What is the average player?

[Westenev.5289]

The average player will pick a ranged weapon (melee is scary) and use whatever gear they have in the bank. Testing will be negligable, since they will fall into buildcrafting pitfalls and will declare a class worthless rather than look for more effective options (ie. Playing longbow berserker by just auto'ing, no runes, and wondering why they always die. Must be the class or an experience problem, never the build or strategy, right?). They will aim to be self-surficiant, selfish, and not consider their role/benefit in a team and the benefit the team gives them. They will occasionally seek out help from other players, but will often receive builds they do not understand, fail by applying "personal touches" to their core skill rotation (aka. mashing 1 or subbing in/emphasising ranged weapons), and then go back to their tried and tested bearbow/winionmancer-tier safety blanket build.

Edited April 25, 2022 by Westenev.5289

[Antycypator.9874]

On 4/24/2022 at 12:42 AM, Hesione.9412 said:

• they play between 6 and 12 hours a week
• they have commitments outside of the game that mean they may need to take a break in the middle of doing something (let the dog out/in, sooth a child, answer a work email)
• they have the gear that the game has given them, along with all the runes and sigils contained in that gear

Average player probably wouldn't use Soldier/Celestal/Rampager or other randomly given armor; it would be Berserker/Viper/Marauder etc. because it's common, acceptable, and meta (or close to meta).

 

23 hours ago, Raknar.4735 said:

We generally try and make the story content be approachable to the average player, because that’s why people are here and what they’re playing.

Content for average players: low incoming damage, so everyone with full berserker gear and glass build (av. player choose mostly meta builds without understanding them) can survive story instances, because otherwise, they wouldn't have enough sustain or ability to avoid damage. This is why EoD story encounters are super easy. There are a lot of players with glass builds, and they do not understand why their characters are so squishy.

It's simple: when you don't know what and how to play, you just copy a meta build. "Above average" players would create a build from scratch, because he knows what's the best for him, and he actually read traits and skills.

[HnRkLnXqZ.1870]

Everything below is a wild guess. I have no data to back any of this up 

1.) Definitely not a forum-user.
2.) Not a GW2 launch/beta veteran and definitely not a GW1 veteran. I wish ANet would share some data, but I guess the average player stays around 3-4 months in the game. This includes the mentioned long-term veterans as much as they install&quit players. 
3.) Looking at 2.) gear:
- 4 pieces of exotic gear, 2 pieces of masterwork gear, 1 gear-slot unused, no full rune-set, 1 sigil per weapon-set
4.) wealth:
- a.) if we include the streamers, the barons, undetected cheaters and use the black-market currencies (globs/MC/...)  I guess something around 550 gold
- b.) if we only count the normal players, ~ 3 gold 
Note: If you are interested in this, check the nation wealth per capita in your country and check the upper and lower borders. It is never the exact average. If you live in an industrial nation, they usually cap the top and sometimes even the bottom, as it would ruin the statistics. If you have one person in your country worth a few billions, they already affect the average wealth massively. As I am not a finance expert, I guess the difference between a.) and b.) might be siginficantly higher. 
5.) AP: < 2.000
6.) characters: < 5
7.) Mastery: < 60
8.) playtime per day: > 1 h (including afk-farmers and special players)


I do not trust the GW2Efficiency statistics blindly. As they only show the statistics of those who use it. Is the average player using GW2Efficiency? I do not think so.

This should cause enough confused emojis for the rest of the week. ^^

[Hesione.9412]

To perhaps make the point of the thread clearer, I'm not interested in whether any of us are right, wrong, or partially right. What I am curious about is the level of difference in opinion about the average player. Thanks everyone who has shared so far.

[FirebrandFrog.7603]

The average player is someone who (going off of raw guessing):

* Only plays the game. No forums, no subreddit, no external sites.

* Mostly they log in, cash in their daily rewards, maybe do some dailies if their skill level permits it, and then use the game as a glorified chat room (so mostly lounging in LA or DR).

* Gear is going to be a hodgepodge of whatever the game gave them plus the rare exotic piece or three based on what they get from map completion, karma vendors if they actually checked, or rare drops from world bosses. This statements applies and extends to all their gear and includes runes and sigils.

