wow WoW Demographics for Class, Race and Faction Infographic

[Starym 3,800]

 

We have some interesting statistics to take a look at today, as redditor Quasiwave created an infographic looking at population data for both factions, the most popular races and classes, as well as a (somewhat less relevant/accurate) "most commonly paired race/class combos" diagonal. There's not that much shocking info in there, with Blood Elves being staggeringly popular for the Horde and Night Elves and Humans for the Alliance, but it's interesting to see all the stats anyway.

Now, the numbers can never be exact (or even close to it), as Blizzard doesn't share that kind of data anymore, but Quasiwave took the next best thing, as the data was taken from Warcraft Realms and features 300,000 characters (not unique players).

Here's some more info on the methods used by the author himself and you can check out the reddit thread for even more statistics debate on the methods used, whether it's a realistic representation, and just how accurate or not those diagonal boxes are.

Quote

Using the data provided at warcraftrealms.com/census.php, I put together this visualization of the race/class demographics in WoW as of May 2020.

For those curious, the boxed squares along the diagonal of the heatmap plots are the most typical race/class pairings, calculated such that every race and class appears exactly once:

• Night/Blood Elf Demon Hunter
• Worgen/Tauren Druid
• Dwarf/Troll Hunter
• Gnome/Nightborne Mage
• Pandaren Monk
• Human/Zandalari Paladin
• Lightforged/Mag'har Priest
• Mechagnome/Vulpera Rogue
• Draenei/Goblin Shaman
• Void Elf/Undead Warlock
• Dark Iron/Orc Warrior
• Kul'Tiran/Highmountain DK

...

Oh you might have missed it, but I in fact linked directly to the source of the data! Nearly all of the players included in this dataset are not using this addon. The addon conducts frequent /who searches to capture a random subsection of the player population. It's by no means perfect, but a sample size of 300,000 is absolutely massive -- nearly unheard of in most statistical applications.

...

Hi, I used a statistical method called "weighted bipartite matching" to produce the pairing that maximizes the number of characters along the diagonal (such that no race nor class appears twice). Here are the technical details!

Source.

[shaha95 1]

It so frustrating playing Horde nowadays.

Everywhere you go, you see only and only blood elves, and most of them of course female elves, and on top of that half of them wearing terrible slutmogs. Ugh. They better start paying attention on other Horde races, make them better, add customization, fix animations and their racials.

One of the benefits of Classic - it doesnt have Blood Elves at all. Authentic Horde

[Arcling 898]

I think these are very inaccurate, since Realmpop stopped working due to some method of data gathering being broken. Does it count only max level, because if it doesn't then many inactive characters are being counted, mostly people who haven't played in ages.

[Teufel 331]

...also known as "Female BElf Syndrome"

Edited May 28, 2020 by Teufel

[Ragingwolf 310]

I'm not really surprise for both sides even if the graphical representation is not 100% accurate.  It's not like FFXIV where you can be of any Race and not have a Race restriction on a specific Job (Class) like it is with WoW.  And those 3 specific Races: Night Elves, Humans, and Blood Elves offer the most for Class selection compared to all the others along with eye appeal when it comes to xmog and or physical animations.

[Starym 3,800]

3 hours ago, Arcling said:

I think these are very inaccurate, since Realmpop stopped working due to some method of data gathering being broken. Does it count only max level, because if it doesn't then many inactive characters are being counted, mostly people who haven't played in ages.

He explains how it works above in the article, there's an addon that does a /who search every once in a while etc. So it's definitely not inactive, and lower levels seem a little more unlikely since high levels mix with high levels.

[Starym 3,800]

1 hour ago, Ragingwolf said:

I'm not really surprise for both sides even if the graphical representation is not 100% accurate.  It's not like FFXIV where you can be of any Race and not have a Race restriction on a specific Job (Class) like it is with WoW.  And those 3 specific Races: Night Elves, Humans, and Blood Elves offer the most for Class selection compared to all the others along with eye appeal when it comes to xmog and or physical animations.

Also Demon Hunters ?

[Monlyth 75]

It's interesting that Worgen (The race I mained) has a middling popularity in Alliance. And that Warlocks (The class I mained) are such a niche class.

And I'm not surprised by the Horde stats; most of the races other than blood elves look terrible with transmog imo. Forsaken don't have elbows, Trolls can't wear boots, etc.. I wish they'd introduce more variety in the races, as well; I've been waiting ages for Naga, Dragonspawn and other races to be playable.

[joshelloco 2]

And that's why as a gnome dk I always use the 'slayer of the sin'dorei' lol

[Teufel 331]

23 hours ago, Ragingwolf said:

I'm not really surprise for both sides even if the graphical representation is not 100% accurate.  It's not like FFXIV where you can be of any Race and not have a Race restriction on a specific Job (Class) like it is with WoW.  And those 3 specific Races: Night Elves, Humans, and Blood Elves offer the most for Class selection compared to all the others along with eye appeal when it comes to xmog and or physical animations.

