Guild Wars Population - Guild Wars Forums

GabrielReturns · Nov 05, 2007, 10:11 AM // 10:11

Is it true that the population of Guild Wars is decreasing because of players who make us of bots?

Please tell me it isn't so, I just heard it from a friend of mine recently and I refused to believe. But I want to be sure so I came here.
I'm going to start playing Guild Wars again, finally saved up enough money to buy myself and expansion of my choosing.
Thanks.

silv3rr · Nov 05, 2007, 10:42 AM // 10:42

There are just as many bots as back then... the only reason why the population seems to have gone down is because it's now spread amongst the 3 campaigns + 1 expansion.

IslandHermet · Nov 05, 2007, 12:52 PM // 12:52

Silv3rr is right more places for the bots to hide under the radar. back in the day Towns would be full so easy bans now its like 1-2 bots per town so it is a lot harder to find True bots from ppl.
Only thing bots do is ruin the Gold economy LOL.

LeoX · Nov 05, 2007, 12:53 PM // 12:53

Yeah lol, bots are not decreasing the in-game population.

silv3rr · Nov 05, 2007, 09:39 PM // 21:39

Yes, and actually on the contrary... the population has grown quite a bit over the past few years

Although the bigger the population, the more immature people there are

Anyways, welcome back

Hope I'll see you around some time :P

Alias_X · Nov 05, 2007, 10:05 PM // 22:05

Whether or not the population is increasing or decreasing, I haven't really noticed it too much. I do most missions and quests with my guild, so I don't notice lack or people to do things with often. New campaigns mean the population is spread out more, but there is also the likelihood of attracting new players with them.

GabrielReturns · Nov 06, 2007, 09:11 AM // 09:11

Woohoo! That's really awesome to know guys. Guild Wars means a lot to me and I don't want it to ever go away. Thanks so much for enlightening me on the subject matter. See you in game!

Roo Ella · Nov 06, 2007, 09:32 AM // 09:32

I never see Bots in Granite anymore so they have moved somewhere
I think everyone "real players" have more options to play in now and it just looks
like the population is shrinking when it;s just spreading out.
Just look at teh events there crowded.

lakatz · Nov 06, 2007, 03:42 PM // 15:42

Hi Gabriel...

With all due respect to your friend, how would he/she know what people who quit the game are thinking unless they tell him/her? And if a handful of people post in this or another forum that they're quitting because of bots, does that represent all the people who quit?

And where is your friend getting his 'population' figures? NCSoft would be the only ones with accurate information. They would be the only ones who would know definitively the number of users on their servers at any given time. Have they posted that information publicly? And would they post a decrease publicly if one indeed existed?

greywolf31 · Nov 06, 2007, 09:15 PM // 21:15

Ok this may sound noobish...

I have been playing online games for a while and I hear about bots all the time, now I am gonna ask...

What is a bot?
What does it do, How does it work?

And Why the heck would anyone want to use one?

I play for the interaction and challenge of the game...

Ok there I've asked... don't shoot me. =)

THX

-T

rwt2006 · Nov 06, 2007, 10:26 PM // 22:26

The Guild Wars population is definitly decreasing. But this happens to every game. Some patches make players mad because they get nerfed and can't "pwn" the world. Many people move on to newer games as they come out too. I'm sure when Guild Wars 2, Warhammer, the Star Trek mmo, the stargate mmo, and the new World of Warcraft expansion, are all out. the amount of players will decrease even further.

It's the natural cycle of a game to have it's highest point at one time and the amount of active players goes away. Diablo 2, Starcraft, Call of Duty 1. all have less players now than they did 2 years ago. With guild wars they can sit in their office and say the number of accounts is rising, but you must understand it's counting people that don't play anymore because it does not purge old accounts from it's database.

lakatz · Nov 07, 2007, 11:57 PM // 23:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by GabrielReturns

Is it true that the population of Guild Wars is decreasing because of players who make us of bots?

...

This just in... well as of yesterday anyway

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaile Gray

(It is also factually wrong, for the community is not diminished at all, as game concurrency proves.)

Gaile's response to yet another statement about the population of GW based on pure speculation rather than cold hard data.

11/02Gaile Gray:Guild Wars Bonus Mission Pack - Friendly Petition

Kook~NBK~ · Nov 08, 2007, 04:33 AM // 04:33

Earlier this evening I went to Kamadan, AD-3, and there were never more than 5 people in the entire district for the 35-40 minutes I was there. At one point, I was the only one there!

But there were SEVEN other districts, and they had plenty of people! - It was spooky!

iridescentfyre · Nov 08, 2007, 04:49 AM // 04:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by GabrielReturns

Woohoo! That's really awesome to know guys. Guild Wars means a lot to me and I don't want it to ever go away. Thanks so much for enlightening me on the subject matter. See you in game!

Players have no access to hard data on the population levels. Anyone telling you that players are logging in more or less is telling you this based on, at best, an educated guess.

That said, my "educated guess" is that given its age, GW is probably less popular than it was a year or so ago. I would be surprised if it were just as active as it was back then. However that does not mean the game is dying, near-death, or going to be closed in the foreseeable future. Guild Wars is getting to be an old game, its going to get less active. But given the number of players I see in an average day, we're not even close to the point that the game is in danger of death.

I have seen firsthand in the past year several MMO games with serious population issues... games where their main cities (their equivalents of Lion's Arch) are literally empty all day... and yet the game is still up and running as of this post. Even on its worst day, Guild Wars is nowhere near that level of inactivity and won't be for a long time.

gremlin · Nov 08, 2007, 07:07 AM // 07:07

I could get paranoid if I listened to all the rumors that go round.
So I think I will just play the game and let Arenanet root out the bots should they find them.