* If you asked them what their skills did, without checking said skills, they'd stare at you like you grew a second head. They, at best, might press a few buttons on their weapon. Maybe they'll weapon swap, if they figured out how to do it.

* Their ingame settings are all set to factory defaults. Their play experience is, understandably, pretty mediocre.

* Ultimately, as others have said, they'te casuals. Their obligations are to things IRL and they are not afraid or ashamed of ditching you for whatever is calling them back to IRL. This also means they have a pretty low curiosity or creativity drive; in other games, they're more than happy to have their hand held and do exactly what the game tells them to do, but games like GW2 hit them with paralysis of choice like a bat to a man's face.

[Dante.1508]

On 4/25/2022 at 11:57 AM, Rendalmj.3152 said:

i think this is me 100% . i play only to farm gold and buy cosmetic in gemstore to look pretty.  never done raids, pvp , and wvw i just farm gold to buy stuff in gemstore. might not be the funnest "endgame" but atleast i no use real money i just grind gold

I don't even farm gold i just buy gems. the rest is the same though, i just do story stuff then take breaks until new story stuff.

[Vayne.8563]

The average player is someone who likely only plays a few hours a week, probably plays other games as well, logs in to kill some stuff, do a daily, get a log on reward. They'll never have a legendary weapon. Most will never do instanced content other than story, most solo and most don't join guilds or participate in guilds if they choice.

They don't come online to read forums or reddit, they don't look up stuff on build sites. They have no real idea how the game is played, they just sort of follow the arrow, do some zone completions, do their story when it comes up.

 

I doubt most forum users are average.

[Gorem.8104]

On 4/24/2022 at 10:51 PM, Raknar.4735 said:

The only statements we have about the average player is that he does 10x less damage and is here because of the story.

 

"We generally try and make the story content be approachable to the average player, because that’s why people are here and what they’re playing."

"The challenge is that the skill disparity between average players and hardcore players is extreme. We’re talking about ten times damage output. You can’t necessarily put a DPS check that the average player is going to be able to overcome without making the fight entirely trivialized for the hardcore." - https://www.pcgamesn.com/guild-wars-2/pvp-raids-world-restructuring

 

There's a reason why most, if not all, EoD Story content can be completed while afk. Seriously, when I went into Arborstone, I alt tabbed out, and the NPC's killed the thing and got me the achievements. So often its talking as well, which again can be completed afk. So often npc's will kill the boss for you. 

I think the only time you need to actively play in EoD, was doing that mansion mission where you could be stuck under the floor or inside a box and have to restart the entire encounter. Luckily when the mobs spawned under the floor my pets could still attack them, yay Ranger. That and the final mission, which is so easy you can do it blindfolded. 
Def easier story content then the content they have made before. So they really must think the average player does terrible dps now compared to when some story missions were actually hard. 

[Sevetamryn.2974]

On 4/24/2022 at 11:48 PM, Vayne.8563 said:

You must not read the forums often. Most story missions are soloable by pretty much everyone, but we've had people complain about Night of Fires, Hearts and Minds, Confessor's End (particularly), and a few others here and there.  Realistically the game does a lousy job of teaching itself and not everyone goes to external websites. The game really doesn't push you into getting better in core, so it's culture shock when you go to harder content.

 

I'm a relatively new player (3 month), just made my second character and on my second play, now in Season 4 with second. 

- second character, with experience is much more easy, my 1st run was different, that's what people usually forget over time.

- new players my tend to go from personal to HoT to PoF ... (maybe including living world). Therefore the have not much more experience / gear going to the next expansion (veterans, back then, had month to learn the game and upgrading gear before the next expansion)

 

In general, 90% pf the story content is easy mode, especially on second run. And usually there is not much game mechanics to care about in story (and also lot of open world content).

However, here and there you have those HUGE spikes in difficulty and mechanical complexity in the story - i.e. Confessor's End - or the game comes with "Oh, i just force a different weapon and skill set on you now, have fun"

 

Yes, the game does a lousy job in teaching / progression. Story feels mostly like oh, nice adventure, fighting is ok and then - "From zero to - Ups, Dark Souls, but you have unlimited continue-boss-fight-coins" 

 

And this is not only true for fight mechanics. Same for economy and gear. You need the wiki, and you have no idea about "Account Value" without Gw2Efficiency and other external services. How many wallet currencies we have plus items that are in fact just currencies, but not stored in the wallet? ... Oh, the list is long ... IMHO.

