Over the past few weeks, our competitors have been waging a PR war that really doesn’t make sense to me at all. One company is claiming that they are number 1, and they even paid for full page ads on the Inquierer and the Philippine Daily Star. Another company released some PR Material claiming that their game was the 2nd most played game in the Philippines. They all want to say that their game is the “most played” game in the country. For me that’s really a whole lot of bullshit. In all honesty, I don’t think even Level-up! Games has the right to say that we have the number 1 game in the Philippines. I’ll break down all the claims made by all the gaming companies out there in this post. Take note that this is my personal view on the matter, and not that of Level-up! Games or ePLDT.
Know the real score after the jump. This is one of the rare times that I speak out against our competitors so don’t miss this chance, hehe.
THE FAIRY TALE
RAN Online was released last year and they are claiming that they are the number one online gaming company in the Philippines. In their recent ad in the broadsheets, they claimed that 40% of gamers prefer RAN ONLINE, and that there are MORE O2 JAM Players than DOTA Players. This is a summary of the ranking that they got from DIGITAL FILIPINO:
- RAN Online (40%)
- O2Jam (24%)
- Ragnarok (18%)
- Audition (14.3%)
- Warcraft DOTA (13.9%)
- Counterstrike (12%)
They claimed that they published the first free-to-play online game/MMORPG (RAN) and that they were voted the best online gaming company by internet cafes.
Okay, let’s get to the fun part now. This is the time where we debunk every single claim.
First, on the topic that they published the FIRST FREE-TO-PLAY ONLINE GAME in the Philippines. That’s a blatant lie because that honor belongs to MOBIUS, who launched GUNBOUND on December 1, 2004. After Gunbound was Fly For Fun (netGames) which launched March 1, 2006. Ran Online (e-Games) was launched on March 31, 2006, making them the third free-to-play game.
Second, let’s discuss the survey. Who in the right mind will say that DOTA isn’t the most played game in the Philippines? I’m willing to bet that all online games combined can’t match the player base of DOTA in the Philippines. Saying that O2 Jam has a stronger following versus DOTA, or even saying Ragnarok has a bigger share compared to DOTA is just stupid. The survey was also done in just 375 internet cafes in Metro Manila and nearby provinces which is not even indicative of industry leadership. Did they even clear this with the Adboard? I don’t think so. @_@
Lastly, that they were voted by the 10,000 cafes as the best online gaming company. There’s no single body that binds all the internet cafes in the Philippines. First Events Asia is a company that focuses on EVENTS and they organize an annual I-cafe congress. How many cafes voted? How was the voting done? There are too many questions that put doubt on this picture.
Early in the year, they told the press that ALEXA was indicative of their leadership in the industry. Has anyone bothered checking the ALEX ratings these days? Level-up! ranks at 16, and they are at 24.
IN CONCLUSION
You cannot trust numbers or paid ads claiming leadership. There is always a PR Spin, and what irritates me is that they don’t bother even researching before paying for ads like this. Here at Level-up! Games, we never say we’re perfect. In fact, we keep on apologizing to you guys because of the technical problems that we keep on encountering with some of our games. We don’t blatantly say that we are number 1, much less pay ads to do so.
Our competitors keep on putting the spotlight on themselves. If you ask me, there’s only one thing that Level-up! Games that can be truly proud of – the online gaming community. Yes, that’s right, YOU guys.
Numbers can be fabricated. To see is to believe, my friend.
Again, let me reiterate that this is my personal view on the matter. This does not, in anyway, represent the views of ePLDT or Level-up! Games.
Click here to read my Weight loss System which let me get rid of 50 lbs. in 5 months!
