Gaming Signal: When is it time to hang up your sword?

When is it time to hang up your sword?

That is the question that needs to be asked when it is time to end your subscription to a given MMO title. It is one that has been asked by most of us at some point, but what is the answer? Of course, the follow on question, is how do you make your exit? I will try to answer both of these questions from my standpoint, and then look forward to seeing how others see it.

Before I begin, I should probably state that I have been playing these types of games for years from the beginnings of Everquest (which I played way too long) to World of Warcraft. I have played many of the major MMOs and have beta tested several others (the list is at the end of this article.) In every case the question was always, when is the game done? This question originally came up since I have just recently stopped playing World of Warcraft, and I was debating when I should let my friends know that I have quit. But that still does not answer the first question from above...

For me, the time to quit is when the game represents a time sink that offers less fun to the actual time spent playing. It comes down to a ratio for me, and I don't think I can state it numerically. But there is a number, and it is somewhat fluid depending on the people I play with and the flexibility of the game. I should also state that I am fully aware at the upper levels of the game that there is a certain amount of mindless crap (which is lumped into the not-fun category) that goes into every raid/encounter/event due to logistics of getting the right mix of folks together to do said raid/encounter/event. But what happens when you find that your patience is waning for that and the simple process of logging in feels like an obligation? Well that was the point at which I felt it was time for me to leave the game. Combine this with the simple fact that the game requires more and more time to do "end-content", and it has now crossed the barrier for me and its time for me to leave. I mean there is a definite risk of spending so much time in game where you have less time for family and friends. I know that might be a bit of an overstatement, but I know some folks who live their entire lives outside of work in a game, and I dare say that is unhealthy.

But what about leaving? How do you do it? Me, I just canceled my accounts and walked away. Thereby allowing me a safety net in case I feel that I want to go back through the process of learning why I stopped in the first place. Heck I did that a bunch of times with Everquest, but I cannot sell my accounts nor can I just self destruct in the game. My avatar is an extension of myself and I cannot do it that way. Others will perform some grand exit extravaganza by giving gear away and making a show of deleting their characters. Some will even resort to alienation to ensure there is nothing to come back to.

Now I throw the question out to our readers, when is it time to leave a MMO?

My MMO List:

Beta tested:

I think this can be one of the toughest questions for people to answer for themselves. They have so much invested in a character and playing has become such a habit, that they don't know what to do other than play the game. I've seen people who simply logged on the next day after saying they were quitting - not because they wanted to play but because they didn't know what else to do.

I've also seen people implode - doing something that gets them banned or kicked out. They can't bring themselves to quit, so they do something that gets them ejected.

I know some people only realize they are done when they go on a vacation and find they really can do other things. They just go away from the game with a 'I'll be back in 2 weeks' and in fact never return. I had one guild member who lost his cable modem for a few days and that was enough - he was done.

Personally, I just stop. I've quit numerous MMOs almost always by simply just quitting. I know when I'm done, so I give away any high-value items that I have to my online friends and walk off. Yes, I could return because my character is still there, but honestly I never have.

Posted by Scott on Wednesday September 06, 2006 at 5:57 AM