[Danikat.8537]

I'd love Anet to do some profiles of average players. I think it would surprise everyone in one way or another.

My guess (which is not a complete picture, because I have no idea on some things):

• Plays about 5-10 hours a week, but may skip some weeks entirely and play more in others.
• Plays other games as well as GW2, maybe another MMO, definitely some single-player games.
• Does not visit the forum, reddit, or other news/discussion sources. Will occasionally look at the main site for news.
• Has 2-5 characters but mainly plays 1-2 of them.
• Usually has less than 100g in their wallet but would be surprised if they knew their total account value which is hundreds or maybe over 1,000g (depending on how long they've been playing). They don't think about how much their materials, currencies etc. are worth and other than selling excess materials on the TP don't think about converting them into gold.
• Once their first/main character reaches level 80 they aim to get a full set of exotic items because they've frequently heard that's something to aim for and/or it's the best they've got but they don't do it right away. They don't know a lot about stats, skills, equipment etc. and may not understand what all the attributes do so they don't necessarily have matching stats or good ones for the weapon or skill they're using.
• Will use runes, sigils, food and utilities when they have them but not consistently and may not understand how they work.
• More likely to use weapons or skills they think are fun or produce effects they enjoy than worry about a build. May have a skill they like using but don't understand at all, they just know when they don't push that button fights don't go as well.
• They mainly or exclusively play open-world PvE and stories and think as long as they're able to survive most fights and complete objectives their build is ok.
• Don't have any particular farming routines or spend time grinding gold, but will sometimes log in just to run around a map gathering materials and/or doing events they've done before.
• Has lots of items and currencies which they don't remember getting and don't know what they're for, but holds onto them just in case and will use them as and when they find a use.

Based on that I'm not an average player, mainly I think because I also spend a lot of time on the forum and learned a lot about how the game works that way. But some of that is based on how I play other games. For example I've recently been playing though the Xenoblade series and I haven't got a clue how equipment and stats work in those games, I just give each character whatever has the biggest increase in stats over what they've already got, but it probably means some of them are using stuff that's totally wrong for them. I imagine a lot of GW2 players are similar - for example stacking up ferocity even though their critical chance is low and not knowing if they're using condition damage or not.

Overall I don't think the average GW2 player is an idiot who is incapable of learning, but it's a game and not one they're aiming to be an expert in, they've got better things to do with their time than studying exactly how every aspect of it works. They know the basics, like that they should equip stuff in every slot and use their skills in combat, and they're able to complete the parts of the game they're interested in. They know there's more to it if they ever want to try harder content or get into theory crafting but it doesn't appeal to them enough to get past the actual and perceived barriers to doing so.

[Thon.3780]

I think Average player is now people who has limit time to play 

and now have problem finding group for strike mission. 
EOD require pre set party or squad make few change for this group. 
 

with different in time zone and limit time. I have to skip it.

 

[ASP.8093]

1 hour ago, Thon.3780 said:

I think Average player is now people who has limit time to play 

and now have problem finding group for strike mission. 
EOD require pre set party or squad make few change for this group. 
 

with different in time zone and limit time. I have to skip it.

EOD has greatly softened the actual profession requirements for strikes, because there are multiple viable healer-support and dps-support builds across different classes now. To be honest, you can also get away with subpar group comp pretty easily in most of the new and old strike missions, it's only really Harvest Temple, Whisper of Jormag, and Boneskinner where good healing, stability coverage, and DPS can be make-or-break stuff. And new Exposed changes mean that there isn't as big of a clash between Power and Condi builds, you can just sorta put both together in one group pretty easily with only a tiny impact on overall performance. So I only very half-heartedly check the comp when I'm setting up a group for a strike.

And that's pretty typical, from what I can tell.

[Epsilon Indi.2031]

13 hours ago, Vayne.8563 said:

I doubt most forum users are average.

This goes both ways then.  Those who are stupid hardcore and can do dhuum CM with only auto attacks (With 4 of their other buddies) and those who can't even figure out how to beat big nose Ted (In their defense, Ted is the hardest boss in the game) or any story boss.

[Wolfb.7025]

The average player is the one that finds doing core tyria world bosses fun.

