Time for some true stats, please.

  • Admiral RRRSole

    After six months I think it would be nice to see some official stats from Rare.
    Not just how many unique gamer tags have tried the game since launch but actual stats that might mean something to many people.
    I know it would also help Rare to know exactly what's going on with their game. To see where they are succeeding and where they have failed.

    For example:

    • How many people still play SoT on a regular basis (at least once a week)?
    • How many have made it to pirate legend status since launch?
    • How many pirate legends are there still playing the game regularly?
    • What is the PC v Xbox ratio now?
    • What percentage of players actually bought the game as opposed to game pass?
    • What are the peak hours of each continent or major region and their server population? (Suggested by SurveyorPete)

    These things need to been known by Rare in both cases, over-all (since launch) and the current status, to help guide the game to better choices.

    It's one thing to say that 5 million unique gamer tags have been registered as playing the game (at least once) and it's another thing to say that you are X% of players to have reached this achievement but it all means very little to nothing to anybody unless we know that percentage of what number of players we're talking about.

    Sure you might be 0.3% of 5 million players to have achieved a specific milestone but now there's only (for example) 500,000 playing on a regular basis so you're really only in the 3% bracket and not so elite.

    Some people have multiple accounts, many people have tried it a few times and moved onto other games, some PLs have also flown the coop reaching the end-game with nothing else to do.

    Another nice feature would be to show what the true percentage was when you actually achieved each milestone instead of it increasing as time progresses and more reach that achievement.

    So having all of the stats based on the collective players since launch really isn't telling us much and is far from the truth.

    I'd rather be disappointed by honesty than blissfully deceived by a lie.

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  • SurveyorPete
    Legend
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    The stat(s) I would love to see is the number of players connected at any one time. Perhaps even a graph showing the average number hour by hour, with separate lines for the three major different time zones: UK/Europe, Americas, Asia/Oceania. Also, how many servers there are spun up to accommodate them. For example:

    alt text

    It occurred to me today that you seem to encounter far more Pirate Legends on the seas than you might think, given the small percentage of the player base that are supposed to be legendary. But, it does make sense. They are Pirate Legends precisely because they put the hours in to achieve that title; and they continue to do so. So, it would be interesting to see how many Pirate Legends, on average, are online at any one time compared to those who have not got there yet.

  • Admiral RRRSole

    @surveyorpete said in Time for some true stats, please.:

    The stat(s) I would love to see is the number of players connected at any one time. Perhaps even a graph showing the average number hour by hour, with separate lines for the three major different time zones: UK/Europe, Americas, Asia/Oceania. Also, how many servers there are spun up to accommodate them.

    Yes, that's another good statistic that I'm sure many would like to know.

    It occurred to me today that you seem to encounter far more Pirate Legends on the seas than you might think, given the small percentage of the player base that are supposed to be legendary.

    True, it's like every man and his dog is now a pirate legend (perhaps at least one per every four on a server) and people are basing their arguments on misleading information as to whether or not it's time to roll out extra content for PLs.
    Some have left and others are soon to follow.

    It's one thing to say that more PL content is coming ..... eventually or that it's a very small percentage but when you're at sea PLs are everywhere.

    We were offered a galleon in a three ship alliance full of pirate legends all sharing Athena's last night. It's not the first time either.
    We didn't take them up on the offer as my crew of PLs had all grown tired by this stage and I am in no rush to reach the end-game of Athena 10+.

  • Hit x Reg
    Ship Mate
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    I'd say less than a million still play. I'd like to see them give out their actual sale numbers. Like full game value, not gamepass.

  • Admiral RRRSole

    @personalc0ffee

    "a lot".
    That doesn't exactly say much. Besides, you are usually on the pioneer's server.
    Good to see you so actively participating on there, testing it all out for us common folk. lol :o)

  • TheTwistedTaste
    Lord
    Insider

    @admiral-rrrsole said in Time for some true stats, please.:

    • What percentage of players actually bought the game as opposed to game pass?

    I'd love to know the numbers for this! Of my regular crewmates (~8 of us), only myself and one other actually purchased the game 🤔

  • Admiral RRRSole

    @thetwistedtaste
    Yeah I think I'm the only one that I crew with that actually owns the game too. I see them (150 friends) all playing other titles that are offered in game pass.