pickey on December 2, 2007
sir wauks i think mgnda rin i handle new pirate king.tpos taasan new exp for 3 weeks ewan ko n lng kung hnd p yan mgulat sa gagawin nyo hehehe
deric on December 2, 2007
Kahit makuha pa ng e-games ang GE.. prng mo pring cnabi na 1 game na yun ipapaglaban mo yung sa mga 4 na magandang games sa LU.. Kulang pren yun pra sa egames
joel on December 2, 2007
may article na nagsbi msmdmi daw population ng naglalaro ng RO kaysa sa naglalaro ng WoW all over the world.. wow online cguro un hehe.. btw.. nakalogin na ako sa myLU.. nagdownload pa ako ng mozilla.. :swt: tpos nagload ako ng 1 hour.. isang click = 2 transactions.. naging 2 hours.. :pif: dba creator ng GE same sa RO? :e2: alam ko sabi ng Alexa.. as of 2006 or 2007 ata no.1 pRO tpos no.2 lang RAN.. ewan ko lang ngayon.. :hmm:
Kristopher Julius Alcordo on December 3, 2007
yup considernig the number of Private servers.. hehe madami tlga sigro yung RO sa WoW.. but RO is getting old…
tintontan on December 3, 2007
hi mga bro,
No.1 ang Ro sa bot. Ngyn nga pag nag OL ako ala na akong maka usap at mk party sayang n load ko d nmn ako botter.Wish ko lng maibalik pa un dating laro masaya pa kami magpalvl sa HO mga dati kong kalaro ala n rin e Miss ko na kau mga bro.. jan ako humanga sa mga pinoy mgaling sa lahat… thanks any way.
-aka- tonton
pickey on December 3, 2007
sabhn ntin mtgl n ragnarok still kung titingnan mo even private servers almost 120 ata yun private server madami tumtngkilik ng ragnarok kaht pRO din sinsbi nila n ran online kasi nga diba wala daw load ewan ko n lng..kaka simula lng ng valkyrie at valhalla e tingnan ntin after 1 yr
retsuya on December 3, 2007
pero yung perfect world.. most played mmorpg blah blah.. san ko ba nakita yun?
i agree with you sa DOTA part..
retsuya on December 3, 2007
and oh.. RO, 2003-2004 20+ people sa class namin naglalaro.. now zero..
pickey on December 3, 2007
by the way the survey type ay isang useless thing hnd ko nga alm bt gngwa yun e ngtatanung lng sila sa iilng tao samntlng almost hundred million n tyo d2 s pinas diba let say wala p sa 1 percnt ng tao sa pinas ang nakausap nila only 200 people bt nila nasabi n sila ang number 1 amp amp daming tao naun n npakababaw
mrslash on December 3, 2007
All the locally published games aren’t exactly my cup of tea anyway. Press releases like that aren’t really for the players but for “potential investors”/individuals/groups who haven’t got a clue of whats-what in the industry.
Hope E-games isn’t trying to pull a GMA vs ABS rivalry.
james on December 3, 2007
hayup s tirada ha sir wauks
sna nbbsa yan ng mga staffs ng e-games
pra nmn mgicng cla s k22hanan n “ANG BOBORING NG MGA LARO NILA”
you know sir wauks….
cnubukn q n rin ung RAN pero
nbored aq kya tnigiln q.
after 30 min. p lng un ah!
ang blis mksawa
prang food lng.
NAKAKA-UMAY.
PWE!!!!!!!!! /gg
james on December 3, 2007
hayup s tirada ha sir wauks
sna nbbsa yan ng mga staffs ng e-games
pra nmn mgicng cla s k22hanan n “THEIR GAME IS THE WORSTEST AMONG ALL”
you know sir wauks….
cnubukn q n rin ung RAN pero
nbored aq kya tnigiln q.
after 30 min. p lng un ah!
ang blis mksawa
prang food lng.
NAKAKA-UMAY.
PWE!!!!!!!!! /gg
valfogg on December 3, 2007
i doubt ran is the worst mmorpg there is. trust me, there are some even worse stuff than ran that was released in the philippines.
mayabang lang tlga mga taga ran.
_LP on December 3, 2007
I’ve read that paid ad and about to create a similar post to this. Inde na ko gumawa kasi “well said” na ni GM wauks! RAN Online maybe number 1 on it’s 1st week. Haha Here’s the really interesting fact posted by GM Wauks: …all online games combined can’t match the player base of DOTA in the Philippines.
bRO player on December 3, 2007
Blizzard.
Frankly, Gravity is a joke. RO might be “old”, but as long as it’s fun, people will play it. Heck, I would never be playing wow today if it was not for so many stupid changes on RO. Instead of fixing serious bugs Gravity started copying things from wow, but they don’t even understand what they’re copying. They miss the most important trait of Blizzard: intelligence.
Sir Wauks, I’ve already sent you a message with many deficiencies of RO. I can backup, produce evidence and even suggest corrections for each one of them. You know what? I’ve sent them to Gravity too. You replied me, but they didn’t. That was the end of line, indifference. If it’s bugged in kRO, well, the correct behavior is that it should be bugged on your RO too! They talked about character balancing for this year… where is it? I refuse to go on.
