Survey - Leveling: A Demographics and Statistical Analysis for MMO-C Community

[vertigo12]

Used to main Paladin. Maining Demon Hunter, but Paladin is second most geared.

So when you got Legion, you 1st level up your Play then the DH?

[Chickat]

So when you got Legion, you 1st level up your Play then the DH?

Yes. Pally first. Then DH. Around the launch of 7.1 I started maining the DH.

[Deleted]

I tried to answer the poll, but there's quite some odd questions inthere...
Like for instance: How was your leveling experience? Well, uhm, ok, i guess.

Besides if you are serious about the analysis part you would be way better off posting a poll on some polling-website.
If you are looking at an analysis with a remotely representative sample, then you are looking at a shit-load of data-management work even before you start analising things.

[Vanhyali]

1) 2008

1.1) 7

1.2) Atleast 3 hours every day but usually longer.

1.3) One of ecery class since cata and usually some duplicate classes, WoD was about 34 max lvl, this xpack only 16 max lvl so far.

1.3.1) Lately(last 2 xpacks) I often play Paladin, hunter and monk. But i've also main raided as Rogue, mage, warrior, druid and DK, most only 1 raid tier.

1.3.2) I have all classes max lvl so i play all classes alittle. Mostly missions and some gearing but no raiding or grinding WQs every day.

1.3.3) Varied since i've lvld them all. Lately i've been lvling some using the invasions, so its not much different from the type of gaming you do on a max lvl char apart from it beeing abit harder.

1.3.4) First week i lvld a Paladin and a Hunter and the lvling experience was hugely different. The paladin was a tank so i tried to pull alot on me and AoE down while the hunter could quickly burst down fewer mobs at a time. I don't really have a preference for the style but i like to play classes/specs with good survivability while lvling.

1.4) I've been playing most of my time on the server Dragonblight-EU, but lately i've found myself playing alot on Silvermoon-EU and Tarren Mill-EU.

1.5) I'm Male.

2) It was ok, but i still prefer the lvling in MoP where you have a good mix of different treasures to look for to gain xp and perhaps usefull gear and some gold.

3) Legion, not as good as MoP and WoD but better than Cata and WotLK.

4) 2 days for my first character.

4.1) 16.

5) During my years i've done it all and i really like a mix of it. My perfect situations would be an experience where you have a lot of treasures to find the give good xp and varied rewards when it coems to gear/resources/gold, and then balance out with bonus objectives/WQs that gives evern better xp but might require abit more work than normal quests. And to top it of add a quest at the end of zones or somewhere in the zones that is tied to a dungeon. I liked to lvl up with PvP during AV weekends back in the day but i no longer want to see PvP as a source for lvls.

6) I usually gear with friends or start lvling a new character.

7) I've been max lvl since 2 days after xpack release and i feel that with the amount of characters i have there is so much content to do that i can't even focus on even a few of them. So basicly i feel like there is to much of a grind in the game that i feel is almot mandatory for every character.

8) For my first character i didn't have as much time as i usually do at the start of an xpack so it was slower than usual so i'll give it a 3, however to have 2 and almost 3 max lvl characters at the end of the first week i find my speed overall a 5 since i've usually not spent that much time speed lvling up all my chars at the begining of an xpack.

9) No comments, no suggestions.

[ceall]

1) When did you start playing WoW (What expansion)?
-BC shortly before wrath started. Then took a break, came back to ICC and stayed ever since.

1.1) How often do you play (How many times in a week)?
-at least 3 times per week.

1.2) How long do you play? (Number of hours per play time)
-3x3.5 hours for raiding plus whenever my GF let's me.

1.3) How many characters do you level up when you play (1,2,More)?
-I have 5 lvl 110 characters.

1.3.1 What class do you play often (main)?
-Windwalker monk

1.3.2 What other class do you play?
-Shadow priest, warrior, Hunter, demon hunter.

1.3.3 How was your leveling experience for the specific classes do you play?
-Had the easiest time leveling my priest, as it was mythic raid geared during WoD.
-Monk was second to easiest, but had the easiest time soloing Rares due to high burst damage.