Dwarves and trolls offered the most class selection, until belves caught up with DHs. Not like there weren't hordes (pun not intended) of female belves prior to this. As much as I like the lore of that race, won't mind them going extinct by now gameplay-wise.

[Ragingwolf 310]

34 minutes ago, Teufel said:

Dwarves and trolls offered the most class selection, until belves caught up with DHs. Not like there weren't hordes (pun not intended) of female belves prior to this. As much as I like the lore of that race, won't mind them going extinct by now gameplay-wise.

Hate to break it to ya but you can't  make other people choose other Races because you don't like one in particular in retail even if you loathed and wish for that particular Race to be 'extinct'.  And yes regular trolls and dwarves may offer the most of class selection however their running animations and xmog appearances are not that eye appealing.  In the end result players are going to create and play what that will enjoy the most.

[Teufel 331]

8 hours ago, Ragingwolf said:

In the end result players are going to create and play what that will enjoy the most.

Alliance Human/Horde Undead PvP ladder back in the day, 'troll family' screen shots of the first kills on most Horde guilds around MoP, hordes of BElves in Legion's M+ and just as sizable hordes of Night Elves in BfA's... need I go on how easy it is to influence community 'enjoying the most'? 
I'd be incredibly surprised if Shadowmeld won't get a nerfhammer and you'll suddenly see the resurgence of some other race.

Edited May 30, 2020 by Teufel

[Ragingwolf 310]

47 minutes ago, Teufel said:

Alliance Human/Horde Undead PvP ladder back in the day, 'troll family' screen shots of the first kills on most Horde guilds around MoP, hordes of BElves in Legion's M+ and just as sizable hordes of Night Elves in BfA's... need I go on how easy it is to influence community 'enjoying the most'? 
I'd be incredibly surprised if Shadowmeld won't get a nerfhammer and you'll suddenly see the resurgence of some other race.

What you desire is min maxing and building of the best of the best of what the top tier Mythic Guilds do during the Mythic World First Races of Raids in a given expansion or other tournament type of gaming. I am not surprised in the least what they spend on cash per player to get that bit of edge to earn that chance of world first per character race change.  Nor the abundance of people that follow and do what they do.  But again not everyone thinks like the top 5% of the Elite nor do they care to play like them.

There are those on the RP realms that just create characters on a whim to build a backstory and self progress at their own leisure.  

There are those that just create characters because they 'thought' they looked cool in a specific xmog and really could care less if it wasn't the 'OP' race for that class.

Hell I've actually picked the lowest/non topped # 1 played Races for several classes and don't care if they aren't 'OP' for the content I wish to run like Mythic Keystones or Heroic tier Raiding.

Mistweaver Vulpera Monk

Protection Zandalari Paladin

Guardian Zandalari Druid

Demonology Nightborne Warlock

Subtlety Iron Forged Rogue

Fury Mechagnome Warrior

Beastmaster Void Elf Hunter

Unholy Kul Tiran DeathKnight

 

[Monlyth 75]

1 hour ago, Teufel said:

Alliance Human/Horde Undead PvP ladder back in the day, 'troll family' screen shots of the first kills on most Horde guilds around MoP, hordes of BElves in Legion's M+ and just as sizable hordes of Night Elves in BfA's... need I go on how easy it is to influence community 'enjoying the most'? 
I'd be incredibly surprised if Shadowmeld won't get a nerfhammer and you'll suddenly see the resurgence of some other race.

Honestly, if racials were the main deciding factor for choice of race, then Orcs, Trolls, and Undead would all be much more popular in general. Most people choose their race based on aesthetics (Blood Elves and Humans) or available classes (Night Elf Druids and Demon Hunters, Blood Elf Demon Hunters). Blood Elves and Humans do have decent, well-rounded racials, but there are other races (Especially for Horde) that offer superior racials for both PvE and PvP.

Personally though, I think there's an argument to be made that there shouldn't be any racials that affect your character's power in a meaningful way. It encourages players to choose their race (Or even their faction) based on stats instead of soul. But removing racials would also remove a lot of what makes many of the races unique.

[shaha95 1]

19 hours ago, Monlyth said:

Honestly, if racials were the main deciding factor for choice of race, then Orcs, Trolls, and Undead would all be much more popular in general. Most people choose their race based on aesthetics (Blood Elves and Humans) or available classes (Night Elf Druids and Demon Hunters, Blood Elf Demon Hunters). Blood Elves and Humans do have decent, well-rounded racials, but there are other races (Especially for Horde) that offer superior racials for both PvE and PvP.

Personally though, I think there's an argument to be made that there shouldn't be any racials that affect your character's power in a meaningful way. It encourages players to choose their race (Or even their faction) based on stats instead of soul. But removing racials would also remove a lot of what makes many of the races unique.

If they completely remove racials - the amount of elves on both factions will increase which is complete disaster. Racials are one of the few things that makes races unique. Also, you have to consider that 90% players are casual players, they dont care about racials at all. Contrary, i believe they have to boost racials for other unpopular races to make some balance. Not just power racials, but utility racials - good example here are zandalari with their gold looting bonus.

