The Daily Grind: Does a class' popularity influence your desire to play it?

by Justin Olivetti on Jul 12th 2011 8:00AM

Classes, Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous

There are a few constants that dog my adventures into every MMO. I will play a female character even though I am a man, I will go nuts over pet classes if they are available, I will probably create a legion of alts before ever hitting the level cap, and I will wear stylish hats even if the stats aren't the greatest. But above all of that, the biggest constant in my playing career is that I almost always refuse to pick MMO classes that are extremely popular.

I think it's because I -- like probably most of you -- like to feel unique in games, even though it's usually difficult to achieve. Choosing a class that's in the minority helps with that feeling, and conversely, going with the FOTM or whatever the kids are calling it these days makes me feel like I've got my unique snowflake status revoked.

So is this insane? Do you allow class popularity to influence your desire to play it, or do you just go with whatever sounds like the most fun?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

Reader Comments (45)

It's probably just me, but I can't for the life of me see why being influenced by how popular a class is would be fun. That being said, I'm not aware that I go the other way and pick minority classes on the grounds of them being unusual.

I tend to go for the class I enjoy playing or the one that looks the most Issmirian.

I will avoid builds that feel cheap or exploity though.

@Issmir

Off the top of my head, I'd suggest some people could be influenced because that's what they're seeing around. That's what we like to call advertisement :p

It makes people think of it more, and it leads people to think that maybe there's something to why a class could be popular.

Obviously, this goes more for newer players than people who've been around long enough to learn the game and understand the pros and cons of each class.

This rings completely true for me.

In LOTRO, I started playing on launch day and chose a hunter. I had done some reading from beta on the classes, since they weren't your typical fantasy names. I was going to play the Lore-Master (seemed like the closest to a magic class), but some guy said the hunter was the ranged nuker in LOTRO and the closest to the mage in WOW. So I picked hunter.

Little did I know that every Legolas-loving player that came along would choose the hunter too.

Now, I'd like to play the Sith Inquisitor in SWTOR for similar reasons, but it already looks like it's going to be one of the most popular classes. So I'll likely resign myself to the bounty hunter instead.

For me, the less popular a class/powerset is, the more likely I will try to find a way to make it work for me.

No, class popularity never influences me. I simply play whatever class I'm certain I'll enjoy. I could care less if it happens to be one of the most popular.

Personally if something is way too popular, I won't play it (it's one of the many reasons I never play a pure dps class.)

It normally means massive competition for loot, ridiculously limited spaces for raids/dungeons and being considered part of the "tard" class.

Although I still love my DK in WoW :P

@Dril
Ditto.

To add to that, i like having some individuality to my gameplay experience. Nothing irks me more than seeing multiples of the same class as mine, sharing the same armour as me. It doesn't make me feel like i am contributing at all.

If i pick a class, i like to be "wanted" and "needed". No better feeling than seeing people in your group say "Oh wicked, we got a *insert_class* ".

In ToR I was going to go with the Trooper class, but everyone i talk to is doing the same. So now i'll probably have to switch Consular instead.

I'd like to say that it doesn't influence me, but truth be told I'm less likely to play a class that is extremely popular. It's stupid, but I guess some part of me wants to go against the grain. Ugh.

@jealouspirate

That's not stupid. If anything, it justifies the fact that your trying to be different. Dril has a good justification too. Who wants to fight over resources when you're the same class? Of course, that all depends on a games mechanics, but it's a simple generalization for argument sake.

I first choose a class based on mechanics. If I enjoy playing the class, that class is going to be my main character. I'm not sacrificing my needs of enjoyment over playing something I don't "want" to play. On the other hand, I gravitate towards support classes. I like to take care of my team; performing as the hidden crutch that helped carry my team towards the goal. Those type of classes are usually less popular... LFG Heals/Tank anyone?

I agree with the writer and play the same way except I tend to go for the least popular, I dont always go for pet classes, I don't roll female if it becomes a serious character I usually end up paying a rediculous fee to go male. Hats are fun just look at TF2 pyro cone hat anyone!

Oh and if I hit a wall I dont know I have hit I then tend to start rerolling blaming the class teehehehe.

Popularity is one factor for me. If there's a really popular class that interests me the most out of all classes, I do not care and play it either way. If there are several classes that interest me and one is a lot less popular, I usually choose this one.