1.3.4 With the release of Legion, did you try out other classes? Which class was it and how was the leveling experience?
-I leveled up my warrior lately as fury. Leveling was basically spamming whirlwind, which was kinda fun.

1.4) What server/realm do you usually play?
-Aegwynn-EU, as it has lots of mythic raiding guilds.

1.5) Are you: Male or Female player to IRL?
-Male.

2) How was the leveling experience in general?
-As someone who did not have beta access, leveling for the first time was pretty well paced, almost finished all zones by dinging lvl 110. Every character after was done in max. 2.5 zones.

3) What was the WoW expac you last played? How do you find leveling?
- Uum legion? I don't really understand that question. Before Legion, the last expansion I played was WoD. Leveling to me has always been a nessecity to get started in endgame content.

4) How fast did you hit expansion's level cap?
-First time was 17hours. Started at midnight when the expansion came out.

4.1) How many max level toons you have?
-5.

5) What can you say about the entire leveling experience in connection with the game elements (Quests, dungeon, PvP, etc)?
-Experience gained in the zones was well paced. Dungeon experience was pretty low, which was offset by the end-of-dungeon quests. Can't say anything about pvp, as I don't pvp.

6) After hitting level cap what do usually do?
-Getting ready for raiding.

7)How long have you been max level? Do you feel that there are enough things to keep yoou busy after hitting level cap?
-Since day 1 of Legion. Yes, there's always, something I can do, when I log in and progress my character somehow, and it does not feel like I HAVE to do something.

8) From the scale of 1-5, 1 being very slow and 5 being very fast, how do you find your speed in leveling?
-Seeing how others hit level cap many hours before me, I'd say 4.

9) Kindly leave your comments/suggestions.
Make your next poll on a poll-website.

[Lochton]

1) When did you start playing WoW (What expansion)?
From the 23rd of November and still playing.

1.1) How often do you play (How many times in a week)?
Every day.

1.2) How long do you play? (Number of hours per play time)
Used to play much more, now it is more about, 2-4 hours a day tops.

1.3) How many characters do you level up when you play (1,2,More)?
More, much more.

1.3.1 What class do you play often (main)?
Paladin.

1.3.2 What other class do you play?
Druid, Warrior, Rogue, monk.

1.3.3 How was your leveling experience for the specific classes do you play?
I tend to hold myself to hybrids mostly, grants a smoother leveling experience as you are able to apply the needed specc to the field of choice.

1.3.4 With the release of Legion, did you try out other classes? Which class was it and how was the leveling experience?
Demon Hunter, of course. I found it quite fun but it was more fun to the amount of being an alt, and never a main. The starting zone came out with a little dull but layered moments. They did feel like they were developed for having a rush through.

1.4) What server/realm do you usually play?
Argent Dawn EU / Stormscale EU,

1.5) Are you: Male or Female player to IRL?
Male.

2) How was the leveling experience in general?
What as expected through an RPG, though with the development of World of Warcraft, some sections start to get dragged out. Though, with the changes to leveling % needed, I have found a pattern to be able to handle content to a minimal amount. Vanilla being slow but TBC can bring you past in one zone, as can Wrath and so on.

3) What was the WoW expac you last played? How do you find leveling?
Current, Legion. Just like previous expansions, there is the tougher gap but with the applied use of heirlooms, that gap has now been smoothed out.

4) How fast did you hit expansion's level cap?
I was lazy, and well, I found it more fun to play with the wife. So, we reached after about 3-4 days of 3-4 hours played.

4.1) How many max level toons you have?
9 in total, soon 11.

5) What can you say about the entire leveling experience in connection with the game elements (Quests, dungeon, PvP, etc)?
The new system to scale zones has been it quite a breeze, and finally connecting the zones with dungeon endings. As well, as the attached PvP warzone, fitting good with the game and its elements.