    It would also be interesting to see an indicator on these forums and other social media of who owns the game or not then see who Rare listens to more often by the direction the game takes.
    Sure we all have a say in what we would like to see in the game but actually having bought the game may not bear any weight and Rare could quite easily change for the worse for some fly-by-nighters who aren't obligated to stick around.
    Perhaps they already did with the achievements?

  • FishSt1ck
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    Boatswain
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    @admiral-rrrsole
    Although I did love the stats they've shown a while back, I can completely understand why Rare would be reluctant to share any live data. As far as I see they have absolutely nothing to gain from sharing those numbers and it'll be a huge risk of the numbers being interpreted in a way that negatively affects them, the image of the game or the discussions in the community.

    When I look at the numbers you're asking for, all I'm wondering is why would any of it matter to you as a player of Sea of Thieves. Would any of it affect the way you play the game, the amount you play, the times you play? I doubt it. The more likely outcome is that it'll spawn multiple complaint topics.

    I can even already think of the titles for each of the bullets:

    How many people still play SoT on a regular basis (at least once a week)?
    X hours per week, Sea of Casuals, all the hardcore crowd left!

    How many have made it to pirate legend status since launch?
    X% I demand PL content now!

    How many pirate legends are there still playing the game regularly?
    X% of PL still actively playing, this game is dying!

    What is the PC v Xbox ratio now?
    X% of PC players, optional crossplay now!

    What percentage of players actually bought the game as opposed to game pass?
    X% of suckers paid full price for a unfinished game!

    What are the peak hours of each continent or major region and their server population?
    X people from Australia playing, game is dying!

    The biggest problem is not the numbers, it's the fact that it doesn't matter what number you fill in for X as people will use it as fuel for their cause. While I agree I wouldn't want to be deceived by lies, which a lot of MS word twisting basically is, I also don't want to have loads of topics created that twist honest numbers in any way people see fit to make their point.

  • Admiral RRRSole

    @dutchyankee and @FishSt1ck

    Both points expressed well and taken constructively. Thank you.

    The only thing for Rare to fear would be a drastic decline in numbers which always happens after the honeymoon period has phased out. But it may also prove that the game is thriving, or at least on an incline, compared to a previous month. As would an increase in sales preferred over game pass. By that I mean people who have tried the game on game-pass and have now bought the game outright.

    Agreed the PL stats could help people push for more PL content but where's the harm in that? Six months into the game and there still isn't a second chapter.
    To say "all in good time" is a cop-out to an unfinished early access game.

  • FishSt1ck
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    Boatswain
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    @admiral-rrrsole
    We both know Rare has access to all these numbers and much much more, however I don't think it'll be in their best interest to share any of it. Apart from as @DutchYankee said, the filtered statistics they control.

    From all the numbers you mentioned I think the Pirate Legend numbers are probably the least harmful to share as it's already slightly deductible from achievement numbers. It might show the people that are Pirate Legend that they're still only a minority to everyone actively playing or might show that there is indeed a need to invest in specific PL content.

    It's all based on the person interpreting the data, just look at the example you gave about game pass. What can you as a player of the game do with data that shows game sales from game pass subscribers? Does that relate to SoT or to the quality of the game pass service? Did people have any intention to buy the game or did they just want to play it for free while they could? I mean fictional numbers like:

    90% of trial game pass subscribers tried SoT
    10% of trial game pass subscribers bought the game
    80% of paying subscribers played SoT
    35% of paying subscribers bought SoT after ending game pass
    50% of active subscribers still actively play it
    5% of active subscribers own the game

    What use would numbers like these be to any Sea of Thieves player apart from being some interesting numbers?

    When I look at my own situation, I actually started game pass a bit before the release of SoT and have been playing a steady stream of games that have been added to the service ever since. I have no intention of buying the game as long as I have game pass and still have access to it in the library. Not because I don't think the game is worth it, but because it would be a waste of money to buy it if I can already play it and game pass offers a lot of value to me.

  • Admiral RRRSole

    @fishst1ck Another good point. Cheers.

    Although I know that there are a few titles on game-pass and I have to go by the opinion given by someone else, I'm to understand that not many titles are all that good or new, perhaps two?
    If that is a fact then wouldn't it make sense to buy the game rather than pay to have access to other titles that you may never play again?
    Sure try as many as possible for a month or so but there comes a time when renting the game works out more expensive than buying it outright.
    For example: USD$60 to buy SoT is equivalent to USD$10 per month for six months of game-pass.