[sasya neko.1985]

so funny to see ppl describing a casual and a noob but can't describe an average player. 🤣🤣

[Danikat.8537]

3 minutes ago, sorudo.9054 said:

so funny to see ppl describing a casual and a noob but can't describe an average player. 🤣🤣

Why not share your insights? What do you think people are getting wrong, and in what way?

[Vayne.8563]

6 hours ago, Sir Alymer.3406 said:

This goes both ways then.  Those who are stupid hardcore and can do dhuum CM with only auto attacks (With 4 of their other buddies) and those who can't even figure out how to beat big nose Ted (In their defense, Ted is the hardest boss in the game) or any story boss.

Actually I don't think it's true. I think a bigger percentage of raiders are here, compared to the percentage of casuals who can't beat big nose Ted.  People who can't beat big nose Ted are not likely as vested in the game and wouldn't be looking for outside sources of information. They'd often simply stop playing.

[Labjax.2465]

The most common type of player almost certainly works a lot of hours and/or has kids, so they have limited play time and either piddle around in it or try to optimize it by doing what is the most efficient content for getting what they want. I don't think it was always like this with video games, but they became much more mainstream at some point. The ones who spend much more time are probably a mixture of students, kids, retirees, and anyone unemployed / between jobs / etc., and are overall less common than the former group, but are much more represented in feedback, guide creation, stuff like that, on account of them having more time for it and feeling more personally invested in the game because of the time they put in.

The average player is a blob of nothing because it's going to be an amalgamation of statistics. There's a quote from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series that relates to this, but the specifics escape me.

[Epsilon Indi.2031]

21 minutes ago, Vayne.8563 said:

Actually I don't think it's true. I think a bigger percentage of raiders are here, compared to the percentage of casuals who can't beat big nose Ted.  People who can't beat big nose Ted are not likely as vested in the game and wouldn't be looking for outside sources of information. They'd often simply stop playing.

People come to the forum to vent their frustrations with the game.  This includes those vocal minorities from both ends.  Also, averages tend to form bell curves.  Consider the hyper casuals who get pwned by Ted to be on the far left of the curve while the mega hardcore peeps soloing raid bosses are on the far right of the curve and the big averages (The hump) Is somewhere between the 20% bottom and near the 20% top; So that 60% between 19% and 79%

[Bollocks.4078]

Average player = Sum of all active players / Total number of active players

 

Actually, I don't think it makes sense to say one definition is an average player.  There are too many variables that vary independently of each other.  For example, you could say the average player plays X hours per week but if you look at all players who fit that you'll find a wide range of skill.  Or, if you look at all players who are at the average skill level you'll find a wide range of weekly play time.  If you look at either of those you'll fine a wide range of how much gold they have or how many legendaries they have or what game modes they play in what proportions. 

[lezbefriends.7516]

The expansion is feeling around and shaping "the new average."

Edited April 26, 2022 by lezbefriends.7516

[Zephyr.5382]

51 minutes ago, Vayne.8563 said:

...can't beat big nose Ted...

TIL that some people actually lose this "fight." 🤯

[Vayne.8563]

29 minutes ago, Sir Alymer.3406 said:

People come to the forum to vent their frustrations with the game.  This includes those vocal minorities from both ends.  Also, averages tend to form bell curves.  Consider the hyper casuals who get pwned by Ted to be on the far left of the curve while the mega hardcore peeps soloing raid bosses are on the far right of the curve and the big averages (The hump) Is somewhere between the 20% bottom and near the 20% top; So that 60% between 19% and 79%

People who are casual very well may not. For every one who comes, probably ten just walk away and never look back. Particularly that early in the game.

[Epsilon Indi.2031]

15 minutes ago, Vayne.8563 said:

People who are casual very well may not. For every one who comes, probably ten just walk away and never look back. Particularly that early in the game.

If that were the case, this game would have been dead ages ago.

[Vayne.8563]

1 hour ago, Sir Alymer.3406 said:

If that were the case, this game would have been dead ages ago.

It's just not true mate. We  know for a long time that only 20% of the playerbase of any game on average anyway posts on teh forums at all. It means 80% don't. And most people can kill big nose ted without too much problem obviously.  And yes lots of people try and leave games all the time. That's normal.  I think you have a skewed view on what will make a game dead.