DalzK DalzK

Demigod is NOT Dying/Dead!

Demigod is NOT Dying/Dead!

I keep seeing posts everywhere about how inactive Demigod is, how dead it is, and how it is dying/failing. Thats complete bullshit.


The only RTS's that have more users than Demigod are WC3/SC. That is it. You can say HoN is more active but thats because its a direct clone from the popular wc3 map DotA so i would include that under wc3/sc..

Please go ahead and name me one more RTS that is clearly more active than Demigod. E.G if CoH has maybe 2k people on and demigod 1.5k I wouldnt really say that is clearly more active than Demigod. Of course thats down to opinion but I promise you finding a RTS that is more active than Demigod is not so easy.

I therefore conclude Demigod is still very active and far from dead. Not to mention 1.2 or the 2 new Demigods have even been released.

Note: As of now there are 1.7k people on Demigod

14,272 views 76 replies
Reply #26 Top

Frogboy himself has said that the number of people who play this game exclusively offline (SP). It's not unlikely that many of the people 'online' are playing SP. It's also possible that when you click 'launch Game' in Impulse, it sends a ping out to the server saying that 'XXX has come online'.

Reply #27 Top

Quoting Anuslingus, reply 21
It's impossible to look for games that don't exist.  Most of the time when I log in to try to find a game there is it most two non password protected games up, usually there's two total, an alarming number of times there are no games up and it still takes a long time for the one I host to fill.  Yes, the new demigods should bring people back for a little while, but once they play 20-30 games with these new characters they're going to be in the same boat they were in when they stopped playing, because very little will have changed.
End of Anuslingus's quote


As I've stated before, this is fairly subjective - what's true for you and others isn't true for everyone else. For example, I'm an Australian player, I play inside of a much smaller community, and I've never had a single problem finding a game. Ever. I've recently been playing over Hamachi with some friends of mine as we have a VPN anyway, however this is merely for pratice and fun purposes than due to a lack of online games. As I said though, even my experience is subjective and neither yours nor my statement can be used as proof of the game 'dying' or not 'dying'. What I can tell you is that you need to organise better - post of the forums requesting other people to play with, get into the Ready to play BETA (I'm happy to provide you with a Key) and try other methods than just clicking browse games, and then posting on the forums when the list is empty.

Quoting Anuslingus, reply 21
Modding?  What exactly do you think modding is going to do?  It has been stated over and over that it's going to take fairly specialized skills to mod this game, so much so that it isn't financially feasable for the professionals who designed the game to make new maps.  So what do you think some random people who play it are going to do that's going to make a significant impact on the game?  Demigod's player base is already so small, only a portion of that will be interested in attempting to mod, and a much smaller portion of that group will be in any way capable of modding.
End of Anuslingus's quote


Did you conduct a survey that I somehow missed requesting people detail their computer programming, 3D Modelling and Python experience to which you've been able to use to justify this response? If not, then your response is merely your opinion and in no way reflects the community. Never underestimate the expertise of random people on the internet.

Quoting Anuslingus, reply 21
Aside from the extremely small pool of players who will try to mod, there is the issue that most user generated content is garbage.  If you think back to warcraft 3, or talk to someone who used to play it, think about all of the maps you downloaded to try that you never played again.  There were definately some good ones, but for every map or game style that caught on, there were hundreds that weren't worth the time it took to download them.  Or go look at youtube, watch just some random video that somebody made and see if it's any good.  The vast majority of them aren't.  There's a reason that people who are capable of generating entertaining content make good money, and that's because most people can't.
End of Anuslingus's quote


Your argument is self-defeating - Demigod's 3rd party content is going to suck because the majority of fans make crap content and we're going to have such limited content due to the fact that in order to produce said content you're going to have to know what your're doing? Wouldn't this mean that Demigod should have a far higher quality level than other communities due to the difficulty of producing content keeping out the 'average joes' who pick up Warcraft's World Builder and think they know what they're doing?

Quoting CelMare, reply 22
fixing the network code, implementing the least basic mp-features that even non-comercial amateur games have in beta stage. this game sucks even for a beta version of a niche game. well.... of course currently it does not suck so much anymore. but the point is IT IS TOO LATE. dg had many players at start and lost most of them due to the mentioned problems.
End of CelMare's quote


So, you want them to fix something that they've already fixed and this is why Demigod is going to die? What?

Reply #28 Top

Quoting Noam_B, reply 15
The game is dying, i can harldy find a game outside of peek hours.

i suggest the developers wake up before it's too late.
End of Noam_B's quote

i played a custom game around 3am yesterday. it took 4 minutes to get all 6 people in. it was a great game too.

Reply #29 Top

I keep seeing posts everywhere about how inactive Demigod is, how dead it is, and how it is dying/failing. Thats complete bullshit.
End of quote

Maybe not dead, but far from healthy.

