I would be interested in hearings your guys thoughts on this. For me personally when I was younger it was definitely an escape , seeing as how immersed I could get and everything from rl would just vanish for hours on end , it was truly quite enjoyable to just forget about all the mundane things and dislikes about rl. I think personally we all play to escape to some degree , that's half of the fun. I mean in rl your just thrown into a world without you choosing your prefrences , an at times mundane and not so enjoyable world , who doesn't want to escape into a high fantasy world full of adventure for a couple hours here and there? The rush of open pvp and a magical world where the whole point is to have fun and adventure while your logged in.

A mmo for me is just a hobby like painting resin models or collecting Magic the gathering game cards or reading Anne Rice novels.

They are there when I'm bored on my free time when the kids are busy and the wife is doing one of her hobbies or at work.

I have never considered playing a MMO as an escape from my regular life.

When you say it like that it sounds like a hobby is crack or something.

MMO = A hobby that fills that void of doing nothing when a person has free time.

For me anyway.

If I ever told my wife that I play MMOs to escape my real life she would want to know why I feel the need to get away from her,my kids and my job I enjoy LOL!

A hobby can be relaxing after a hard days work but I still wouldn't consider that an escape, If you have to "Escape" real life you need to reevaluate your life.

Originally posted by Z3R01

A mmo for me is just a hobby like painting resin models or collecting Magic the gathering game cards or reading Anne Rice novels.

They are there when I'm bored on my free time when the kids are busy and the wife is doing one of her hobbies or at work.

I have never considered playing a MMO as an escape from my regular life.

When you say it like that it sounds like a hobby is crack or something.

MMO = A hobby that fills that void of doing nothing when a person has free time.

For me anyway.

If I ever told my wife that I play MMOs to escape my real life she would want to know why I feel the need to get away from her,my kids and my job I enjoy LOL!

A hobby can be relaxing after a hard days work but I still wouldn't consider that an escape, If you have to "Escape" real life you need to reevaluate your life.

 

Ditto. I have quite a few hobbies and I also play SP games. So MMO is just one of them and has to compete for my time just like all these other activities. In general, good MMOs (Like WOW and LOTRO) are good games, even compared to good SP games.

Escape is not my plan.

Am I enjoying myself...if so, the MMO is doing well.

4. Entertainment not an escape. I have nothing i need to escape from.

I think people may not be intending to "escape," but they still are.

A non-lucrative hobby is an escape... any form of entertainment (movies, books, videogames, etc) are escapes. I think people don't like to say it because they think it makes them sound like a loser, but it really shouldn't. As long as you only do it for a healthy amount of time and are not obsessive about it - "escaping" through an MMO is fine.

I mean what else could it be, but an escape? Entertainment (while not being productive) is basically synonymous with Escape, if you ask me...

Not really an escape but a source of entertainment that I enjoy when I'm bored. Same with single players or reading, all for entertainment. I have no need to escape from reality at all.

I think it varies, sometimes I'll anticipate a good 2 or 3 hour session at the weekend, for example, and get myself ready and ... escape.  Be in another world, see other sights, wander through other landscapes, enjoy some fun gameplay, get absorbed in crafting, questing, exploring, generally goofing off.  It's an escape in the sense of a mini-holiday.

But sometimes, it's just a quick quest or two for relaxation after work.

I voted for "escape" but frankly I don't see the differentiation between me in my normal life, and me sitting in my office playing an MMO with others.

On the other hand, I sure DO prefer entertainment over work, especially when burnt out.  It's nice to take some chill time and play for a change.  My MMO time fits here.  Sit-coms vs. MMO?  Read a good book vs. MMO?  Playtime with GF vs. MMO?  Hehe, well MMO wins 2 out of 3

For me, MMOs are not a replacement for a life, they're part of having a life.

Ken

Theres a difference between "escape" and "immersion".  I'm not looking to escape from my life, however, when I pick up an MMORPG I do expect to be fully immersed and absorbed.  I can't really understand the need to play an MMO while watching TV, listening to music, talking on the phone, and cramming food down my throat.

And thats sort of when MMOs made a big shift...

When I want to escape I smoke crack.

MMORPGs are just for the times when I don't have money for a rock.

