I've come to the conclusion after playing both WoW and EVE Online that there simply is no way to experience endgame content in MMOs while maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle.

110% agree. It's not impossible but very difficult. The social aspect of MMO's was my biggest draw. I get bored playing by myself quickly. I like the teamwork aspect of working together to take on difficult quests and bosses. All of this requires time. I at most could do 2-3 hours a week. Weekends are a no go for me either since I work them.

I heard Star Wars might go free to play?

I might pick it up if that's the case lol

This was the last MMO I played. Started when it got released and stopped in late March. I love Star Wars but unfortunately I lost interest. I can only play the solo content for so long before I get bored. I have a couple of IRL friends I could join to do group stuff but they had much more time to play than I do and leveled much faster to the point that grouping was no fun.

I honestly was only ever attracted to the social aspect of WoW and the fact that I could turn my brain off and just quest/grind/farm. It was a huge unwinding tool for me. But then it started to eat my life because I had no life or friends outside of the game (my own issues there). So when drama kept popping up and my friends started leaving I ended up tossing in the towel too. I was never very good at figuring out what gear I needed because I just didn't care that much. When I raided I basically had guildies or exes put together a "shopping list" and I would go out and buy/farm/instance the crap out of things until I got what they told me to get. I am good at following directions but I never wanted to be the best player ever.

I've been kicking around the idea of going back (only to re-roll on a different server though). I would only be a completely casual player now though considering that I am working full time and about to start going to school again in my spare time. After you add in the gym and time with friends I won't have much time for WoW.

So I agree with you but because I enjoyed the social/grinding/farming/questing aspects of the game I might go back eventually just to have that turn brain off and unwind time.

It depends how your time is divided up, and how you need to play the game to enjoy it, but I wouldn't say it's impossible to play end game content and have a healthy, active lifestyle. I'd agree you can't do end game on the bleeding edge of content, but I co-lead a guild and we raid end game content just fine.

I have a 2-year-old, and I'm not super social, so raiding Friday/Saturday nights is fine for me. If I weren't raiding, I'd still be at home, because my daughter is asleep and I'm obviously not going to leave her home by herself and I don't really have stuff I want to do sans husband. The raid is about 3 hours, and right now only Friday night.

Outside raid, I play maybe another 4 hours for farming or crafting? We've divided up responsibilites for herbs and fish, so I can herb/fish half an hour a week and our raid is covered on consumables. Since I play after my 2 year old is in bed, so I don't miss any time with her. I go to the gym 3-4 times a week, again, mostly after Kate's asleep. I play Kinect games and take Kate to the park semi-regularly, and we usually do walk around kind of stuff on the weekends during the day. I periodically go do 5Ks with a friend, and I'm trying to get up the courage for a regular rock-climbing gym visit with another friend.

We don't have a crazy active lifestyle, certainly, but that's at least partially because we want Katie to be able to do whatever we're doing. I still keep a clean house and work full time.. I don't think I'm neglecting anything? So don't think you have to give up MMOs to be healthy and active.

I hate raiding and have probably only ever done a handful in all my years on wow. Dungeons are ok ,but heroics made it more like raiding. Once you get to endgame there's nothing else to do but raid and raiding really does not bring out the best in people.

Levelling is easy to do whilst only spending a few hours a week online. Once you've levelled and need to get appropriate gear, it gets ridiculous. I can imagine that once you have high level gear that you don't need to spend much time playing. You can just raid.

I play LotRO. When I need a break, I simply don't log in for a couple weeks, and I find that re-sets my enjoyment. It's pretty weird in the casual/hardcore respect... It is casual friendly, and you can get to 75 (max level) completely solo, but you can't get the good gear without raiding. BUT, you can join PUG raids if you want, and if you're on a good server.

I lead a PUG raid the other day, and only about 5 of the 12 people I started it with finished with me. People couldn't stay for the whole thing, and that was fine. I just found others to replace them, and did it with 11 until we could find people. We understand. Not everyone is in a hardcore raiding kin (I used to be before I transferred servers - I like this laid-back kin better), but still want to raid. I also find these types of raids aren't as intense. I run a super casual raiding atmosphere. I'm too nice to b!tch and yell if something goes wrong, haha. Just figure out what happened, send the person a PM, and move on.

I never liked MMOs. A bunch of people thinking they're the ***** because they spent all day on the game doing something that takes no skill. At least the COD kiddies can kill me quick and headshoot me :laugh:

There's no compelling story or characters to drive me towards an end goal, which really there isn't in MMOs. I want so badly to enjoy playing them, but I don't. Just not my thing.

