Did you ever find yourself standing, facing a wall and waiting for “something” to happen in your favourite MMO? You know, like hanging around waiting for a group, chatting a bit in /guild, deciding which toon to play or which zone to adventure in. Then suddenly glancing at your watch realizing you’ve been “playing” for 3 hours without getting anything gamerelated done at all. It can be a really annoying feeling taking a wife-faction hit without getting into any action or fun, and I bet this feeling has lead to quite a bit of either MMO-jumping or MMO-quitting.
I have experienced this emptiness more than once, but these last 3 years I’ve found my own personal cure for it: The Break(tm). Oh yes! It’s The Break(tm), ladies and gentlemen! Come to think of it, The Break(tm) has been the most effective tool for me to NOT burn out on certain MMO’s. It’s not like im paid by Concerned Parent Against MMOs (CoP-A-MMO) to spew this seemingly propagandic message. No, I’ve actually tried the lotion for myself and can surely say that it has helped me enjoy my MMO’s more than I would have ever imagined.
The dosage can be a bit tricky, but to find out which suits your profile the best, I would suggest you to look at your play-schedule. When RL isnt interfering too much on my important MMO’ing, I usually squeeze in some playtime 4-5 days a week, and in my experience I’ve had the most succes by applying the product for about 4-5 sessions. In my case this means that treatment for a week will have the burning sensation kicked, and my MMO’ing self ready for an energetic return to my favourite cyberworld. Ofcourse you have to also factor in the severity of the burn, which could mean a prolonging usage of The Break(tm). During my days in EQ2 I’ve only had one serious case of the burnout, but after using The Break(tm) for a whole straight month and a half, I was back in full force and havent been needing such a severe treatment ever since!
So here it is: Ffaffners endorsement of The Break(tm) – Break it down!
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Whilst I don’t think I’ve actually had a long break from MMO’ing I do understand what your getting at.
I’ve found that having 2 MMO’s keeps each one fresh, I don’t spend all my time playing MMO’s but the time I do have is split between two games. Granted the time might be 80-90% main MMO and 10-20% 2nd MMO, but even the odd jump into a different MMO stops me getting burnout from my main game.
Those games at the moment are Everquest 2 and Battleground Europe, plus a very occasional look into Lord of the Rings Online (life sub).
I will never pay for more than 2 MMO’s so this way I limit myself financially. Also if I play in the evenings I stop at around 10pm and have some girlfriend faction time before bed. That and I need to get up at just before 7am for work.
The above methods and the fact I’m a fan of Norrath from my EQ1 days mean I don’t think I’ll ever burn out with EQ2, until EQ3 anyway.
The other major factor is my guild as you know, I always enjoy my time in game when neXians are around.