According to WoW Census, there are more Hunters than any other class. There are a full 25% more Hunters than any of the next most populated classes. (Rogue, Mage and Warrior.)
Why?
This post from BBB is what piqued my interest. I’ve known about the census imbalance for a while, but haven’t put much thought into it. I’m also sure that this has been discussed before, but I wanted to take a look at it from my end, focused more or less equally on game design and player experience.
In that post, BBB calls on players to step out of the shadows and proudly proclaim that they play Hunters. It’s a great read, and the comments are likewise fun. At the heart of it, Hunters are just fun to play. Looking again to BBB, he described his initial interest in WoW as being based on two classes; the Druid and the Hunter. (Check about two thirds down in the article for the two bullet points.) Perhaps not coincidentally, those are my preferences as well. Why?
Well, there are sure to be those who say that Hunters are the best for soloing, since they are essentially their own two unit party. Others might say that guns are cool, or that the opening cinematic with the Dwarf Hunter got stuck in their mind. Some people just like fighting at range without relying on spells. Yet others might simply be coming from Pokemon, and want to build their own little beastmaster regime. The collector gene is strong in gamers, and with non-combat pets, even other classes can get into the fun. (Those links are to absolutely awesome sites, by the way; Petopia and WarcraftPets.com.) Still other players might be heavily into role playing (in an RPG, strange, I know), and literature is rife with stories of “a man and his dog“, all the way from “Old Yeller” to “I Am Legend”. Mania’s Arcania is perhaps the finest reference for tis sort of player.
That’s just off the top of my head. I’m sure there are other reasons. I just want to dig a little deeper.
I think that a lot of the appeal of the Hunter class is that it’s a class with more choices than others. To be fair, that’s why they appeal to me, so perhaps I’m projecting. Even so, from a purely “game design” objective perspective, I think it’s true. Yes, any class will have a full suite of talent tree choices and a host of spells and abilities to tinker with. Blizzard has done a fairly good job of giving players options. I’m not saying that other classes are worthless, merely that they have fewer options and choices than Hunters.
A lot of it centers around the Pet. Hunters can tame a vast array of critters, and each brings its own unique style to the table. Sometimes, that style is purely cosmetic, what with different “skins” for effectively the same critter. I started with a brown bear, for instance, but once I found a rare white bear, I just had to train the beastie. The newest expansion, due out in just a few weeks, Wrath of the Lich King, will add even more critters to tame, including some really crazy ones like Rhinos and bloomin’ huge dinosaurs. (Prowling BRK’s history of posts yields some real gems. What are you waiting for? Go check it out!)
The wide array of choices gives Hunters more to do in the world than any other class. They have good reasons for exploring the world, digging around in every nook and cranny, if only to see what is out there. It’s a totally different mindset. Most classes just get into a relatively mindless Zen state, killing whatever foozle happens to be in front of them. Hunters, though, look at those foozles with entirely new eyes, asking themselves: “Can I use that? Do I want to use that? What could that do if I were controlling it? Would I look cool? What would I name it? How can I get that unique one out of the herd and tame it without dying to its friends?” This really tickles the Explorer in me, and I see it as extremely good game design. Getting people interested in the world as an interesting place with crazy inhabitants rather than a treadmill of death is a good thing.
Yes, there are non-Hunter Pets, but they don’t really do much. Hunter Pets are integral to how the Hunter plays. Each Pet type comes with a unique ability, and different tactics. A Moth will behave differently from a Crocolisk. A Hunter’s Pet defines how they play. (Or vice versa, whatever.) No other class has that sort of versatility. To be fair, Druids (my other favorite class) are also very versatile. They just change themselves into different animals. Shamans and Paladins can also be very versatile; that’s the strength of hybrid classes. Even so, a Hunter’s style is more varied (and different) simply because of the wider variety of critters to tame.
That doesn’t necessarily mean “better” game play, since that depends on what you want out of the game. That said, if you’re looking for variety and customizability, Hunters are hands down the best choice of class.
