The Daily Grind: Do you play for immediate, short-term or long-term goals?

"What are your goals in life?" We've all been asked this question, often by well-meaning (or guilt-tripping) individuals. What are you working toward, what motivates you, what gets you out of bed in the morning? I think we all boil our goals down to one of three categories -- immediate, short-term and long-term -- and we generally gravitate toward one of them in our activities. Likewise, our playstyles are heavily influenced by our philosophy about goals.

Do you play MMOs for immediate satisfaction? When you log in, are you on the prowl for the quick fix, the random event, the fortunate coincidence? Are you so incredibly zen that you live in the moment every moment?

Or do you set bite-sized, attainable goals for each play session, satisfied to turn in a few quests or hit that next level before bedtime? Are you more likely to take on tasks that are easy to solo, and are you happy to keep your gaming world small and manageable?

Maybe you have the big picture in mind and set long-term goals that take weeks if not months to accomplish. Are you always mapping out a path to the best rewards even if it takes the most effort to get to them?

So do you play for immediate, short-term or long-term goals?

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 (16)

A: I play for LONG TERM goals.

The sole reason I mess with MMORPGS is that, unlike console RPGs, the story doesn't end before I myself am finished with the world.

Like right now, I'm back on my old WOW server killing time before SWTOR launches. My goal right now is to slowly raise all my characters to 85. That's a good year, if I push it right.

*sips caffeine laden-tea*

For me it's all of the above. Kind of the whole point of MMORPGs really. They, if built correctly, should be able to give you all 3 options to work on. That's what makes them so addicting. As a side note, I've noticed that games that don't give me a clear picture of what I'll be doing down the "long" road tend to make me less interested in play. FFXIV is a perfect example of that. So is STO and Champions Online.

A little bit of both i guess.

For example, i used to have this long term goal in WoW to collect the T2 Judgement set. That was my ultimate goal, which sadly i never completed.

But on the other hand, there are plenty of MMOs that hold my interest by having multiple small term goals: Hit this level by this time, or do this many dungeons by friday.

I don't know. I just play. I want all three of those.

I usually go into a play session trying to shoot for time management, either because of work in the morning or other priorities IRL. Because of this, I tend to set session goals, such as to complete a specific quest chain or get to a new zone. On the weekends when I have more time, I work on my weekly goals which involve more time consuming tasks, like running through new dungeons and instances with friends. In the end, any long-term goal really comes down leveling and gaining access to new content. Everything I do contributes to that long-term goal, but it is so much more manageable when I approach it in smaller bites.

@FaerliSayne

I have to second almost everything you've said. And for all the hate WoW received... they did change the structure of MMO thru their quest system. Before WoW, you literally have to sit and "camp" mobs repeatedly to get level, and normally a 1 hour session isnt enough to gain anything (it take at least that long to actually form a grp and meet up together before you even pull the first mob [i'm looking at you EQ, DAoC, FFXI]).

Now i can log into WoW, do a few quests and feel satisfied; even if i dont gain a level at least i felt like i did something worthwhile. Time is all that more precious when you have to balance it between Wife, Work, a Kid, and a MMO.

That last sentence is less concise than I would like it to be. No edit button? Okay. "Everything I do contributes to that long-term goal, but it is less daunting to level in a game with a high level cap when I use short-term goals to give myself a sense of accomplishment on my way to the big ding."

Long term definitely. The reason i play mmos is because most games are too short and don't offer enough to the player base.

The short-term goals move me towards the long-term goals. Like life, actually.

My goal is to have fun. I have fun by playing, regardless of whether I'm aiming for the next level or whether I'm just pounding the next baddie with superpowers, phaser fire or a sword...

I don't play for goals, like Myopic I play for fun - both in the immediate game session and, in the context of MMO's, over the long-term.

For Eve- long term. I have been preparing for walking in stations to own my own cantina and preparing for business for DUST 514 with PI.

When I was younger, I was a goal-oriented person. I've since learned how problematic that can be because once you achieve that goal, it gets replaced by a new one and a new one and so on, without a chance to actually appreciate your achievements. Games, jobs, etc. become more of a treadmill leading on forever, and you forget to stop to appreciate the trip. I'll be happy when I get a mount. I'll be happy when I hit max level. I'll be happy when I get uber armor set #369, and so on.

Games ought to be fun at all levels or they are not worth playing. Once I decided that, I found that everything was a lot more enjoyable.

Goals are fine and good, but they should never become your focus above all else. I don't care if the goals are short term or long term, they should not dominate your experience.

@Haldurson

I may just be arguing semantics here, but I'd say that having goals in anything is absolutely crucial to maintaining your interest and focusing your energy into something productive. As humans, we tend to tire of things when we don't make progress.

I think what you're saying is that you need to take time to enjoy the process. I completely agree! Of course you're going to get new goals after you complete your old ones... That's the nature of growth, and if your not growing you're dying.

But you're very correct in saying that if you don't enjoy the process and saving the goals, then you'll have no satisfaction at all.

-birk

Progress, regardless of how slowly or with what difficulty it comes, must be visible. There's a reason why double XP weekends draw back inactive players in droves.

If I collect one of the Sacred Gems of Basra, and see that I need four more to claim some prize, I have taken a large step towards the goal. I hesitate devaluing this substantial achievement by failing to continue to play for those four more gems. If, on the other hand, I need 299 more sacred gems to claim the prize, the one I have in my pocket .... it ain't jack.

I like to be able to have short, intermediate and long-term goals in an MMO - if it's all about short-term goals like DCUO then I'd get bored very quickly at the lack of depth and if it's all about long-term goals like EverQuest was at launch then these days I'd get bored of the grind and lack of short term objectives.

I want visible progress for each 2-4 hour session I play, but I also want a wide range of goals and achievements so that there is always something to motivate me to keep playing, something to aim for.

The Daily Grind: Do you play for immediate, short-term or long-term goals?

Reader Comments (16)

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 8:59AM Matix said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 9:05AM MMOaddict said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 9:11AM Loopy said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 9:53AM Dumac said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 10:28AM FaerliSayne said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 12:53PM sohcahtoa said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 10:31AM FaerliSayne said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 10:59AM Jetflame3 said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 11:36AM cowboyhugbees said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 1:24PM Myopic Aardvark said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 1:50PM Seffrid said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 3:50PM Lateris said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 5:16PM Haldurson said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 5:45PM Birk said

Posted: Jan 29th 2011 11:58PM Heraclea said

Posted: Feb 2nd 2011 1:44AM Valdamar said

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