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+=====================================+
| 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 |
| |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+