Hello, I was just wondering if anyone has any idea on how many active subscriptions Istaria has? The world seems very empty on some days, especially Dalimond. I just went there for the first time since coming back and almost cried. No consigners, the Quartermaster is gone, and worse of all no one was there. It used to be one of the major hubs and I still have fond memories of trick or treating there and seeing all the people with masks and their little candy bags, hehehe. So many zones are empty and I feel awful. This is truly a wonderful game and I don't know why it hasn't garnered more people. Maybe people remember the past but I've been trying to get the word out that Istaria is getting better every day. Virtrium is doing a great job and they're the kind of company you want to run a mmo. The community is still the friendliest and nicest I've ever had the pleasure of knowing - even if some people are getting a bit carried away on Consigner prices - especially horde loot - It used to be that you sold all horde loot at 1/10th the horde cost - ie if something had a horde of 2000 then you sell it for 200. (But that's just my opinion - if people pay the prices then by all means go for it, it's not a bad thing just something I noticed is all)
Anyway I got off topic. Does Istaria have the numbers to support and maintain itself without the Dev's starving to death? Do they have other money making projects? I know they have the license for the game engine and I thought some other software so maybe they sell usage licenses on the side?
Maybe they should do in-game advertisements to boost revenue. I don't know I just don't ever want Istaria to close down. Well at least not in a long time. I think it's the best mmo ever made and no other mmo comes close to having the sheer land mass of this game or the varied cities, zones, geography. They truly pulled a miracle off making this game. I know it has it's share of glaring problems but what they managed to do is miraculous. I love the night sky and how BIG the game world is. I haven't even seen half of it and I love how it takes a while to run somewhere and I love the run speed increase on the roads and the crafting ,, I could go on and on. I just hope they have enough of us to help keep it going. Keep up the good work Virtrium. You'll get my 15 bucks every month