Original: http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/3948/Is-It-Time-To-Quit.html

Many players who are considering quitting MMOs tend to sit on the fence about it for a long time, not really sure if they want to quit. They've got that hook still buried deep in them, and can't quite convince themselves that they don't want to play anymore. There are four good signs, however, that quitting MMOs is a step for you.

Sign number one: You get bored easily. This sign alone isn't indication enough that MMOs have lost their appeal, but it can be a good start. To state the obvious, if you're bored, you're not having fun. If you're not having fun, then it's not serving its purpose: to entertain you. The boredom could just be a sign of a particular game wearing you out. Perhaps in a lull between new content or a lack of people to play with is causing it. If the boredom is recurring, however, and you've stuck with it just to see what's next or to hang out with friends, the boredom might be something more than a passing feeling.

Sign number two: You start looking for new ways to play the same game. As a long time World of Warcraft player, I've been guilty of this myself. Of course, rolling an alt can be a great way to re-experience the game from a new perspective or have another character to help friends out with and have fun. Rolling alts isn't what I'm talking about, however. I'm referring to self-imposed challenges such as leveling without quests, leveling without killing a single creature, or the ever popular "hardcore mode" or leveling until you die, and then deleting the character. Those are just some of the more common challenges. Dozens more can be invented based on the nature of the game being played. If you have to resort to new and unintended or convoluted ways to play games to have fun, you're probably on the edge of quitting.

When you start trying new games, even ones you used to laugh at, you've got a strong third sign that quitting MMOs is in your future. Sure, there are times that we check out new MMOs to see what the buzz is about, or perhaps to see if it's really as bad as what we hear. Going to a different MMO with the actual intent of trying it out to see if you might like it, particularly one that you have previously had no esteem for, is like the MMO player's way of selling their soul to the devil for one night of pleasure. You've wronged yourself, your very code of gaming, and whether you're proven wrong or not doesn't matter - you've taken a step into a dark alleyway, with no turning back.

Of course, the most obvious sign is that you decide to take a break, without calling it quits. I've gone through several cycles of this myself between several games and with MMOs in general, and I'm sure many of you have done the same. There have been times, too, when I've called it quits with MMOs. Sometimes, a break is just due to a lull in MMOs that appeal to you, or due to things going on in the real world that you'd like to leave behind. A break is always a good time, however, to evaluate your gaming habit.

Let's say, though, that you've already figured out it might be quitting time. How do you know if it really is quitting time, though? There's a few relatively simple questions you can ask yourself to figure out the answer.

Is it the game or the grind?

You can easily test this out by trying to play other MMOs for a few hours and seeing how they feel. If you enjoy the new things you're introduced to, or find yourself comparing and ranking the game to other games, it's probably the game you've been playing that's gotten you down. If you start feeling, or thinking, that it's "the same old," it may just be the MMO formula and not the game itself that's getting to you.

Are you staying for yourself or someone else?

With the incredible social power of MMOs, many players find themselves staying in a game even though they no longer enjoy the game itself. They pay their money (or time) not to play the game, but to spend time in the company of other people. If you're logging on to spend time with people, but not much else, and quickly log off if none of your friends are on, the game may have lost its appeal. Now, if it's your significant other, there might be a more compelling reason to keep playing; but if it's online friends and guilds you can't let go of, there might be a problem. You can argue the worth of social interactions, but if gaming itself has lost its appeal, it's probably a good time to call it quits.

Have you forgotten what "other games" are like?

This may sound like an odd question to ask, but take an extra moment to think about it. MMOs are spawn of a much more experienced lineage of video games. If you've been missing some of the great video games out there, not out of disinterest but because you've been too wrapped up in your MMOs, this is a good time to at least take a break, if not quit completely. I recently went through one of these "offline revivals" myself, and spent many hours enjoying the games I'd been missing over the years. There's a lot that non-MMOs can offer, such as a lot more innovation in the field, and even just taking a while to catch up can bring a whole new perspective to your MMO gaming when you return.