Looking at this from a game design standpoint, I see this as evidence for one of my main design tenets: Give Players Choices. Hunters have more choices in how they take ownership of their avatars than any other class. Sure, people can play dress up, but even that is limited because there’s no dye system in WoW. Yes, there are non-combat pets, including special event pets and engineering pets. Hunters bring their options to the table on top of those.
In an MMO, getting players involved with their avatars is one of the keys to retaining them as customers. It’s one of the keys to letting people have a good time. Hunter Pets are a fantastic tool in this vein.
Bottom line, whether or not it’s conscious, I think that many people see that Hunters give more choices to players, and they gravitate in that direction. True, this may be more of a casual or superficial concern, but really, that sort of stuff is important in an MMO. Hardcore raiding only carries so much weight. This is why I, as a casual player with a heavy Explorer bent, will always love to fire up my Hunter and go tool around in the world, looking for the next interesting beastie. This is why I, as a game designer, look to Hunters as a great game class definition, and a success worth emulating. Give players choices, make them interesting, relevant and important, and they will love your game. Make it grindy, and people will love the loot, but hate the play. Make the play itself interesting as well as the loot, and you’re sitting pretty.
If the top 3 classes used are Hunters, Rogues, and Mages, I believe that your initial analysis-hunters have more options hence, are played more- is spot on. Another thing to consider is that the hunter,mage, and rogue classes all play just about the same regardless of spec. When you roll any one of these classes, you know what to expect, and don’t have to essentially relearn the class when switching talent trees.
Another thing to take into consideration is the bug factor; and I’m not referring to game play bugs, but the fact that when you roll a warrior, priest, or paladin, you WILL be bugged by the playerbase to perform a certain task. DPS classes don’t have to put up with “are you a healadin or a tankadin?” nor do they have to assume responsibility for the survivability of the group.
In short, imo,DPS classes, especially the hunter, are fun to play because they are consistent, self reliant, socially obvious, and assume a low amount of responsiblity in group situations.
The self-reliant aspect is huge for the way I play. That’s why I like Druids, too, since they can handle pretty much anything.
I had forgotten about the talent tree variation. That’s a good point. Also you’re right that the DPS classes are much easier to slot into a group, and less demanding. That does tend to make things more fun. Some people like that they are the key to a raid (the tank, especially), but for me, I don’t need that sort of stress or those sorts of accolades. I have a job and a family.
While I’m writing, I also think that the Hunter is more amenable to casual play. That’s why we see a lot of “elitist jerks” ranting about “Huntards”; there are those who come in and play for fun, rather than racing to the raid endgame. Some crazy Hunter might be absolutely enamored with their Crocolisk, despite not being min/maxed for raid efficiency. They are still having fun, though, and in my book, not only is “fun” more important than “efficiency”, but Hunters are just more fun to play than any other class.
Aah, an entry after my own Heart.
I AM The Hunter. In fact I’m sitting here writing this wearing my BRK “Rhino: We Win” t-shirt (yes, I’m at work. I love casual Fridays
I tried a couple of classes when I started WoW but the Hunter class just clicked for me, and yes, I was also the typical Huntard. I forgot all about my Talent Points until I was into my 30s. I never taught my Pet the level 20 & 30 Growl and wondered why he could never hold Aggro on lvl 30+ Mobs, and why I was having such a farking difficult time killing anything. I never actually ran across BRK’s Blog until well after I’d hit 70. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t try to better myself as a Hunter. I still made mistakes though, like taking the AV Crossbow reward instead of the Ice Barbed Spear (I never did Instances so most decent Ranged Weapons were out of my reach anyway).
While they are all DPS classes, I wouldn’t say the Rogue, Mage and Hunter play “about the same” (and yes, I know you’re not saying they’re identical, Wolf).
