What Makes You Quit A Multiplayer Game?

Those of you who listened to last week’s Gaming Podcast will know that, between the filthy jokes and my off-mike laughing fit, we talked about our lunchtime gaming habits – specifically COD4. We play every lunch time and occasionally after work too, with ‘we’ being most bit-tech, ComputerShopper and Micromart staff.

In the wake of our most recent after-work game an interesting dilemma presented itself though and we schedule our next big match for November 10th. The day that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 goes on sale. Thus is was asked; do we carry on playing COD4 for the time being, or do we switch over to the sequel?

Strangely enough, only two people said that they wanted to switch to the new game. Many reasons were given – shortage of funds, can’t be bothered to install, PCs that won’t run it, etc. My own reason however was simply that I wasn’t ready to leave COD4 just yet and don’t feel I’ve got everything I can out of it.
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You see, nearly everyone who plays in our lunchtime matches has unlocked every weapon and perk and mastered every level. They’ve been playing the game since release and they all take their profiles home and play with them there too, racking up more kills. I don’t do that – I played the game for a bit after my review, then I left it alone for ages. I’ve only returned to it in the past few months and still haven’t progressed far enough to unlock the P90, even.

That’s just me though and, judging from the tactical discussions and rages that go on, I’m one of only a handful of players in our group that actually play COD4 just for the fun of it. I like the RPG side of things and unlocking the next weapons, but I’m not actually bothered about winning or losing or completing challenges. Instead, I just enjoy playing multiplayer in the best possible setting – a LAN. You can tell I don’t take it all that seriously by the fact that my favoured weapon is the rocket launcher, with which I’ve scored some fantastic kills.


I’m not saying my way of playing is better obviously – not considering how much enjoyment Harry (who did vote for the switch) gets out of the game and establishing tactics and rivalries (though Harry could get enjoyment from anything, I think). It’s just my attitude to the game and why I’m not ready to leave it yet. I’m still having fun.

It gets me wondering though – why do people leave multiplayer games, considering there isn’t really a proper ending? I’m not a big multiplayer usually, so this is a tad new to me, but what makes someone finally want to throw in their Level 50 Rogue in WoW or makes them move from Left 4 Dead to Left 4 Dead 2. I know people who never move on from some games and who still play Jedi Knight or Outlaws religiously, so what sets them apart from the ones who do move on?

Let me know your thoughts and reasonings in the comments below.