MOP reader Slava recently wrote to us with an intriguing topic about playing MMOs out of habit more than out of enjoyment.
“Back when I was playing EVE Online a bit obsessively, there came a point in time when I stopped enjoying the gameplay and simply logged on daily out of habit,” Slava says. “Like brushing my teeth every morning, I would jump on, update my PI setup, kill a few sleepers in wormhole, and log out. I didn’t enjoy it. It became this strange complacent marriage, almost. The honeymoon phase was long over… the romance and fun was completely gone.”
This has definitely happened to me before, usually as I’m approaching burnout with a game but I’m still mentally habituated to log in every day. But usually some time away fixes it. Of course, I’ve also got habits for MMOs I’m not sick of, so it isn’t as though habituation on its own is a bad thing.
Do you play any MMOs merely out of habit?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
