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Why We Quit

Asking players who have quit why they quit gives us insight to an aspect of MMORPGs that we can’t explore by asking active players. Ironically, it also highlights the not-so-fun parts of what is advertised as an entertaining experience.

The most common reason ex-players gave for quitting was the boredom and repetition that these games revolved around:


No content other than high-end hack and slash, got boring, even the quests involved either rampant killing or boring delivery-style stuff. [EQ, m, 14]

Coming into EQ from UO left me feeling rather unsatisfied with the game play. The mechanics of the world itself didn't help either, it may seem like a little thing but not being able to sit in a chair or really change clothes to an extensive degree was really immersion breaking. Early game when I played was also extremely monotonous, and I simply did not desire to spend 20 hours killing the same rat when I could go role-play in UO. [EQ, m, 18]

The game got old. I don't care what anyone says, after a while it's all the same old grind. I play these games for fun. When they are no longer fun, or when I start feeling like I 'have' to log on...I quit. In fact, I'm about to quit my current game (DAoC) for those very reasons. [EQ, m, 30]

The game reached a state of repetition for me. The only activity that I followed in-game was leveling, which was very dull considering I was unable to find anyone to role play with. No one had any interest in taking chances or doing things differently, which created this mediocrity that made the game lose its sense of fun. It simply ceased to be worth my time. [DAOC, n, 33]

All of a sudden, I found myself being logged in and sitting in front of the computer, bored or anxious. I tried for a couple of weeks to come up with things I could do to make the game fun again -- working on tradeskills, starting a new character, even moving to a different server -- but then I realized how silly it was to try and force myself to like again something I'd grown tired of. [EQ, f, 24]


Other players elaborated on how playing had become almost like working, and what should be fun had become a second job where there was a whole new set of responsibilities, worries and stresses.

It became a chore to play. I became defacto leader of a guild and it was too much. Being an officer was too much. Pleasing people did not interest me. I wanted to get away from real life and politics and social ettiqute followed me in! [EQ, m, 20]

Was more like work then fun. One day got burnt out trying to get exp for level 55 and quit. Got tired of always complaining about how I disliked the game but still playing it. Also had a traumatizing event happen in real life. Stop playing and never went back. Sold all my gear and gave character to an online friend. [EQ, m, 22]

I've played EQ off and on for almost 3 years now. I quit this time for 2 reasons: 1. Other people's attitudes. Some people were downright rude, just to be mean and hurtful. 2. There was no possible way to get past level 46 without a serious guild and serious playing and I was just playing for the fun. Didn't want to put in the incredible amounts of time and effort in the hopes of being invited into a guild and being allowed to loot what was needed to improve my characters. [EQ, f, 32]

The community became too eccentric over time. More and more people took everything personally as if their whole life was depending on this game. Also everything had to be bigger, mightier and more and more complicated. The pure fun playing the game with just a handful of nice people has vanished over time. To put it simple: playing the game was much more stress than fun. [EQ, m, 34]

I stopped playing because I just didn't want to commit to the crazy raid times (6+ hours in the evening?) and because I'd kind of stalled out on my interest in my main character. [EQ, f, 27]



 
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Posted on February 11, 2003 | Comments (39) | TrackBack (0)


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