It all started with that damned Gary Gannon.

I can’t remember exactly what we were talking about but he asked me if I had heard of the band Silversun Pickups. I said I had not, and he linked me to this video.

Cool song. Pretty Smashing Pumpkin’ish. I thought the girls voice was hot. Wait! That isn’t a girl singing it? Damn.

Anyway, this band rocks. If you dig 90’s alternative, and especially the aforementioned Pumpkins, you should really pick their second CD up Carnavas. Although, their first album Pikul is great too. Hell, I named my Everquest 2 character Pikul!

You definitely get used to the singers voice, who by the way, is male. What you don’t get used to is the hotness that is their bass player. Keyboard guy looks a little out of place, but the band on the whole plays very well together.

Caranavas is currently on "infinite repeat" right now. Any other SSPU fans out there? What is on YOUR infinite repeat?

This post isn’t intended to be preachy. I’m not telling you how to play! Instead, it is intended to provide some tips I’ve picked up over the past 12 years of playing massively online games.

Lets face it, MMO’s get old. They can also get frustrating. Whether it is not being able to find a group, feeling like your class is gimped, the "grind" or just apathy overall towards the game.

So here are my top 10 ways to get more enjoyment out of your MMO, regardless which one you play!

Its Just A Game

First and foremost, remember that you’re just playing a game. When things get frustrating you can always walk away. Although MMO’s don’t come with "pause" buttons, you can usually get to a safe spot to camp for the night without too much trouble. And even if you can’t, who cares? So you might have a corpse run to come back to if you pulled the old "Alt-F4" trick in a bad spot. It isn’t the end of the world!

Set Goals

MMO’s are about character advancement and achievement. Set some goals for your character when you create it or soon after you start playing. Keep those goals in mind while you play, so when you hit those times where you question why you’re killing the same mobs over and over you can remind yourself that level 70 (80, 90, 100 or whatever) isn’t that far away.

Seek Balance Between Your MMO and Real Life

Hey, you don’t have to tell me about your addiction to MMO’s, I understand! Everquest single handedly caused me to drop out of college. No, not really. That was all MY doing. You’ve been there before - it is 2am and you have to go to work in the morning. You know if you just finish up 1 more quest you will "ding" and then you can go to bed. Damn, but then you are going to have to train new skills. Relax, that class trainer will be there in the morning, the following next and probably (unless you are playing RF Online) next year.

Spouse > Party Members

When presented with the choice of pissing off your group OR pissing off the person you sleep next to, elect to diss your party members. Seriously, this kind of goes without saying but it is amazing how we can get so immersed into what we are doing, forgetting the people that share the bed, the car and the mortgage.

To Go Uber or Not to Go Uber

Resist the temptation to join an "uber guild" unless you are fully committed to playing the game like it is a full time job, because to many guilds it simply is. Being an active end-game guild raider can essentially nullify all of the points in this How to Guide. Raiding can be a lot of fun, just make sure you are willing to give up a lot of other things in exchange for all those epics you may get.

Make Something

Most MMO’s have some type of crafting system. Now, I can see people rolling their eyes but crafting can be a nice distraction from the grind. Some games, like WoW and EQ, let crafters create some pretty nice items, comparable to end-game raiding gear. At the very worst, you’ll have a more complete character you can sell one day on EBay!

Avoid Official Message Boards

Of course I am not advocating that you stay away from the GAX groups here on the site! Instead, resist the temptation to go join the official forums hosted by the publishers of your MMO. They are generally cauldrons of bile spewing, flame monsters. Only sadists further their enjoyment of a MMO by patronizing the "General Discussion" group on say, the World of Warcraft forums.

Theorycrafting May or May Not be for You

Unless you are a MMO veteran or a mathematician I’d recommend staying away from engaging in "Theorycraft." Enjoy the game for what it is, and your class for what THAT is. You don’t need to have that scientific calculator on your desk next to the mouse, calculating the additional haste and armor mitigation you might get from wearing one blue piece of armor over another. Theorycraft can add an interesting element to the game, don’t get me wrong, but at the end of the day there is something to be said for just having fun.

Respec Over Re-Roll 

Unless you royally fucked up the name, looks or class of your character consider holding on to it. Most MMO’s will allow you to re specialize your character for an in-game fee. Resist FOTM (flavor of the month) classes that are powerful today, but may receive a nerf later. If you are playing the game to be the most powerful class you need to realize you’re chasing the impossible dream. Games like MMO’s are re balanced all the time and that Paladin class you were so envious of today might be horrible tomorrow.

Don’t Play to Win

If it isn’t already readily obvious to everyone, you can’t win an MMO. These games are designed to go on forever. Play for fun instead of playing to win. It is the journey which is why you play games like these, not the finish line. There is no finish line. There is no cake! Or wait, the cake is a lie! Something like that.