Poll: is you mmo character influenced by popularity?

[00slash00]

I have started to notice, over the years, that i seem to place a lot of importance on the popularity of a specific race or class when making an mmo character. i always tend to lean toward less popular races and classes. thats not to say i would play a class or race that i hate, just because everyone else hates it too, but if there are several choices im interested in, i almost always pick the less popular one. im not sure why this is, maybe i just dont want to feel like im conforming or maybe i just want to feel more different in genre where im going to spend the whole game doing pretty much the exact same thing as everyone else.

my question to you is, is this a common feeling in mmorpgs? do you often find yourself trying to pick less popular races or classes? or possibly even picking more popular race/class combinations? Or does the popularity of character types in the game have no influence on you at all?

 

[DugMachine]

I try to pick the races that aren't ridiculous looking but aren't overly popular. I ran with an Orc in WoW as BC had a metric fuckton of Blood elfs. Then it started to balance out so I went troll, then Tauren.

 

[Swyftstar]

Nah, I play what I want. I played as a Hunter in WoW. I then found out that my class was commonly refered to as Huntards and we were considered a risk by a lot of people. Didn't care. I've been an archer head ever since I was a kid and I play it in pretty much every rpg or mmo where there is an option to do so. I experiment with warriors, mages, healers and stuff from time to time but the bow always calls me back.

 

[Muspelheim]

Well, I usually do play what I want to, but it has a tendency to be one of the rarer options and combos.

Tauren paladin... I can still hear all the whining and moaning in Elvish... You're no longer the special bubble boys, Belfs. Deal with it! I'll go hang out with the Draenei.

 

[Terminate421]

My (main character) Worgen Deathknight was made because he looked awesome and Worgen make good deathknights in general.

My human hunter was made because I wanted a range class and a human. Also guns.

My pandaren monk was made because monks were centered around them, also a giant panda is an original idea for a race, and I needed a healer

 

[CoffeeBoy]

The only situation that I can think of where my character is influenced by others is if I join a guild and notice that we're short on something. Then I know exactly what my next character will be.

 

[Jandau]

To an extent.

I never play a DPS character, simply because every time I try, I get dicouraged when the time for grouping comes and I'm stuck either begging groups who are full on DPS to take me or stuck in a group full of DPS begging tanks and healers to come along.

If there's a class or race that's the most popular, I'll avoid it.

Beyond that, I'll take a look at what's left and pick what I like. Though usually this means a Tank (as my Night Elf Warrior and Blood Elf Paladin will indicate).

Granted, it's been years since I played an MMO properly, so maybe it would be different this time around...

 

[corvuscorrax]

I share the same view as you do OP but I know the reasons.

I don't want to be a class that is overpopulated (gear competition is something I avoid if possible)

I'd rather play a character that isn't common so I'm more likely to get into parties.

Even in Borderlands I refuse to play Zero online because it's fairly common for me to end up in a group of 3 Zeros and myself.

 

[krazykidd]

I play the least popular class . Always . I like being different . I'm also more likely to try new thing and weird builds . Back before WOW made talent points linesr and boring , i made a dual dagger weilding Warrior . I swear i almost got laughed off my server ... Until i started DPSing more than everyone in my groups . This worked until level 75. Then i had to buck up and get real gear because people would kick me out of instances for not having appropriate gear .

 

[DementedSheep]

With my main not so much...at least not consciously anyway. With alts a little bit, I don?t want to play a class that?s too overpopulated because it makes grouping a problem.
Race I don?t care but I tend to like the less popular ones anyway.

 

[Cowabungaa]

My first and most played character in WoW, when I still played that, was a Gnome Rogue. A Gnome Rogue.

The most hated race and the most hated race. Yeah.

 

[DasDestroyer]

I really enjoyed playing my Tauren Hunter (speaking of which, isn't it interesting how almost all the posts here are about WoW?), mainly because leveling one is a breeze. Rogues and Warriors need to regen their hp between mobs, other classes need to regen their mana between mobs, but even back when Hunters had mana as well, lacking mana was never a big problem, it may have slowed me down slightly, but I'd still deal quite a nice bit of damage while my pet tanked.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

Nope, not really. I play what was most fun for me to play.

In ConquerOnline I had all sorts of characters, but my most played was a Water Taoist. People called me weak, mostly the melee types that could never get a bead on me. That is, until I killed them.

I had LOADS of characters in MapleStory, but once he came out, Aran was my most played character simply because he was fun as hell to play, and had more story to him than the rest of the game put together, when he came out.

In Guild Wars I have one of just about every profession, but my favorite and most played of them all is my Dervish. I would even take my Dervish to Jade Quarry and listen to everyone go, NOOB DERVISH COME BACK RANGER OR NECRO, and then wind up winning the match for us because the other team had such a hard time taking whatever quarry I was protecting. They complain that it's less faction points, but I'm there to win, not risk losing simply so I can get 200 more faction points.

I've played too many MMOs to recall all the characters I've played. Ever since I moved a year and a half ago, I've never gotten to properly play an MMO and I'm really, really wishing I could.(if not for the fun I'd have, for the money I'd save not buying so damn many games for my consoles >>)

 

[Norrdicus]

My MMO character choice is often influenced by what my friends pick. If not, then I do indeed pick the "less popular class". And in the case that my friends pick the same class, I build mine differently so A) we compliment each other's playstyle better, B) I get to hear less unwanted advice from one of my more genre-savvy friends who has a bit of an ego. "No no no, you're doing it all wrong. You want THIS skill, like the one I use"

It's the reason why I'm not leveling my Guild Wars 2 thief further. Every other member in our guild is playing a bloody thief, either as secondary or primary character!

 

[DazZ.]

My first character will always be exactly what I want to play, not only because I don't usually know about popularity but I don't care.

Then the second time around I'll be taking things like racial traits, how many of them there are, how easy it is to find a group with etc. So I guess yes, but only the second time around.

 

[Muspelheim]

My first and most played character in WoW, when I still played that, was a Gnome Rogue. A Gnome Rogue.

The most hated race and the most hated race. Yeah.

You buggers always had my silent admiration. :3

Goblin Rogues, the silent, adorable killer... Impossible to click-target, and unnaturally fast on their teeny tiny little legs. I don't have any real problem with getting killed by something so cute.

 

[Torrasque]

I always selected my race/class based on what I wanted and to hell with what everyone else was doing.
The only time I cared about popularity of a race/class was when I was making an alt out of boredom or curiosity. For example, I made a mage because some of my guild's mages were absolutely awful and I figured I could do better. There was also a few mages that I really respected that told me how much fun the class was, so I wanted to give it a try.

Besides that, I'll usually make a class/race "that everyone else is making" because it is new and I want to give it a try. I made an undead death knight when wotlk came out because undead + death knight just seemed to fit. Those were the days where you could clear most BC instances with a group of 5 DKs... Ahhh... I miss those days...

 

[The_Lost_King]

My first and most played character in WoW, when I still played that, was a Gnome Rogue. A Gnome Rogue.

The most hated race and the most hated race. Yeah.

Most hated race and the most hated race? I'm sorry what. Do you mean class?

OT: I make what I want. I usually pick a very popular class though. Though I do it because I like it not because it is popular. My favorite class in wow is the hunter(ie. huntard -.-). I love archers and having pets, and so does everyone else apparently *sigh*. Then I decided to play zero on borderlands 2, EVERYONE plays Zero.

 

[FalloutJack]

Putting aside the fact that I have barely played MMOs in my whole life (31, yo.), I'm gonna say no anyway because the Charr I play is there because I think it's cool. And you know what? He is, too. He's based upon a character of my own making as is. Awesome by default.