A long, long time ago (over ten months!

), I tallied up the Roleplay characters, to get some basic stats about our factions. I have now done it again, and below I present a comparison with last August, and an indication of the changes.
In counting the characters this time, I have counted NONE of the dead characters, and none of the characters that ought to be dead* I have also not counted any charactes belonging to deleted members.
All other registered characters have been counted. Of course, this is an imprecise system, since many characters are never registered, many have imprecise faction designations, and more than a few are inactive/stagnant. However, that is just how things go...
No Faction: 40 (
formerly 32) Considering the immense popularity of No Faction characters in former times, this is a massive slowdown. Most of the formerly registered characters are still in there, and some should perhaps more properly be registered under a specific faction, such as Elwen. Even so, this category, at 40, totally wipes out all comers, and has had a healthy net growth of 8 characters (25% its former total), and is likely poised to grow further in the near future.
Dragon Masters: 16 (
formerly 8) Would you believe it, those Dragon Masters are STILL on top! And not only are they the top dogs, they've grown by 100% of their former tally. Due in a large part to Lord Void and "his" plot to escape MNPC-dom, the Dragon Masters are nonetheless a very healthy faction, and one likely to remain popular in the Roleplay for quite some time, regardless of the popularity of the actual sets.
Classic Legoland: 12 (
formerly 1) If you thought those Dragon Masters were growing, take a look at the Classics! True they might not have the numbers of the DMs, but the difference is by 4 characters and not 7 now, and they have grown from tied for last place to second. They've increased by 1100%!!! While I bear a part of the blame for that fact, with three Cavaliers, I'm obviously not the only one in love with the Classic era.
Forestmen: 12*** (
formerly 4) Although their growth hasn't been quite so fast in the past ten months as the Classics, they are tied with them for second place, and remain quite healthy. A growth of 200% is nothing to complain about, and it is clear that the Forestmen remain popular!
Black Falcons: 8 (
formerly 3)**** Considering the Black Falcon civil war/political intrigues plot, its amazing that this robustly popular faction isn't more popular than it is. A pitfall of this system, which cannot/does not count unregistered characters. All the same, a very impressive showing, and a growth of 167%
Black Knights: 8 (
formerly 5) Tied with BloodVaine era Arch-Rivals for fourth place, the Black Knights have not had quite so impressive growth in the past few months, but considering that the Black Knights are still a very undefined nation, it is perhaps amazing that they have this many registered with them anyway, and with a 60% growth over the past months. As a favourite faction of AFOLs, and a faction as-yet undeveloped, I predict more growth from the Black Knights in the time to come.
Crusaders: 7 (
formerly 3)**** Much like the Black Knights, the Crusaders, for all their popularity, are a rather generic nation. Still, with a growth of 133%, they easily outdid the Black Knights, and the same prediction concerning their future applies.
Fright Knights: 7 (
formerly 1) Formerly tied with the Classics in last place, the Fright Knights haven't shown quite as impressive of growth, but they have still done quite well for themselves. In the last few months especially, between the Roleplaying of myself, TheOrk, and now Nathan, we are seeing a good deal of growth in this faction, and if I had to pick any one faction to REALLY expand in the coming times, this is it. With a growth of 600%, I think I'm not too far off-base with that prediction.
Knight's Kingdom (2): 7 (
formerly 1) With a former count of 1 and a current count of 7, the Eastern Knights' Kingdom has shown exactly the same growth as the Fright Knights, and has also shown several signs of even more expansion to come in the near future. It even has it's own shameless promoter: Sir Kohran. What I am to the Classics, or Nathan is to the Dragon Masters, he is to the KK2.
Ninja: 7 (
formerly 1)** Although the Ninjas have seen the same growth as the KK2 or Fright Knights, they remain a very shadowy, unknown faction. Most likely this can be traced to the fact that it is (so far) a euro-centric crowd writing, and perhaps unwilling to trod too heavily on Asian grounds. However, another 600% growth spurt suggests no lack of interest, and with their faction relatively unknown, more growth predictions here would seem to be in order.
Bull Knights: 5 (
formerly 3) The Bull Knights were once tied for third place, a remarkable achievement for a faction that wasn't even originally here! Although they have dropped in the placings a fair bit, this is due to explosive growth in other factions, not due to any stagnancy of their own. At 67% growth, they are still a healthy and viable nation, although they are certainly less active than they once were. I predict that unless something unexpected kicks in, with the return of the Bulls to their rightful domains, we are going to see very little, or no, new growth from this faction. Here's to hoping otherwise!
Dark Forest: 5 (
formerly 3) The Dark Forest have seen the same stats as the Bulls over the past year, but more optimism would seem to be merited concerning their future growth. With three new characters registered in the past couple months (yay! me and TheBohrok!), this faction looks to do well for itself in the upcoming times. Although not a Fright Knight or KK2, I would say to expect this faction to grow in its role, not shrink.
Knight's Kingdom (1): 5 (
formerly 3) Another faction corresponding to the Bulls and Dark Forest. Unlike those factions, the KK1 is a very un-solidified faction, possibly the least-known in Dametreos. Because of this potential, growth is possible, but a general lack of interest prohibits me from predicting anything but more of the same in the near future.
Wolfpack: 5 (
formerly 2) Another kingdom currently sitting at 5, the Wolfpack have seen greater growth with a 150% increase since last year. They remain a hightly popular faction, if somewhat slowed down, with Willem and Graygon still living on infamously in the world of autoing, long after their creators have fallen by the wayside. While growth here would seem unlikely, the idea of them fading completely seems impossible.
Pirates: 4 (
formerly 4) Nil growth here**. Even the three characters registered are the same. Hopefully, once the Vikings come out, we'll see some growth here- unless they merit their own category!
Royal Knights: 4 (
formerly 0) Those poor Royal Knights, still near the bottom of the barrel. However, having gone from 0 to 4 is not bad, and is a greater growth spurt in terms of numbers, than the Bulls, Dark Forest, KK1, or Wolfpack have seen. All the same, the Royal Knights are not one of the great, popular nations. Pity, as they're still my favourite "real" faction, even if I've done nothing in their Roleplay dimension.
Shadow Knights: 4 (
formerly 0) While their stats are the same as the Royal Kngihts, the Shadow Knight story is far more impressive. Currently, the Shadow Knight have their own plot going, their own champion posting (Dragoman), and quite a bit of interest to judge by the recent
Shadow Knight Discussion thread. Another likely big expander for the coming year.
EDIT: In total, we now have 152 registered, non-dead, non-deleted characters. This is about twice as many as last August, although the fact that we have many more inactive characters now than then sort of skews the numbers somewhat...
*Martin Humboldt, Kjeld, and Sir Weigraf are not yet listed as dead, but they ARE dead, and are thus not counted.
**Whereas last time I counted Kendo as either a Ninja or a Pirate, I have here definitively listed him as a Pirate.
*** Aaylah Jerlock, registered as a Dark Forest/Forestman is counted here as a Forestman (sic) because of the registry of Fraun Jerlock.
****Lemon_Squeezer2's character Otto is registered as a Crusader/Black Falcon. Because he is said to reside in Crusader territory, I have listed him there.