The bad thing about choosing a popular class is that groups (for instances, for example) don't need or want you because they have enough of that class/role already. That reduces the fun I could have.

So, I usually choose a class that can be helpful and isn't too popular - which is usually something like a healer. ;)

It doesn't stop me from creating a popular class as an alt, though. I don't have a problem with not feeling special in this aspect. I do like feeling helpful and wanted, however. ;)

I also don't generally play DPS classes for the same reason. If you plan on grouping, being in demand as a class makes for easier and more frequent grouping.

I often don't even try to find which is the most popular class. I don't feel more, or less, compelled to play a class due to it's popularity.

On the other hand, I do have a few criteria that drive my class choice. The most important being flexibility; I don't play pure classes, and usually go after the classes that offer more roles. It doesn't matter how much I like a class otherwise, if I don't have enough flexibility to satisfy my tastes, I won't keep playing it.

(This also means I don't play MMOs where all classes are pure classes, or where respecs are restricted, BTW.)

Popularity is a huge factor for me. I'll usually log into an MMO and ask which classes are in need, and make a choice on those. That's probably why I was a tankadin in WoW, a tank or healer in Lotro, tank in GW, and an off-tank/healer in Rift.

I enjoy being one of the in-demand classes, and everyone likes to have a group member that is familiar with the class that they play and usually knows that they're doing ;)

If I am having fun I will play it, if I am not having fun I wont. Flavor of the month does not affect me, what does is if I am getting my moneys worth in entertainment. So if I happen to pick a class that most of the player are playing I simply think that they enjoy playing the same type of class that I do.

An example, I never could get into LoTRO as I found most of the classes bland until they added the Warden, now when I run around in Middle Earth it feel like almost every other player is playing a Warden. It doesn't affect my enjoyment of the class I just feel like they are having as much fun as I am. ^_^

No, I won't have what I want to do influenced by people I don't care about. For example I don't care how popular Jedi will be in SWTOR I'll still make mine and enjoy it.

I enjoy playing as a less popular class, because you end up standing out more. It wouldn't really affect my decision on what class I play, but I definitely enjoy it.

I don't actively avoid classes/professions/archetypes that are very popular, but often it seems those that I pick tend to be among the leats popular.

That is perhaps because I get bored with typical pure damage dealer options or others that typically involve a simple key rotation only.

This is especially true when it comes to holy trinity gameplay, since that can make the damage dealer even more boring.

Add in some debuff and/or crowd control capabilities that forces more active play and situational awareness to work well I will in most cases pick that instead. But these options never seem to be on the top of the popularity lists.

There was a time when I didn't want to play a class that was too popular. Like when everyone was a Paladin in wow during a certain time I didn't feel like playing mine. I got out of that eventually when I realized I was putting too much effort into playing something I didn't enjoy as much as what I wanted to play.

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The Daily Grind: Does a class' popularity influence your desire to play it?

Reader Comments (45)

Posted: Jul 12th 2011 8:07AM Issmir said

Posted: Jul 13th 2011 3:37AM Lionhearted said

Posted: Jul 12th 2011 8:12AM Jesse A said

Posted: Jul 12th 2011 8:33AM OmegaDestroyer said

Posted: Jul 12th 2011 8:52AM dragonandante said

Posted: Jul 12th 2011 8:55AM Dril said

Posted: Jul 12th 2011 10:22AM Loopy said

Posted: Jul 12th 2011 8:57AM jealouspirate said

Posted: Jul 12th 2011 11:10AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jul 12th 2011 9:01AM Wic said

Posted: Jul 12th 2011 9:02AM Wic said

Posted: Jul 12th 2011 9:04AM Paeroka said

Posted: Jul 12th 2011 9:18AM Nerves said

Posted: Jul 12th 2011 9:18AM DarkWalker said

Posted: Jul 12th 2011 9:22AM CaptKillsteal said

Posted: Jul 12th 2011 9:34AM Unshra said

Posted: Jul 12th 2011 9:35AM FrostPaw said

Posted: Jul 12th 2011 9:46AM AtomicConnor said

Posted: Jul 12th 2011 9:59AM Sente said

Posted: Jul 12th 2011 10:01AM pross182 said

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