The Daily Grind: What's in your ears while you play?

When it's time to sit down and play an MMO, very few of us do so in total silence. Even neglecting the occasional burst of profanity at the game, there's usually a wide selection of game audio to be heard, ranging from environmental noises like rustling leaves to simple and evocative music that stays with you even if you leave the game behind. But for all the care put into it, the in-game music can eventually get boring to many players.

Maybe you still have the game soundtrack turned on, and you occasionally just stop and listen to one of your favorite melodies. Perhaps you've moved on to listening to a favorite playlist on iTunes or Pandora while you play, or you might turn off the sound altogether to focus on the business of voice chat. There's even a chance you've decided to be charmingly meta and listen to another game's soundtrack altogether. What are you listening to while you play your favorite game?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

Reader Comments (31)

Most of the time if I am gaming with friends I listen to the in game music at a low volume so I can hear people talking on vent, but if I am just grinding mobs by myself I will roll up some metal on Pandora and get in a zone. I don't normally listen to metal, but it gets the blood going if I have to grind XP or currency for a few hours.

If the game has good music(ie: Guild Wars' amazing score), I will listen to it. If the game doesn't(ie: Champions Online's generic, often irritating, noise) I will listen to my own playlist.

While grinding, I usually listen to podcasts to occupy my mind.

I agree, but I'll often listen to musical game scores even when not playing if I like them well enough. AoC, EVE, and GW (I haven't played this game in a year or more - hit a wall) are examples of such scores. Hell, I'll even listen to these scores when I'm playing other games that have poor quality or repetitive music (LotRO North Downs music, for example, which, when I hear it, makes me feel like I just walked onto a carnival ground).

And I'll listen to podcasts occasionally as well, or play a movie in the background. (Big Trouble in Little China seems to be the one that finds its way into my system most often :).

Just the game music/sounds, sometimes with the volume down if i need to use voice chat. If i dislike the music of a game i just turn it off, but i don't 'replace' it with anything else, because i think the stuff i usually listen to just doesn't combine well with games and irritates me. Although you can get away with playing classical music with fantasy games, i don't like to do that too often either.

When playing Star Trek Online, I'll listen to Star Trek music (TOS all the way through to the 2009 reboot). Although recently, I've been listening to Murray Gold's Doctor Who stuff - some of it fits quite well.

I did buy the Age Of Conan music after playing that game - it left a lasting impression, whereas the gameplay did not.

AoC has an excellent soundtrack, those themes get stuck in my head for days on end.

I stick quite happily to the ingame soundtrack. I don't use voicechat and I prefer not to have any other music player running while I'm gaming. A friend, on the other hand, always plays the LoTR film music if playing LoTRO.

Myself? I am usually listening to a podcast to be frank. I tend to be like a conduit of gaming news.

I usually listen to old school rock while I play eve. Stuff like Pink Floyd, Manfred Man, Led Zeppellin, etc etc

Depends on the situation really. If it's something PvP, I like to get my heart racing and pump up. Occasionally I'll listen some sort of a harder techno, or maybe dubstep, but usually it's something sort of metal core. I used to listen to Underoath a lot when PvP'ing and WoW, and I found I did better when listening to them, but it sort of changed up and has now become a lot more TDWP, and Miss May I, but when I'm raiding something it either has to be classical, or my guild leader singing Justin Bieber/Katy Perry. If I'm playing something like dota, it's either old school Pink Floyd, the Doors, or Danzig.

Always have the in-game music/sound on.

If I'm doing something that doesn't require full concentration I'll also have speech radio on, usually the BBC but I also listen to NPR, CBC and others.

I never play music while playing - I find it incredibly distracting and counter-immersive.

It depends on what i'm doing. If i'm grinding mobs or farming stuff I normally listen to random music from my colletion but when playing with friends over voice chat I just have the game music quietly.

When I'm playing an MMORPG, unless the game has some very nice soundtracks, I simply don't listen to anything, especially considering I get constantly called by people in my house. If it's an FPS however, I need to play with headphones since it gives me a massive advantage.

i mostly listen to audiobooks...then it dont feel like im totally wasting my time

Mostly Foobar with set to bassdrive.com or own playlists while playing WAR or WoW under Windows.

Audacious with bassdrive.com or own playlist when gaming on Linux.

sometimes listening game own music also...happens rarely tho

My MMO playlist is about 2k songs long. It's made up of mostly soundtracks from movies and other games.

Age of Conan, Phantasy Star Online, The Witcher, and pretty much everything made by Michael Giacchino (Movies and Games) and Murry Gold's Score for the new series of Doctor Who are the most played.

Zeppelin, Hendrix, The Who, Stones, and Ben Harper are my usualy gaming sounds.

I will listen to audio books or music. I just finished Saga of the Seven Suns. I will also listen to music or podcast. If I am raiding I keep music on a min in Vent or TS. It really depends. When I solo I have a zillion things going anyways. When I am in Eve my corp isn't a chatter box in TS so I mainly listen to the Eve sounds or have the news going on in the background. Logitech USB headset.

I use Sennheiser HD555's. In FPS, I play with the in-game sound on very high, with no music to make sure I can hear everything going on around me. In MMOs, it varies. Anything from hip-hop, to punk, to electro.

I haven't heard a game soundtrack worth keeping on after the first week since Diablo II, so these days, it's mostly Groove Salad or Illinois Street Lounge from SomaFM.com.

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The Daily Grind: What's in your ears while you play?

Reader Comments (31)

Posted: Nov 20th 2010 8:11AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 20th 2010 8:19AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 21st 2010 12:45PM Sean D said

Posted: Nov 20th 2010 8:19AM Dumac said

Posted: Nov 20th 2010 8:44AM Myopic Aardvark said

Posted: Nov 21st 2010 5:29AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 20th 2010 8:51AM Seffrid said

Posted: Nov 20th 2010 9:10AM Kaemin said

Posted: Nov 20th 2010 9:13AM Rendiff said

Posted: Nov 20th 2010 9:50AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 20th 2010 10:32AM Bhagpuss said

Posted: Nov 20th 2010 11:30AM Menx said

Posted: Nov 20th 2010 11:40AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 21st 2010 1:53AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 20th 2010 12:36PM Xpander said

Posted: Nov 20th 2010 12:40PM drunkenpandaren said

Posted: Nov 20th 2010 12:48PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 20th 2010 12:56PM Lateris said

Posted: Nov 20th 2010 2:16PM twodee said

Posted: Nov 20th 2010 6:17PM J Brad Hicks said

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