[Disclaimer: Link to the sheet is at the bottom of the post]
Over the last year I decided to throw together a spreadsheet listing the class and race polling results given on here and on the subreddit. I've done this for around eleven MMORPGs that I've followed since 2002. With those games, the history only covered a bit into pre-Beta (announcement of the game) and through Beta, but it helps with an understanding as to where the players sit in terms of selection. From what I have found was that the average and behavioral trend matched near that of actual composition in the live game and throughout the following months.
With Pantheon, this is only my second attempt at doing so over an extended period of time. Because of that, for this basis, the more important aspect is the behavioral data. That's in seeing the shifts in data from different polls and with adjustments due to event based circumstances (release of class description or information that alters player interest, how close was the poll conducted to said event, etc.).
The reason I'm posting is because I've been asked now by enough people over the last few months to where I'm in agreement and feel it's best to release it to the general audience. The sheet will be updated continuously so if you want, save the link and/or follow this Reddit account so you can more easily find the sheet through my 'Submitted' section.
About this page:
Primary tab - This is the history of the polls in question along with graphs and rankings.
Red Box - Tab name and location.
Orange Box - As per the numbers, you want the server composition to be at ~16.67% for Tanks, Healers and Control/Support. DPS values should be 50% which when divided into three becomes ~16.67%. Any number over that value means an over-representation. When this occurs, group composition can at times use the over-represented archetype to make up for the under-represented one. By the numbers in the example, groups would then use either a Healer of a Tank in place of a DPS slot.
Yellow Box - Poll number, Sample Size and Type of Poll marked by a symbol (Personal - not marked, Sparxx - Box or Other - Data required normalization). Legend for those symbols are at the bottom right of the Analytics Sheet.
Dated Tabs - These tabs are designed to give insight into a full group composition as it stands with a standard archetypal spread (Tank, Healer, Control/Support, DPS, DPS, DPS). It details the availability of each archetype within a server.
Red Box - Tab name and location.
Blue Boxes - Shows an under-representation of a DPS slot. In the chart below is a percentage chance and availability of that particular archetype in filling that specific slot within a full group.
Orange Boxes - In this particular poll, DPS are at an additional deficit and shows that 8.15% of the 6-man groups will have two DPS slots occupied by any of the other three archetypes.
Yellow Box - Link to the poll in question.
Average Tab - This is the average of all values for archetypal group composition. Function is similar to Primary Tabas detailed above.
About archetypal Deficits:
My data for group composition is based on a standardized 6-player group format. While I understand this is not going to be every group in Pantheon, it does give that group an idea as to what the server will comprise of and the availability of a particular archetype.
Standardized group format in this case is Tank, Healer, Control/Support, DPS, DPS, DPS. Groups will obviously be different than that so in your composition, you may adjust it with what's available as per the numbers. One example is a group with Tank, Healer, DPS, DPS, DPS, DPS. While this group composition is possible, given the relatively low number of DPS on a server in comparison to other archetypes, this group structure may be more difficult to create.
Analytics
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1q06ZAC0Aqd7gAN3m4vXc7CkEIjU-F0N_gzQqVRfShMM/edit?usp=sharing
wow look at that fish people are going to be everywhere. they are rather exotic in the landscape in mmo and visually pleasing for an "evil race" rofl
i'm a bit surprised about the population of classes.
maybe the polling is indictive of the people that are following the game in its gestational stage.
appreciate the data now i know that people interested at this point are control freaks or players that love music and creativity XD
Going by previous polling data in eleven other MMORPGs, the data on those who follow it early is generally the same from those who join in later. There isn't any evidence from what I've seen over 15 years of data that shows there's some arbitrary divide among the demographics. The only thing that changes the data is when substantive changes are given to a class or classes that causes a deviation from the trendline. Right now, the highest population are Healers, with Tanks followed up. Control/Support seems to be in the middle and closest to the 16.67% number. It's just because there's two classes it seems high but this is about archetypes, not classes individually as when looking to make a group, it's expected that you'll look for a Tank, Healer and then a Control/Support, then follow it up with DPS for the other 50% of the group.