[Monlyth 75]

3 hours ago, shaha95 said:

If they completely remove racials - the amount of elves on both factions will increase which is complete disaster. Racials are one of the few things that makes races unique. Also, you have to consider that 90% players are casual players, they dont care about racials at all. Contrary, i believe they have to boost racials for other unpopular races to make some balance. Not just power racials, but utility racials - good example here are zandalari with their gold looting bonus.

If people want to play elves, let them. People shouldn't feel forced to play unappealing races just for their stats.

[shaha95 1]

On 5/31/2020 at 6:29 AM, Monlyth said:

If people want to play elves, let them. People shouldn't feel forced to play unappealing races just for their stats.

Have you read my message, please, read it carefully. I'm not forcing people to play other races, as i already mentioned majority of WoW playerbase are casual players, they dont care about racials abilities at all, the highest content they visit are LFRs. The impact from racials is almost negligible in casual content, only the smallest minority - hardcore highskilled players really takes them into account.

However, Blood elves still have OP racial which is very useful for mythic keys. So why would they have OP racials if they are already insanely popular? Just add some good racials for other races as well. It wont force general players to play other races, they would still stick to their elves because they simply dont care about racials, but rather other hardcore players who doesnt care about the look of their characters will play other races because of good and interesting traits and it will fianlly cause at least some variety in the Horde.

If 80% of the Horde are elves it means something is wrong and must be changed. Blizzard should share some love to other races - make them interesting and more "appealing". And it wouldnt mean they are forcing players to do something, it would mean that they are providing a chance to try out other races as well and make them relevant.

[Monlyth 75]

10 minutes ago, shaha95 said:

Have you read my message, please, read it carefully. I'm not forcing people to play other races, as i already mentioned majority of WoW playerbase are casual players, they dont care about racials abilities at all, the highest content they visit are LFRs. The impact from racials is almost negligible in casual content, only the smallest minority - hardcore highskilled players really takes them into account.

However, Blood elves still have OP racial which is very useful for mythic keys. So why would they have OP racials if they are already insanely popular? Just add some good racials for other races as well. It wont force general players to play other races, they would still stick to their elves because they simply dont care about racials, but rather other hardcore players who doesnt care about the look of their characters will play other races because of good and interesting traits and it will fianlly cause at least some variety in the Horde.

If 80% of the Horde are elves it means something is wrong and must be changed. Blizzard should share some love to other races - make them interesting and more "appealing". And it wouldnt mean they are forcing players to do something, it would mean that they are providing a chance to try out other races as well and make them relevant.

You're not making any sense. First you said that if we completely remove racials, then the amount of elves on both factions will increase. Now you're saying the opposite; that the reason people play elves is because they have OP racials.

And you're saying that the vast majority of players don't care about racials, while also saying that in order to make the other races more popular, we should buff the racials of the less-played races. By your own logic, your plan wouldn't work.

Edited June 1, 2020 by Monlyth

[shaha95 1]

57 minutes ago, Monlyth said:

You're not making any sense. (1) First you said that if we completely remove racials, then the amount of elves on both factions will increase. (2) Now you're saying the opposite; that the reason people play elves is because they have OP racials.

Those are two different independent cases i considered.

(1) Yes, if we remove all racials and leave everything else as it is, the chances are high that even hardcore players who doesnt care about races anyways will lean to play blood elves.

(2) The reason why i mentioned their racial, well of course i cant answer for all, but its obvious that their racial is very strong for ''certain" type of content (Mythic+) and this type of content is very popular nowadays. And i assume some part of players choose them exactly because of that racial, i might be wrong, maybe majority in fact doesnt care and choose them and do mythic+ just because they like playing blood elves and thats it. But there is still a high possibility that their racial could play a major role. Therefore, such possibility should be used for other races.

Quote

And you're saying that the vast majority of players don't care about racials, while also saying that in order to make the other races more popular, we should buff the racials of the less-played races. By your own logic, your plan wouldn't work.

if you read my first post - i didnt mention only buff of the racials.

Quote

add customization, fix animations and their racials.

There are also other aspects that have to be improved. Not only racials.

And again even after changes of their racials "The vast majority who dont care about racials" will still remain on their elves, but the minority of players who currently main elves will finally reroll and try new races with fresh changes.

 

Edited June 1, 2020 by shaha95

[Sugarglider 0]

Completely agree with shaha95.

What I'd like to see is that some less popular races get better racials for combat. BE racial is really good and they are already too many. I would also like to see we have more options for DHs - i know its lore behind it, but if they could twist this lore so i could have a Vulpera DH or smth, that would be awesome. I am sick of BEs.

Most important: Can Starym make another graph for recent Shadowlands expansion? I bet a lot has changed? :) Thank you

[Dalkongp1 0]

When show new race and new class after shadowlands?

How many need for sub character? For transmong raid set.

I hpe new race and new class. 

[Dalkongp1 0]

I choose race and class like this.

Can you more show class and race?