For many gamers, choosing a game to buy is a simple matter. Easy answers like “I like the franchise, so I will get the game,” or “This developer makes great games of this genre,” or even “I played it at a friends house and I liked it,” all tend to rule our gaming purchases. For MMO players, however, we live on a different set of principles. Our games don’t last between 10 and 40 hours, they last months or years – and they cost the part too.

At a $15 monthly fee in addition to the standard $49.99 cost of video games these days, MMOs aren’t just “the next game in a franchise.” To many, their MMO of choice can be anything from a hobby to a lifestyle, and the decision on how to spend your next several months/years is a far more difficult choice than how to spend the next week; that’s where I come in.