Every year when we post this traditional Massively Overthinking roundtable, at least one person on staff dithers because not every one does “resolutions.” We get it. Treating commitments to random life goals based on an arbitrary position of the Earth around the sun does seem kind of silly, and if you really want to make changes in your life, you have to build and stack long-term habits, anyway. A promise into the void on December 31st won’t cut it. But it’s still worthwhile to have a map and a plan, right?
So for this week’s roundtable, let’s Overthink some resolutions and goals for our MMO play in 2025. Tell us about your goals and aspirations for the new year that relate to MMOs and gaming in general. And feel free to brag about pulling off last year’s goals too!
Andrew Ross (@dengarsw): I ended up becoming guild leader of my Orna group, but I don’t have a ton of time for that, so my main goal is to make it doesn’t take over my life.
My other goal is to get my pup to the point where she can adventure with me in POGO crowds without being a nuisance. Until then, though, sorry if she sniffs your butt without permission.
Brianna Royce (@nbrianna.bsky.social, blog): Last year, I resolved to get my Hunter to the level cap in LOTRO, which I failed at, largely because I was distracted by too many other things within and without LOTRO. At least this year’s expansion didn’t raise the cap again! But I’m pretty close. I’m going to pull it off in 2025!
I also have it in mind to do a full map complete on my Guild Wars 2 Holosmith. Passing up my Berserker in world completion would go a long way toward making me feel better about changing up main characters and leaving the ol’ Zerker behind. I’ve actually already started doing this, though I’m not sure I’ll finish (I am highly distractible, as previously noted!).
Finally, there are several MMORPGs I’d like to get back into: Elder Scrolls Online and Project Gorgon lead my list! I picked a great year to give ESO another look, did I not?
Chris Neal (@wolfyseyes.bsky.social, blog): I say this pretty much every year, but with Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen being a playable thing now, I will focus more on finding a sandbox MMORPG that I actually like.
I’m also going to try to expand on my creative abilities in 2025 as well. I’d like to do more writing in general as well as more streaming, but then of course that all assumes that Bree will be cool with me doing that. Easier said than done, though; I can often have trouble with personal time management.
In terms of gaming overall, though, I feel like I’m hitting my stride in what I like and what I don’t, so perhaps it’s time for me to shake that up as well. I mean, I presumed that survivalboxes were never going to land for me but I can’t stop playing things like Palworld so…
Justin Olivetti (@Sypster, blog): I feel that I’m in a pretty good groove of gaming right now, so I don’t want to shake that up too much with some radical January 1st changes. That said, my overall goal in LOTRO and World of Warcraft is to have at least one character who goes through all of the latest content and stays right at the level cap, get one or two characters in WoW Classic to level 60, and maybe revisit a few old MMO friends that I haven’t played in a while. I also want to get back to playing through CRPGs and JRPGs, as my backlog of those has piled up.
MJ Guthrie (@MJ_Guthrie, blog): My 2025 goals are going to have more flexibility than previous years. Because juggling munchkin, health, and house renovations already can stretch me too thin, leaving no room for anything extra. But at least my health has improved some over 2024, so I am hopeful I’ll have more gaming available to me throughout these next 12 months. And I did manage to accomplish a goal or two last year! I learned to play with the controller (never said play well!) and picked a Path of Exile 2 class (which I am currently playing). Guild Wars 2 story completion is also in progress. As for the rest, I am just content that I am not guilt-ridden for failing.
For this coming year, goals will focus more on themes and less on milestones, like not worrying when I can’t add another thing to my plate. I have definitely improved in brushing off missing events or limited-time items. So here is where I want to advance/improve:
- Check out at least four unplayed game currently on my Steam/Epic/GOG list during the year, especially Stray and Baldur’s Gate 3. (Sorry Skyrim, you’re out!)
- Spend more time building and decorating, such as the mobile base in ICARUS, houses in AQ3D and Guild Wars 2, and terraforming the planet in general in Planet Crafter.
- Complete a few finishing tasks, such as kill Dracula in V Rising and level my alt in AQ3D.
Increase my streams, starting with my Envoy adventures in Soulframe. - And I’ll toss in one I think will be the easiest to achieve: Don’t get hit by lightning again! I need to have one ringer in, right? *knocks on wood — every day*
Sam Kash (@samkash@mastodon.social): The last few years I said I wanted to stream a bit more. And I actually did! Not a chatty situation – just gameplay – but I still did it, and that was a win. I’d like to keep doing more of that.
Also, I want to really get deep into a game again, especially now that Harry Potter Magic Awakened is gone. I really played that so much. Especially given that it’s a mobile game that I played in spurts, I did put a lot into it. I wish I had an /age for it because I bet there were a bunch more hours on there than I’d guess. My hope right now lies in Throne and Liberty. Hopefully it works out.
Tyler Edwards (blog): I rarely plan my gaming more than a few days ahead. At some point I’ll get back to WoW, and I want to get the new Monk tier set when season two arrives. The helm is goofy, but the rest is real cool.
Every week, join the Massively OP staff for Massively Overthinking column, a multi-writer roundtable in which we discuss the MMO industry topics du jour – and then invite you to join the fray in the comments. Overthinking it is literally the whole point. Your turn!
