I have one DK that I really like, she was up to my #3 at one point, and was almost #2 this expansion (with that shitty shit they did to MM), but meh. My DH is... I don't even know where. I was bored and was sort of wanting to see something "new", so I got through the DH starting thing... in two sessions. Got bored midway through it.
I thought you meant Marksman hunters, but I guess you think MM stands for million? It doesn't. M stands for million.
And you can't ever determine how many active subs there are based on this number, so let's not even try.
I think it is rather presumptuous to assume that "the vast majority definitely created a DH". I know a number of people who, like me, felt that the DH class was nothing more than pandering to forum fanbois who wanted to be Illidan. My group of friends all seem to feel the same that DH is nothing more than basically a gimmicky Rogue, that having yet another melee leather wearer who can tank and DPS was a waste of a class.
The fact is, the further in (the later the expansion) that a class is added, the less likely it is to have huge numbers of toons made for two reasons:
1) The more classes added, the more classes we have, which means the thinning percentage of the player base that will main that class. If we had 5 classes, roughly 20% would play each class on average. If we have 10 classes, that drops to about 10% each class, with some obvious variance. Getting up to 12 classes means that the number per class will continue to drop.
2) The further along in expansions you get, the more attached people become to a class they have played for years and aren't likely to give up for a new class that might be good but might be terrible. They are likely to delay playing the new class until their mains are up to snuff and then they might play around.
But to assume that, at this point, the vast majority has "definitely" created a DH is a stretch that would make Reed Richards jealous.
On top of that, trying to divine any sort of information from the population of a single class with regards to the entire population of players is ridiculous. As has been pointed out, people can create multiple DHs or no DHs. You have zero information to make even a remotely educated guess on what that means with regards to those that did make it. And trying to use the forum "excitement" is worthless as well since a very slim minority of the population visits and/or posts to the forums.
I'm pretty sure that a lot of people waited for the expansion to come out to buy it. I am now leveling my elemental shaman that is now level 54, you can't guess how many times I've seen players with around 100-400 achievement points and that obviously means it's either a new player or a returning player.
Lookit. I will be the last one to defend many of Blizzard's decisions over the years. I think they've made a lot of mistakes and really stalled the genre as a whole. BUT... 3.9 million players for an almost 12 year old MMO is incredible ... there is no other possibly interpretation. It's really remarkable.
Also ... I made one, my two brothers didn't. This means it's a FACT that 1/3 of players made a DH
I wouldn't call Demon Hunters a failure but they are too simple and have not much depth.
Where are your numbers to back up your statement? You stating "Realistically, the vast majority (at least 90%) of active platers definitely created a DH" is simply opinion and not fact. It is not fact until you provide proof, of which there is none. To base "that subscriptions haven't risen by nearly as much as Blizz has been hinting at" off of your personal opinion of how many people cared to create a DH is not only fueling the rumor mill with untrue statements but it is also ignorant.
Before you think I am throwing shade for saying ignorant, let me add this -
ig·no·rant
ˈiɡnərənt/
adjective
lacking knowledge or awareness in general
It's a remnant from advertiser speak, if I am not mistaken (based on Roman Numerals, but not exactly correct*).
M = 1,000
MM = 1,000,000
[*In Roman Numerals, MM is 2,000]
Like I said, you'll see it a lot in the ad world (I am a writer for an ad agency) ... so print or TV target reach is 10MM then that is 10 million people.
Last edited by Jibjub; 2016-09-07 at 02:04 PM.
I have 6 DH, got two out of the starting zone (one dps, one tank), 4 just reserved names. With only 1 i did some invasions, haven't touched him since Legion dropped. Numbers can mean anything... 3.9 MM unique players ? All DH ? EU/US? deleted too ? too much to speculate
Two problems here.
1. Unfounded assumption: Most players make at least one Demon Hunter. Not justified by past experience.
2. Misunderstood statistic: That's 3.9 million Demon Hunters created during the pre-event, i.e. by people who pre-ordered the game. Not 3.9 million created total.
So all this shows is that several million people pre-ordered Legion, nothing more. It cannot be used to make any statement about player numbers unless we get verifiable numbers about the fraction that pre-ordered.