Actually, age is fairly irrelevant. Adults working full time typically use summer months for vacation time and traveling.

Daily activity charts don't really tell us much, what tells the tale is the number of subscriptions.

Those are the numbers I would like to see.

http://eve-offline.net/?server=tranquility

As u can see theyre is a trend DOWNWARD. At the start of the graph there is 30,000 players and at the end of the graph ere is 12,000.

CCP must fix mining and end hyulkageddon because eve has lost over half its subscribers!

If you hover over the graphs then you get the dates in a pop-up. It reads from right to left and indicate that EVE is trending UPWARD.

lies. languages are read from left to right.

Current amount of subscriptions means nothing compared to the active numbers, especially when players are just waiting for the subscription time to run out on the accounts.

lmao. i guess facts just aren't enough for some people. the average age of an eve player is around 30. Work is year 'round. summer is irrelevant. there never was much to the argument.

Summer is irrelevant?

It's not irrelevant. It just happens to have the opposite effect of what many people assume.

Historically, the PCUs and average player online numbers in EVE have gone up during summers, presumably because people have vacations and have more time to play (and because they don't have to get up in the morning to go to work, so they can stay up longer in the evening).

The GÇ£summer slumpGÇ¥ is indeed a myth. The slump generally happens during the late spring and early autumn (again presumably) as people spend more time finishing stuff up before the summer and as they return to work/school with new vigour and with their attention on getting off to a good start.

I didn't selectively quote anything. The links are there. The information is there. It is remarkably detailed. The second link is one of the most famous articles ever written about EVE. It was quoted absolutely everywhere. CCP developers and management read the blog.

Get your head out of your ass.

I'm talking about the annual slump that takes place in May leading in to June. Looking at the PCU records dating back to 2007, seem to indicate a drop in numbers during THIS period, which is what people like the OP are using as ammunition to fuel their "OHMERGERD TEH SKY IS FALLIN" machine. The middle to the end of June is when numbers seem to rise, but that's not the time frame that people like the OP are focussing on, so why are you?

http://eve-offline.net/?server=tranquility

As u can see theyre is a trend DOWNWARD. At the start of the graph there is 30,000 players and at the end of the graph ere is 12,000.

CCP must fix mining and end hyulkageddon because eve has lost over half its subscribers!

I'm not. I'm saying that the summer slump is a myth, just like Cutout Man said.

May isn't summer.

It is to me and many others. The last week of May beginning of June is when we used to take our "Summer" vacations. The same can be said for tens of thousands of people across the world. The major error you and the OP have both made is in assuming that the term "Summer" is the same for everyone everywhere.

It means the same when we're talking about the mythical summer slump GÇö the one that doesn't happen during the part of the year called summer (ok, fair enough, it's winter on the southern hemisphere, but norherncentrism is the norm around here anyway ). May is not part of that part of that season.

You're just arguing the reason why the summer slump doesn't happen and saying that some of those reasons might not apply fully, but that doesn't change the fact that the summer slump is a myth.

The point I am now being forced to argue is your rigidly defined idea of what summer is. I'll put it simply. For many people summer starts now, out of those hundreds of thousands of people there are undoubtedly some EVE players. This causes a slump in login numbers when those thousand of people take their holidays. Thus the summer slump IS real.

http://eve-offline.net/?server=tranquility

As u can see theyre is a trend DOWNWARD. At the start of the graph there is 30,000 players and at the end of the graph ere is 12,000.

CCP must fix mining and end hyulkageddon because eve has lost over half its subscribers!

GǪexcept that what you're talking about isn't the summer slump GÇö the one people expect to happen during the actual summer. That's why the summer slump is a myth: because during the summer, the numbers don't go down as expected, but have historically gone up instead.

You are not arguing what the summer is GÇö you're arguing the reasons why the slump doesn't happen (and, funnily enough, you're using the reasons that are traditionally used to explain why it should happen, even though it doesn't). You're offering a rebuttal to one of the presumptions or guesses why the summer slump doesn't happen: that people are on vacation and have more free time. Whether that's true or not doesn't change the fact that the summer slump doesn't happen. Just because you decide to take your summer vacation early doesn't change when the summer season happens, and during that season, the slump people are expecting doesn't actually materialise. Your vacation planning preferences are of zero relevance to whether or not the summer slump is a myth or not.

The summer slump myth was used liberally last summer (after June 21st) when people tried to explain the post-incarna loss of players by it being GÇ£the summer slumpGÇ¥. In other words, they were talking about some supposed slump that was meant to be the norm somewhere around midsummer, but which actually is a myth, since that slump has historically been something a bump instead.

[Sitting looking at those graphs, I see a similar slump to the one we have now happening every year, like clockwork and to almost the same degree irrespective of bad expansions to the game.

As for me arguing why the slump doesn't happen, I've been pretty clear on what I am arguing. That "Summer" is a flexible term these days, and that a slump does indeed occur on a regular basis at the same time every year.

For example, in large parts of Europe and in the UK most people who fit the EVE demographic take their summer holidays, as defined in their employment contracts, during the last week of May in to the first week or two of June. To them and to their employers, this is part of "Summer".

The end result is that the "Sky is falling crowd" are using flawed information and out of date concepts to back up their "EVE IS DYING OHMERGERD" attitude.

In other words, you're not looking at the summer slump that people tried to blame the post-Incarna population deflation on.

Yes, but that's not GÇ£the summer slumpGÇ¥ that people are referring to for the simple reason that it doesn't happen during the summer season, but rather during late spring.

You're going to need to source that, because it rather sounds like you're generalising from yourself. By the same token, around these parts (Europe and Scandinavia) the people who fit the EVE demographic take their summer vacation from midsummer onwards, with some waiting as long as August. This also coincides with those with children, who take their vacation when school ends (June) or when the GÇ£industry vacationGÇ£ starts (early July).

GǪsuch as blaming the post-incarna dip on the summer slump, even though said slump is a myth since numbers have historically gone up during that particular period.

Hmm wait a minute, I have an odd feeling that, at least in part, we may be arguing the same point. I have never, nor would ever blame the Incarna debacle on a summer slump. That was entirely and completely down to CCP screwing up. Im gonna go back and re-read this entire thread from beginning to end, just to make sure I have not made a ****-up somewhere. Give me a few minutes.

Sorry Explorer, but from last year January it's actually a decline in numbers. Nevermind though, we didn't want those botters anyway.

The graph does make clear there is a drop in activity. Anyone who claims there is an increase is a boldfaced liar.
Anyone who claims that "the summer" is the reason is simply putting forward an opinion. The graph proves there is a decline in player activity, not why.

In short, if you want to join a discussion with intelligent people in the future, first acknowledge the facts, before you try and put your spin on them.

Biggest boost was when Incursions got released. Biggest drop was when Incarna was released.

Ah, I see. Seems a little premature at this point, though I wouldn't be surprised if we do see a downturn between UI, summer, diablo 3 and bots.

speaking of EVE graphs... whats up with Serenity?

http://eve-offline.net/?server=serenity

has it gone offline?