The Daily Grind: Do you need breaks from MMOs?

It's safe to say that if you're a regular Massively reader, you're pretty fond of MMOs on a whole. It's all but a tautology, even. Unfortunately, whether you just run the occasional mission in Guild Wars or you're in the midst of a hostile corporate takeover in EVE Online, playing MMOs can start to take a toll on you. They're demanding of your time in a way that many other video games aren't, with the constantly evolving social framework really pushing players to log in on a regular basis.

Fortunately for gamers, there are usually a lot of alternatives beyond just endlessly killing the ubiquitous 10 rats. So do you need to take the occasional break from playing MMOs? Do you need to intersperse your playtime in World of Warcraft with regular single-player interludes? Or do you find that it's still just a game and you can log in or not as the mood strikes you with no real need for a specific break?

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 (35)

I get distracted and bored really easily, I need to play other things every so often just to prevent quitting games in anger. And when new games I'm interested are released, I will play them for about a week, and only them before returning to my mmos bored with the new game. Portal 2 hasnt got any crazy-hard advanced modes yet, such as time trials or step limitations, it lasted me all of 4 days and only that long because my friend was being useless at signing in.

A possible way to get some relief from MMORPG burnout is to start taking things not too seriously: stop grinding reputation, no more farming instances for months to get a slightly better piece of gear, don't do repetitively dailies quest and so on.

Only do stuff that, when finished, you can describe as better than something else you could have done instead (no, dish washing doesn't count).
If you really cannot find anything like that in a MMORPG, just quit and do something else.

@Sephirah Mostly the problem is that people are wired the way they are. People play games the way they get used to from the first MMOs they play. I must say i have gotten stuck with playing hardcore in every game i play, it's sad to say but the MMOs comming out soon GW2/SWTOR for example dont intrest me at all anymore.

For me it do or die with MMOs from now on. Till i see an MMO last first few months and see it thu with good PvP and PvE content enough to last years im not going to touch MMOs. Ive been hyped about the FPS genre more than MMOs lately, BFBC2 got me in and is pulling me towards BF3. Lets hope the BF3 can fill the void inside :)

@(Unverified)
That people are just 'wired' that way is not a good excuse -- if that were the case, EVERYONE would grind and have addictive personalities. But the fact is, people CAN change their behavior, so long as they want to, and make the effort. When a habit no longer brings pleasure, it becomes just a tad easier to break it. I know because I've done it myself.

What I suggest is that when you are doing ANYTHING that is not 'rl' (not just playing mmos) ask yourself if you are having fun. Do you feel frustrated, tired, annoyed or numb? Are you only doing something because of some distant, but from a practical standpoint, unimportant goal? Then it's probably time for a change.

It seems like alot of MMOs haven't drastically improved or been release. Rift is the ony title this year, it's not a bad game, but it not amazing either. Players want bigger, better, with the bells and whistles, and where seeing the same game in a new dress. Everyone wants the Great White Whales; the wowkiller, and we're not sure if we see it on the horizen. Our hopefuls are GuildWars 2 and perhaps the underdog Tera online. It some time away, and current games are coming up way to short. Developers need to do better.

@(Unverified) Have to agree with that. Apart from Guild wars 2 and Secret world, I've not seen any mmo that has to offer anything new. While I'm waiting for those 2, got myself hooked with EVE.

@(Unverified) Spoiler Alert! GW 2 isn't going to be a WoW killer. The WoW killer is a mythical creature invented to scare small children.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes I do. Emphatically.

@JuliusSeizure Ditto!

@JuliusSeizure

+1

I get bored of MMOs pretty quickly, so I always try and have 5-7 different games that I can turn to.

Definitely.

However, like Sephirah, I refuse to grind. I log in, hit some stuff, talk to my friends and log out when I'm getting bored. Refusing to grind out the absolute best of everything and gaining rep with every faction is very liberating. Now, I still play a lot and am very well geared, but the way in which I acquire said items is much more casual.

A break from a specific game: sometimes, although I usually just scale down my play time for a while.
A break from the MMO genre: no.
BTW, even when I'm actively playing MMOs, I'm usually also playing one or two non-MMO games (at the very least portable games for when I'm not at my computer, but often also non-MMO computer games).

Definitely yes. I'll get bored of the same thing over and over it's why I play a variety of other MMOs, League of Legends, Plans vs Zombies, more steam games, and my 360 also.

I switch it up when i get bored with one or burnt out on it. This makes it so that I do level and progress slower in each game but I also always have something to play and can just have fun when I get in instead of it feeling like a tedious grind or something I don't really want to do.

I switch out MMOs with 360 games pretty often. Back when I played WoW I really only played a month at a time, then I'd drop out and go through console games for a few weeks. I need something with a stronger story to stay really interested.

Indeed, sometimes you need a break from what you enjoy doing, MMO or not, but in this case, when it's time to give Azeroth a break, I plop on the couch next to me kids with my DS and we all play Pokemon together. Good times even when I don't need a break. Now if I can just get them into Chrono Trigger, they'll know what a truly awesome RPG is like.

ABSOLUTELY. Especially when you're in a guild.

I've been playing Oblivion for the last week or so.

MMO's are actually filler between games for me. Been a lot of good games lately but might have to re-sub to something after The Witcher 2.. it's a long time till Deus Ex3 and Skyrim.

Its sad to see a lot of people take a break from MMOs by playing other games. I think to truly get the benefit of a break they need to get out from in front of their screens and do something non-computer related. I was a semi-hardcore player and took a break through necessity (having a kid!) and realised that I wasnt that eager to go back to that lifestyle and realise there are more important things, all becuase I broke the routine of logging on at certain times. Now I just play APB:R or regular multiplayer games for some quick action without the need for hours of investment.

I usually take breaks from MMO's. These days for 4 days at a time fairly often just because I don't have as much time for gaming. But that's 4 days from gaming, not just MMO's.

I actually disagree with the "constantly evolving social network" comment. If your only way of enjoying an MMO is to have a regimen of social events (raids, guild meets, w/e), then imo you're doing it wrong. I love playing MMO's, but I typically have zero people on my friends list. I know gamers IRL, but I don't know any MMO players. Well... the few I met a few years back all dropped out of college and were never heard from again... Anyway, point is, I don't find MMO's to be a great demand on my time, because I'm playing it on my own time, so I guess I fit into the camp where I feel like it's just a game and I can play as I want.

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The Daily Grind: Do you need breaks from MMOs?

Reader Comments (35)

Posted: May 31st 2011 8:20AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 31st 2011 8:24AM Sephirah said

Posted: May 31st 2011 8:32AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 31st 2011 12:06PM Haldurson said

Posted: May 31st 2011 8:25AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 31st 2011 8:41AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 31st 2011 9:44AM Furdinand said

Posted: May 31st 2011 8:33AM JuliusSeizure said

Posted: May 31st 2011 1:29PM ZachDude said

Posted: May 31st 2011 2:43PM Fakeassname said

Posted: May 31st 2011 8:41AM OmegaDestroyer said

Posted: May 31st 2011 8:46AM Nerves said

Posted: May 31st 2011 8:46AM DarkWalker said

Posted: May 31st 2011 8:52AM Legendary3437 said

Posted: May 31st 2011 8:58AM meancheez said

Posted: May 31st 2011 9:07AM (Unverified) said

Posted: May 31st 2011 9:14AM cowboyhugbees said

Posted: May 31st 2011 9:19AM Muddleglum said

Posted: May 31st 2011 9:21AM Snichy said

Posted: May 31st 2011 9:28AM Averice said

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