Fewer players?

[Letsplayforfun]

Hopefully it's just my playing times wronging my perception: i'm getting the feeling there's less players on EfU these past 2 weeks or so.

How's the player count going?

[Oroborous]

Down lately. Hopefully it will reverse with better DM activity.

[Mort]

We weren't on gamespy for the past two months (since the server update): meaning we were technically a private server. It's been fixed, but this was a major slow down.

[Moonthirst]

I thought it was usually above 20 but now it is usually 5-20...

[Oroborous]

We weren't on gamespy for the past two months (since the server update): meaning we were technically a private server. It's been fixed, but this was a major slow down.

Wow, that'll cause it.

[Sternhund]

It's also finals season for many university students. IIRC, it's always been like this around now, and then it'll bump back up in numbers as people go on to celebrate the winter.

[Marius]

Bane for christmas!

[Ommadawn]

Yeah, my play times are usually pretty quiet, but have been even more so lately. It's hard to find the motivation to log on when there's no one else there.

[I can has fun?]

I have noticed a significant increase since the Gamespy problem has been fixed. It just didn't make sense that the server was getting updated so often and no one was coming to see it.

I predict we break 40 next weekend.

[AKMatt]

I thought finals had something to do with it.  School has been limiting my play hours a lot lately.

[Vendayan]

I think on average the server has about only half the people that it had roughly this time last year.  It is of course inevitable that the playerbase will slowly dwindle as the engine gets older and support gets worse for it.  Vista already has trouble running the game, and Windows 7 might not support it at all.

I'm just hoping that the EfU community will be ready to make a step towards a new engine when the time comes instead of simply throwing in the towel.  NWN2 was meant to be promising, but it sucks of course.

I've spent a lot of time tossing the idea around that I would be willing to develop a new engine specifically crafted for EfU, but even that could possibly require more contributions of effort than what the community can offer.

[Cake_Or_Death]

Keep in mind that a lot of new games (Left 4 Dead, the new NWN2 expansion etc) have come out recently which will sap a lot of time off people, coupled with that crazy Thanksgiving holiday the good people of America have it could very well lead to a downturn in numbers playing EfU.

Personally I'm not sure moving to a new engine will mean more numbers coming to play!

[Caddies]

Cyclical like most other things. It'll pick up.

[dragonfire9000]

Whoa there Caddies, don't go all Hagel on us! (I think that's the right fellow...)

Yeah guys, you're all my brothers (and sisters) in NWN, but you know school's gotta come first. No worries, the vultures will circle once more.

And as for a specific engine for EfU:A... do it. I would pay fifty smackers for that game. You know the Cruzel could pull it off.

[Badandexiled]

I can go with the reason of the end of season at university, and that my computer got blown and I have just gotten it together. When my school rush passes, I'm back, and I'd assume so are many others.