---
title: 'Why I Don''t Play MMOs Anymore'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=CjcebEjpTwA'
video_id: 'CjcebEjpTwA'
date: 2026-08-05
duration_sec: 538
---

# Why I Don't Play MMOs Anymore

> Source: [Why I Don't Play MMOs Anymore](https://youtube.com/watch?v=CjcebEjpTwA)

## Summary

The video is a personal reflection on why the creator stopped playing MMOs, citing time constraints, the endless grind, and a personality that prefers completion. They discuss their history with games like Guild Wars 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic, and how life changes made MMOs incompatible with their approach to gaming.

### Key Points

- **Introduction to the topic** [00:08] — The creator explains the video is about why they avoid MMOs and massive endless grinds, mentioning recent looks at Fallout 76 and Elder Scrolls Online.
- **Personal history with MMOs** [00:22] — They list MMOs they've played: Elder Scrolls Online, Guild Wars 2, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and The Secret World Legends.
- **Realization to stop playing** [01:04] — They realized they had to stop playing MMOs for various logical and personal reasons, with time being the most obvious factor.
- **MMOs designed to keep you playing** [01:18] — MMOs are designed to keep players engaged with low barriers to entry and systems like grinds, making them time-consuming.
- **Life changes and time constraints** [02:00] — As life changed (full-time job, son), the time required for MMOs became unsustainable, leading to the decision to let them go.
- **Personality conflict with MMOs** [02:40] — The creator likes to finish things and move on, but MMOs never end, causing a conflict with their approach to gaming.
- **Preference for single-player experiences** [03:19] — They prefer single-player games because they offer complete experiences and can be paused or quit easily.
- **Unhealthy relationship with MMOs** [03:45] — Playing MMOs became unhealthy for them, impacting their life and leading to a negative self-image.
- **Transition back to single-player** [04:24] — They transitioned back to single-player games, which are more manageable and allowed them to regain a healthy balance.
- **Current approach to MMOs** [05:03] — Now they can play MMOs occasionally with small goals, like making a video, and then put them down without getting overly involved.
- **Avoiding MMOs by default** [06:39] — They avoid MMOs by default because they know they can get too involved, but they acknowledge MMOs have great content and social aspects.
- **Conclusion** [07:48] — They sum up that they're better off focusing on single-player games and keeping MMO time limited and goal-oriented.

### Conclusion

The creator has moved on from MMOs, preferring single-player games that align with their personality and lifestyle, while acknowledging MMOs can be great games for others.

