Here's what I have for world populations. I've actually been impressed how most of the worlds are still filling and am hopeful they stay at least over 350. I think Dobie and Hayes look like they're going to continue to go down the tubes. If anyone has populations I don't for pre-update, let me know.

I will post updates when worlds start recruiting. I find this all interesting

	Pre Update	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4
Rockne	327	463	414	339	314
Camp	242	460	364	277	261
Bryant	253	441	347	300	273
Wilkinson	240	376	297	226
Leahy	329	443	359	300
Stagg	270	369	370	296	265
Warner	285	428	393	297	273
Heisman	293	433	364	308	286
Dobie	222	293	256	215
Hayes	263	409	316	254	229
Yost	300	426	338	293	271
Total	3,024	4,541	3,818	3,105	2,172

Warner was at 343 a season or two before the update.

The free credits WiS gave to non-GD users expire 1/15. I guess you will have to watch what happens to the worlds that roll over after that.

Rockne was 327 before the update, 325 the season prior to that.
Camp was 242 before the update, 235 the season prior to that
Bryant was 253 (shown) and 269 the season prior.
Wilkinson was 240 (shown) and 250 the season prior.
Leahy was 329 (shown) and 310 prior.
Stagg was 270 (shown) and 269 prion.
Warner was 285 both seasons prior to the update.  Incidentally, I show 427, not 428, in the post-update season.
Heisman was 293 before the update, and 303 the season prior
Dobie was 222 (shown) and 229 prior.
Hayes - I have 243 just before the update, 254 prior to that.
Yost was 300 (shown) and 298 just before that,

Posted by livemike on 1/13/2011 11:49:00 PM (view original):
Drops from year1 to year2 across the board

That doesn't really mean much.  I would expect that many people use their free season and don't re-up, regardless of the state of the game,  They'll play for free, but that's it.

Posted by bhazlewood on 1/14/2011 3:39:00 AM (view original):

Posted by livemike on 1/13/2011 11:49:00 PM (view original):
Drops from year1 to year2 across the board

That doesn't really mean much.  I would expect that many people use their free season and don't re-up, regardless of the state of the game,  They'll play for free, but that's it.

+1

Wilk is at 264 as of now. That would be season #2.

thanks for sharing your numbers guys. like bhazlewood pointed out, as expected a lot of the free seasons were used with no intentions of re-upping...but it is very nice to see every world has increased in population overall since the new engine's release (with a few worlds being 30-40% more populated)

Posted by bhazlewood on 1/14/2011 3:37:00 AM (view original):
Rockne was 327 before the update, 325 the season prior to that.
Camp was 242 before the update, 235 the season prior to that
Bryant was 253 (shown) and 269 the season prior.
Wilkinson was 240 (shown) and 250 the season prior.
Leahy was 329 (shown) and 310 prior.
Stagg was 270 (shown) and 269 prion.
Warner was 285 both seasons prior to the update.  Incidentally, I show 427, not 428, in the post-update season.
Heisman was 293 before the update, and 303 the season prior
Dobie was 222 (shown) and 229 prior.
Hayes - I have 243 just before the update, 254 prior to that.
Yost was 300 (shown) and 298 just before that,

I was going to suggest using the GUESS site to find the numbers, but not necessary now 

Posted by livemike on 1/14/2011 11:01:00 AM (view original):
One plus for WIS is new users don't know what the game was like before the update. And didn't have to deal with the new sim and all it's problems instituted in the middle of seasons, etc. So if they do enough promotions to attract new players, even a low retention rate will be enough to replace all the long time users they chased away.

No, I actually think they believed they would eventually win over GD users with some slick marketing. They've adopted the same line of thinking -- right down to the "Trust us, you'll love it" -- as the marketing geniuses behind New Coke.

I'm just wondering how long it will take before they admit defeat and go back to a repackaged GD Classic.

I saw I had a free GD credit, and decided to get a 5-pack because of the added discount, so count me as a new user that is in it for the long haul; although I may be in the minority

I think populations were declining before the update. I attributed that decline primarily to the economy and people having less spending money although I do not know that. Obviously, there were people who never liked the old engine or who just never cared for GD after trying it. GD had a small but loyal customer base for what I consider to be a niche type market product.

It is no surprise that numbers increased with all the free seasons given away. It is no surprise that some of those coaches playing free seasons did not want to continue. I think those statements would be true regardless of how good the update is.

Now that the deadline to use a free season is expiring, and many old coaches are coming to the end of their free seasons, we will see how successful the update is from a business standpoint. Since many of the seasons played thus far under the new engine are/were free or previously purchased, we do not know how GD is doing for WIS from a revenue standpoint. I think WIS saw declining numbers and legitimate problems with the old engine and made a good faith attempt to address those concerns. Whether WIS succeeded has been discussed ad nauseum.

The real question now is whether GD will have enough customers to and increased revenue (or any increased revenue) to call the engine a success from a financial standpoint. I think we will start to see some answers in the next 30-60 days. If WIS starts offering more free seasons and discounts, and population numbers are declining, we will have our answer. If the new engine is not a financial success, how many coaches will be willing to give GD another chance through another engine update? Will coaches be willing to offer suggestions to WIS, and would WIS listen to them anyway? Will WIS beta test the next engine properly? If WIS learns anything, I hope it is "DO NOT RELEASE A NEW ENGINE WITHOUT PROPER BETA TESTING!!!"

I hope GD survives. They had a good product, and the willingness of most coaches to offer help and free advice to those who wanted to learn was essential to my success and helped make the game as enjoyable.  

GD in my opinion is still better than other sims on the market, its just not as good as it once was. It might in the future be better as the game has improved  since release.

I think the game right now is actually playable, but for many of us who played the game before the update it is still a let down. For those that did not play the game before the update they don't know any different and have nothing to compare and for that reason they  are unlikely to be disappointed, which also means they are more likely to keep playing than someone who played the better product. Of course I don't dismiss that some people prefer the new product, but many of us preferred the old product and those are the ones leaving the game.

I think we still have to wait a few more seasons before we know if the new engine/free season campaign increased the number of coaches or not. There still seems to be a lot of veteran coaches who are cutting down the amount of teams or quitting all together but still have some free seasons to use up.

This sudden increase in coaches does make me wonder why they discontinued the free season to begin with. Many veteran coaches got started from getting a free season to try it out. I may have never found this game if it wasn't for that. Stopping the free season promotion is why the numbers continued to go down prior to the update.

Edit: I will also add that I think Stagg is another world that will have a ton of openings. I think the change over to the new engine took place early in Season 59 and many coaches, like myself, may have already scheduled a few non-conference games meaning they would have to play Season 60. Season 60 is now almost over. D3 is also almost full from the free seasons so surely more will be dropped than new coaches signing up. I'm guessing Stagg will be close to the number it was prior to the update in another week or two.

Wilkinson doesn't make it to 50% what does this mean for rewards points, will they be prorated down from the 50% marks? I fear most worlds will be back down to the low to mid 200's soon! What a shame!