The Casual Players Guide to On-line Games

Some games do not make it easy to be a casual player. Many gaming companies have different definitions for casual. Sony defines casual as 30 hours a week. My definition is about half that. A couple hours per night is all the time I have to give to on-line gaming. I certainly do not have the 6 to 8 hours required to do some raids in a game like Everquest or World of Warcraft. So what can I do? Accept my fate.

If I decide to play a game that requires massive amounts of time in order to have the best gear available, I have to accept the fact that I will never have the best gear available. Or at least get it at a much slower pace than other gamers. It's a hard pill to swallow. But the pain is taken away, somewhat, by associating yourself with other casual gamers in that particular game. If you are a member of a guild that pushes its members to raid or even requires them to, you will always feel inferior to your fellow gamers. Which doesn't do much for your on-line gaming life span. More likely, you will become discouraged and quit.

I played Everquest for several years and tried to keep up with the hard core gamers and always left myself feeling discouraged. I simply could not devote the time needed to be "uber". So, I formed a guild of like minded people, all casual gamers, and set goals that were much more realistic for us. Running a guild is not for everyone, thats for sure. It can very quickly turn more into a job than a game. So if that isn't for you, then find a guild that is for casual gamers, I promise you will be much happier.

If you have a group of friends that also like on-line games, then agree to play a game together. If you want to ensure you are able to get into groups to maximize your game time, set a time for all of you to meet and make it a regular occurrence. Weekly, bi-weekly, or just on the weekends; whatever suits your needs. If you still feel like you are missing out because you do not have the capabilities to access all the content of a game because of your time restrictions, then consider choosing a different game.