What Keeps You Coming Back To A Game During Lulls In Content?

One of the things about traditional MMORPGs is that somewhere along the line, they have periods where there's just not a lot going on, new content-wise. A standard is for a big expansion to drop every couple of years, with smaller updates filling in the space in between.

There's nothing wrong with this, per se. After all, content takes time to make. In fact, it takes a lot longer to make than it does to play. That big expansion that the devs worked on for two years? Well, we're heathens who can't spread things out, so we'll be done with it in ten days or less. The latest patch? What's a few hours before we're back to having nothing new to do?

It's just the way of things. It takes a lot less time to play a game… read a book… watch a movie than it does to create them.

So, what do we do with the time in between? Obviously, devs have thought about that. MMOs have PvP, more challenging raids, social activities, events, and the like. Players can take on projects like picking up crafting or designing houses.

If you're new to a long-running MMO, there's enough to do that it can be overwhelming. Particularly if you want to do everything. Of course, most people end up realizing they don't actually enjoy every bit of content. That's fine. Everyone has different tastes, and the devs know that. Some people never touch PvP. Others avoid high-level raiding. And then you have those that begrudgingly do the story content, skipping all the cutscenes so they can do high-end content.

And once they get caught up to where everyone else is at, and realize they're not going to be doing every little bit of content, because not all of it appeals to them, things change. Suddenly, there's a lot more downtime.

Of course, that can be a good thing. It gives you room to breathe and keeps you from burning out — something that's always a potential issue. If you're like most of us, you probably have other games that need playing. Some MMORPGs are even designed around that idea, with the devs encouraging players to take a break.

Still, MMORPGs are games that are meant to be lived in — a digital home away from home, if you will. And even if you take a break, the developers do want you to come back.

If you're gone too long, it's entirely possible you've found a home in another game. So, there should be something for you to log in frequently enough that that doesn't happen.

The problem is that what makes players move on can vary from player to player. In my case, when I've left a game, it typically has to do when my core social group in the MMORPG having moved on. It doesn't matter whether it was Rift or Secret World. Even in Aion, I ended up leaving because the group that I PvPed with moved on.

These days, I'm a little less social in my MMOs, so projects keep me in place — things like leveling crafting and preparing for the next batch of content. Aside from that, the thing that keeps me coming back to an MMO on the regular is having something that I could lose if I don't. Of course… that's housing. At least, in some games it is.

Not every game punishes you for not logging in by taking away your house, but there are enough that do. So, in those cases, you log in every month or so at a minimum to keep the house you worked on. That's one good way to keep the game in players' minds. And it obviously works for some of us.

That said, you can't spend all your time sitting around in your house.

Personally, I have a rotation of several games. Granted, while they're all live service games with continuing storylines, most of them are not MMORPGs. This means that I only have one game where the social aspect keeps me playing. But with games like Genshin Impact and Wuthering Waves, the content drops are more frequent, so I can set up a pretty solid rotation of games and always have something to do.

This also helps keep me from burning out on any single game by overdoing any one thing.

At the end of the day, I have good reasons to come back to and enjoy the games I play. But, as with previous games, there's always the possibility that things will fall off for one reason or another. It falls to the devs to keep giving players reasons to come back. Some succeed at that better than others.