little unreliable. Also there were no   |
|  Genesis events in October that could 'mess up' the statistics, so it's    |
|  the best 'clean' month we have currently.                                 |
|                                                                            |
|                     o-------------------------------o                      |
|                     |      New player creations     |                      |
|                     o-------------------------------o                      |
|                     |  Year | Creations | Tutorials |                      |
|                     o-------o-----------o-----------o                      |
|                     | 2015: |      1320 |       149 |                      |
|                     | 2016: |      1490 |       161 |                      |
|                     | 2017: |      1514 |       182 |                      |
|                     | 2018: |      1127 |       207 |                      |
|                     | 2019: |       665 |       139 |                      |
|                     | 2020: |       439 |        79 |                      |
|                     | 2021: |       253 |        47 |                      |
|                     | 2022: |       291 |        51 |                      |
|                     | 2023: |       896 |        48 |                      |
|                     o-------------------------------o                      |
|                     |  Tot: |      7995 |      1063 |                      |
|                     o-------------------------------o                      |
|                                                                            |
|  As you can see, more than three times as many players were created in     |
|  October 2023 compared to 2022 and 2021. Yay!                              |
|                                                                            |
|  The only somewhat concerning thing is that the number of people leaving   |
|  the tutorial has kind of stayed the same. Not unexpected, though. With    |
|  Facebook ads we get a lot of different people to try the game, and most   |
|  of them will of course find it strange and confusing and not their cup    |
|  of tea. But it's simple maths really. Increase the number of new players  |
|  further and the number of people leaving the tutorial will eventually go  |
|  up as well. If 1,000 people try the game and 1 stays, it's still a win.   |
|  And once 100,000 people have tried the game, we have 100 new permanent    |
|  players. So, keep donating people! It's working!                          |
|                                                                            |
|  Okay, let's move on to the guild statistics.                              |
|                                                                            |
|  NOTE: In the statistics below, the Blue and Red Dragomarmies count as     |
|  one guild. Also, since we allow players to idle indefinitely in Genesis   |
|  these numbers should be taken with a BIG grain of salt. A guild with a    |
|  player, or players, that idle 24/7 may seem very active while in fact     |
|  they are not. On the other hand, guilds that have rules preventing their  |
|  members from idling may look quite inactive, but the players are          |
|  actually always active when they do play. There are of course other       |
|  factors in play as well, for example some guilds are much more            |
|  restrictive about taking on new members than others, and some guilds      |
|  only allow players of specific race(s) and/or align.                      |
|                                                                            |
|  That said, the below statistics still give an indication about which      |
|  guilds are the most popular, even if it's not the whole truth.            |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|             Average number of active players per guild per day             |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       2022 Ranking                    2023 Ranking                         |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       1.    Vampires  (6.546)         1.    Mercs     (5.129)              |
|       2.    Mercs     (4.365)         2.   -Vampires  (2.469)              |
|       3.    Knives    (1.662)         3.  +^DArmy     (1.390)              |
|       4.    SoHM      (1.434)         4.    Knives    (1.373)              |
|       5.    Glads     (1.282)         5.    Ogres     (1.310)              |
|       6.    Monks     (1.140)         6.    Monks     (1.285)              |
|       7.    Ogres     (1.013)         7.    SoHM      (1.057)              |
|       8.    Angmar    (0.434)         8.   *Union     (0.774)              |
|       9.    Knights   (0.365)         9.    Cadets    (0.524)              |
|       10.   Archers   (0.321)         10.   Neidar    (0.467)              |
|       11.   Cadets    (0.288)         11.   Calians   (0.376)              |
|       12.   DArmy     (0.255)         12.   Knights   (0.274)              |
|       13.   Rangers   (0.252)         13.   Glads     (0.258)              |
|       14.   Calians   (0.214)         14.  !Angmar    (0.214)              |
|       15.   PoT       (0.134)         15.   Archers   (0.214)              |
|       16.   Union     (0.120)         16.   Rangers   (0.186)              |
|       17.   Neidar    (0.109)         17.   WoHS      (0.151)              |
|       18.   Clerics   (0.090)         18.   Clerics   (0.104)              |
|       19.   WoHS      (0.090)         19.   PoT       (0.024)              |
|       20.   Kender    (0.057)         20.   Kender    (0.019)              |
|       21.   Mages     (0.052)         21.   Academy   (0.005)              |
