I hope you’re using EVEMon — it can give you an idea of how much time the project you’ve set yourself on will take to really get going. You might be surprised at how short a time it will actually take.

One goal I seem to have in every MMORPG I play, is to get hold of the best possible equipment I can get my hands on for any particular level I’m at - or alternatively the best looking equipment - something which often puts a hamper on my character progression speed.

Other times I set out to play characters in a particular way, and stubborn as I am I don’t change those ways even if they are revealed to be totally ineffective. =P Rangers/archers should use bows, not crossbows! Rogues/assassins should use daggers and backstab people! etc.

More often than not, though, I have no clearly defined goal and find myself just doing what the game tells me to do next, or alternatively walk/jog around, jumping onto stuff and off of them again, turn on the spot, and so forth.

Of course, that’s in the current crop of games. If there were more MMOs like the ones I theorize about, I’d have a whole new crop of goals, like establishing a name for myself in crafting, or being a master strategist, making things happen in the world by exerting just the right bit of force at the right time with the right leverage. A plot well-executed is far more interesting to me than loot ever will be.