MMOs - game or community?Follow

Debate time! What keeps you coming back to your MMO game of choice - the game itself or the community built around it? Maybe you feel like most MMOs are rather lacklustre as games and if it weren't for the guild/legion/clan you're in you'd probably log off never to return (or you tried and they pulled you back!). Or alternatively maybe you love the gameplay mechanics of your favourite game and don't really get involved with others in game. Or somewhere between the two?

Very interested in any responses.

I tend to avoid joining guilds, due to the crushing feeling of obligation they bring with them (I can never tell people "no" when they say "hey Bonbons can you monk...?" >.>), so for me it's definitely the game that has to keep my attention.

Guildwars has done a decent job of it. I can always jump on and run a quick mission, do some holiday quests, jump in RA/AB/etc. I'm hoping GW2 will be even friendlier to my particularly antisocial style of play, and I can just spend most of my time doing dynamic events or jumping into casual PvP.

For me, it'd be the game itself. Like BonBons, I shy away from most guilds/legions now as relatively stressful places. I find that I instinctively want to be close to the top of the pile and if the leader isn't anyone I understand or respect, then the internal pressure of frustration drives me off.

So mostly I rely on the game itself to keep me interested and enthusiastic, and I pick up random friends along the way without ever being organised about it. I particularly like to collect whatever the local system of badges are, and screenshots of different armor on my character. It's my mini-quest :)