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I think the main draw is the social part.
If you get into something like that, it the game allows for it, it becomes sort of like a hobby, but with others.
I joined when I got kicked out of my parents house, and was like 8pm, sitting in my house, looking for something that wasnt a chat room or a chan, and some advert for EVE popped up somewhere, it was an MMO game, and the only one i'd ever really played was Everquest for like a day, and this one was space ships and they allowed piracy and scamming and espionage etc.
I did a bit of research into it and made some character and then was like "wtf now" so I went out into lawless space and just shot at someone random and got instantly obliterated.
that person ended up sending me a message right after, turns out they were in some alliance, in a war, wondered why I as a very new player was out in their space, and then essentially took me in and showed me how to fight in a group.
I ended up tackle ( a person who would hold and stop enemies from warping) in a big fight that week, ended up in teamspeak with like 1500 people, and that was it.
I wasnt alone and bored in my new house, I had something to get back from work and do, i had fights alarm clocked, I had ways to make money in game.
it probably kept me sane, and as I grew, the people around me grew, and we ended up good friends, even if they left the aliance or group, if they became enemies in game, they were still friends. and that leaked into other games too,
for anyone who has been in that situation, where you're essentially alone, you come home from work, to an empty house, you sit in silence all night watching movies, occasionally chatting to people, tho MMO becomes your outlet, the big wars become your "nights out", the random roams into enemy territories or the gate camps become your "going round and chilling at a friends house".
>They seem like such a big time sinkThey are, but it was a lot better than being the guy going out to a bar every night, or sitting alone.
And as you grow, it's easier to meet people, get hobbies outside, meet friends from work, like I do bushcraft, metalworking etc now, and have friends i've met from that, but at first, when you leave school, move town, there's no real guide to making friends, MMOs kinda facilitate that