Guns Up! · Nov 08, 2007, 07:29 AM // 07:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by gremlin

I could get paranoid if I listened to all the rumors that go round.
So I think I will just play the game and let Arenanet root out the bots should they find them.

Exactly. If you've still got a guild and friends to play with, who cares if it is decreasing. If it is, we mineswell have fun while it lasts.

Nov 05, 2007, 10:11 AM // 10:11	#1
GabrielReturns Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Nov 2007 Profession: Me/N	Guild Wars Population Is it true that the population of Guild Wars is decreasing because of players who make us of bots? Please tell me it isn't so, I just heard it from a friend of mine recently and I refused to believe. But I want to be sure so I came here. I'm going to start playing Guild Wars again, finally saved up enough money to buy myself and expansion of my choosing. Thanks.

Nov 05, 2007, 10:42 AM // 10:42	#2
silv3rr Desert Nomad Join Date: Mar 2006	There are just as many bots as back then... the only reason why the population seems to have gone down is because it's now spread amongst the 3 campaigns + 1 expansion.

Nov 05, 2007, 12:52 PM // 12:52	#3
IslandHermet Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Aug 2007	Silv3rr is right more places for the bots to hide under the radar. back in the day Towns would be full so easy bans now its like 1-2 bots per town so it is a lot harder to find True bots from ppl. Only thing bots do is ruin the Gold economy LOL.

Nov 05, 2007, 12:53 PM // 12:53	#4
LeoX Krytan Explorer Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: United Kingdom Guild: Guildless Since 2005??? Profession: W/	Yeah lol, bots are not decreasing the in-game population.

Nov 05, 2007, 09:39 PM // 21:39	#5
silv3rr Desert Nomad Join Date: Mar 2006	Yes, and actually on the contrary... the population has grown quite a bit over the past few years Although the bigger the population, the more immature people there are Anyways, welcome back Hope I'll see you around some time :P

Nov 05, 2007, 10:05 PM // 22:05	#6
Alias_X Desert Nomad Join Date: Apr 2005	Whether or not the population is increasing or decreasing, I haven't really noticed it too much. I do most missions and quests with my guild, so I don't notice lack or people to do things with often. New campaigns mean the population is spread out more, but there is also the likelihood of attracting new players with them.

Nov 06, 2007, 09:11 AM // 09:11	#7
GabrielReturns Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Nov 2007 Profession: Me/N	Woohoo! That's really awesome to know guys. Guild Wars means a lot to me and I don't want it to ever go away. Thanks so much for enlightening me on the subject matter. See you in game!

Nov 06, 2007, 09:32 AM // 09:32	#8
Roo Ella Krytan Explorer Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Australia Guild: Oz Profession: E/R	I never see Bots in Granite anymore so they have moved somewhere I think everyone "real players" have more options to play in now and it just looks like the population is shrinking when it;s just spreading out. Just look at teh events there crowded.

Nov 06, 2007, 03:42 PM // 15:42	#9
lakatz Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Jun 2006	Hi Gabriel... With all due respect to your friend, how would he/she know what people who quit the game are thinking unless they tell him/her? And if a handful of people post in this or another forum that they're quitting because of bots, does that represent all the people who quit? And where is your friend getting his 'population' figures? NCSoft would be the only ones with accurate information. They would be the only ones who would know definitively the number of users on their servers at any given time. Have they posted that information publicly? And would they post a decrease publicly if one indeed existed?

Nov 06, 2007, 09:15 PM // 21:15	#10
greywolf31 Academy Page Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Western MA, USA Guild: BHG Profession: E/Me	Ok this may sound noobish... I have been playing online games for a while and I hear about bots all the time, now I am gonna ask... What is a bot? What does it do, How does it work? And Why the heck would anyone want to use one? I play for the interaction and challenge of the game... Ok there I've asked... don't shoot me. =) THX -T

Nov 06, 2007, 10:26 PM // 22:26	#11
rwt2006 Academy Page Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Texas Guild: American Border Patrol Profession: W/	The Guild Wars population is definitly decreasing. But this happens to every game. Some patches make players mad because they get nerfed and can't "pwn" the world. Many people move on to newer games as they come out too. I'm sure when Guild Wars 2, Warhammer, the Star Trek mmo, the stargate mmo, and the new World of Warcraft expansion, are all out. the amount of players will decrease even further. It's the natural cycle of a game to have it's highest point at one time and the amount of active players goes away. Diablo 2, Starcraft, Call of Duty 1. all have less players now than they did 2 years ago. With guild wars they can sit in their office and say the number of accounts is rising, but you must understand it's counting people that don't play anymore because it does not purge old accounts from it's database.

Nov 08, 2007, 04:33 AM // 04:33	#13
Kook~NBK~ Grotto Attendant Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: A little chalet outside Drok's Guild: Natural Born Killaz	Earlier this evening I went to Kamadan, AD-3, and there were never more than 5 people in the entire district for the 35-40 minutes I was there. At one point, I was the only one there! But there were SEVEN other districts, and they had plenty of people! - It was spooky!

Nov 08, 2007, 07:07 AM // 07:07	#15
gremlin Furnace Stoker Join Date: Oct 2006 Guild: GWAR Profession: Me/Mo	I could get paranoid if I listened to all the rumors that go round. So I think I will just play the game and let Arenanet root out the bots should they find them.