There's always a lot of other factors to consider when planning to go cold turkey: what you're going to do with your new free time, who are you going to affect by leaving, and plans for if you ever do decide to come back. Don't feel ashamed as you log out one last time, though. For every person that quits for good, there are plenty more who don't know when to stop.

lmao i have all 4 signs 
guess its time for me to quit aion 

lol >.<

we still do DP.... lmao we are downing A rank easily now. but the bastard isnt dropping anything good. stupid blue shield twice.

don't worry though, next MMO you will get this random phone call at 3AM in the morning saying, "hey new mmo, lets go, kthx."

and we will pwn that mmo like no other.

lmao alright 
GL with your A-rank bosses if you guys need fire scrolls let me know 

"I don't have any of that. Aion was the first MMO to do Assassins how they're meant to be, powerful, fast, and one to two people at a time. I have no intention of quitting Aion or even thought about it. The only way I'd stop playing is because of financial issues. There's still more for me as an individual player to be experienced. Miragents, being the best Assassin, having plenty of wealth, playing other classes that catch my interest, Sieges, constant instance runs, etc. You guys can dip out if you want. I don't care anymore because everyone finds reasons to complain." -Anaris (Too lazy to log Illuria's forum account out)

I haven't said I am quitting yet, I have no other game to turn to; so I won't be quitting until one arises. I'm glad you still have that motivation though, as where I don't. I have been 50 for soon to be 3 months now and feel I have experienced everything you mentioned, above and beyond. I would like to hear your views on the game in a month or so(now that you are 50) if Aion doesn't release anything new to do because personally I feel your views might be changed, but that's just my thoughts, I'm not saying they will.

sensitive topic 

very >.< lol

"This is SRSBSNS! Actually, not really. The thing about MMOs is they release content constantly. Class changes, instance changes, gear changes and additions, etc. The Aion Vision trailer is a CLEAR indication of things coming to the game and I have every intention of sticking around for it. Patience my mateys, patience." -Anaris (Again, too lazy.)

Yeah, I understand the game has only been out for 4 months now, but with how fast people leveled in the first month alone, they lost so many players because of the lack of content.

With updates like:

I can see why people are leaving, there hasn't been a major update in awhile. And really, what NA server has even taken Divine to even get medals? I guess the balaur were getting twice as many medals... I understand they are trying to fix the small things first, but cmon... I'll play the game as it is, just give me something new, anything. Seriously, even the piano for xmas kept me more occupied than the game its self.

Gah and come on ncsoft, what about the players who are 50?

Lol.  But yea I understand that people hate the grind, I just found it odd that ncsoft is giving us all these double xp weekends so early on.  Like why would they rush everyone to the lvl cap without giving us any foresight to when the next major update is going to be?  If they just wallow around for too long they are going to start losing people fast.

Anyways, Global Agenda anyone?

lol yeah.
too many 50s!
nothing much to do 
BORING 

Patience young grasshopper, patience.

If people going to quit let me borrow someone's account that has a 50 templar, so I can help with the other people in our legion with DP runs. 

 -Putting in my 2 kinah...I'm not planning on quitting yet!

Well, it's not the grind that bothers me. I've played many games that have taken much longer to get to max level.

I am a little bummed that there isn't much to do at 50, especially solo. I would like to run DP every night but it seems not all the same people are on and the runs start too late for me. Not that I'm blaming anyone in the guild since I know we all have crazy schedules and the lack of loot isn't much of an incentive. Plus I understand the lack of required classes and too much of the same class all trying to do it.

Another thing that is really pissing me off is that I can't even start my miragents. Part of it is my fault for never finishing my <Saving Elyos Captives> quest. However in my defense every time I tried to do it I would get the shit ganked outta me. So I said "Okay I'll come back when I'm closer to 50". I kinda forgot about it until I actually hit 50 cause I was too busy leveling. Now that was a few weeks ago. Now my problem is that Asmos haven't had Sulfur Fortress in about a month. So now I really stuck and don't know what to do...

Those are my complaints but in reality I really do like the game. There aren't any other games out there that I would rather play right now. Also, like Anaris I'm very excited about the upcoming content we saw in the Aion vision trailer. This is a brand new game and I understand there are kinks to be worked out and I am willing to wait for the new stuff to be introduced.