How many MMO's can you handle?

So you call yourself an MMO gamer. You have been playing games since you had your first personal computer. You climb up the rankings and you have a high level character. It still doesn't prove that you are one hardcore MMO gamer. We are not looking for proofs but the question is; how many MMO games can you handle? 

Since the 80's, mankind has enjoyed video games at home. Either on a game console or a handheld device... The biggest change ever in video games industry happened with the introduction of high speed broadband internet. This led to production of multiplayer online games and finally the MMO games. You can read the history in our History of MMO games series by Matt Growcott. Here I'd like to write about how players devote a big part of their lives to MMO games.

There is an MMO game for anyone. Male, female, 12 year old or 40... The variety of games, the number of genres, anyone can find an MMO game and enjoy. Up to a certain limit, it's pretty much a similar experience for all types of players. Learning how to play and the couple of weeks you spend on the game, it goes almost the same way for anyone. The change begins when the player starts to become an addict. Addiction is caused by pleasure from the gaming experience first, the second factor is the involvement. 

There are many types of involvement a player can feel in an MMO game. It could be caused by being a part of a team/guild or it could be due to individual success and fame.

To be a part of a team, the player first needs to prove himself/herself. This takes dedication to the game. A player who plays an MMO for an hour a week is very unlikely to receive an invitation to a guild. The adventure begins when you get that invitation.

This rule applies the same way for individual success/fame. Unless you are a natural born gamer, it would take you weeks and months before you start making a name in the game. Once you reach that level, the initial peak, the adventure begins.

Strategy game, action game or an RPG, regardless of the genre, being a part of a team is very demanding. You need to set your hours according to the team activities. You are given tasks, you need to join the tactical discussions, team meetings and last but not the least time consuming, you need to join sessions with your team. If the team is planning a raid, they first practice for a few days before they strike the enemy.

Let's say you have done this all. You have been able to take it to higher levels and you earned your place in a team. Then what? The next challenge is team success. The team success depends on several factors and each factor is connected to each member of the team. You can imagine the number of combinations here. Thousands and thousands of factors come together and decide the future and success of your team. There comes the necessity to greater involvement. Voice Over IP meetings, pages of team message board discussions and hours and hours of gameplay. 

Once you have done this all and once you start doing these on a regular basis, you will find yourself competing in several competitions and you will start devoting a huge part of your life to the game.

This is done by millions of people in the world in hundreds of games. Let it be World of Warcraft, you have all heard of the news reports on WoW being a ground for divorces in the USA. Let it be Eve Online, I remember reading an interview with an Eve Online player who would spend 12 hours a day in game. 

The next step is to play multiple MMO games. Now this is another story. A few days ago I read on Lord of the Rings Online message boards about this player who would drop playing LotRO because he had started playing Star Wars The Old Republic. It was obvious that he couldn't really carry on with two games. Can you? How many MMO games can you handle?

Tyler Biggs

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