Seriously sir Wauks you could enlighten those korean guys.
joel on December 3, 2007
mayabang mga RAN? malamang mga class D people naglalaro nun e.. haha jwk.. ang sama ko :heh:
The Angel-Killer on December 4, 2007
good post kuya wauks! this will defenitely hit the smacks of the ad’s face!
Raina on December 4, 2007
Wauks, I’ve been visiting your blog since it was still on Blogspot and you don’t have a domain name yet. Although I believe that this is not the view of ePLDT and LU, and although you say this is a personal view, you can’t change the fact that you are an LU staff and comments against any rivals will come off as biased.
And though you might’ve said the truth, I think it was not a good idea to post something like this. That’s just my thought. True it’s a personal blog, but you have revealed yourself as an LU employee so anything you say against your competitors will come off as words from an LU employee. You could’ve bashed or commented on other companies aside from eGames to make the matter equal but I still think that’s not good.
I’ve played LU and eGames online games as well as other games from different gaming companies. It’s true that a lot of people are playing RAN online no matter how famous you think other games are. Most games are only good at marketting so people think a lot are playing that game. I personally don’t like the game that much unlike how I loved Flyff but it’s certainly one of the most playable in most internet cafes that I’ve been to especially in certain internet shops that are serving kids as clients. They may not be hardcore players but they count in the market right? They casually play O2Jam and Audition renting for an hour during the course of the day.
Anyway, I don’t think you should’ve bashed eGames or RAN Online but WHERE they got the information. Most of your arguments were really from personal views and weren’t based from anything. Anyone can say they are number one. If they claim they are number one they you can too. It’s just that you chose not to and although that might’ve been admirable. Doing this made you less of one in my opinion (that I believe I don’t share with a lot of people here). In short, hindi nyo na dapat pinatulan.
I see this post as nothing but getting the vote/amor of players by saying what the other company has done wrong and what you did that’s right. Oh well, most readers are LU fans anyway. lol
olympians on December 4, 2007
RAGNAROK NUMBER ONE!!!!
olympians on December 4, 2007
@raina hu? u? wakekkkkek /e4 /e5 /e4 /e4 /e4
IC DeaDPiPoL on December 4, 2007
Read that paid ad before I used it as fuel for my bonfire (cleanup day). Overhere in Malabon I find RAN and MU players dominate here while the rest plays with O2 Jam, and Audition. DOTA and CS is still the majority. The remaining RO players hail from different private servers (that starwars modded one) with only tw0 machines having a pRO Sakray installed (the unit i frequently occupies and a fellow who plays Valkyrie). With sakray’s current state I have switched to Warrock with a random peek at valhalla looking for familliar faces.
Maybe LU should launch THEIR OWN Get the Facts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_the_Facts#Get_the_Facts
Karlatan on December 5, 2007
WOW DOTA 2nd to the last WTF pnta kau GG client look nyo ilang pinoy naglalaro dun dun wala pa bot and vending hahaha pure gamers lolz 13k to 15 tao pag madaling araw 9k to 10k tapos ganun WTF wahaha
hahaha on December 5, 2007
kung totoo man na sila ang number one ngayon, nagpeak na ang “kasikatan” nila ngayon. may animated series ba ang RAN? may 10k players ba ang ran sa isang server at a time? may time ba na nakakapuno ng isang 20-40 pc shop ang naglalaro ng RAN? sa totoo lang, malaking risk ang online gaming dati. mahal ang net, wala pang dsl(bagal sobra) at onti pa lang mga shop.
pag tumagal na ang RAN ng 4 1/2 years at may naglalaro pa rin tsaka nila sabihing sila ang number one.
Raina on December 5, 2007
@hahaha
Having an animated series means you’re #1? And yes, FYI, over 10k per server are logging in on RAN at the same time. Their servers are always full and they have how many? Eight.
Now I read from another blog where GM Tristan commented that he doesn’t think that F2P will work here in the Philippines and yet here we are with Valkyrie, a F2P pRO server. What does it all mean? Did they had to resolve to try F2P for once to test if they can get back their previous market?
Seriously, being in the scene for years doesn’t mean the game is #1. RO is obviously one of the best game there is but it’s the only enjoyable one.
Again, I have nothing against all these gaming companies as I play the game no matter what company it came from.
Anonymous on December 8, 2007
@Raina
It’s unbelievable how I totally agree with you.