6) After hitting level cap what do usually do?
Hunt World Quests and dungeons to reach equipment higher for raiding.

7)How long have you been max level? Do you feel that there are enough things to keep yoou busy after hitting level cap?
For too long have I been maximum level, and there is still so much to do. I am not out of content, as I PvP, Raid, RP, Achievement hunt and Pet Battle.

8) From the scale of 1-5, 1 being very slow and 5 being very fast, how do you find your speed in leveling?
3.5, it isn't a joke like Warlords of Draenor, or how Mists of Pandaria can be done, but smooth enough to not feel dragging.

9) Kindly leave your comments/suggestions.
I'm an altoholic, so doubt that most my views are average.

[Luubox]

@vertigo12 I added the additional information.

[Schattenlied]

1) When did you start playing WoW (What expansion)?

Vanilla, early 2005, January I think, fairly certain I got it as a birthday present.

1.1) How often do you play (How many times in a week)?

Right now? I log in twice a week to raid and that's about it... Back in Vanilla, BC, WotLK, and even Cata/MoP(until I quit for non-game related reasons)/WoD I played a lot more often.

1.2) How long do you play? (Number of hours per play time)

~3 hours.

1.3) How many characters do you level up when you play (1,2,More)?

I usually level every class to the current cap and then continue into endgame/PvP with whichever ones I like the most... That number completely depends on how enjoyable each class is, for example in WotLK I played every single class at 80 in either endgame or PvP every raid tier/PvP season.

1.3.1 What class do you play often (main)?

Paladin, Retribution, has been my main since late Vanilla.

1.3.2 What other class do you play?

Rogue is most often the class I designate as my primary alt.

1.3.3 How was your leveling experience for the specific classes do you play?

In Legion? Patheticly easy and boring.

1.3.4 With the release of Legion, did you try out other classes? Which class was it and how was the leveling experience?

I have leveled to 110: Paladin, Rogue, DH, Druid, Warrior, and Shaman, I have tried every other and didn't enjoy them anywhere near enough to even bother to level any of them further than 104.

1.4) What server/realm do you usually play?

Silver Hand.

1.5) Are you: Male or Female player to IRL?

Male

2) How was the leveling experience in general?

Leveling in Legion is boring, not because the questing or dungeon experience itself is boring, but because the class design is utter garbage, the few classes I could stand enough to get to 110 I barely enjoy at all... The only reason I play still is my Guild.

Leveling in general since the post MoP-to-WoD stat squish is just stupidly easy. I tried to level a monk recently, it was so easy with gear on that I decided to go naked, I got to the mid 60s completely naked with no weapons equipped and rarely felt like I was in any danger at all... I stopped leveling him out of utter boredom.
This was what that looked like basically the whole time, it was NOT FUN.

3) What was the WoW expac you last played? How do you find leveling?

Legion, see above.

4) How fast did you hit expansion's level cap?

Couple of days.

4.1) How many max level toons you have?

6

5) What can you say about the entire leveling experience in connection with the game elements (Quests, dungeon, PvP, etc)?

See #2.

6) After hitting level cap what do usually do?

Raid and PvP, but the general class design and horrid PvP balance in Legion marks the first expansion in WoW's history that I not only don't LOVE PvP, but actually hate it entirely and refuse to do it.

7)How long have you been max level? Do you feel that there are enough things to keep yoou busy after hitting level cap?

Max level since 2 days after the expansion launch.

There is plenty of content to keep a person occupied, but the vessels through which we traverse that content (classes) are so badly designed that I can't make myself do any of it aside from what is required to raid with my friends.

8) From the scale of 1-5, 1 being very slow and 5 being very fast, how do you find your speed in leveling?

3, average I guess.

[Razion]

1) Just prior to the Burning Crusade.

1.1) When subbed, once a day. (Currently, not at all.)

