A few weeks ago, I mentioned that April was a cruel month because so many great games have a tendency to come out at the same time, taking a huge toll on my wallet. It turned out that it was only half the picture. April has come and gone, and now we're looking at the month of May, which brings the remainder of the spring's big titles. While the bucks disappear from my wallet, something much more subtle has also been vanishing in direct relation. Over these past few weeks, and in the weeks to come, the most precious commodity of all has been seeping away: Time.

Let's start with a quick recap of what's been going on in the gaming world. Much of it seems like a blur, but I'll try anyway. I think it started with Oblivion, which is probably the closest an RPG can get right now to achieving the scope of an MMO while remaining a solo game. If this were an episodic game, the opening sequence where you have to spend hours escaping from a dungeon sewer, would have probably made up over half the game. It seemed not long after that, Dreamfall hit the shelves, demanding time to experience an extraordinary story and fantastic world. A week later, Guild Wars: Factions releases, and now I'm obsessed with getting my assassin the skills to make a name for himself in the land of Cantha.

Now what's down the short road of May? Heroes of Might and Magic V for starters. It seems to be the season for strategy games because Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends is also coming out. Let's not forget that Steam will shortly be delivering SiN: Emergence and Half-Life 2: Aftermath straight to your computer. Speaking of direct downloads, the huge Issue 7 expansion that's going to come down for City of Heroes and Villains isn't that far off either. There are numerous simultaneous countdown timers running, and it all seems to be headed toward a single inescapable and sadly ironic outcome: The end of free time for the sake of enjoying free time.

I hate perpetuating the stereotype of the gamer who never gets out of the house to see the sun, but it seems like it gets harder and harder to maintain the delicate balance between having an actual and a virtual life. When purchasing a game, you want to get as much out of your investment as you possibly can. No one wants to throw away money or let subscription fees go to waste. I once said that it must be nearly impossible for an average person to play more than one MMO at a time, because it would be too difficult to dedicate the time necessary to justify the overall costs of both games. Then someone introduced himself to me, stating that he played more than one MMO at a time. In fact, that's how he made his living; finding items and selling them on Ebay. While I accepted his position, and I know there are plenty of people like him, I don't think the sale of virtual items has quite made it as an average profession yet. Also, as the statement implies, he isn't necessarily playing for the fun of it. He's playing with the specific purpose of selling off everything that he makes, whether it be the Giant Sword of Whoopass or the Nth level character he's created.

According to most articles I've read detailing the attraction of MMO games, most people cited the community aspects of gaming along with the feeling of power and prestige found in achieving high levels. It seems unlikely that this sort of thing can be achieved when the sole purpose of playing is to eventually sell the character, and possibly its powerful items and currency in a separate auction, in order to make a fast buck - then immediately switching over to another MMO to do the same. Maybe it's narrow-minded thinking, but it doesn't seem to me that when you're playing for the purpose of farming or power-leveling that you're really "playing" anymore. The player isn't participating in the virtual world necessarily to stimulate those pleasure centers in the brain anymore. It becomes autonomous work. No wonder so many farmers simply let their bots run amok while they go out and do other things. It's a strange feeling to think that a gold farmer might actually end up with more free time than more legitimate players.

But the other implication is that if you choose to make MMO's your profession, then it automatically becomes your life on a certain level. If I have to schedule in a couple hours in the day jump into missions for currency farming, then spend another few hours tracking down or mining rare materials, right before an afternoon of ritualistic crafting... then that hardly leaves room for that 9-5 job that I believe a lot of players have to support their gaming, instead of the other way around.

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