Married to my MMO

I have a love-hate relationship with Massively Multiplayer Online games. I get excited to see the new ones coming out, I sign up for open beta and I might even buy it when it comes out. However, it never fails that once I've played it, I'm overcome with guilt.


Not so much buyer's remorse, but owner's remorse. I am, by nature, an easily distracted gamer. My friends have a running joke that I only play each game for two weeks...

For the most part, that is true.

I do however have a stable of games that I'm constantly coming back to. Most of these games I payed the one time price to own it and I can pick it up and put it down as often as I want, for as long as I want.

I can't do that with an "MMO." This is due to the trend that the majority are subscription-based and require a monthly fee of $10-$15. I don't mind paying that either, as long as I'm playing it.

However, it never fails that I cannot bring myself to commit myself to a game long enough to justify payment. I begin to feel an obligation to the game that I wouldn't have to a normal one. Once my attention to the game begins to wane, my guilt increases.

The result? I end up canceling the subscription. Which then causes me another dilemma. In two or three or six months down the road, I may want to play that game for a little bit. Nope. I then have to fork over payment for another month while I may only play for a matter of hours.

So you may think by now: "Haven't you learned your lesson and given up MMOs altogether?" No. Eventually a new MMO will come out that utilizes an intellectual property I'm a fan of like Star Wars or Star Trek and I will succumb to the "buzz" that is surrounding and I will end up playing it for two weeks...

Maybe one day I'll learn restraint.