178,000 players just voted for their MMO's first new skill in 17 years, and the race was unbelievably close

gamesradar.com:

After weeks of fiery debate, not to mention technically spending 17 years using the same 23 skills, Old School Runescape players have finally voted on the new skill that they want developer Jagex to continue refining and, if all goes well, ultimately add to the game. The dead heat results are in, and OSRS players want to play pirates by way of the Sailing skill. 

Jagex published (opens in new tab) the poll results earlier today. A total of 178,951 players took part in the poll, which was split between Sailing, Taming, and Shamanism. Sailing would let players explore the open seas in search of adventure and treasure; Taming is about raising permanent animal companions to assist you; and Shamanism would introduce a spirit realm with its own crafting system that lets players augment gear. 

Here's how the votes were distributed, straight from the in-game poll: 

Question 1 - After reading the new skill pitch blog, which concept(s) for a new skill in OSRS would you be happy to see refined further? Select all that apply. 

Question 2 - Which new skill pitch is your favorite?  

The first question in the poll allowed for multiple choices so that players could express their overall interest, while the second question asked them to zero in on a specific idea. In both categories, Sailing just barely beat Shamanism, which was the early favorite among many players due to its potential to bring about a whole new meta for gear. It's possible that Sailing's long history was a factor here; the idea was initially floated back in 2015, but it never solidified until now due to a lack of a more formal and cohesive pitch. 

As Jagex explained, "Sailing has been chosen as both the community’s favorite skill pitch and the skill we’ll take