Different group makeups however while they work, the challenge will then be reflective to the available archetypes.
Janus said:Going by previous polling data in eleven other MMORPGs, the data on those who follow it early is generally the same from those who join in later. There isn't any evidence from what I've seen over 15 years of data that shows there's some arbitrary divide among the demographics. The only thing that changes the data is when substantive changes are given to a class or classes that causes a deviation from the trendline. Right now, the highest population are Healers, with Tanks followed up. Control/Support seems to be in the middle and closest to the 16.67% number. It's just because there's two classes it seems high but this is about archetypes, not classes individually as when looking to make a group, it's expected that you'll look for a Tank, Healer and then a Control/Support, then follow it up with DPS for the other 50% of the group.
Different group makeups however while they work, the challenge will then be reflective to the available archetypes.
ah this was cross referenced with other mmos? was a bit confusing with specifics only to pantheon. hm. i have to reflect on this a bit. i'm simple minded here O.O
let's see if i can influence the data here....
"HUMANS HAVE THE BEST RACIAL FOR ANY CLASS. THEY'LL HAVE PLUS 3% TO ALL STATS." CONFIRMED BY NOTJOPPA(this is satire and an attempt to skew data and is not associated with vr, devs or solid evidence)
out of curiousity, what is the purpose of the data?
a. creating dungeon encounters
b. instilling incentives for class and racial diversity
c. just because
d. all the above
e. none of the above
(the multiple choice is satire.) jokes aside i'd like to know what possessed you to make this ^.^
-i should note that i greatly appreciate data like this
stellarmind said:let's see if i can influence the data here....
"HUMANS HAVE THE BEST RACIAL FOR ANY CLASS. THEY'LL HAVE PLUS 3% TO ALL STATS." CONFIRMED BY NOTJOPPA(this is satire and an attempt to skew data and is not associated with vr, devs or solid evidence)
Racial data is skewed and a bit chaotic due to us not knowing their passive/active abilities or stat makeup. Because of this, that data while is nice to see, isn't nearly as concrete as class based data due to the methodology of how the findings are tabulated.
If this poll would reflect the true values at least in the first month or so of the game I would be in heaven - as I'm planning to main wizard (which might change depending on my impressions after beta and my guild class demand). Unfortunately I'm very (and by that i mean - as my niece would have put it - VERY SUPER ULTRA ...) sceptical about these values and I think these values reflect mindset of most people interested in such game from very beginning, rather than anything else - Pantheon is more slowpaced, yet challenging game which promotes tactical play in which tanks and cc classes play fundamental role. But I have yet to see any MMORPG not overrun by dps classes...
makes me worry a little, as a healer. might be hard to find groups, i've noticed it more and more over the years as a healer its getting harder to find spots in groups as there are so many other players playing healers in general now. With the 6th party slot in pantheon im hoping that will mean more room for healers in general, the footage/videos we've seen so far groups have worked well with 2 healers.
Fascinating data Janus, thanks for collecting / compiling. A couple caveats:
1) self reported data can be notoriously inaccurate, especially internet polls (people lie). NOT saying these sample sets are biased, but they could be.
2) as servers mature, many players will have alts and grab whatever the group needs at the moment
3) your group representation assumes all players are available at the same play times. There could be a plethora of bards on during prime time EST (USA), but a dearth during Australian EST.
I echo Stellarmind's curiosity - what motivated you to begin compiling this data in the first place? Also, how did you compare it to actual server stats?
Yeah, the racial data I expected to change considerably, but we have to wait for active abilities then a few weeks after that's settled in the community. The worst thing you can do is give a poll immediately after something is released when that poll is based on that thing. There's a settling effect that happens and in this circumstance, the effect is likely within the 2-3 week period after.
Syrif said:I remember reading some of your ideas a while back. Different racials, abilities, and deficits/penalties are awesome. Cool stuff Janus.
Talking about this?
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ub6RphtxAHr_52C4HLC0PbpMIPn64MZ9cBhBQkQ5gPk/edit?usp=sharing