|       22.   Academy   (0.016)         22.  @Mages     (0.000)              |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|               + Biggest APH gain (DArmy at +1.135)                         |
|               - Biggest APH loss (Vampires at -4.077)                      |
|               * Biggest growth   (Union at 520% growth)                    |
|               @ Biggest decline  (Mages at 99% decline)                    |
|               ^ Biggest rise     (DArmy up 9 ranks)                        |
|               ! Biggest fall     (Angmar down 6 ranks)                     |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  NOTE: Mages show as 0.000 in the statistics, but that does not mean no    |
|  mage ever logged in during 2023. It means that the number is so low it    |
|  was rounded down to 0.000. However, since it's not actually ZERO, I set   |
|  them at a 99& decline in the statistics above, not 100%. Still quite sad  |
|  of course, since I believe it's the first time we've had a 0.000 guild.   |
|                                                                            |
|  So, things are clearly not well in Mordor, with both Angmar and the       |
|  Morgul Mages plummeting in the ranks. Vampires also fell dramatically,    |
|  which was expected since measures were implemented to limit their         |
|  population. Also, the excitement for a new guild has likely faded too,    |
|  which tend to happen to all new guilds once they become established.      |
|                                                                            |
|  The winners are clearly the Dragonarmies and the Shadow Union. The        |
|  Shadow Union was actually dead last at 0.002 back in 2018, so it's        |
|  been quite the climb upwards for them since then. Can the mages do        |
|  something similar perhaps?                                                |
|                                                                            |
|  Okay, time to look at guild activity by align and see if there has        |
|  been any changes, or if the neutral guilds remain super-popular. Now,     |
|  some have questioned my classification of vampires and ogres as           |
|  neutral guilds. And I agree, there is definitely an argument to be made   |
|  that they should be classified as evil. One could also argue that some    |
|  of the good-aligned guilds should be neutral. I've decided to count a     |
|  guild as good or evil if there are clear penalties for going 'against'    |
|  the expected align in the guild. While ogres have an evil theme and       |
|  name, there really is no problem being good. Vampires on the other hand   |
|  struggle with being good, but as I understand things, it is possible,     |
|  and if you succeed there are no actual penalties in power, so therefore   |
|  I have classfied them as neutral. As far as I know all the other good     |
|  and evil-aligned guilds have quite serious penalties if your align        |
|  is 'wrong'.                                                               |
|                                                                            |
|  Finally, WoHS is also a special case since they really belong on all      |
|  three lists, but if we look at the guild as a whole, neutral is the best  |
|  classification I think.                                                   |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|                       Guild activity by align - 2023                       |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        Good-aligned         Neutral-aligned       Evil-aligned             |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        Neidar    0.467      Mercs     5.129       DArmy     1.390          |
|        Calians   0.376      Vampires  2.469       Knives    1.373          |
|        Knights   0.274      Ogres     1.310       Angmar    0.214          |
|        Archers   0.214      Monks     1.285       PoT       0.024          |
|        Rangers   0.186      SoHM      1.057       Mages     0.000          |
|        Clerics   0.104      Union     0.774                                |
|        Kender    0.019      Cadets    0.524                                |
|                             Glads     0.258                                |
|                             WoHS      0.151                                |
|                             Academy   0.005                                |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Total:    1.640                12.962                3.001                |
|  Total %:   9.3%                73.7%                 17.0%                |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|                       Guild activity by align - 2022                       |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        Good-aligned         Neutral-aligned       Evil-aligned             |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        Knights  0.365       Vampires 6.546        Knives   1.662           |
|        Archers  0.321       Mercs    4.365        Angmar   0.434           |
|        Rangers  0.252       SoHM     1.434        DArmy    0.255           |
|        Calians  0.214       Glads    1.282        PoT      0.134           |
|        Neidar   0.109       Monks    1.140        Mages    0.052           |
|        Clerics  0.090       Ogres    1.013                                 |
|        Kender   0.057       Cadets   0.288                                 |
|                             Union    0.120                                 |
|                             WoHS     0.090                                 |
