For many years, I’ve regularly been hit with the urge to play Albion Online. For many years, I’ve kept coming back to the game, thinking about how I’ll approach it this time. For many years, my motivation has fizzled out after just a few weeks.

With the launch of the European server, I was sure: This time, I’m going all in on Albion Online. But then Destiny 2: The Final Shape came out at the same time, I was traveling a lot for work, and I also had a vacation. I’d occasionally open Albion on the side, but never really did anything serious. I’d either grow carrots on my island or gather and farm solo dungeons in the yellow zone. All three are activities that aren’t particularly exciting.

After my vacation in Greece, I sat down at my PC and thought about what I wanted to play. Destiny 2 had annoyed me with its anniversary event (and still does), and I had time for Albion. Or I would have had time. But I just didn’t feel like it. I logged in and was bored. I’m in a nice guild, but I also want to be able to do something on my own, spontaneously and for a short time. And Albion offers me nothing in that regard. Even for group content, you have to set aside some time. You can’t just log in and go.

Want to go into the Roads of Avalon or the black zone? The coordination beforehand (especially since I’m not high-level or highly skilled) eats up time, then you group up and set off on your search. By then, an hour has usually passed and you haven’t really done anything yet. If I go along, the time I need to plan for doubles. You have to get back, after all, so you don’t end up stranded somewhere alone. But you also don’t want to be a dead weight for the group. So I just didn’t bother.

And there I was, on my island, tending to my carrots. But for what? Without PvP, I barely need any silver, farming is absolutely boring, and the PvE part for spontaneous solo players isn’t motivating with its lack of excitement either. Sure, I could go into the black zones alone, but that didn’t appeal to me either.

Maybe it’s me, maybe it’s the game, probably a mix of both. After a few days of growing carrots, I decided: It’s time to rethink my main games. Destiny 2 is out (and I can go back to Linux), and Albion probably is too. But I don’t have any real successors yet. Warhammer 40k: Darktide is cool if you have a group. I still need to find one. What else? New World: Aeternum? Elite: Dangerous? At least not Albion Online, even though I think it’s a shame.