Hi, my name is Joseph and I'm a serial expansion procrastinator.
This isn't simply an MMORPG problem with me, though it's most keenly felt when logging into my favorite MMO only to see my favorite hub city completely abandoned faster than a Nevadan ghost town. As expansions release, the populations move on, leaving me and the few who come back to a game months later wondering when we'll see civilization again.
It's not like I have a problem with it with certain games. The Elder Scrolls Online might be the first MMORPG where I have played the expansions fully when they release, though I reviewed every single one of them for one site or another. But even my favorite titles, like The Lord of the Rings Online has, on occasion, left me behind.
When Mines of Moria released, I was a year behind thanks to the inability to afford internet at the time. I'm not sure I fully caught up again until Mordor, almost a decade later. Same thing with World of Warcraft, an MMORPG I'm still behind on (Bastion is really boring, you guys).
Heck, in the single-player RPG world, I'm not sure I've ever actually played Skyrim's Dawnguard and I still have Monster Hunter Rise in the wings (much less the recent Sunbreak which was just released). I adore Final Fantasy VII Remake, and have yet to play the Intergrade expansion with the Yuffie storyline.
The most pressing one for me right now, though, is Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers. I'm still working through the previous expansion so I can move on and see my friends again in Endwalker. It's slow going as I'm mostly soloing the expansion, with occasional help from my friend Leif when duties call. But given the pace I'm on, I'll likely get to Endwalker when the next expansion of FFXIV releases.
Part of the issue too for me is that I feel some semblance of paralysis when jumping into a title that I know I'm woefully behind on. A couple of months back I was really trying to get into Warframe, but the sheer amount of content to work through just to feel caught up kept me from logging in more than a few times. Neverwinter is one of the first titles to break this for me, though part of that is because I'm using it as a way to roleplay a Dungeons & Dragons character for a real-life campaign.
It's made me wonder: am I alone in this? Am I the only one who finds themselves habitually behind on expansions when they release, only to visit them after much of the population has moved on? Let us know in the comments your experiences with expansions.
