If measuring "how often" in playtime, it depends on the game phase: After the launch of a MMO, and in the level-up phase, I spend my spare time almost exclusively on it. Once at max level, when there isn't so much left to do other than raiding or dailies, my daily playtime usually drops a good bit and is then shared with other games.
So I guess the answer really is, it depends on what/how much there is to do after reaching max level in the MMO.
Once I get into a NEW MMORPG, I will play it exclusively, until I burn out or realize it just isn't fun.
The last few years, the games haven't held my attention for more than a few weeks, then I go back to finding single player steam games to play for a few weeks until something else grabs me.
Singleplayer RPG's i rarely play. I think in my lifetime (35 years roughly) i've spent maybe 50 hours on single player RPG's. Unless you consider builders RPG's (cities skylines, factorio) in that case, its about equal and be 50/50. However point being, if i have no one to play with, i'm more likely to start up netflix or youtube than i would start up a game.
MMO's, will take most if not all my free spare time. And i've never found myself wanting to play multiple at once either.
Back in the day I spent endless hours on single player CRPGs.
Today I am pretty much 100% MMOs. Normally one at a time - when Pantheon comes out I will drop LOTRO and only play Pantheon as long as it is even half as good as I expect.
I am not sure if the question also wants an answer about amount of time spent - since I am retired and have lots of time and prefer games to most other activities I expect to play about every day.
I play Secret World Legends pretty much every day, for hours a day.. Most of the weekend is spent online in that game. I recognize that the endgame is lacking severely, which is why I'm very interested in Pantheon, and I will be dragging at least half my cabal mates into this game too, when it launches.. And they are the reason why I play.. We've basically just run out of stuff to do, stuff to master, if not entirely then at least to our satisfaction.
These days, I play zero MMORPGs and haven't for a while. I have dabbled in setting up various private servers and trying to configure them to the mechanics I like, but I always end up hitting a wall where the games limitations don't afford me the flexabilty I am seeking (You can't reasonably modify the client in most of these games, only the server which limits you on some solutions or results in using a bunch of adhoc solutions).
This is one of the reasons why Brad, I seriously want you to consider designing this game with the forethought of eventually releasing/selling/leasing the server and client code (or at least tools to modify them) so people like me can create their own "Vision" as to what the game should be like. You do something like that, and you can truly make games for "everyone".
So, I play mostly solo games (though I do play some of the survival server games with friends from time to time), and even then it is usually games from the 80's-2000 era (I really can not stand what mainstream has done to most games these days).
Now when I did play MMOs, I spent "most" of my time on them (around 1-5 hours a day, much more on the weekends when I could spare) with only the occasional new solo game release or multipllayer RTS/FPS type breaking up my focus.
As others have said, 100% MMORPG, 0% RPG.
I've spent most of my gaming time in the last couple years on shooters due to a lack of good MMORPGs to play. I've tried just about everything available and usually spend a month or so on each but always get bored with them and go looking for something else. Others I've spent far more time playing, years, but it's been a long time since one came out that held my attention that long. Asian MMOs have good aspects but overall long-term gameplay isn't one of them.
Mushi said:Right now and for the last ten years or so it's been mostly single RPG. :)
Same here.
The few times I tried an MMORPG during a 'beta' in the past 10 years, I was too disappointed to stick around. Too streamlined with too many convenience features, cash shops/pay to win and loads of bugs still in the game right before release while they had been reported months earlier. The only MMO's that I played for more than a couple of months semi-recently were EQ Landmark (RIP) and Planetside 2, and neither of them were MMORPG's.
Quite hopeful Pantheon will be able to hold my interest for many months though. Most of the design philosophies are promising, at the very least.
I'm not sure "often" is the right question, at least not without qualifiers.
I might be a guild leader, a community oriented player, and a driven explorer and even somewhat of an achiever in MMOs, but I am still an introvert. I still need time to myself from time to time. Whether I've had a bad day at the office, or maybe it's just been a busy week, or whatever - the end result is that in a given week I'll likely take a day or two "off" from whatever MMO I'm playing, and do something single-player instead.
But how often that occurs depends a lot on how much the game or the world itself has captured my interest, as well. In a new world, one that I am just exploring, or where I have lots of different character goals to work on, I might log into that MMO 6 days out of 7 - or even possibly something like 13 days out of 14. Compare that to the MMO I play right now, however, which I have been playing for 4.5 years... and where I've really truly almost run out of goals to work on - and I only log into that MMO 2-3 times a week. Not because I don't still enjoy it, but it simply doesn't consume my attention as much as it once did.
How often will I play Pantheon when it's newly launched? Probably quite often. After all, I'll have a new world to explore, and every aspect of character development to work on
How often will I play Pantheon a year in? 2 years in? 5 years in? That depends a lot on how quickly I start shortening the list of things to see and do, and that includes alts.
Really? So many people who don't play single player games? You are missing out on so much context to which these MMOs were modeled after, not to mention the enormous satisfaction in play with many of trhe older games. I can't stress enough that some of you should go and play many of the 80's to 2000 era PC games as they offer enormous play oppurtunities in their systems.
It also kind of explains a lot the opinions on game systems here though.
I think my favourate single player RPG was Neverwinter Nights (DnD rule set). I havn't really come accross many worth playing since then, but when I played, it was every day.
These days many MMORPGS count as single player imo, sadly. Linear and no challenge. No need to talk to anyone.
True MMORPG's aka Everquest, I have and will play every day, from 5 minutes per day to 3-4 hours, which I appreciate is a light touch compared to life in 1999.
Bloodfire said:I think my favourate single player RPG was Neverwinter Nights (DnD rule set). I havn't really come accross many worth playing since then, but when I played, it was every day.
Wow, that's pretty surprising. The first Neverwinter Nights was definitely at its best when played on community-run multiplayer servers. Although the story for the expansions was pretty decent.
If you liked NWN1 single player, you should love games like Baldur's Gate, Planescape Torment (enhanced editions if you like), Divinity: Original Sin and Pillars of Eternity. And NWN2 itself is actually a pretty big step up. They offer very high quality single player experiences, with similar character creation/leveling systems and much more engaging combat mechanics and stories. Perhaps it's worth trying some of those out while waiting for Pantheon.
Kilsin said:How often do you play MMORPG's compared to Single Player RPG's? #MMORPG #communitymatters
Right now, there is no MMO that I am involved with so mostly Civ which is not an RPG.
If there is an MMO I am in, then there is zero time spent in anything else. No FPS, no RPG, no anything. If I am paying a subscription, then I am also not playing other MMO's either. In regards to MMO's its either 100% vested or 0% vested with not much in between. Also, because of that attraction of the MMO of my choice, I do not allow myself to have more than 1 subscription to an MMO at a time going. I dont dilute my /played with other games of any type.
As an aside: This is specifically why I am paying close attention to how the PvP turns out in Pantheon as I will not sub to CU to get my PvP fix.