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To: AreWeThereYet who wrote (6036)	6/14/1998 1:20:00 PM
From: Sigmund	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 14266

Interesting about usenet. it made me realize that I haven't gone there in a long time. My current version of Netscape doesn't even have a Newsgroup Button. I don't even know how to get into these groups anymore. I can search and find individual postings but I don't get into the group itself. doesn't seem to be a way to subscribe. I wonder how popular usenet is these days?

To: AreWeThereYet who wrote (6036)	6/14/1998 1:48:00 PM
From: Jeff W.	Respond to of 14266

Alex, I appreciate your contrarian opinion. However, with all due respect, your post regarding Usenet figures is wrong. According to Media Metrix's most recent household reach figures, roughly 42M users access the web from home. Relevant Knowledge's universe is roughly 15M users higher, and includes people accessing from work. For the time being let's use RK's more inclusive figure and assume 57M surf the web, regardless of point of access (despite the fact that the game's target audience will have a much stronger correlation with access from the home). Of that 57M figure, roughly half access the Internet from AOL, indicating a "web training wheels mentality." These are people who are comfortable within the confines of a simple and easy to use proprietary service, and who may from time to time, venture out onto the web via a link or AOL's browser. Using this AOL composition figure, assume half of the original 57M number, or roughly 28.5M users are more advanced web surfers. Of this figure, I would assume less than 20% of this group fall into the "hard core" web user category (according to the 80/20 rule, where 20% of a market comprises 80% of usage), who I would assume make up the bulk of the Usenet community. This would result in roughly 5.7M active hard core users that would most likely be using Usenet boards at this point, a far cry from the 50M cited in your posts. Regardless of the actual number, to assume that the entire Usenet community is reading every board is illogical. Boards are a highly targeted, niche community vehicle, as evidenced by the THQI board on SI. Though SI offers hundreds, if not thousands of boards to the investment community, I only read four on an active basis. Thus, the total universe of active board readers for any subject matter (be it THQI the stock or Quest the game) will have less to do with the total Usenet universe (though obviously that figure serves as a ceiling) and far more to do with the actual community of interest around a particular subject matter. Additionally, keep in mind that Usenet posts are threads in which the same person may be posting over and over. Of the 70 posts I read on the Nintendo board, I would say the number of unique posters was less than half that number. Assign a "lurkers to posters" ratio to the 35 posters, and you will have a fair guesstimate as to the number of people reading Quest posts. Of this figure, the number of parents buying games for children too young to afford them on their own (the primary audience for the game), is probably negligible. The people that are posting about Quest are hard core gamers, and while I would agree that this group typically comprises the early adopters for a new game, because of the target market, I doubt their influence will do much damage to a release so clearly designed for beginners. All of this said, it is obvious that the game has only fair appeal to the experienced gamer market. This is an audience nonetheless, and it would have been nice to appeal to both beginners and experts. However, Brian is an extremely shrewd marketer, who knows the strength of targeting. I am sure he has done his homework, and realizes that the beginners market in this case will be sufficient to yield a significant profit on he title. Finally targeting a base of users who will make this their first RPG experience should build a significant base of Quest 64 fans who will, despite the poor reviews of more experienced gamers, be looking forward to what will hopefully be a better sequel. On a separate but related note, Andy, thanks for your research bringing my attention to the Usenet posts. Much appreciated. Jeff