The downward trend of online players/games is undeniable, and it's difficult to see how it can be reversed into a sustainable and vibrant community given the challenges of continuously generating new content for the game.  The length of time it is taking the developer to produce two new demigods, and having no plans for new maps or new items, should give some indication of the complexity involved, which does not bode well for the modding scene.

I hope your optimism will sustain you.

Reply #30 Top

Quoting brjoha, reply 29
The length of time it is taking the developer to produce two new demigods, and having no plans for new maps or new items, should give some indication of the complexity involved, which does not bode well for the modding scene. I hope your optimism will sustain you.
End of brjoha's quote


I'm sorry, but I'm again going to have step in here.
The complexity isn't the issue - it's cost per man hour - however let's assume it was - this means nothing to the modding community. For example, the developer of the Doom3 Engine, legendary id Software, admitedly held off using completely functional vehicular combat in Doom3 due to the sheer complexity of getting it working within their own engine. Fans of Doom3 created several mods which modified and used vehicular combat extensively (this was later used by Raven Software in Quake 4 in a slightly modified version of the Doom3 engine) and did what id Software chose not to do. Complexity has never held back a modding community - it has inspired them, though.

Reply #31 Top

Sorry but I'd say demigod is competing even with CNC Zero Hour, it's about how many games are open in the lobby at one time and that is it,, take any other rts and look at how many games are open in the lobby -> better way of guessing how many are online at one time, demigod is lucky if you see what 12 games in THE ONLY lobby,,, that's of course saying game times are about even...

Reply #32 Top

I love this game but I grow closer and closer to putting it aside for good. This game is extreemly frusterating with the disconects/ time outs/ critical game states, the new bug introduced in the latest patch (two people not being able to connect to one another and one of them having to drop). I know everyone is throwing around "official" site numbers but I play the game often enough to judge the health of the community (350 games or so... I'm not the most active but I've played a few games), and it's pretty weak. Throw around all the numbers you want but there are lies, damn lies, and statistics. Waiting 10 min to get a game going is unsatisfactory. There is nothing more frusterating than trying to get a good game going during off peak hours. The first couple games I get have AI on the other team, experaince a player drop out, or a crappy players rage quit, ect. then I have to bounce around lobbys, hoping for a US host since EU pings are usually pretty high, untill we can get a few players in. I guess I'll keep playing for now but I'll prob. quit if 1.2 doesnt open up the heavens and deprive my brain of blood flow every time a game launches.

Reply #33 Top

Don't get me wrong I hope you're right Zehdon, basically my point is that it would have been a much safer play to work on team match making first.  While it's true that there could be an unusually large amount of people with the necessary skills in the community, I don't think that it's likely.  And making quality content is often more about being able to tell what other people will like than it is about technical knowledge.

Reply #34 Top

The downward trend of online players/games is undeniable
End of quote

Did any thought go into this comment...
Please name me one game that doesnt have a "downard trend of online players". (apart from SC and WC3). Seriously - people always stop playing games eventually and so the trend will drop.

Sorry but I'd say demigod is competing even with CNC Zero Hour, it's about how many games are open in the lobby at one time and that is it,
End of quote

I've said this lots of times before. In ZH most games/a lot are 1v1. In Demigod they range from 3v3 mostly to 5v5 and some 2v2's. Lets say the average game is 3v3 or 4v4. So now, when you log in, and you see 10 games open at a game, times that by about 3 and you'll get the equilvalent of 30 games in ZH (since most are 1v1).

The fact his thread already has so many replies shows that the game is still alive ;)

Reply #35 Top

Quoting ZehDon, reply 30
I'm sorry, but I'm again going to have step in here.
End of ZehDon's quote

Actually, you don't, but that's ok.

Quoting ZehDon, reply 30
The complexity isn't the issue - it's cost per man hour...
End of ZehDon's quote

Actually, it is the issue.  There's a direct correlation between complexity and cost.

Quoting ZehDon, reply 30
Fans of Doom3 created several mods...
End of ZehDon's quote

Reality check please.  DG has nothing like the Doom3 fan-base going for it.

Reply #36 Top

Did any thought go into this comment...
Please name me one game that doesnt have a "downard trend of online players". (apart from SC and WC3). Seriously - people always stop playing games eventually and so the trend will drop.
End of quote
Indeed. I expect Demigod to have a similar trend as Supreme Commander. i.e. it goes down but the downward trend will get lower over time and it will sort of level off at a certain value.

Reply #37 Top

Quoting Anuslingus, reply 33
Don't get me wrong I hope you're right Zehdon, basically my point is that it would have been a much safer play to work on team match making first.  While it's true that there could be an unusually large amount of people with the necessary skills in the community, I don't think that it's likely.  And making quality content is often more about being able to tell what other people will like than it is about technical knowledge.
End of Anuslingus's quote

I believe TheScotishAlien will have us knee deep in quality content for some time, feel free to check out some of his suggestion threads - he really should be on the payroll at GPG. I also think it's worth noting some of the mods already in progess - such as the bombing run game mode addition - and once the people with the expertise have done the hard work, I'm sure they'll be happy to demonstrate the how's and why's for the rest of us. I, personally, am looking forward to making community videos - my first mod is going to be the removal of the in-game HUD bound to a button to make things easier - I would suspect several other community members have plans of their own.

