The Daily Grind: Does summer vacation affect your playtime?

Massively readers, being people of excellent taste in entertainment, know there's a lot of fun to be had sitting down and logging in to their favorite MMOs for a few hours of fun. The problem with kicking back and relaxing like this for any period of time is that eventually real life is going to rear its head and you're going to have to step away. (This is a good thing, mind you.)

The summer months are here for much of the world, and that affects MMO playtime in one way or another for many gamers. Are you one of those gamers? Maybe school and studying have kept you busy and now you're free as a bird with more time to play. Maybe you're a parent, and now that the kids are out of school, they're keeping you hopping. Do you have a job that changes according to the weather or seasons?

How do the summer months affect your gaming time?

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 (21)

It didn't when I was in high school. But now being in college, almost working full time hours, it definitely knocks down my playtime. I don't mind it though. I used to be annoyed when I couldn't play my "current MMO" at the time but now it feels special when I get the time to play. I don't feel like I'm rushed, I take my time. I feel more...immersed?

I miss the days when I stayed up really late playing all night, but then again....I don't, heh.

I have way more time to play now.

Alas, what that actually equates is me having more time to sit here, bored, waiting for TOR/TSW/WoD/ArcheAge/GW2 for most of the day and then logging EVE for a few hours in the late hours of the night/wee hours of the morning because all of my friends are American, and thus sound asleep at prime time.

Yeh I'm the same as you grumms,

During school holidays I would play all day and all night and not have a care in the world. But now that I'm at uni, the holidays are a time for me to make money rather than play MMO's.

However, I always like having time to hop online and know that I can always do something with random people.

It's Winter right now here in Australia XD

so I can't answer that

I think it only affects small children who have go go with their parents on vacation, as in they cant say no.

God yes. It goes from 6-8 hours a day to around 12-14 hours.

I don't work full time, so it's not summer vacations, but the summer doldrums that get to me. My playtime does decrease during the summer, but that's mostly to my increased walking and less sleep in general.

Hell yeah, I'm not in school anymore but I'm on vacation in Europe.

And by small children you mean anyone still living with their parents who have booked a weeklong vacation and you can't skip out of it because of some raid.

I teach. Yes it does.

absolutely ... Summer kills my play time! I still pop in for an hour here and an hour there (so I am probably playing 5-10 hours a week) ... mostly due to outside chores - yard work, gardening, outdoor home maintenence / improvements, and working in my vegetable gardening ... not to mention weekend trips like camping and hiking ... during the winter I play more like 20-30 hours a week.

Yes, mostly cause I'm an attorney for kids and they get in more trouble in the summer. :(

I'm 36, with a full-time job and three kids. What's this "vacation" you speak of?

Like most people I know, extended daylight hours yield to less play time in game. During the summer I'm much more likely to go out and do things with my family after work or on weekends. If I get in game at all, it's usually after 9 PM and then only for an hour or two. So summer cuts out, maybe an hour or so a day of gaming for me, since in the winter I am usually on around 8 PM.

As I said, this is the case with most people I know who play MMOs. But that yields to those guildies who actually have more time (or no less time) to play during the summer feeling like they have been abandoned. We always lose a few folks every summer for that very reason.

What is summer vacation? I am guessing that the target audience of this site is 15?

I work a full time job, software engineer, with great hours. So no, "Summer vacation" doesn't affect my play time. It's the same as the other 3 "vacations" I get a year. A few hours a night with the woman and all is well. Although I would like to get out and toss some disk now and then.

my game time *IS* my summer vacation...

Summer time,
And the gaming is easy.
Spacebar's for jumpin',
And the levels are high.

I'm a grown man. The only way summer vacation affects my playtime is that there are more asshole teenagers around to foul up my daytime playing. Sorry. but the few good kids don't outweigh the total jerks most kids are.

I have no summer vacation anymore, unless I happen to be between jobs during the summer. But as with any free time, I play more games the more time I have. I just have to be careful not to get sucked too far in and lose the motivation to keep working. I love slacking when I can, but I prefer not to be poor.

Thankfully, yes. I spend my summers guiding horseback trail rides through parts of the Rockies. I'll be leaving again in a few days, as a matter of fact. There'll be no Internet or cell phone access and except for the occasional game of poker or darts, or my guitar, I won't be playing anything. It's good to break away from technology once in a while to reexamine one's beliefs.

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The Daily Grind: Does summer vacation affect your playtime?

Reader Comments (21)

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 8:04AM Grumms said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 8:05AM Dril said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 8:18AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 8:23AM Jack Pipsam said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 8:54AM Kark said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 9:07AM Danteeeee said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 9:14AM Demeter said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 9:17AM Interitus said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 9:18AM Interitus said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 9:21AM Bramen said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 9:24AM Mikkhail said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 10:02AM Avernus said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 10:04AM Stormwaltz said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 10:14AM Malagarr said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 11:11AM shadowghost21 said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 11:53AM Arkanaloth said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 12:08PM Daemodand said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 1:00PM dudemanjac said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 1:05PM hereafter said

Posted: Jun 29th 2011 4:45PM Sean D said

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