Looking at what is or is not popular for single class PC builds via DDB's own released data from back in 2020, I've got some comments and questions.
1) Does the fact that certain subclasses are free - not requiring any sort of purchase on D&D Beyond or bound copy of any physical books - mean that the default free-to-play classes are always more popular?
Based on the 2020 data, it looks generally like the most popular subclasses are the ones available by default as Free on the DDB website. There are a few exceptions to this, though. The Artillerist, for instance, is the most popular Artificer subclass choice and Artillerists are not a free subclass on DDB. (Though perhaps this is because there are no "unlocked" Artificers available for free?)
EDIT: The other exception is the Moon Druid, which was not free to everybody in 2020. (Unsure as to its status now.) Not sure if that implies that DDB-users who make PCs are more likely generally to make direct-damage builds, but that would not be surprising.
2) Fighters and Rogues are the most popular classes by a significant margin. Fighters at 13% and Rogues at 11%. All the classes below the 10th percentile of popularity are within 1% of each other - except for the Artificer, which sits at 1%. So none of the spellcasting classes made it past the 10th percentile, though Warlocks were close at 9%.
Some of my initial questions based on this survey data:
* How many people who were part of this poll chose to play multi-class characters? If so, how did they sort the data for multi-class characters?
* Is there any survey data showing how long characters were played for on DDB? Is there any statistical correlation between the popular of a class/subclass and how active the players were who used those classes? Or were they likely to switch from simpler subclasses to more complex ones? Do people who use DDB to make characters tend to stick to one class?
* If it's true that the most popular subclasses in 2020 were the ones available for free as the default subclasses, would changing what is Free tilt the popularity towards other subclasses?
* Have there been any published updates since this 2020 poll?
Please feel free to post your own thoughts and questions about this survey data.
Just a note, it wasn't so much of a poll as it was them scraping the actual character data from accounts here on DDB. So, in that way, it is certainly a more accurate picture than a random online poll would offer, but it does also contain data from accounts that may only be making the more basic characters because that is all they have access to.
That said, it still does make sense that the most basic of Fighter (Champion) is the most popular, mostly because it is an assumed "learner" class, but also it is just one of the more simple classes that let players experience the game with the least amount of sub-systems.
Looking at what is or is not popular for single class PC builds via DDB's own released data from back in 2020, I've got some comments and questions.
1) Does the fact that certain subclasses are free - not requiring any sort of purchase on D&D Beyond or bound copy of any physical books - mean that the default free-to-play classes are always more popular?
Based on the 2020 data, it looks generally like the most popular subclasses are the ones available by default as Free on the DDB website. There are a few exceptions to this, though. The Artillerist, for instance, is the most popular Artificer subclass choice and Artillerists are not a free subclass on DDB. (Though perhaps this is because there are no "unlocked" Artificers available for free?)
EDIT: The other exception is the Moon Druid, which was not free to everybody in 2020. (Unsure as to its status now.) Not sure if that implies that DDB-users who make PCs are more likely generally to make direct-damage builds, but that would not be surprising.
2) Fighters and Rogues are the most popular classes by a significant margin. Fighters at 13% and Rogues at 11%. All the classes below the 10th percentile of popularity are within 1% of each other - except for the Artificer, which sits at 1%. So none of the spellcasting classes made it past the 10th percentile, though Warlocks were close at 9%.
Some of my initial questions based on this survey data:
* How many people who were part of this poll chose to play multi-class characters? If so, how did they sort the data for multi-class characters?
* Is there any survey data showing how long characters were played for on DDB? Is there any statistical correlation between the popular of a class/subclass and how active the players were who used those classes? Or were they likely to switch from simpler subclasses to more complex ones? Do people who use DDB to make characters tend to stick to one class?
* If it's true that the most popular subclasses in 2020 were the ones available for free as the default subclasses, would changing what is Free tilt the popularity towards other subclasses?
* Have there been any published updates since this 2020 poll?
Please feel free to post your own thoughts and questions about this survey data.
Just a note, it wasn't so much of a poll as it was them scraping the actual character data from accounts here on DDB. So, in that way, it is certainly a more accurate picture than a random online poll would offer, but it does also contain data from accounts that may only be making the more basic characters because that is all they have access to.
That said, it still does make sense that the most basic of Fighter (Champion) is the most popular, mostly because it is an assumed "learner" class, but also it is just one of the more simple classes that let players experience the game with the least amount of sub-systems.