@Wauks
Surveys can be misleading and ads are just ways to catch the attention of people so the company can attract more attention. Just disregard these kind of things and don’t let them affect you. Surely, something like that to come out again will be unavoidable.
I advise you to focus first on the needs of your customers especially those players who are really patient in playing in your Valkyrie server. Because from my observations and experience; other online gaming company have a better customer support team and a better array of people for fixing the game when it becomes bugged. Also, other gaming companies don’t keep important information (flawed Valkyrie server) from the dark like the way your company does. You should follow my advise if you want to keep your current gaming community. Any more bugged games and you’ll lose more than half of them.
whatever on December 8, 2007
WALA KAHIT ANONG SABIHIN NYO, PANGIT ANG RAN.TAPOS!
YAK RAN EEW PWEEE BADTRIP KAPAREHO PA NG INITIALS NG RAGNAROK ONLINE (R0)
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK
randy on December 8, 2007
@Raina… alam mo nasasayo mali eh. Ikaw pumasok sa site namen tapos sasabihan mo c wauks na LU staff?(unggoy). 8 servers? palage puno?(stupid). Alam mo ba sinasabe mo?(unggoy). Nagyayabang ka lang
wag mo na ibida RAN mo graphs palang talo na yan wahehe…..
roflpwnd on December 9, 2007
Obviously “staged” survey ratings. Kahit san shop ka magpunta laging may nagdodota. Saka para sa nagsabi na mas maraming RO players than WoW players all over the world, get your facts straight. 8 million copies was sold on its latest expansin (The Burning Crusade) On U.S. Servers alone. May WoW Korea at China pa.
valfogg on January 1, 2008
bottom line people, anyone who sez they beat dota is saying complete bullshit.
Queloy on January 18, 2008
Hahahah!! Nice Sir Wauks!! /no1
Your Right!! /heh
Di ko ata makita yung sarili ko dun ah..kala ko pa naman makikita /sob
Accretian on January 19, 2008
Nice kuya Wauks
Ran ang number????!!!! Sus! magpunta tayu sa cavite city halos mga bata lng ang naglalaro ng ran ahhh! kaya pla nging number cla dhil bata lng ang naglalaro hehe totoo namn eh…..DOTA nataasan ng corny na o2 jam sus! lhat halos My levelup games nilalaro pag na bored sila dota naman para ma thrill ay naku first time naglaru ako ng ran ehh dami sawsaw grabe madami mayabang level 1 sa ran dinuduel n ng mga 60+ na character totoo grabe nachallange aku 1st time namura k tuloy yun hehehe
My level up is awsome and still the best community Ragna player me dti hehe ngaun RF na me
differentiate nyu nga graphics ng Ragna, RF, lhat ng my level up na game dyan sa corny na e-games
sana ang mga adik na dating players ng ragna bumalik sa RO para matigil na yng kakornihang no.1 ang Ran
Bka mgalit kau sakin tara RF o DOTA na lng hehehehe………..
Waukster: MMORPG, Video Games, Perfect World, Ragnarok 2, Gadgets, & Cosplay! » Featured Articles LU WTF Moments LU Yosi Break Session Other Games Perfect World Personal Ragnarok Online Ragnarok Online 2 » 2007 Top 10 Posts on January 19, 2008
[...] 2. Who’s the Real Number 1 Online Gaming Company? A few weeks ago, one of our competitors came out with ads claiming they were number 1. I posted something about this here at literally debunked all of their bogus “facts”. People should really do their research before paying broadsheets hundreds of thousands of pesos. [...]
-Xhiper- on May 25, 2008
COngrats Lvl Up Still NumberOne(1) Yeaaahhhh………..