As well as my 70 Hunter I also had a 70 Gnome Rogue, a 67 Troll Rogue, and a 63 BElf Mage. They might all be DPS but you play them very differently.
For the same Loot quest I might have my Hunter send in his Pet as a distraction while he grabs what he needs.
My Rogue would Stealth in, Sap one Mob, Ambush another, Blind a third, then burn them down one at a time as fast as she can.
My Mage might open with a long cast time, heavy hitting Pyroblast on one Mob, Sheep the second, couple of Frostbolts or Fireballs until the first & third Mob are within Melee then Frost Nova and Blink away. Finish off the first Mob, then continue Frostbolt (or Fireball) the second Mob until dead. Resheep the third Mob if necessary then Pyroblast and burn it down.
All DPS classes, but all with different styles of completing the same quest.
A Rogue’s playing style will even vary, depending on your spec and weapons. Like my Gnome Rogue, my Troll was a dedicated Combat Sword build until I picked up a couple of Blue Daggers on the AH in his low 60s and respec’d to get the best use out of them, which meant going less Combat and more Assassination. I totally had to change my Playing Style which is where I learned the ruthlessness and brutal fun of Stunlocking Mobs and other players
Combat Swords is fun, but so is a Stunlock build. It might be annoying to be on the receiving end but it’s not a “cheap” tactic. It takes a lot of skill to pull off a perfect Stunlock (it does, it really does), and if you don’t maintain the Stun and your opponent gets a chance to fight back, if they know what they’re doing, you’re pretty much screwed.
Finally, because this is turning into a post-length comment
I leave you with a story I wrote of my real-life WoW encounter with the fourth Demon when I completed the Hunter’s lvl 60 Epic Bow quest. (Wolf, I know you’ve read this one before 
http://capnjohnsblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/kwazimoto-and-demon.html
Heh, that Rhino shirt is just awesome. Thanks for the posts, guys. I like long posts; they are typically much more interesting than the “tl;dr” or pithy snark comments.
*bookmarks Capn’s story for later digestion*
Oh, and I think Wolf was noting that most Mages play similar to each other, not so much similar to other classes. Talent spec differences are minor compared to that of, say, a Druid or Shaman.
I’m afraid that both of you (obviously) know more than I do about the game, though. I’m just a noob with a big vocabulary, a penchant for rambling, a hunger for research, and a fascination with game design.
Addendum:
This Census link holds another interesting little tidbit of data (check out the Quick Class Stats)… Hunters are more popular on PvE and RP (PvE) servers, while Rogues are more popular on PvP and RP (PvP) servers. That’s not surprising, but it is interesting to me that those are the two classes with strongest differences between the two types of play (I’m presuming the stunlock attack style being the Rogue’s forte in PvP). It bolsters the Hunter-as-solo thought, as well as the RP aspects of the class; it’s probably the class with the most Role Playing potential.
You might find it interesting to know, as I did, that the Explorer Bartle type prefers the Hunter class in WoW, by a long shot.
Have a look, scroll down to see the chart.
I checked Nick Yee’s site to see if the results there concur, and they do. You can also see that advancement is very low for those who like the hunter and druid classes. Discovery is high for hunters, and oddly there is nothing high on the motivation scale for druids. I’m not sure why that is. I consider myself an Explorer/Discover and spent a ridiculous amount of time on my druid swimming around the contents to see if I could find any secret locations.
Anyhow, thought you might be interested in those links, if you haven’t already come across them.
~ Mama Druid/Hunter Person
I’d seen the WAR breakdown on GamerDNA.com, but I totally forgot about it when I was writing this up. It makes sense that they would do a WoW breakdown. I’ve also explored the Daedalus Project, but somehow missed that article. Both are great references, so thanks, Mama Druid!
Edited to add:
This is another good link from the GamerDNA people:
Further breakdown of classes and genders
[...] and I appreciate that quite a bit. That’s a great way to get value out of the game. Also, Hunters offer a lot of game play options, especially to an explorer like [...]