Reply #38 Top

Quoting DalzK, reply 34
Did any thought go into this comment...
End of DalzK's quote

Yes, and probably more than you put into yours.

Quoting DalzK, reply 34
Please name me one game that doesnt have a "downard trend of online players".
End of DalzK's quote

The statistics have been tracked since early July, roughly three months after launch.  Whatever the peak was for DG, it was hit prematurely in those first three months.  You can't claim the game is healthy and vibrant given it's rapid onset into decline within such a short time frame.  You're in denial.

Reply #39 Top

Quoting ZehDon, reply 37
I believe TheScotishAlien will have us knee deep in quality content for some time, feel free to check out some of his suggestion threads
End of ZehDon's quote

Yes, he's got some brilliant ideas, but they are just ideas.  We've heard several times, from the publisher no less, that the resources required to generate new maps are prohibitive.  So what makes you think that barrier to entry disappears for the hobbyists out there?  We're not talking Wikipedia edits here.

Reply #40 Top

Seems like there are people on here saying that there are 1k+ people online at the same time playing DG.  If that's true, then why is there only ever like 2 games running when I log in?

Reply #41 Top

Quoting Mr11, reply 40
Seems like there are people on here saying that there are 1k+ people online at the same time playing DG.  If that's true, then why is there only ever like 2 games running when I log in?
End of Mr11's quote
Those numbers come directly from http://www.demigodthegame.com/opengames.asp
You can look at the history of those stats on http://dgstats.insidesupcom.de/

Reply #42 Top

it is not true. simply open ingame chat window. there you have all players online in dg. when you log into the game you get automatically into the chat. there are around 50 players in avarage at the same time online. it depends on hours. the most i've seen where around 120. the less were something arround 15.

Reply #43 Top

This a pretty sweet game, with a few problems waiting for the next patch, but nowhere near the problems experienced in Empire:Total War.  Just a thought, tho, next time you're cruising the custom games list and don't see a game up there that you would want to join, put one up yourself.  Chances are, several other players are looking for a game too.  I hope you find them.

Reply #44 Top

Quoting CelMare, reply 42
it is not true. simply open ingame chat window. there you have all players online in dg. when you log into the game you get automatically into the chat. there are around 50 players in avarage at the same time online. it depends on hours. the most i've seen where around 120. the less were something arround 15.
End of CelMare's quote
No, you only log into the chat, if you click on the chat.

Reply #45 Top

Quoting Spooky__, reply 44

Quoting CelMare, reply 42it is not true. simply open ingame chat window. there you have all players online in dg. when you log into the game you get automatically into the chat. there are around 50 players in avarage at the same time online. it depends on hours. the most i've seen where around 120. the less were something arround 15.No, you only log into the chat, if you click on the chat.
End of Spooky__'s quote

i dont think so, but i will test this later.

anyway. i still dont believe there are 1000 players online but only 4 games open that are waiting for 10 minuts to get full. NEVER! this number are 100% totally bullshit. and sometimes i am in dg watching the custom games as they open and close and there are for quite a long time allways the same 20 people. most times there never near 100 players online.

Reply #46 Top

Quoting CelMare, reply 45
i dont think so, but i will test this later.
End of CelMare's quote
Well, just to show you myself ;). #demigodthegame after I joined the channel via Impulse:

#demigodthegame after I logged in to online multiplayer in Demigod (and went to the Custom game browser)

(nothing changed here of course, no one else joined in the mean time)

#demigotthegame after I launched the chat from the Impulse Overlay:

 

 

You only join the chat ingame if you launch the chat from the impulse overlay. The chat wouldn't be a good measurement of online people anyway, because anyone can join the chat from anywhere.

Reply #47 Top

k. i would have believed you if you only said you tested it. you simlply didn't said this little words ;)

so indeed the chat is a bad indicator. but due to the other evidences i still doubt there are regulary more than 100 players online. not even close.

Reply #48 Top

There are always at least 50 players in games and the daily spike is at 200 players in games. On average there are always 125 players in games (and thus also online of course ;)) at any given time, currently. As I have said before, I do not know why the players online number is so out of proportion and I don't take that number too serious myself.

Reply #49 Top

You can actually check the number of players in game and open games by the impulse application.

just go to community>games.

Note; these are only custom games excluding Pantheon

Edit; Demigod is already dead imo. some ppl need to accept that. 120 ppl in game barely counts as a community

Reply #50 Top

Quoting morpheas768, reply 49
You can actually check the number of players in game and open games by the impulse application.

just go to community>games.

Note; these are only custom games excluding Pantheon
End of morpheas768's quote
All the numbers you need or want are displayed on http://www.demigodthegame.com/opengames.asp and tracked on http://dgstats.insidesupcom.de/