How much of your MMORPG play amounts to 'work'?

This original article is taken from Massively OP for discussion here.

The latest SMBC comic is going to have my fellow MMO fans nodding enthusiastically: In response to the first man, who says we need to find the “next big thing” after gamifying work, a second man suggests workifying games — something the author dryly remarks was obviously the catalyst for the first MMORPG.

And I’m not sure he’s wrong at all. A tremendous amount of my MMO gameplay consists of activities I suspect an objective observer would classify as work rather than a game. Unpaid work. The only real difference is that some of it is work I enjoy — like crafting in a sandbox with an immersive and rewarding economy. Quest hubs, though? I’m over that.

How much of your MMORPG play amounts to “work”? Has that changed since you first began playing MMOs?

TH

A lot really amounts to work. But somehow its fun.

100% all work no life.

Big part is work indeed, as long as i can see usefull progress for doing it however i'll generally have fun with it. Not as much the tedious task itself but the payoff you get when you achieve what you've worked towards.

If however it's tedious grind ,to then still be miles behind with no end in sight then ye it really starts to feel like work 100% , even the fun stuff like pvp will start getting boring then.