We wanted to know in a survey why you stopped playing your favorite MMOs. You gave us your answers.
What was that survey about? We wanted to ask you at the end of November why you stopped playing your favorite MMOs. You could choose 4 out of 12 different reasons and/or mention other reasons in a comment that we did not include for selection.
2,845 different users participated in the survey. And the results show that new content is not always received positively.
New content and burnout are a problem
Why you stop playing your favorite MMOs: Almost one in three of you stated that you do not like the new content. 949 users marked that option, which corresponds to 33.4%. This is also confirmed in the comments:
- Our reader Youmoku finds the direction bad, in which GW2 is developing.
- Reader Koronus finds the new systems of WoW boring: “So with Retail WoW, I stopped for the sake of Classic because the system with BfA just wasn’t fun anymore.”
- Frequent criticism in the comments is also that MMOs are becoming easier to patch over time. Our reader IchhassePvP writes: “Clear case of being patched to death. You could also say completely casualized.”
You also criticize the development of your favorite MMOs, stating that they now contain too much Pay2Win or microtransactions. At least 638 readers (22.4%) cited this as a reason for quitting. Examples of this were ArcheAge and AION:
For example, I was massively annoyed by the P2W development in Aion since 4.0. Previously, you had the choice: For good items either difficult dungeons or farm and craft diligently. Upgrading was no problem – you could get everything for free in-game with effort.
Our reader Martin
However, in addition to problematic new content, overconsumption is also a problem. 33% or 939 readers stated that they simply played too much and therefore lost interest in their favorite MMO:
- Andreas Martin: “Basically simple: at some point it gets boring. That’s all.”
- ParaDox: “For me, it’s mostly overconsumption. No matter how good a game is, at some point the product simply runs out of steam and you’re done.”
Another significant reason for quitting lies in the social aspect. For 29.3%, the departure of friends is a problem and therefore they stopped. A lack of teammates (12.1%) also plays a role.
The issue of time goes in a similar direction. 754 readers, or 26.5%, stated that they lack the time to play their favorite MMO. Many games have also become too grind-heavy over time, at least according to our reader Wenceslas Diacunescu:
The main reason for me is the huge grind factor. With many MMOs, I have the impression that you can’t have a life at all and, at least based on my feeling, the difficulty drastically decreases. It’s only about the time you invest.
Bans, broken hardware and lack of updates are not a big issue
This rarely makes you quit: Our readers have few problems with broken hardware or bans in MMOs. In the survey, only 0.5% mentioned a ban and 1.1% broken hardware as a reason.
Also rare reasons are the discontinuation of updates or even the complete game. 154 players (5.4%) were forced to quit because their favorite MMO was discontinued. This included, among others, Wildstar, which was discussed multiple times in the comments:
- Zindorah: “Unfortunately, Wildstar was discontinued.”
- mmogli: “Wildstar was not trash! We played it from the beginning until the plug was pulled. No other MMO had better housing than Wildstar. Every MMORPG has its pros and cons, but I don’t find it right to call Wildstar trash.”
The results at a glance
| Response options | Distribution of responses |
|---|---|
| I don’t like the new content | 33.36% |
| Burnout, I played too much and lost interest | 33.01% |
| All my friends stopped playing | 29.28% |
| I don’t have time for that anymore | 26.50% |
| It has become Pay2Win / it has too many microtransactions now | 22.43% |
| I found another, better one | 20.88% |
| It has hardly any active players, you wait forever for teammates | 12.06% |
| It no longer receives updates | 9.53% |
| Other reason (comment) | 8.30% |
| The MMO is offline | 5.41% |
| I only play single-player games now | 5.31% |
| My computer/console broke down | 1.12% |
| I was banned | 0.49% |
Many MeinMMO readers try everything
What could be inferred from our comments? The survey led to many reactions from you. It became clear that many of our readers also try many MMOs. Daniel Milke writes:
I have played almost everything that has come out in the last 15 years. What hit me the most was a rank increase from 80 to 100 in Warhammer Online and the subsequent takeover by EA, which then shut down the servers because they couldn’t make any money with the game.
Other readers like Zindorah or Kendrick Young have also tried various MMOs.
Many of you also remain loyal to your games for a long time and only stop when it really can’t go on anymore; usually after many years.
Many of you also remain loyal to your games for a long time and only stop when it really can’t go on anymore; usually after many years.
