That's it, I'm quitting MMOs forever!

Reader Comments (2)

From MMOCrunch: "I mean, at the end of the day, what do you actually get out of investing oodles of time into an MMORPG?"

This question often pops up in "quitting" posts, but it makes no sense. IT'S A GAME. What do you get out of any game? It is NOT an investment. It is an *expenditure* of time, doing something you (supposedly) enjoy.

He goes on to bemoan the lack of individual recognition, the emptiness of false achievement, blah blah blah.

I think what happens with a lot of burnouts is that they finally realize MMOs are not the playground the burnout initially imagined them to be: they are not a substitute for tabletop RPGs, they are not a place where you can "make a name for yourself," they are not even a place where you can make the same kind of friends you can make in real life.

Yes, you can approximate some of those things, but there are other, better ways to satisfy each of those desires. Most of them take a little more personal effort, but there you go.

On the other hand, MMOs are a good place to blow off steam, to chat with casual acquaintances, to experience a little competitive gameplay, to explore a virtual world, to get a quick (if hollow) "achievement fix."

All of these are valid reasons why people still play, and all are reasons why games are learning to cater more to a casual audience.

I certainly disagree that people hate the so-called "level grind." Many people (like me) understand that the leveling-up phase IS the game, and that the so-called "endgame" is -- and always has been -- a bunch of pointless extra content tacked on to the rest of the game in an attempt to retain subscriptions. Why else would developers always feel the need to increase the level cap when they put out an expansion? If endgame content were so great, why not just make more content for the existing max level?

So yeah, if you think growing a character is such a painful exercise, then obviously MMOs are not a genre you are going to enjoy. It is the right decision to quit forever. And no, you're not going to enjoy that Star Wars game very much either if you think the fun begins at max level.

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Because many MMO developers have put more focus in "level grind" than in end game features this not mean that end game must be "pointless extra content" and leveling the only reason for play. Once upon a time that some MMOs don't have mandatory levels or end game, games how SWG, UO, EVE were -and are- world games where gamers changed the landscape of the game-world in some degree, in these game grind a character is only a part of the game, also you can create a crafter bussines, build a city, decorate your game house, participate in PvP attacking other faction o enemy guild bases and instalations, etc.

Oriental MMOs and WoW succes changed that, MMOs lose their variety and all new MMO become level based EQ/WoW type MMOs, consequence: burnout, the only and one thing people do in current MMOs are kill for xp and loots, do repetitive quests for more xp and loot, do raids for more xp and loot, and do PvP for more xp and loot. You detect some repetitive patting in this formula, true?

Character progression is an important game piece, but "level grind to reach end game" is bad character progression, for that I said the level grind is not the game, and reach the end game is not the MMO objetive. Because all the game must have many replayable features, build things and not kill and destroy forever, create a character history througth game changing events, a never ending progression, but now all MMOs are repetitive and lineal.

The most of the people dont reach the burnout stage and leave MMOs for "get a life" reasons, they continue playing off-line game for many hours to day, the leave for simple and plain BOREDOM, doing the same repetitive and lineal tasks for hours is not precisely a gratificant playtime, is not escapisn is a boring and repetitive work, very similar to many real life works, when people lose contact with their in-game friendships and guild relations only remains that truth, and that is the reason for burnout and leaving.

For return we need MMO with less kill-kill-kill and more constructive features.

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