|                             Academy  0.016                                 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Total:    1.408                16.204                2.537                |
|  Total %:   7.0%                80.4%                 12.6%                |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  How about that, after several years of neutral guilds gaining a bigger    |
|  and bigger percentage of the playerbase, things actually went the         |
|  other way in 2023. Of course, the main reason is the decline for the      |
|  Mercenaries and especially the Vampires.                                  |
|                                                                            |
|  Now, if we also take into consideration the number of good, neutral, and  |
|  evil guilds we have, and figure out the number of players in your average |
|  good/neutral/evil guild, it would look like this for 2023:                |
|                                                                            |
|  An average good-aligned guild:    1.640 / 7 guilds   = 0.234 (11.0%)      |
|  An average neutral-aligned guild: 12.962 / 10 guilds = 1.296 (60.8%)      |
|  Av average evil-aligned guild:    3.001 / 5 guilds   = 0.600 (28.2%)      |
|                                                                            |
|  So, if we actually factor in the number of guilds good, neutral, and      |
|  evil players have to choose from, the differences are smaller. What to    |
|  do with this information? Close a bunch of neutral guilds? Make more      |
|  guilds for goodies and evils? Make neutral guilds less powerful to make   |
|  up for the freedom of being neutral? Who knows, but statistics are        |
|  always fun to study.                                                      |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|                           New wizards per year                             |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  2019: 4                                                                   |
|  2020: 12                                                                  |
|  2021: 7                                                                   |
|  2022: 8                                                                   |
|  2023: 5                                                                   |
|                                                                            |
|  Well, these numbers seem to follow the average player numbers, which      |
|  is logical, so no surprise that these numbers are down as well. But,      |
|  since the players numbers are going up again, these numbers will          |
|  hopefully follow in time. Although, it usually takes many years until     |
|  a completely new player contemplates wizard life, so, even if we get      |
|  more new players in 2024 compared to 2023, I would not expect a big       |
|  increase in wizard numbers. Feel free to prove me wrong and apply!        |
|                                                                            |
|============================================================================|
|                            WIZARD ACCOMPLISHMENTS                          |
|============================================================================|
|                                                                            |
|  Just like 2022, 2023 has also been a busy year in the wizard world.       |
|  Trying to create a list of EVERYTHING that changed or was added to the    |
|  game is of course always an impossible mission, but I think I've managed  |
|  to list all the big important stuff and most of the smaller stuff that I  |
|  felt was worth mentioning. As usual, small balance tweaks to various      |
|  guilds and items that only effected a small number of players have been   |
|  left out.                                                                 |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  First Quarter 2023                                                        |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  - SYSTEM UPDATED: New stat levels are added. (Cherek, Ckrik)              |
|  - SYSTEM UPDATED: The six core races of Genesis are completeley           |
|    reworked, which means that the races are now finally (more or less)     |
|    equally powerful. (Cherek, Zizuph, Varian)                              |
|  - SYSTEM UPDATED: Messages are added so players now know when they        |
|    score a critical hit. (Zizuph, Cherek. Varian)                          |
|  - SYSTEM UPDATED: You now get a message when you are able to consume      |
|    another herb. (Cotillion)                                               |
|  - NEW GUILD: The Berserkers of Cirath layman guild opens in the city      |
|    of Athas. (Mirandus)                                                    |
|  - NEW QUEST: A new quest involving a necromancer opens somewhere in       |
|    the dreaded forest in Raumdor. (Santetra)                               |
|  - UPDATED BOSS: Thanar, the Omnipotent, now offers more than swords       |
|    as rewards for defeating him. (Mirandus)                                |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Second Quarter 2023                                                       |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  - The player behind the wizard Lilith and the mortal Rae passes away      |
|    and a statue is created in the memorial garden outside Sparkle. A big   |
|    thank you to those who suggested ideas and helped write the description |
|    for the statue. (Cherek, Varian, Zizuph)                                |
|  - NEW ITEM: A bottomless bag is added as a reward for people who acquire  |
|    quest experience beyond the brutality cap. (Tapakah)                    |
