The on-again, off-again gamer is a common breed. Also known as the casual gamer, or casualatis gammarati, many on-again, off again gamers exist today.

As a general rule, on-again, off-again gamers can be found in their natural habitat, whatever that may be. You see, on-again, off-again gamers come in all shapes and sizes. Some are teenagers, lured into an occasional Team Fortress game by friends, or even the small round of Left For Dead versus here and there. Others still play exclusively on consoles, shunning the cumbersome keyboard and mouse for the humble joystick and trigger combo preferred by on-again, off-again gamers everywhere. Many on-again, off-again gamers have normal jobs and lead normal lives, even with spouses, and in some cases, children.

The thing that characterises on-again off-again gamers in the wild is that generally, they will have heard of most mainstream titles, that is, anything that has been picked up by the mass media or heavily marketed. The on-again, off-again gamer is easily persuaded by whatever the media says is good (or bad), and will usually stick to one or two sources for gaming-related information.

The on-again, off-again gamer has a modest library of games. Perhaps nothing that stands out, but definitely all the popular ones. If questioned about his gaming library, the on-again, off-again gamer will respond with an all-encompassing statement about how he doesn’t have time to play a lot of games, or what precious time he does have for games that are, you know, actually worth his time.

On-again, off-again gamers are almost exclusively male, although some have been known to be androgenous.

The one thing that sets on-again, off-again gamers from the rest of the gaming community is simple: they very rarely finish a game. Sure, the on-again, off-again gamer will be more than happy to quote you all the famous lines such as “the cake is a lie”, but the on-again, off-again gamer very rarely finishes games, instead preferring to drag games out into year-long epics that would send any other type of gamer around the bend.

Don’t get me wrong, on-again off-again gamers enjoy the games they play — it’s just that they’re very rarely in it for the story; to the on-again, off-again gamer, any game (that has received suitable reviews from all the big gaming publications) is a game, and that’s usually good enough for them.

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