Top ten reasons to quit RAN Online....

And the top ten reason to quit playing RAN Online, from 10 to 1, are:

10. Availability of newer and better online games.

Frankly I don't have much experience with other MMORPGs, but I've heard and read lots of positive reviews over some newer online games, such as Perfect World, Lineage II, and Granado Espada. Yeah, it may be hard to give up RAN Online after all those months, but you never know. It may be about time to move on to some other MMORPG. And who knows? The service and support may even be better.

9. Poor return of investment.

You play for hours on end, for months, perhaps even years, and eventually you get that high level character you've always wanted. Now what? You could try selling your account, but not only is that prohibited by e-Games, you'll only get a small fraction of the money you invested into making that character in the first place.

Well, you do get bragging rights against lesser characters, but the satisfaction doesn't last. No matter how high your character's level is, in all likelihood there's a character out there with a higher character level than you, and perhaps even better and more powerful items to boot.

Besides, nothing lasts forever. You could play and play until you character reaches the level cap. Then somewhere down the line the game loses support from its parent company and eventually the server is shut down. It can take anywhere from a few years to several years, but it will still happen. Remember R.O.S.E Online? Tens of thousands of players at its height. Dead after three years. And your precious character? While it was still being played it was probably a few megabytes of data residing on a hard disk somewhere in cyberspace. When the server shuts down for good it's not even that anymore.

8. It's murder on relationships.

Admit it. Unless your significant other is as addicted to Ran Online as you are, playing the game for hours, days, or months at a time can be murder on relationships. Ever had a girlfriend, boyfriend, or spouse chide you for spending so much time and money on an online game? And if you don't have a girlfriend or boyfriend yet, don't expect to find one while being glued in front of your monitor.

While some relationships grew from the game into reality, such fairy tale romances are not that common, and even if they do happen, they're probably not likely to last in the absence of the common denominator, that is, RAN Online itself. Without the game to hold the relationship together, it evaporates into nothingness like pots during PK period.

And of course, there are your parents. I don't think any parent (and I happen to be one myself) who would approve of you playing RAN Online to the exclusion of everything else.

7. Addiction to Ran Online can ruin your grades/career.

Do I even have to explain this one? I've know students who cut classes just to be able to play during 2x or 3x EXP events. I've known even some professionals who call in sick just to be able to play at home (I've done that a few times myself). There are even some extreme examples of students giving up school altogether. While the game may indeed be fun, it should take a back seat to more important matters, such as school, and work.

6. The huge numbers of annoying characters.

Try as you might, you can't seem to avoid them. Scammers, bad mouthers, kill-stealers, looters, DAM lurers, identity thieves, GM impersonators, etc. Yeah, I know it's all part of the game, but let's face it, when a high level character comes from nowhere and thrashes the mobs lured by our partymates, or when a DAM lured by a character only in his or her underwear decimates the entire party, or when you drop your +7 item and the player who picked it up doesn't return it, admit it. You're annoyed.

5. Your buddies have stopped playing the game.

It's always fun starting out a new MMORPG. You meet people, you add them to your buddy list, before you realize it you have an entire slew of friends welcoming you every time you log on. Sooner or later you form a gang, or join one, surrounded by characters who have played alongside you for months, even years.

Then one by one they start disappearing. Some players lose interest and just stop playing. Some characters get sold or traded. Some characters get hacked and/or deleted. Maybe you'll make some new friends, but eventually they'll disappear as well the same way as the old ones.

And when you find yourself for the most part alone, then playing a MMORPG hardly seems different from playing a standalone single player game. Which is well and fine if you're hooked on the game itself, but if it's the social aspect you're after, the point is lost. Just like your buddies.

4. The service and support being provided by e-Games is just plain awful.

Do I really have to elaborate on this one?

Connection errors, full servers, user's account is being connected, lag, frequent disconnections, software bugs and glitches, lost items, wasted eP items, rollbacks, hacked accounts, deleted characters, poor password security, slow problem resolution, etc. If you think I'm exaggerating, just check out the forums. A lot of us probably spend more time trying to connect or reconnect than actually playing. And let's face it, I'm not saying that their technical support is totally useless, but just for the record, how many of you were actually helped by their helpdesk?

3. It is financially draining.

While the game follows the Free-To-Play (F2P) revenue model, if you want to have a chance at leveling your character up to a reasonable level within your lifetime with some semblance of ease and convenience, you will probably have to invest in a number of in-game accessories bought with your hard-earned money. Such accessories include training rosaries, buddy transmission cards, headgear, bus cards, start and back point passes, etc.

Granted, such accessories are optional, but after a while they seem to feel like necessities, especially if you've been playing for hours and only seeing a 1% increase in your EXP level, or if you have to run all the way from your school to let's say, HO.

And if you don't have a PC with an internet connection of your own at home, it only makes things worse as you have to play in a LAN shops which charges by the hour.

Months of playing can add up to a few thousand to tens of thousands of pesos. Think about it. If you didn't play RAN Online you could have saved enough to buy a new cellphone. Maybe even a laptop.

2. It's hazardous to your health.

How many of you have played for hours and hours at a time, without eating, sleeping, only stopping for occasional bathroom breaks? I know I have, especially when I'm using one of those 24 hour resurrection training rosaries. I've only gone on a few all-nighters in the months that I have been playing RAN Online, but it is not unusual for some players to go on straight playing binges lasting for days, perhaps with only a few hours of sleep at a time. Obviously, playing the game in such a manner can be detrimental to one's health.

And you don't even have to play like that to suffer health risks. I think I'm starting to develop repetitive strain injury (RSI) in my right wrist from holding and clicking a mouse over and over again, even though nowadays I only play once or twice a week.

Prolonged sitting can also lead to back pain as well as poor blood circulation, causing difficulties in moving, varicose veins, and increased susceptibility to fatigue. Lack of physical activity can lead to obesity and possible heart problems and hypertension later on.

Not to mention headaches and migraines associated with eyestrain from staring endlessly into a computer monitor.

Without realizing it, we are probably putting are bodies at risk by playing the way we do. And e-Games seems to be encouraging it. Have you ever seen them post any health warnings against playing too much? Has anyone?

And the number one reason to quit RAN Online is:

1. It takes up too much of your time.

When you first start out playing RAN Online, you'll notice that it really doesn't take much time to level up your character. A newly created character can level up to the 20s or 30s in a matter of a couple of hours. An intermediate character can get one or two levels up in a matter of several hours, while a high level character may need to be played for days, even weeks just to level up.

Needless to say, playing RAN Online wastes a lot of time. Hey, it's fun, that's why I play it too. But the bottom line is that it is still uses up a lot of your time. And when you people get to be my age (I'm not that old mind you), you'll realize that time lost is time lost forever.

That's the reason why this is the number one reason to quit.

There are always other online games out there.

We play games to have fun, not as an investment.

Relationships, grades and careers can be rebuilt.

Annoying players are part of the game, actually part of any online game, and for that matter, part of life. Annoying people are everywhere.

New friends can be made, service can improve, money can be made, health can even be regained, if it's not too late.

But time...

Time can neither be replaced nor recovered. The hours, weeks, months we spend playing this game represent hours, weeks and months that we will never get back. So we should make the most of what little time we have.

Summing up, playing or quitting RAN Online is a personal choice. It's up to you. Just realize that while it's fun, spending too much time playing it, or for that matter any other online game can take its toll on your relationships, your family, your grades or your career, your sanity, your finances, your health, and above all your time.

The key is moderation. But if you're fed up with all of the compromises, you might as well quit. In all likelihood, you won't regret it.