Yeah, I can see this in most. One of the reason I like LotRO better than other MMOs is that it's based on the Tolkien story, and they do a great job with the lore. I'm not a role-player, but you really start to feel immersed in the story, and one of the coolest things is running around finding places from the books, and meeting the characters. I giggled for a solid 10 minutes the first time I ran into Tom Bombadil, then again when I ran into Frodo, Gandalf, Lord Elrond, etc. Oh, and even more when I ran into Bregalad, hahaha. Even took a screenshot with him

I'm sure a big part of it for me, too, is that I have a hard time finding good friends to play with and look forward to logging on with. So I end up playing some big MMO... all by myself. And it's like, what's the point?

I don't play with any RL friends. I go out and make new friends by grouping and joining a kin (guild). I've made some super awesome friends that way. Just like here on MFP, you get what you put into it socially.

I currently play Everquest 2 and raid 9pm-12am est mon,tue,wed,thurs and have no problem getting things done

that is surprising. any guild i've applied to i've always been welcomed with open arms.. even guilds i wasn't in! i just always had lots of friends on wow.

I'm sure a big part of it for me, too, is that I have a hard time finding good friends to play with and look forward to logging on with. So I end up playing some big MMO... all by myself. And it's like, what's the point?

I don't play with any RL friends. I go out and make new friends by grouping and joining a kin (guild). I've made some super awesome friends that way. Just like here on MFP, you get what you put into it socially.

That's what I meant, though, like, finding people in the game who I enjoy playing with. When I first started playing online games--Ragnarok Online and FFXI--I had no problem with that, maybe because back then when people played online games they played them to play with others. But now it seems people just want to play by themselves so most people ignore you or are just jerks. I had a hard time getting into WoW even though I enjoyed playing it because I could never seem to find a community within it.

Then you're playing the wrong game(s), or on the wrong servers. I've never had a single issue with that. I switched servers (with a friend), and instantly made tons of new friends. After I ditched that friend (issues), I've now made a slew of new friends, simply by grouping and being social. Heck, I made one new friend because we hang out in the same area and one day I randomly struck up a conversation with him. People on my server (not my old server, but this new one I'm on - servers can also make a huge difference) are constantly pugging groups, and it's been really easy for me - someone who prefers to fly under the radar and only talk to people I like - to make lots of friends. 'Course, LotRO is also known for having one of the nicest MMO communities out there, or at least that's what I've heard from people who have regularly played other games.

Hate MMOs, and totally agree with this guy ^^. They're just all the same, at the end of the day. I greatly prefer a game that has a decent 2-player mode, and almost no one is making them any more. It's either 1 player or the whole freakin world is on your screen. Ahhh, for the good old days... <looks soulfully out the window and the wobbly image starts - enter flashback sequence...>

I also don't get off on PVP, although I confess, I am still playing (on and off) DC Universe online, just because, well, it's SUPER HEROES!!! (You'll never guess who my main character is modeled after...)

I keep wavering between done and not. I quit wow twice for a year each time but I keep getting dragged back. And now with Mists coming out and my guild doing Hardmodes Im sucked in fridays and saturdays from 6-9. I just dont have the willpower to give it up I guess. I could be spending that time doing more stuff with my real life friends or working out! Just have to wean myself off I hope

I honestly was only ever attracted to the social aspect of WoW and the fact that I could turn my brain off and just quest/grind/farm. It was a huge unwinding tool for me. But then it started to eat my life because I had no life or friends outside of the game (my own issues there). So when drama kept popping up and my friends started leaving I ended up tossing in the towel too. I was never very good at figuring out what gear I needed because I just didn't care that much. When I raided I basically had guildies or exes put together a "shopping list" and I would go out and buy/farm/instance the crap out of things until I got what they told me to get. I am good at following directions but I never wanted to be the best player ever.

I've been kicking around the idea of going back (only to re-roll on a different server though). I would only be a completely casual player now though considering that I am working full time and about to start going to school again in my spare time. After you add in the gym and time with friends I won't have much time for WoW.

So I agree with you but because I enjoyed the social/grinding/farming/questing aspects of the game I might go back eventually just to have that turn brain off and unwind time.

This is basically me too, except that I knew my own gear and how/where to find it, and most people came to me for gearing up questions! It truly was the social aspect of the game that made me play, and it helped me unwind. I loved the farming feel of the game and that with my group of friends, I could do *anything* in the game and still have a freaking BLAST doing it because my friends were so amazing. Ahh the days of titanium farming and laughing so hard I couldn't see the nodes through the joy-tears.

I've flirted with the idea of going back but I just can't justify it when most of the time I'm alone playing. I miss raiding, I miss my friends, I miss the socializing and the laughter and the amazing conversations.