Figure there have to be a few gamers in this crowd.
5 year Everquest veteran here.
Started getting bored and moved to World of Warcraft while I waited for EQ2. Had some fun but it didn't rekindle the same old interest.
Tried EQ2 (Everquest II) and hated it. They made it way too dummy proof. Tried to take away some of the frustrating parts of EQ but overdid it and took away the sense of being in a true world with all the freedoms (and dangers & occasional frustrations) that come with it.
Currently been playing Vanguard (created by one of the original EQ1 designers). Having a blast all over again!! It still suffers from some early release bugs but I still love it. All the fun and real world feeling of EQ1, amazingly better graphics and a lot of new innovation. (OK not 100% of it's innovation. For some of it, they took the best ideas of some of the other online games and combined them into one. Still works though!)
signed,
Wraithlin, Level 18 Druid on server FlameHammer
Say hello if you happen to play the same server.
I like games, but I refuse to play that type. I used to get addicted to MUDs in college, and that was text only. I know I would be hopelessly addicted to that type of game. I just don't have that kind of time to devote to it, so I know it would take time away from other things that I should be doing (sleeping, working, family time, etc.) I equate it to a drug ...while it might be enjoyable in the short term, it would ruin me long term.
So, whenever I become independently wealthy, and don't have to worry about working anymore, I should have enough time to play. Until then, I'm practicing MMPORPG abstinence.
Being a serious LOTR fan, I am considering getting into LOTR online, said to be as good as or better than WOW.
Zarak - same with me. Any game that is labeled 'addictive' I've learned to avoid. I look longingly at the more recent versions of 'Civilization', for example, but I know better.
I actually did play Civ4 for a while. I was hooked for a while, but it got to be the same thing over and over eventually. The replay value wasn't super high...how many times can you research the same tech. Once some good strategies were figured out, I moved on.
I'm trying an open source game now. The Battle for Wesnoth. I like it so far. Graphics aren't the greatest, but the gameplay has been good.
[troll runs in] SOLITAIRE FOREVER BABY!!!! [/troll runs out]
Used to be pretty heavy into WoW. Was level 60 (before expansion) we were raiding the huge end-game instances regularly in our guild. Some of the things in the game became to be "jobs" and the game itself became almost part of my life. That's when I quit.
I've had thoughts of starting again, but I know better. It's a complete waste of time.
OK very few then. I'm surprised. I figured with all the obsessive personalities on this board it was a perfect fit. heh heh, no offense.
Addicting = true though. Although I'm not a 'heavy user' even though I do enjoy them. I might play 3 hours a night, twice a week. In fact, in the five years I played EQ, I never hit the top level with any of my characters. Any time I actually got close, an expansion would come out and raise the top level cap.
"Can become work" also = true. If you let it. I won't do crafting or diplomacy. it's really cool that you can work your way up to being a master blacksmith or whatever but it so drawn out and repetitive its an obvious time sync by the designers to keep you from leveling to end game to fast.
That being said, I still have a blast with it. It keeps me connected with my friends who also play as we use Skype VOIP while we play. We have raided and so on in big guilds but we never take it too seriously. I'll never have uber gear but maybe thats why I never get bored of it.
I've played quite a few in the past, mainly EQ, but also EQ2, City of Heroes, EVE, and a few free ones. I also was a primary developer and admin for a couple years on a free EQ-like project called Winter's Roar (now called Shards of Dalaya).
The same thing tore me away from each one of these. I simply didn't have the time. Also, since I was a casual player, I had a hard time reliably connecting with what friends I did make because they were also casual players. Pick-up groups rarely turned out well for me due to the fact that I'm twice most of the players age. Too much goofing on each other and too much goofing off. I found myself soloing a lot because I'd only be on for an hour or less at a time and I didn't want to waste what little playing time I had with a bunch of foolishness.
Out of all of the games, I think I enjoyed City of Heroes the most. Not sure why. Perhaps its because it was such a refreshing change from all the other the EQ-esque games out there. The interface was top notch too.
They are just too time consuming, I would play if a day had 48 hrs in it.
I'm a WoW widower...Roger plays WoW more hours per week than he works. It's sick.
Better then being a WoW orphan, I'm sure. You can feed yourself.
I'm a WoW player, but not a very religious one. I haven't logged in for over a week... not sure why not.