1.2) When subbed, for 3 hours or so on most days, 5-12 hours on days off.

1.3) I usually focus on two or three characters at a time, but rotate regularly.

1.3.1 - Druid / DK
1.3.2 - One of each class per faction.
1.3.3 - The Monk had the most fun Legion Class story, while most fun to level is harder to answer. (Answer would change on a week by week basis.)
1.3.4 - I tried healing (dungeons) for the first time on multiple classes. I started healing on the Druid first and had fun, and also enjoyed healing as Mistweaver.

1.4) N/A (Seems to change every expansion.)

1.5) I keep 6 male, 6 female - one of each race/gender combo as a unique class.

2) Leveling was most fun during the Legion pre-expansion event.

3) Legion. Most fun during Legion pre-expansion event.

4) On the week before Emerald Nightmare, I had eight of twelve classes at level cap. (And ready to raid.)

4.1) I stopped level-capping alts after my 9th.

5) PvP lacks new arenas and battlegrounds, and isn't approachable enough. You have to commit time to the BG/Arena and can't leave whenever you feel like it or risk deserter penalties. Wintergrasp is missed in this regard. There also still isn't a good (reliable) way to level with friends who are a lot higher level than you. Legion Pre-expansion event was great for leveling across level-gaps with friends, was good for gearing up after leveling, had lots of player activity to make new friends easily, and also didn't suffer from deserting penalties.

6) Focus on solo gearing, then level the next alt.

7) I first hit max level in Wrath, and have kept max level within the first patch of every expansion since. If there was enough to do on one character I wouldn't feel the need to make so many alts.

8) First time through, 2/5 (below average), to get all the story/exploration. After that, 3/5 (probably or about average).

9) Best leveling was during the Legion pre-expansion event.

[Theoris]

1) Played since mid Vanilla, though I had to start a new account in WotLK

1.1) I log in almost every day

1.2) Not very long these days; maybe 8-9 hours a week, at present moment. Downed Kil'jaeden a few weeks ago so I feel like I've seen all 7.2 has to offer. Just waiting for 7.3 now, really

1.3) Usually 3, but I've capped more alts in Legion so it might be a higher number in future expansions

1.3.1
Paladin. Been my main since Wrath (except in MoP and about half of WoD)

1.3.2
Warrior, Warlock, Priest, and Death knight (also leveling a druid and a mage)

1.3.3
- Warrior and warlock were both pretty lackluster, but I mostly enjoyed their gameplay once I got them capped and geared some
- Priest was surprisingly enjoyable. I leveled as Discipline (decent damage and good survivability), so I completed my questing at a very satisfying pace
- Death knight was alright overall, but nothing special

1.3.4
Priest, death knight, rogue, monk, demon hunter, and hunter. Priest and death knight are so far the only ones I still play (played my demon hunter more than the other three, but I still haven't capped it)

1.4) EU, and I'll leave it at that

1.5) Male

2) It was good. I was lucky enough to experience leveling in a few old world zones one last time before the revamp. The new world isn't that bad, though

3) Legion. Leveling is fine

4) Three weeks, more or less

4.1) Six, but I actively play on only two of them at the moment

5) "Good enough."

6) Gear and level my professions

7) Since a month (more or less) into Legion. There are definitely enough to keep me busy, I just don't feel any tremendous pressure to do them sometimes (still waiting for 7.3)

8) 3, give or take

[Nevcairiel]

1) Classic Launch
1.1) Varies. Typically at least 3 days a week, often more.
1.2) Varies. On raid nights at least 4 hours, likely more, in between a few hours doing random stuff.
1.3) One at first, later on in the expansion typically a few more.
1.3.1) Druid
1.3.2) Warrior and DH
1.3.3) Quite similar
1.3.4) I tried the DH in the pre-patch, but Legion release was firmly in the hand of my long-time Druid main

1.4) Zirkel des Cenarius EU

1.5) Male

2) Leveling has varied between expansions, but I generally always loved it the first time around. Exploring new zones and stories, and the interactive story-telling in the quests has really improved over the years.

