How does this actually work?

The daily and weekly graphs seem ok, but I have a hard time reconciling the numbers on the monthly and yearly graphs with the graphics.

For example ATM the monthly graph claims MAX 54 yet the graphics only go as high as 48/49.

The yearly graph is even worse, claiming MAX 80 while the Y axis only goes as high as 50. According to the graphics the past 6-8 weeks have seen a sharp decline in player numbers, to something below 20 now. Yet there are 41 online right now...

Are the colours relevant (blue = accurate, red = made up )?

Dunno about the graph scale not scrolling to match the indicated data, but the decline for monthly/yearly is easily explained....northern hemisphere return to school.  It'll pick up again a bit once people get adjusted (and college/university students get access).  Also southern hemisphere will soon be on their summer vacation so I would expect the numbers to once again increase around November.

Daily data is taken at so many minute intervals and would come close to peak numbers in that time span.
By the time you get to the yearly graph you can't plot that many data points so the data is averaged.
Looks like red is definitely averaged.

Averaged number of players per time span is more meaningful and accurate than peak numbers of players per time span.

I see no fraud or deception in this practice. Seems to me to be the only way it can be done.

The values and the pictures are generated by rrdtools, a standard tool for this kind
of data.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRDtool

The original script is written by Joris Bontje in 2000, an old cf dev.
If someone is interested, i can post the scripts.

Yeah definitely no fraud or deception. If this was being attempted it would be being done extremely poorly, as the graphics (which I would say is what nearly everyone will work on, certainly at first) give a 'worse' indication of player numbers than is actually the case -- it looks as if we have <50% of the player numbers over the course of the year than we actually have.

Well ,thats because we hit the summer hole in player numbers - and i had done not much advertising
before the new website, the wiki and the push of the 3d client.

perhaps i should remove the yearly grafik?

Yes I think so. I'll have to take Tehill's word that averaging is the only way to do it (actually I do see what he's saying), but the yearly graph gives the impression Daimonin is dying rapidly. Of course back to school and stuff is the reason, but the graph gives an exaggerated view.

Monthly is inaccurate but at least it doesn't look quite so terrible.

I'm going to hijack this thread ... it is slightly related.  

Just below the "server status" we have "site status".  Yesterday we had 80+ new sign ups, which seems to be pretty typical, yet I don't see 80 posts from noobs saying hi or asking for help etc.  Does that mean most of the new sign ups are search engines or something?  I'm confused ...

Typical?
With wikipedia and full advertising we have 150+ in the middle.

No, these people are just people downloading the client.
We have between 500 to 1000 download.

But many people don't go much further.

You will see the game explode with the 3d client,
because then alot more of these people will stay.

To bring the project to that numbers was one of the "side plans"
of the last 2.5 years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRDtool just in case you don't know german...