Diary of a game hopper

by Shawn Schuster Dec 18th 2008 at 4:00PM

Are you a game hopper? Do you find yourself continuously dissatisfied with the quality of MMOs, yet continue to jump on the latest and greatest upon release? I think it's safe to say that there are many game hoppers out there, especially as the quantity of games sharply increases.

In a recent editorial piece at IGN, Char gives us an idea of what it's like to be a fairly extreme version of a game hopper. As an example, "I have been known to be out in the world somewhere, questing or adventuring when I will just stop, log out then head to the account screen of the particular game in question and just cancel, never to go back." The article goes on to explain reasons that they've left a particular game and moved on to others. If you often find yourself doing the same thing, or feeling the same way about the current selection of MMOs, you may want to take a look at this article. It's entertaining, and brings up some very valid points on how some games can so easily lose their customers.

Tags: char, game-hopper, gamer-add, ign, multi-boxing

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Felth said on 4:44PM 12-18-2008

Yes, the quantity of games sharply increases.

Anonymous said on 4:44PM 12-18-2008

I seem to do a lot of game hopping, I can't seem to find a MMO that's just quite right. I'm hoping Darkfall will be this MMO, if not, I may be a lost cause mmo-wise! :p

Felth said on 4:53PM 12-18-2008

I had these times too. Than LotRO came :>.

Mr Rodgers said on 5:00PM 12-18-2008

This is definitely me. I bounce back and forth between GW, WoW, LOTRO and now WAR. I think my time with WoW is over as I'm not willing to lay down any cash for another expansion, but GW and LOTRO certainly have futures with me. WAR I'm going to give 6 months or so to grow, then we'll see.

Barth said on 5:10PM 12-18-2008

Since WoW came out I'm sure there are many more hoppers than ever. Not just because of the raw increase in MMO player population either. People get bored with WoW, then jump on each new game after and they all fall short of what they've come to expect because they've been spoiled. I was happy with EQ1 believe it or not, until WoW came out. Now I can't find anything to play that stacks up to what I've come to expect in terms of fun and good design. I'm hoping that taking a few months off WoW will help me regain interest... and hoping against hope that some new game will finally match up.

Ingrod said on 5:38PM 12-18-2008

Seeing his examples I decided that the article autor is not a MMO hopper instead is a moron, if he cant see MMO goals other that buy a mount or reach the next level zone he have a very narrow vision of MMOs. We need more sandbox MMOs with diversified and clear goals, but say that the only WAR goal is buy a mount is pure blindness, conquer enemy capital is not a goal? Have the bests ships in PotBS is not a goal?

Personally hate the "leveling mentality" and MMO worlds build around level zones. Instead of play a rich world with many differents regions and inhabitants, we repeat the same actions zone after zone, the only difference from a level 1 map to a level 80 map is the mobs level, that is boring.

Mabuti said on 5:02PM 12-22-2008

In defense of the author, WAR has great promise but the scenario's have ruined OPvP so the capture the capitol theory is just that, a theory. With adjustments to the game it could become a dominate MMO but until that opens up it is just a scenario based grinder. This is of course IMO.

-Flame on!

Takk said on 7:15PM 12-18-2008

For me it's been: CoH, GW, DDO, WoW, EVE, TR, AoC, and now WAR. I've tended to return to WoW as my home base. But I'm totally sick of the PvE grind and play style. Most games only get a month or two. I love playing WAR. I plan to stick with it for the RvR. But I'm really worried it won't thrive. I'm also dabbling again in Guild Wars, which has astounding quality and beauty.

Future MMO surfing will likely include Jumpgate Evolution and maybe Star Trek Online/Champions (Anybody know if there'll be a good PvP system in these?) and maybe Guild Wars 2. But most of these are solo. My very small, jolly, gay guild is mired WoW. And I'm very careful who I join forces with beyond a simple PUG.

Char said on 7:28PM 12-18-2008

Well Ingrod, I suppose I should have been more clear in my article but what I meant by goals was more along the line of personal goals. I like to "work" to achieve things in MMORPGs; things such as a nice armor upgrade or a new and special mount, things like that. Goals such as that make me feel as I have personally accomplished something.
Taking a capitol city in WAR is certainly a goal worth striving for but it is not a goal that would have much appeal to me if it means running scenarios over and over to get to 40 then joining a zergfest to achieve it. PotBS is much the same; it would be nice to finally have the biggest and best ship in the fleet but that particular reward hardly seemed worth the endless cycle of repetitive combat in the same environment over and over.
I much prefer a rich and varied environment where I have multiple choices each time I log in. In my opinion (moronic or not) WAR and PotBS did not offer that.

Vulturion said on 7:31PM 12-18-2008

Sadly most of that article applies to me too, except the customer service issue - in fact I have played and ( spontaneously ) quit some of those very same games for the very same reasons. *sigh*

Despite the amount of time, money & enthusiasm I put it in to MMOs, I cannot say I'm a staunch fan of ANY of them but Guild Wars.

At least my brother is dragging me back in to Guild Wars, and Wintersday starts up tomorrow with new quests and new opportunities to get that tricksome miniature polar bear...

craylon said on 12:39AM 12-19-2008

my chain of hops are
lineage2>ddo>aoc>war>chronicles of spellborne

with a view visits to wow, atlantica online, coh and tr and revists of the above

yet i dont see myselve as a gamehopper in a negative way, nor do i feel any sadness or drama about it

just like im a tv-show hopper, sports hopper and book hopper id like to have a broader experience in mmo games then fokusing on 1 char grinding

mikejl said on 10:57AM 12-19-2008

IMO. That article reads like the write just does not like MMO games. I'd say quit MMO and play some multi-player shooters (TF2, L4D) and some single player RPG (Fallout3)?
My hopping problems stem from the MMOS are looking good to me (LOTRO, WAR and WoW expansion all have thins I like). All have things that draw me to them. Just not enough time and money to play them all.