|  - AREA UPDATED: The goblins living in the caves in the Misty Mountains    |
|    as well as the captains in the Dunlending camp (both in Gondor) are     |
|    updated to be more rewarding when defeated. (Zizuph)                    |
|  - UPDATED BOSS: The gigantic Slug of Sla-Mori is updated to be more       |
|    challenging, and sometimes provide additional rewards. (Vitwitch)       |
|  - UPDATED QUESTS: It is now possible for evil players to complete         |
|    alternate versions of Lord Gunthar's quests outside Vingaard Keep.      |
|    (Vitwitch)                                                              |
|  - NEW SYSTEM: A patreon page is created and hooked up to Genesis. For     |
|    the first time in history we now have an automated system where         |
|    players can donate real money, which will be used to pay for Genesis    |
|    promotional ads. (Cherek, Nerull, Greneth, Tapakah, Cotillion, Ckrik)   |
|  - UPDATED AREA: The donations office in Sparkle is reworked to make room  |
|    for the new Toroid Appreciation Club. The new office also includes a    |
|    donut shop and an exhibition room for old donation campaigns. (Cherek)  |
|  - NEW CLUB: The Toroid Appreciation Club opens in the reworked donations  |
|    office in Sparkle. This club provides some small cosmetic benefits for  |
|    players who donate to Genesis. (Cherek, Nerull, Ckrik, Varian)          |
|  - UPDATED BOSS: Goliath, the Overlord of the Bandits, outside Kabal       |
|    is updated to be more challenging, and he also has found a new item     |
|    that players might find if they defeat him. (Mirandus)                  |
|  - On April 1 numerous people visiting Sparkle reported being randomly     |
|    teleported elsewhere. A thorough investigation found no proof of this   |
|    actually happening, and it was concluded the it was hallucinations      |
|    caused by the unusually warm weather and that people forgot to stay     |
|    hydrated. (No one in particular)                                        |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Third Quarter 2023                                                         |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  - NEW ADMIN POSITION: The old 'Arch of Code' admin position is brought    |
|    back, and Tapakah becomes the first AoC in a long time.                 |
|  - UPDATED GUILD: Activity monitoring is upgraded for Dragonarmy senior    |
|    officers to encourage more participation. (Vitwitch)                    |
|  - NEW MESSENGER: All guild librarians gain an inky assistant. (Vitwitch)  |
|  - NEW QUEST: A new quest involving some strange slimy toads appears in    |
|    Krynn. (Vitwitch)                                                       |
|  - NEW AREA: A band of Goblins have set up a camp in Khalakhor, and the    |
|    leader also has some neat rewards for the daring adventurers who        |
|    manage to defeat him. (Tapakah & Son)                                   |
|  - NEW AREA/QUEST: A stronghold belonging to followers of Solara is        |
|    found in Kabal. It's a place full of mysteries that not even its own    |
|    inhabitants seem to fully understand yet. (Mirandus)                    |
|  - NEW NPCs: Grayemages appear as renegade Wizards of High Sorcery. WoHS   |
|    members can finally claim the title of 'Renegade Hunter'. (Vitwitch)    |
|  - AREA UPDATES: Security upgrades in Wayreth Tower, Vingaard Keep and     |
|    the Temple of Takhishis. (Vitwitch)                                     |
|  - NEW SYSTEM: It's now possible to rent mercenaries that will aid you     |
|    when fighting. This is a completely new concept that we have never      |
|    seen in Genesis before. (Mirandus)                                      |
|  - UPDATED AREA: The city of Drakmere gets an overhaul which includes      |
|    some fixed bugs and other quality of life updates to the city and       |
|    its inhabitants. The magic map is also expanded to include some         |
|    previously uncharted areas. (Santetra)                                  |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  Fourth Quarter 2023                                                       |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  - AREA UPDATED: Various updates in Earthsea, including some quest fixes   |
|    and magic map updates.                                                  |
|  - SYSTEM UPDATED: Krynn warfare system gets a cool-off period. (Vitwitch) |
|  - AREA UPDATED: Palanthas shopkeepers will now return to their shops if   |
|    found elsewhere; Palanthas smells are also updated. (Vitwitch)          |
|  - EVENT: The turkey-themed Thanksgiving event involving lots of idling    |
|    players absentmindely stroking their turkeys (what?) is run for the     |
|    second time. (Gorboth)                                                  |
|  - EVENT: The Wheel-of-Fun lottery is back in Sparkle and Gillian is       |
|    crowned the luckiest player in Genesis. (Cherek)                        |
|                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                            |
|  Sometimes it feels like things move slowly in the wizard world, but       |
|  every year I compile this list I am reminded of how much we actually do   |
|  accomplish. As always, a BIG thank you to all wizards who use their       |
|  valuable free time to improve our game.                                   |
|                                                                            |
|============================================================================|
|                        WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?                          |
|============================================================================|