## Transcript

This time bringing you a video about why I don't really play MMOs or just kind of generally avoid anything that has, I would say, massive endless grinds and a big focus on multiplayer generally, even if you want to get overly particular
about the exact label of an MMO. Uh very recently I uh took a look at Fallout 76 which has that big multiplayer aspect to it even if it is like mostly a solo game. I then took a look uh recently at Elder Scrolls Online again kind of
industry news there around the teams. And in so doing it kind of naturally followed that I would talk about the times in which I had played a lot of MMOs. And I have played quite a few, definitely not as many as people, but uh
Scrolls Online, obviously. I was big into Guild Wars 2 at one point. I was a big fan of Star Wars: The Old Republic as well, getting a little more niche than those. I used to be really into the Secret World Legends. But eventually,
actually, I kind of just realized that I had to stop playing them. And that's for a variety of reasons. A lot of very logical ones, some very more specific to me. The easy and most obviously identifiable one is time, which kind of
factors into all of the other decisions. MMOs are kind of designed to keep you playing. The idea there is that they keep bringing you back and the lower barrier to entry typically for uh paying for those games is one of the things
they do to keep you playing and then over time you're more likely to spend necessarily spent on a regular game even. So that's certainly part of it. need to keep you playing. And there's all sorts of systems in place to do
exactly that. Usually various forms of grinds and the like. And that time of difficult the older you get. At least thus far in my life. And suddenly what was totally fine when I was basically just living uh completely on my own, no
kids or anything, just working a job and coming home, that kind of stuff. MMOs point, especially when I didn't have the money to play like every game that I even caught my interest a little. like I do now. So I would have again the time
and the focus to spend on these games specifically which is when I played a lot of them and then obviously life starts happening. Video games were in fact not my full-time job for a long time. And so between a full-time job my
son and everything and just the nature of MMOs and that sort of endless grind, it became pretty obvious that I just had to let them go. But I would say that's really kind of only part of it because the reasons that I felt like I had to
let them go as a result of all of that is mostly because of I think how much I tended to get wrapped up into them. Because as you may have noticed, as the nature of the channel would suggest, I like to finish things. I like to get
everything done and move on. And MMOs don't ever kind of let you do that. there constantly or at least as often as they can, adding more and more stuff for you to spend excessive amounts of time on, more so than just about any single
player game would. And those two things are at a bit of a conflict with each other. And again, while that was fine at one point in my life, as things have simply not compatible with the way I approach things anymore, especially
because I kind of just don't want to play one game that much. I want to play experiences. And that's obviously easier to do with single player games when that sort of drive to kind of do
finish things and really kind of get that complete experience has always kind of been just part of my personality at large. I'm not the kind of person who likes to sit idle. And the problem with giving somebody like me then a game that
is never really done means that you're kind of just playing it all the time. And that eventually led to probably uh the only instance with video games where it ever kind of felt like it veered into something truly unhealthy for me just
because of kind of where I was at with it in my own headsp space. And so again, kind of around that time my son was born, not all at once, but over a period of time, it was just uh very obvious that it could not continue. And I think
the simplest way to put it would just be that I didn't like the person that playing MMOs kind of turned me into at that point. and it felt like it was starting to have like actual impact on the rest of my life. And that's when I
while I had certainly played single player games in between all of those, once I kind of had that moment, that's when I started just transitioning back obviously much more easy on your time. You don't have to coordinate with
anybody. I can pause and either literally pause or just quit the game about again any of those time commitments or other people's time, that kind of thing. I was able to bring it back to a place that I felt okay with,
which eventually led to me covering all the games on the channel and everything history, and here we are, I suppose. But I will also say that these days I'm a little uh better overall about that kind of thing. I've talked a good bit over
the various videos I've made on the subject, talking about my own past and everything, and I'm certainly not going to rehash that here, but a lot of those things led from, I would say, probably like 18 to 23ish. me being a person that
was a little hyperfocused on things, just trying to avoid falling back into those situations and it kind of put me in uh I would say a prime state to play those types of games simply too much as I mentioned and that is something that
thankfully I would say time has allowed me to sort of ease up on a bit. I don't necessarily get as I suppose you could say anxious in comparison. And so now I'm able to at least on occasion when I want to make a video about it or
something, play an MMO and just, you know, set a small goal for myself do that thing usually in the form of making a video and then put it down and walk at least until it comes up again for the relevant moment. But at the time in my
games, that was something that I was kind of struggling with, which is why it sort of bleed into the rest of my life that I mentioned, which is when I put a stop to it. And while I certainly play tons of video games these days, it is
quite literally my job. Of course, I'm able to sort of set up goals, set up boundaries, limits, that kind of thing, and just approach it in a way that feels uh much more healthy and manageable to me, at least, even if it is still a lot
obviously doing. And that's something you can do with single player games, especially in again just a much more manageable way than a game whose entire purpose is to keep you playing for as long as possible. And as a result of all
of those different factors, it should be pretty obvious then that basically anytime I see anything with a big focus on uh an MMO gameplay loop, I tend to avoid it by default primarily simply because I know how I can kind of get
with games like that and I have absolutely no interest in falling into those old habits. So I try to keep that stuff very contained even when I do cover it. And yet at the same time, I don't necessarily have a problem with
them have great content. They're obviously a decent way to socialize in really what I want to do with them these days. When I play these games, I tend to try to play them by myself. But at one point, I was actively involved in like
and stuff, that kind of thing, which has that social element to it that you don't draw for the genre. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I potentially very good stories, like Star Wars: The Old Republic. Actually, I
loved the Sith Inquisitor story line. The Imperial Agent one was really good and so somewhat living up to their name. A lot of them are in fact massive with some incredible content at times. But I guess again, if I were to just sum this
reasons that I don't want to play these games at all. And I'm just better off elsewhere, which is why I focus on single player games these days. And I also know that I can just simply get too involved with them to the point it
becomes an issue. and thus I prefer to keep my time with them limited and focused on specific objectives, usually in pursuit of some video or another much everything I've got to say on the subjects. Hope you found that
interesting, I suppose. I think they're certainly capable of being great games. I've just mostly moved on, I guess, is probably a good note to leave this particular video on. But that said, by all means, like, comment, subscribe, all
feel about all that down in the comment section below. But regardless of any of that, truly just thank you so much for watching. I really do appreciate it. May you wander in wisdom and have an amazing day.