Job Distribution Statistics (as of 5/08)
As has been the case for the past few years, the initial six jobs (warrior, monk, white mage, black mage, red mage, and thief) account for the vast percentage of main job distribution, having increased by 12% since last year to a total of 74%.
- ≪Main Job Distribution≫
The incredibly popular mage main and support job combination has continued to hold on to the top two spots.
Because more jobs are regarded as frontline jobs, most backline players tended to select the exact same jobs. Also, when choosing a support job, there are more diverse frontline jobs than backline.
If someone thinks, “Hey, I want to help my friends out with restoration and strengthening magic,” the two jobs that come to mind are white mage and bard, but when a character chooses one of the initial jobs, they almost always choose white mage.
On the other hand, if someone thinks, “I want to attack with a weapon and deal lots of damage,” a plethora of jobs comes to mind such as warrior, monk, and thief.
However, there are also the dancer and scholar jobs that were added in Wings of the Goddess. While it goes without saying that either could be chosen as a main job, they both happen to be ideal support jobs. In the next census, the rankings may be drastically different, considering the benefits of the magic-oriented scholar with his technical prowess over both black and white magic and the stratagems' ability to turn battles to one's favor.
Job Distribution Statistics (as of 5/07)
As was the case last year, the highest concentration of job levels was found at 37 and 75. However, this year we have noticed a large amount of players with jobs that fall on factors of 5, such as 5, 10, 15, 20, etc. While this trend can partly be tied to the influx of new players joining Vana’diel every month, it may also be a result of the following reasons:
1. Job traits & abilities
2. Extra jobs
As you may or may not know, when you start a new job in FINAL FANTASY XI, you begin at level one, and only begin learning new abilities by gaining in level. While not set in stone, most job-specific abilities and traits are obtained at levels which are factors of 5. We can assume many players raise certain jobs to levels 5, 10, 15, 20, etc. to obtain these abilities. Also, it is evident that many players have raised at least one job to 15 to compliment the job they raised to 30 in order to obtain the extra jobs.
Other factors such as chocobo licenses, level-capped missions, battlefields, and ENM quests are believed to have contributed to the “factor 5” phenomenon.
Job Distribution Statistics (as of 5/06)
Last year's census indicated a decrease in the number of players playing one of the "standard jobs," or the six jobs that you can select when you begin playing the game (Warrior, Monk, White Mage, Black Mage, Red Mage, and Thief). This year sees a continuation of that trend, as the number of players using a standard job has decreased from 83% to roughly 65%. The extra jobs, including the three recently added jobs, seem to be on the rise.
Paladins and Ninjas take the top spot for the most popular extra jobs, while the other jobs have a nearly equal number of players. However, the new job "Blue Mage" is worth particular notice, as it has garnered a large enough player base since its release to compete with the previously existing extra jobs.
For the third year in a row, the most popular main job/support job combination is White Mage/Black Mage, followed by Black Mage/White Mage. Also worth mention are the combinations Ninja/Warrior, which rose three spots since last year, and Warrior/Ninja and Black Mage/Red Mage, which were not even on the chart in the previous census.
The Ninja and Warrior combinations are highly popular because they allow players to use the abilities of both jobs together to maximize their performance in battle. For example, the Ninjutsu "Utsusemi" can be used with the warrior job ability "Provoke" to attract an enemy's attention and then avoid its attacks. Also, players can increase the number of hits and the amount of damage they can inflict by combining the warrior job trait "Double Attack" and the ninja job trait "Dual Wield."
In addition to adding a number of powerful spells to players' repertoires, the Black Mage/Red Mage combination allows players to use the Red Mage job trait "Fast Cast" and offers an alternative style of play to the more common Black Mage/White Mage combination.
Judging by the variety of job combinations seen in Vana'diel, players seem to be trying out a wide range of play styles.
Job Distribution Statistics (as of 5/05)
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Considering the fact that the vast majority of level 1 characters are warriors, we decided to remove these "storage" characters from our calculations for job type distribution this year. As a result, the percentage for warriors decreased dramatically, accompanied by an increase in the percentages for all other jobs. Despite this however, the ranking for the most popular jobs remains largely unchanged. The combination of White Mage/Black Mage maintains its top position this year at 12.95%. In fact, mage job types occupy the top three positions, proving that magic users continue to be a popular choice. On the other hand, the higher percentage of Beastmaster/White Mage players shows a growing interest towards solo play. |
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