|                                                                            |
|  It's become a tradition that I end my State of the Donut posts by         |
|  making a number of guesses (not predictions or goals) about what I think  |
|  will happen during the follow year. So, let's start by checking how I     |
|  did with my guesses for 2023:                                             |
|                                                                            |
|  - The Patreon page will go live and we will have continuous ads for       |
|    Genesis running (I'll eat my hat if it doesn't happen this time).       |
|  * I did not have to eat my hat, since this did happen.                    |
|                                                                            |
|  - The Genesis races will be rebalanced.                                   |
|  * This also happened.                                                     |
|                                                                            |
|  - Death will become kinder.                                               |
|  * No, Death is as nasty as always. But we made good progress on that      |
|    at least.                                                               |
|                                                                            |
|  - The size differences between players will be smaller.                   |
|  * Doubtful. We did do some minor additions that might help, like          |
|    Mirandus' mercenaries, but the bigger plan we had did not happen (yet). |
|                                                                            |
|  - At least one new racial, layman, or craft guild will open.              |
|  * Yes, the Berserkers of Cirath.                                          |
|                                                                            |
|  - At least two new clubs will open.                                       |
|  * We did open the Toroid Appreciation Club, and there are two more        |
|    clubs that are almost finished, but I did say two clubs should open,    |
|    and that did not happen. So, no points for me.                          |
|                                                                            |
|  - We will get more new players during 2023 compared to 2022.              |
|  * Yes! That came true.                                                    |
|                                                                            |
|  - At least one well-known player will dramatically declare that they      |
|    will leave the game.                                                    |
|  * This came true within weeks after I made the prediction.                |
|                                                                            |
|  For 2021 I got 4 of 10 (40%) of my guesses right and for 2022 I got       |
|  4 of 7 (57%) of my guesses right. This time, I managed 5 of 8, which      |
|  is 62.5%. It seems like I am getting slightly better and better at        |
|  predicting things. Let's see how I do for 2024.                           |
|                                                                            |
|  These are my somewhat educated GUESSES for 2024:                          |
|                                                                            |
|  - Recovering from death will go quicker (I'll once again promise to eat   |
|    my hat if it doesn't happen).                                           |
|                                                                            |
|  - It will once again be possible to prevent other players from            |
|    leaving a room, but the abilities will be more balanced.                |
|                                                                            |
|  - The balance between layman caster and malee guilds will be better.      |
|                                                                            |
|  - It will become easier for smaller players to grow.                      |
|                                                                            |
|  - I'll have another go at the prediction that at least two new clubs      |
|    will open during 2024.                                                  |
|                                                                            |
|  - We will get more new players during 2024 compared to 2023.              |
|                                                                            |
|  - The average number of players will be higher in 2024 compared to        |
|    2023.                                                                   |
|                                                                            |
|  - People will in general be nicer to each other in-game, on forums and    |
|    on Discord. Yes, this one is very bold. I dare you all to help make     |
|    this prediction come true.                                              |
|                                                                            |
|  I am still trying to figure out a slogan to end my posts with. Last       |
|  year I tried  'Let's do better', but I don't know. I think I can do,      |
|  uhm, better. I think I've been in charge of some pretty risky changes     |
|  lately, and a few more might be coming. So, I am gonna try this one:      |
|                                                                            |
|  No risk, no reward!                                                       |
|                                                                            |
|  Cherek, The Proud Keeper of Genesis                                       |
|                                                                            |
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