  • KnifeLife
    Commander
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    @admiral-rrrsole They would only release that information if it was a direct benefit to them in doing so. Which leads me to believe they possibly are not as good as they would like and would only contribute to negative posts and articles.

    It’s why whenever we do get stats it’s in game things or the 5 million players threshold. They make the game sound good, so from a market sand point it benefits them.

    That’s my assumption anyway.

  • DarkMore111
    Commander
    Insider
    Founder

    @admiral-rrrsole I would also like to see your named stats, but I agree with @DutchYankee and @FishSt1ck.

    Rare Ltd. has all necessary data and knows how to assess them. It is completely normal that they present us only beneficial data for marketing reasons. Every company does that.

    For example, if you make financial statements for your company, you usually make three versions:

    • One for your bank, that you wanna have loans from. In this version you make your company look to be as rich as possible, so the bank is more likely to give you loans.
    • One for the tax office. In this version you make your company look to be as poor as possible, so you have to pay less taxes.
    • One for your CEO and shareholders. This version provides true data about the situation of your company, so CEO, management and shareholders know what to do in the next year to improve.

    All of this ofcourse must be legal, but most countries have laws that allow you to modify your financial statements with specific instruments.

  • FishSt1ck
    Master
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    Boatswain
    Founder

    @admiral-rrrsole
    If that would be a fact then you might have a point however it is very much dependent on the opinion of each individual as it very much depends on personal taste and the amount of games you already own as they offer quite a large number of games in a wide variety of genres with new games being added monthly. Just check the game pass list out for yourself if you want to know what they offer.

    If you'd only play SoT though, it would only make sense to pay for it if you're certain you'll only play for a few months. Otherwise it would indeed be a simple calculation that after 4-6 months you'll be paying more than when you would if you purchased it.

    To bring it back on topic though, I'm definitely not against stats however I think that when any of the stats can be directly linked to sales data it'll be very unlikely we'll get them. There are still a lot of stats that can still be interesting without giving away any marketing or sales data though, which is probably the stats that will mostly reside ingame. I'm sure there's many stats that could be presented in a nice way that wouldn't cause any unrest but are just fun statistics. Just an example of pretty useless but interesting information that they could easily share:

    World event related

    • Number of skullforts cleared
    • Number of Karen kills
    • Number of Megan kills (after the event)
    • Number of skeleton ships sunk (after the event)

    Bi-weekly event related

    • Number of skeleton ships sunk
    • Number of miles sailed with reapers mark
    • Number of cursed cannonballs found
    • Number of cursed cannonballs succesfully affected players
    • Number of cursed cannonballs succesfully affected player ships
    • Number of cursed cannonballs succesfully affected skeletons
    • Number of cursed cannonballs succesfully affected skeleton ships

    Event commendation related

    • % of average completed commendations (per event)
    • Rarest/most common commendation (per event)
    • Top 10 pirates to get all commendations first (per event)

    Faction related

    • Number of miles sailed for GH/OoS/MA
    • Number of treasure/crate X collected
    • Average level per faction
    • % of players that reached grade 5 on each faction commendation
    • Top 10 pirates to have reached grade 5 on each faction commendation first
    • Top 10 pirates to have reached level 50 on each faction first

    Legendary Pirate related

    • Athena's voyages started/completed
    • Total time spent in the hideout
    • Average time spent in the hideout
    • Average time to complete an athena's voyage
    • Average Athena's level
    • Top 10 that reached Pirate Legend first
    • Top 10 pirates to have reached level 10 on athena first

    Cosmetic related

    • Top 10 pirates to own all weapon skins first
    • Top 10 pirates to own all tool skins first
    • Top 10 pirates to own all clothing skins (from the shop) first
    • Top 10 pirates to own the full ghost set first
    • Top 10 pirates to own all ship liveries (from the shop) first
    • Top 10 pirates to own all athena's ship liveries first

    Ship related

    • Average shiptype usage (sloop 22%, brig 46%, galleon 32%)
    • Total number of cannonballs fired
    • Total number of cannonballs hits
    • Amount of water bailed
    • Amount of holes patched
    • Most number of holes patched on a single session (per shiptype)
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