MMOs are a different animal…patches, updates, changes, additions. It can be a new game every time you turn around. For me, there’s one or two aspects I’ll really like in an MMO, and that’s all I’ll do while playing it. Maybe it’s a cool spell I love using, or collecting stuff, but when I’m “over” it, I’ll usually play the game less and less, until I no longer play it at all.

That’s not unusual, though. I imagine it would be pretty rare for something to hate absolutely everything about a game they play.

What i do find funnier is how others interpret YOUR loyalty to a game. People get offended if you don’t stay in the world that they’ve deemed their “current home” and if you leave, then you’re a “f-ing flake” (Cuppy might recall that particular old reference, though it’ obscure ). Then eventually they move on themselves.

For the more powergamer oriented people, there is a certain rush at joining a new game, being presented with all these new puzzles and game mechanics to figure out how to min/max and see how good you become.

Different people are attracted to different elements of MMO’s for various reasons and whatever mood they are in affects what they will do.

I’ve heard the expression before that the music one listens to throughout your life represents an emotional resonance to that stage in your life. I guess if you want to nerdify that deep philosphical statement, you could apply it to which MMO you play at which stages of your life as well

I know that’s how I’ve felt when I’ve played a new MMO for long enough to start progressing but get bored before getting too high.

I haven’t felt that “home” feeling since Everquest. WoW came close with my raiding guild that I was involved with, but I never got that amazing feeling that I did in EQ. Attribute it to newness factor, or required socialization, or the fact that I was young and impressionable – but either way its been a feeling that has been unduplicatible. (I made that word up)

I have MMOADD like crazy. I have been criticized in comments on my blog, in emails, and on forums that I shouldn’t have an opinion on any of the games that I play because of the limited time that I spend in each of them. Bottom line though, is that my playstyle is just different than the ‘hardcore’ players who are able to stick with one game nowadays. I am playing EQ2 almost exclusively, but even my time in EQ2 is spent bored and searching. Sometimes I still get the urge to resub to WoW. I’ve even considered retrying VG and LotRO, even though I barely made it to 15 in either of those games. I am certain that I shouldn’t get involved too seriously with any guilds in any game because chances are that I’ll move on.

The station pass for me is ideal, but unfortunately there aren’t many games on it that I would honestly play. Now if there was a pass that encompassed all MMOs….

I like the direction that companies are taking in initiating new subscription models. I look forward to seeing how creative it gets, and how much the ‘old school MMO players’ will handle before freaking out.

When I look back at my MMO history I started with SWG and I stayed there for a year and a half. Most of my fondest memories reside there and I met and retained friends that I hold dear in my heart although I have never met them in RL.

I have been playing EQ2 since release and Nov. 10th will be my 3rd anniversary. I never would have imagined that I would play a game for that long. I am still enjoying the game and I suggest it to people all the time. The couple of times I tried to leave for other games like WoW and LotRO I always appreciate EQ2 so much more, and I go back.

I am thinking that people because of the social aspect of an MMO form attachments to not only the game, but to their characters and the people they interact with. Also MMOs are created to keep people playing for months or years at a time. When you aren’t there, just like RL time is still moving and you could be left behind.

How does a developer create attachment. What qualities does an MMO need to have to create a bond with the playerbase? What should be implemented from the developers to help set that social structure that ties into that attachment?

I will try each new MMO that comes out and I will always compare them to what SWG had for me before the changes, and what EQ2 has had since the beginning. I guess I am looking for that game that is great enough, strong enough to server the bond between myself and the current MMO that has my heart. Until that game shows up I will always return home to EQ2 and I will always think that at one time SWG was the best game ever.

You are surely right that there is no place like home, but then again home is where the heart is. So I sit and wait for the next game to come and steal my heart away from EQ2 and there I will make my new home.