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July 25, 2005
Playtime and Class / Race
Server Sample: RP (High), PvE (Medium), PvE (High)
Sampling Period: 6/13/2005 9:00 am - 6/20/2005 9:00 am
Sampling Resolution: ~14 minutes
Parsing Method: The sample unit is each unique character. Each character was tracked across the server logs. Total playing time, lowest observed level, highest observed level, guild affiliation, and zones seen in were parsed.
Data Filter: None
Sample Size: 76,364 characters
We compared the weekly play-times of the different classes. It was surprising to find that Rogues play about 2 hours more each week than most other classes.
We also ran the analysis split by race. Gnomes and Dwarves spend the least time each week playing - about 1-2 hours less than other races.
To get a better sense of these play-time differences, we include below the average play-times of all race and class combinations with level controlled for.
Levels 1-20 (average play-time in a week):
Levels 41-60 (average play-time in a week):
Overall, we found that the main variation in playing time was driven by class rather than race. For example, rogues play 5.5 hours (28%) more than Hunters.
Count of race/class combinations:
It seems like we're picking up on some farming activity ...
Posted at July 25, 2005 10:00 AM
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Comments
I wonder if the low gnome and dwarf numbers are partially caused by the use of such characters as auction mules in IronForge? I know I use a low level dwarf alt to buy and sell at the auction house, and I've seen a lot of low level dwarfs and gnomes hanging around the AH and the bank.
Posted by: Sylvie Noel at July 26, 2005 07:01 AM
Sylvie, my experience with the game totally matches your hypothesis - I think mules explain the low numbers. It's just easier to drag a gnome or a dwarf to Ironforge than an elf!
Posted by: Nicolas Ducheneaut at August 4, 2005 11:01 AM
Good point. (Actually, I wonder whether it's faster to get a level 1 human to Ironforge than a dwarf or gnome, but it probably seems farther to most people. I've certainly picked gnomes as trading alts.)
Posted by: Eric Nickell at August 9, 2005 09:13 AM
The higher rate of Rogue play may have something to do with the number of Farmer's who play as rogues. Due to the fact that those people see WoW as a profession, they are more likely to play for longer periods of time, thus causing the rogue results we see.
Posted by: Bill Pippel at August 17, 2005 11:15 AM
Is is possible to determine the average length of play sessions for subscribers in WoW?
There is an on-going controversy over whether content should be directed at people who can play for solid blocks of time (ue raids) or those who cannot.
I think it would be interesting to see the percentages of the current suscriber populations who can maintain a raid playing style and the percentages who do not.
Posted by: RS at February 12, 2006 04:03 PM