3) Played all of them, so the last one being Legion. Leveling was fine, although the story felt a bit disjunct from the overall Legion threat.

4) Within a day after launch. I actually use the Beta to level once before and enjoy the story, and then power-level on live.
4.1) 2

5) This has been so different between all the expansions, so just going to focus on Legion - in Legion the Questing lacked a close tie-in with the overall Legion threat in many places, which felt a bit odd, but otherwise it went quite smoothly, and the free zone choice was a nice change. Dungeons typically tie-in nicely to conclude the zones stories. I don't PvP, especially during leveling, and it really doesn't fit into it at all either.

6) Gear up, run dungeons. Figure out the most important things to finish.

7) Since Legion launch, basically. Well, a day after. Legion definitely had plenty things to keep you busy, other expansions lacked in that regard (specifically WoD)

8) 4.5

[Deleted]

1) European release day, february 2005.
1.1) Not any more. Probably (nearly) every day in the first four years, then two or three times a week until about 2014.
1.2) Used to play evenings, four or so hours at a time.
1.3) I have had three classes at max. level since about TBC, usually the tank-class first, then the DPS, then the healer. Not often did I level them at the same time.
1.3.1 Paladin was always my main-main character.
1.3.2 Priest and Mage.
1.3.3 My mage was my first level 60 character way back when. Levelling then was quite the hassle for a mage, with all the drinking for mana and open world PvP. After that everything else has been smooth and barely worth mentioning.
1.3.4 No, I played my Paladin to about level 104 and then quit.
1.4) Started on PvE, then moved to RP-PvP when that came out.
1.5) Male.
2) Fine. Made lots of online friends in Classic WoW. After that levelling has been much more of a solo-experience.
3) Legion. I didn't like how the levelling zones made you out to be the Hero of the story. Gameplay-wise it was fine, if a bit too convenient to have all the quests and quest-givers bundled up. But that's been this way for a long time.
4) I didn't.
4.1) Currently zero.
5) Not a whole lot, other than that the game allows players to explore each of these elements along the way - which is good.
6) I used to do five man groups with a bunch of friends.
7) I can't speak about that in regards to Legion.
8) Probably a four. I like to keep the pace up when I get really into it, but I don't try to maximize my Exp/Hour or things like that.
9) More questions about the community would be nice; that's what sets - or should set - MMOs apart, after all.

[Irian]

1) Classic, a bit before battlegrounds were released.

1.1/1.2) I no longer play, but in my prime I would spend entire free days on the game. Near the end (WoD - now) It was more like a few hours a day, generally.

1.3) I had about 15 characters at level cap since MoP. Before that, usually just two or three characters, with one main getting the biggest focus.

1.3.1)Warlock
1.3.2) (in order from leveling) Paladin, death knight, priest, hunter, shaman primarily, but I played at least everything in raid setting at least once, except druids.
1.3.3) I always had the most fun leveling plate wearers and tanks. I'd say priest was my worst class I leveled, with death knight being my favorite by far.
1.3.4) I tried out every class to about 102. It was fun at first but a lot of the required Order Hall stuff grew very taxing on my patience.

1.4) Wyrmrest Accord US is my main server currently, but I also played on Blackwater Raiders and Moon Guard.

1.5) Female player, female/male characters. My main has genderswapped more times than I can count.

2) It was alright.

3) WoD. I actually really enjoyed the leveling experience of that expansion.

4) Save Burning Crusade and Wrath due to school and other teenage drama, I've always been level cap within a day. I was server first 85 for Cataclysm, and was fairly fast for all the others.

4.1) At the moment, I believe it was 4 110s.

