By goofing off, I mean things other than actively working toward progression.  Things like sorting the bank, browsing AH, watching or participating in chat... that sort of thing.

Another one.  If you will, answer in a reply:

Which fits you better?  "I play the game." or "I go into the game and play."

Most of the time I play the game, but I also spent some time listening to RP players (I am on RP server) , browsing GTN  and danicing on cantina tables for my favorite companion  /grin

When I play though I am 100% in:)

I would say 20% of time on goofing off....

Depends on the type of mmo.

In a sandbox I "goof off" quite often, or at least I end up doing something totally different to what I may have originally intended to do. In a themepark it's do a specific task or log out.

I think your title needs to be tweaked then.

MMOs are games. By definition, you are goofing off by logging in. The mere premise that you goof off within the game assumes there is a job or task that must be completed other than what you are currently doing.

I enjoy my time in MMOs. How much time do I spend not "progressing" depends entirely on the game and what's available vs fun for me at the moment.

Also, between your two questions, that can differ greatly depending on which MMO you use as a reference. It also depends on how you define "I play the game" as how I play the game is decidedly different than how my friend plays the game which is different than how his fiance plays the game. Unless you define playing the game as the persuit of end-game content, which again can vary greatly depending on MMO.

Take EVE Online for example. How would "I play the game" vs "I go into the game and play" differ? To some, playing the game is done almost as much on forums as in game. To others, its amassing ISK. To some people, its harassing and to more people they want to build a self-sustaining corp.

Next up, WoW. There is acheivement hunters, PVPers, Raiders, Pet Battlers, Mount Hoarders, Crafters and Rare Item Collectors where all of those things are playing the game to them.

Even in linear themepark games with limited gameplay other than PVP and PVE there are people who play the game differently.

I think I goof off a bit over half.  Sometimes I'm just not in the mood for achieving, and just want to kick back and do other things.  I don't like the pressure of feeling like I _must_ be doing something productive.

I think I fall into the "go into the game and play" category.  I find it much more entertainig than running the gear treadmill or consuming storyline content.

I would like to have seen smaller more well defined options in the poll.  For me it used to be about 25% of the time.  Now when I play it is a lot less.  Maybe 5% of the time.  I have not been in a guild in years and don't play MMOs much anymore. 

I play the game.

Depend on type of mmo.  

More varied and more sandboxy it is - more time I spend on "googing off" - though I would insist that it is very non precise to use this word for anything other than straight progression. 

On the other hand nowadays mmorpg's went to almost purely combat gameplay so it makes "sense".

It's about half for me.  Games are my leisure time, so while I want to progress I also want to just chill and relax.

It's the age old dilemma, just like driving.  I don't like anyone else wasting my time and preventing me from doing what I want but I'll waste as much of it as I want to :)

If it is a new game, none.

The more fun I had, the more I am willing to plan and focus...craft, tradeskills, searches for recipies...but this comes only AFTER I like the game a LOT and expecting to enjoy it a LOT more.

Originally posted by bunnyhopper

Depends on the type of mmo.

 

In a sandbox I "goof off" quite often, or at least I end up doing something totally different to what I may have originally intended to do. In a themepark it's do a specific task or log out.

That's my experience as well.  Sandbox games lend themselves very well to doing random silly shit.

Most of it, really. Even when I'm progressing, my mind's not on it, mentally I'm still "goofing". And I let myself get distracted by every little thing. Also I really like "not doing it the game wants me to" so that naturally breeds some goofy approaches to even "serious" stuff.

My old guild was a proper goofball dream team! :) Raid runs would take at least twice the amount of time we could have done them in, just because someone would surely goof out somewhere, almost (or even completely) wiping the raid. The amazing thing is, next to nobody complained. Goofing time wasn't "time wasted", it was "time well spent". Maybe because we knew how to make it funny, or maybe because players were more easygoing back then.

Depends on the game.

Darkfall for example. Cant tell you how many times clanmates of mine, including myself, would just be standing around at a bank and you think theyre afk and all of a sudden theyre like "Damn, Ive been sitting here staring at my bank for like 30 minutes trying to sort stuff and figure out what i need / want to go do".

This also about the same time one of our clanmates in Vent would yell "SURPRISE DUEL!!!" and start beating the crap out of people screwing around at the bank. Surprise duels that turned into 20-30 man fights around a bank while hoping no enemies show up to gank us and take our loot were epic.