to all my Freinds (Je-ar)(Miko)(jonard)(PJ)(Katulgon)(Tayron)(deamBoy)(Bakla)(Kachilaw)
the Original Lvl Up PLAYERS……………………………
(HOTSTAR)
RAN=BOBO on May 30, 2008
AHHHH! BASTA RAN IS A COMPLETELY A BULL! susunod na line ng bull sabihin nyu ^^
@sir wauks
sir nice post po hahaha
RAN is the no.1 game
huh? asus tama tong c accretian (pangalan pa lng LevelUpGames adek…. ADEK sa RF)
ASA KAUNG MGA E-GAMERS
bida niu na RAN o o2jam khit anu pa pot @ nahihibang na kau haup ang dame dame namang hacker,
Booster lahat na ng negative na naiisip niu LU players nandyan na sa RAN
d nila mapapantayan ang sexy girls ng ragna ung anime char. ((DAMN! HOTTIES! RAGNAROK GIRLS))
RAN GIRLS ewwwwwwwwww……. syet di ko gusto yan
No.1 pa rin LU pag dating pa lng sa graphics
cnu mang tumutol na hindi no.1 ang LU
suntukan na lng tau na totohanan ano papalag kau mga E-gamers? d2 ako sa cavite city 199 lopez jaena street
puntahan niu ko d2 mag suntukan tau! ano cnu lalaban sakin? E-gamers cge no match kau sakin! WEAK KAU SA TOTOONG SUNTUKAN. O anu pa intay niu suntukan na
RAGNAROK ANIME GIRLS IS SEXIEST THAN RAN
lalo na yung whitesmith wahaha TOO SMEXY! AT GYPSY sexiest sa lahat ng jobs sa ragna ahaha
archer at shaman ng RAN sexy? YUCKEE yun
[="INNOVATORZ"=] on May 30, 2008
lilinawin ko lng sinabi ni RAN=BOBO
c accretian ang pangalan nia ay nagmula sa LU,,,, kc sa RF un eh.halatang adek cia sa RF
hacker,booster lahat na ng negative sign na isipin niu na sa RAN na (ibig sabihin ni RAN=BOBO mga LU players ang mag iisip ng negative sign o ordinary peoples)
at ang gusto ko sa sinabi nia ay ang mga RAGNA GIRLS
totoo naman na mas magnda ang ragna girls eh
yung parang manga ang drawing sa wallpaper
MY FAVORITE CHAR is the sage girl too……SMEXY! ahaha
RAN Girls is a ewwwwwwww…. alang sinabe yan!
[="INNOVATORZ"=] on May 30, 2008
HELLOW SIR WAUKS!
RAN is not the no.1 DOTA IS the best among the rest
2nd is RAGNA
RAGNAROK GIRLS FORM OF MANGA IS TOO I MEAN INTENSIVE TRUEEEEE…….
SEXY than RAN girls form of manga
wahaha I LOVE THE WHITESMITH GIRL OF RAGNAROK SHE’S SO DAMN HOT AND SEXY!
P I R U on May 30, 2008
HELLOW SIR WAUKS!
RAN is not the no.1 DOTA IS the best among the rest
2nd is RAGNA
RAGNAROK GIRLS FORM OF MANGA IS TOO I MEAN INTENSIVE TRUEEEEE…….
SEXY than RAN girls form of manga
wahaha I LOVE THE WHITESMITH GIRL OF RAGNAROK SHE’S SO DAMN HOT AND SEXY!
popohat on September 27, 2008
ran?!?!! THE NERVE!
Climax Beetle Rider on April 24, 2009
LU! and E-GAMES, the next ABS-CBN x GMA rivalry, outright!
ABS-CBN had Level-Up! and AMPED Games
GMA had E-Games and formerly, Mobius.
This Philippine MMO War will be at its worst if MyGame intervened!
So if we have ABS-CBN vs GMA-7 vs TV5 (RF Online picture, anyone?)
Then this is it! Level-Up! vs E-Games vs MyGame
NovusIsBurning on June 30, 2009
tiga E-Games yang mga pa english english kagaya ni Raina hahha
mga representative ng e-games yan eh. woooohooooo tangina nu kahit mga players nu nag aaway sa forums nyo!
Hatsuya Kanzaki on July 11, 2009
*facepalm*
May napansin lang ako sa pattern ng mga MMOs na nilalabas ng mga Big 3 ngayon:
Grand Chase (LU!) VS Final Quest (MyGame) <- Platformer RPG
SilkRoad & Rohan (LU!) VS CABAL (E-Games) VS 12Sky2 (MyGame) <- Bot-Galore Hardcore RPGs
Emil Chronicle Online (LU!) VS NosTale (E-Games) VS Fiesta (MyGame) <- The cuter & anime-ish RPGs
Hatsuya Kanzaki on July 11, 2009
Ang kulang ng LU! ay mga barilan, ang kulang ng E-Games, mga anime-ish RPGs, ang kulang ng AMPED, mga anime-ish RPGs rin.
Worst mmorpg in the Philippines on December 11, 2009
I’m sorry but the worst mmorpg title belongs to oversoul