5) Questing feels oddly tired and unrewarding in this game. I would vastly prefer longer quests with drastically higher reward, to make them feel like a worthwhile and precious resource out in the world. I feel like questing has kind of fallen to the wayside simply because they're only marginally more rewarding than dungeonspam, and are generally a reluctant necessity in Legion.
I also feel like they should put a higher focus on making the questing actually fun. Legion's questing was a step in the right direction but not fully there.

6) I was generally a raider, with a fairly casual interest in PvP. I was a collector in general, I ran a lot of old raids for mounts weekly.

7)I was max level on day one, and even though I quit it was not for lack of things to do. I would say there was too much busywork that gave little to no reward, and no feeling of progress.

8) 3, perfectly average. Maybe 3.5?

[vertigo12]

Thank you guys for the latest response from new survey participants! Keep 'em coming.

If you feel the questionnaire needs more relevant new questions I should include, kindly write it down the comments area. I do also appreciate your comes on this kind of post and if you enjoy reading other's entry like I also do.

- - - Updated - - -

I tried to answer the poll, but there's quite some odd questions inthere...
Like for instance: How was your leveling experience? Well, uhm, ok, i guess.

Besides if you are serious about the analysis part you would be way better off posting a poll on some polling-website.
If you are looking at an analysis with a remotely representative sample, then you are looking at a shit-load of data-management work even before you start analising things.

Let me clarify, this isn't a poll. I believe the best way to gather response from multiple forumers in the most engaging way and not make it really boring is by the method I conducted- a questionnaire.

I'm still in the 1st procedure of processing data and that is data gathering.It would be too early to analyze the data with the amount of response I currently have as of now.

Like what others commented I didn't created a poll from an external website because I believe making the thread within mmo-c is already sufficient and I can have substantial response from everyone who will be willing to participate. No need for click-baits.

Don't worry about me as of now I am enjoying reading all your entries and I believe others do so as well.

[Softbottom]

1) When did you start playing WoW (What expansion)? I played beta originally and started my character on launch day and still play it as my main.

1.1) How often do you play (How many times in a week)? 2-4 days depending on what's going on in game with weekly/raids/etc.

1.2) How long do you play? (Number of hours per play time) varies. Tuesday I normally play 10-12 hours and do everything for the week in the 1 day. Other days if i play i may play alts.

1.3) How many characters do you level up when you play (1,2,More)? I play my main like 90% of the time. I do have a couple of 110 alts I log on very rarely to play.

1.3.1 What class do you play often (main)? Warrior
1.3.2 What other class do you play? Priest/DK/Hunter/DH
1.3.3 How was your leveling experience for the specific classes do you play? Was so long ago but was amazing.
1.3.4 With the release of Legion, did you try out other classes? Which class was it and how was the leveling experience? I tried DH cause it was a new class. Their leveling experience was realistically the same as my mains was other than the class hall portion.

1.4) What server/realm do you usually play? US Proudmoore

1.5) Are you: Male or Female player to IRL? Male

2) How was the leveling experience in general? 1-60 was great. after that it was medicore.

3) What was the WoW expac you last played? How do you find leveling? Legion, medicore. I don't like leveling. I did it in the first night to get it over with.

4) How fast did you hit expansion's level cap? 24 hours.

4.1) How many max level toons you have? 5

5) What can you say about the entire leveling experience in connection with the game elements (Quests, dungeon, PvP, etc)? They are ok. I don't really like leveling anymore.

6) After hitting level cap what do usually do? Raid and mythic dungeons. PVP to 2k to get elite sets.

7)How long have you been max level? Do you feel that there are enough things to keep you busy after hitting level cap? I've been max lvl since day 2 of xpac. All I do at max level now is the current raid, 1 mythic +15 a week, and pvp 2k rating if I havent hit that in the current season for transmog set. I no longer do daily caches as I have all my legendaries.

8) From the scale of 1-5, 1 being very slow and 5 being very fast, how do you find your speed in leveling? 5

9) Kindly leave your comments/suggestions.

[vertigo12]

Thank you for your participation. @Chrisxor