The Daily Grind: The MMO/life balance

by Lesley Smith May 27th 2009 at 8:00AM

Irony is a weird thing. Here's an example: since becoming a journalist some four years ago I've had less time to read manga, watch anime and play games (oddly all things I do as part of my job). Here's another one: since joining Massively and WoW.com, my time playing WoW has dropped to just a couple of hours a week. Weird huh? It's something I'm trying to change but enjoying a raid is a bit hard when a voice in my head is whispering about news and European maintenance posts.

So readers, you work, you play, you go to school, you study and you obviously also love MMOs (or you wouldn't be reading this post, right?). How do you balance your real life with your virtual one? Does your MMO of choice have to wait till your chores/homework/research is done? Would you rather get your fix before dinner or are you up at the crack of dawn before work to do those all-important dailies?

Tags: balance, mmo, mmos, real-life, the-daily-grind, tightrope

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Bam! said on 8:10AM 5-27-2009

I play about 1-2 hours of Darkfall a week. The only time I've ever played any game every day was when I was addicted to Asheron's Call in middleschool. At this point I'm balancing getting my masters degree in fluid mechanics and motorcycle racing, and MMO's just don't hold a candle.

Grok said on 8:21AM 5-27-2009

My play time has dropped considerably as I drift from game to game these days.

WoW is just no fun if you can't raid, and many other games feel like I'm simply leveling to a point where I'll inevitably have to raid to progress any further, which is a bit demotivating.

I've thought about getting into EVE, but I'm unsure how casual friendly that game is.

Is there a game out there that allows for a casual schedule with hardcore ambitions?

Aaron Cunnington said on 8:46AM 5-27-2009

I live in the UK and work from 08:30 until 17:00 every Monday - Friday and the occasional Saturday. I play EverQuest II on a US server (Nagafen). My guild and the server comes to life at "night" or early morning, around 2am. I have shifted my sleep pattern so that I sleep as soon as I get home from work, then wake up at around 2am or 3am to start playing, then go to work after being awake for a few hours of playing. I know it's radical, but I find I enjoy the game a lot more now. My play time is excessive, and I have found that recently, I am playing all weekend, mostly non-stop, but the game has helped me to overcome various problems in my life by keeping things off my mind. It may be time to join a European guild in order to cut my hours? I'm happy with the balance right now.

cyberserenity said on 9:27AM 5-27-2009

I get some time for Second life before starting dinner. And after everybody gone to bed i do some leveling in Wow.
Virtual worlds and gaming have been a hobby for me for years. Don´t want to be without it.

OrganiClockwork said on 10:38AM 5-27-2009

I just play in my free time where I can find it. Honestly, I'm not exactly fond of many of the current-gen titles, so I don't really lose any sleep over the fact that I'm not playing much. I just don't really care. Hopefully that will change when the next onslaught of titles is released, but for now, I just play an hour here, an hour there when I'm not busy with something else.

As much as I should be thankful that I'm not a frothing-at-the-mouth addict, I honestly look forward to the day that another game hooks me the way FFXI and WoW did when I first began playing them way back when.

GiveMeYourTots said on 11:31AM 5-27-2009

I play when I get the time. I like to get in a couple hours a week but that has been tailing off as of late. But that's probably because WoW is getting a little tired and I'm waiting for SWOR and STO.

Any Suggestions on another MMO until SWOR?

Kaamos said on 12:16PM 5-27-2009

It only took my guild 5 hours to clear all raid content, so, even if I had homework it would be completed, and all of my interests ARE research, so yea, casual gamers dont set themselves with a limit, they always feel there is more to do, and there is.

Sharon said on 1:05PM 5-27-2009

I'm a mom to four kids and an avid triathlete, so my play time gets wedged in between my household responsibilities and my workouts. Some weeks, that means more and some weeks less. During certain phases of life (like pregnancy bed rest), I've focused more on gaming and at other times, I hardly play at all for several weeks. It ebbs and flows. Right now, I'm in a bit of an MMO rut, like a lot of other people.

Grok said on 2:11PM 5-27-2009

I think that's an interesting topic in itself. "The MMO Rut"

The 2 big MMO releases of last year (WAR and AOC) failed to make the impression a lot of people were hoping for. The WoW expansion was fun for a short time, but even it is beginning to lose the attention of a lot of die-hard fans. This year should see a few promising launches in Champions Online, Aion and Jumpgate Evolution, but they're still at least a few months away.

So a lot of people like myself are sort of caught in a bit of a lull. It's difficult to devote any effort into something new when I will likely leave for one of the new soon to be released MMOs, and I'm bored playing anything that is out currently.

Aleforge said on 2:01PM 5-27-2009

Its near impossible to stay deep rooted in gaming and balance a family. My Wife and I were both addicts of SWG (pre-nge) and then moved onto EQ2. Since starting out we have expanded out family to five. And MMORPGS have all but fallen off our daily routines. I am limited to games that can "pause" as baby diapers and bottles don't wait around until the next raid break. I still love gaming, however I got over the "ZOMG" I can't game anymore, and instead try to keep up on new developments and dabble with some stuff I normally wouldn't on the side. Hopefully someday I will find the time to dive back in, but I am thinking it will be many years until that happens.

DylanGrissom said on 5:03PM 5-27-2009

I usually play WAR every day that I'm not playing TF2. I get an average of 3 hours a day for computer games and those 2 take up all my time.

-Drexel- said on 6:59PM 6-01-2009

I'm a husband, full time employee (+overtime) and a father of three.I usually get up an hour early before work to drink some coffee and pound out a few quests in WoW. This allows me to level up mains, alts and do some dailies when I'm at the cap no problem. Then once or twice a week when the kids are in bed and the wife is occupied with her hobbies it's off to the computer room to run a 5 man or hit a few BGs for a couple hours. The only thing my life keeps me from doing is raids, which doesn't bother me anyways.