It fulfills mostly escapism. I dont want to fight people, or prove myself "better", I want to do something together with friends or friendly people and in the end be "hero" of a small story. Thus I have zero need or patience for penalities or the like. RL is penalizing way enough.

playing a good fantasy mmo is like going to a good movie or read a good book:) 

I'm not sure if I would consider it an escape.  Some days games are an escape and I've been obsessed with a few games before but I'm able to enjoy other things as well.  Maybe all my hobbies are escapes from rl.  The most enjoyable aspect in an MMO is the social one but I tend to play by myself a lot as well, mindlessly grinding in games that don't really do anything for me.  I haven't played an MMO in a couple months and I'm not gonna consider to play one unless my friends or members of my guild join me.  So I guess they were an escape.

I play because gaming is my hobby when real life doesn't have me busy. I always follow my rule for gaming which is real life always comes first.

I love the games and what they have to offer like prizes and such but it doesn't mean that I dont have a life and That I play all the time. Yes, it can be fun and usually when I'm feeling down I like to come onto the forums, here and post, orplay a game or so from MMORPG, but most of the time I stick to the forums. I guess you can say I do but rarely. When I'm thinking about the game or have a goal I never try to escape, I just play for fun.

It really depends. I switch different moods all the time.

Originally posted by Ihmotepp

When I want to escape I smoke crack.

MMORPGs are just for the times when I don't have money for a rock.

Haha, very nice. I love it. Totally just love it. Its almost EPIC.

     I play more for entertainment and to pass time rather than to escape from RL.......

I play mmos when I can't troll on Darkfall forums.

Any form of entertainment is a form of escape.

Getting immersed means the real world around you disappears and you become one with the gameworld or the character you are playing, same happens when reading a good book, watching a good movie, if people can't get immersed then they probebly don't understand a gamers way of escape and most likely think when reading the words "escape" it means someone has no life.

Originally posted by Reklaw

Any form of entertainment is a form of escape.

Getting immersed means the real world around you disappears and you become one with the gameworld or the character you are playing, same happens when reading a good book, watching a good movie, if people can't get immersed then they probebly don't understand a gamers way of escape and most likely think when reading the words "escape" it means someone has no life.

i'm doing so! today, i met a crappy lady, so crappy that i wanna kill her.

imagine she's the monster in the game, and i get her died

Originally posted by Reklaw

Any form of entertainment is a form of escape.

Getting immersed means the real world around you disappears and you become one with the gameworld or the character you are playing, same happens when reading a good book, watching a good movie, if people can't get immersed then they probebly don't understand a gamers way of escape and most likely think when reading the words "escape" it means someone has no life.

This i agree with, and used to be part of why i started MMORPG's in the first place.

But also, when my job was very stressfull and hectic i found that killing little pixel people onscreen after a day's work... it was sooooo relaxing

Later on, when immersion didn't seem the focus in mmo's anymore, and logging in was more of a second job than a way to relax is when i stopped and... ergh. Sidetracking almost.

No... I am not 15 year old emo. I work, I have a new house, got a baby on the way... Life is grand. What I do play MMOs for is to relax. Some people drink, some peole smoke, other take drugs and some build big model railways. I play MMOs. NOw, MMOs are fast becoming too simple, too straightforward and not complex enough, so slowly turning into work.. Good hting is, singleplayer games are quickly becomng more complex, harder, more advanced and less tedious, so.. Until mmos once again turn out to be worth the extra money.. I rather stick to them

When I hadn't been with my girlfriend very long yet she hit me with:  "Why do you feel the need to escape reality by playing those games?".

I tried to explain that it was just another way of spending time; much the same as watching tv, reading a book, ...  Maybe I wasn't very eloquent or she just didn't want to hear/understand what I was saying because she continued to consider me playing MMO's or computer games in general a dangerous waste of time.

Her brother plays MMO's as well and at the time we were both playing on the same server in EQ2.  Funnily enough it was only after her brother had told her in passing that I was generally the same person in-game as I was in RL that she started to accept MMO's as an acceptable waste of my time.

In RL I'm aloof, not very social in first contact but loosen up when I get to know people.  I'm not chatty, don't mind so-called uncomfortable silences but I'm generally helpful if asked.  All these fine qualities I take into the game with me.  So if in-game I was a gregarious, outspoken, extrovert she would consider the game an escape but because I more or less stay myself she doesn't.

Anyway i thought I would add that as the opion of non-gamers probably don't get aired on these forums very often.