only 500k subscribers?

[Magis]

All this talk about sales and numbers reminds me of the console plebs who always act tough on the video game playground by trying to prove their console sells more than the other.

It's not a dick waving contest like consoles... it's general worry of the health of an MMO. Maybe for some they don't give a shit cause they only play during patch releases, but sub numbers directly tie to if a MMO will survive the long term. Those that want to play a single MMO for years on out hope for large numbers and steady or climb subscriptions, so that the game doesn't die in it's first or second year (and as a person burned by many MMOs that did just that, I definitely look at sub rates).

I think it burst a few people's bubbles when SE was touting 2.5 million registered users and they assumed active subs, then all of a sudden it's shown the number was in fact 500K.