How does game volatility affect long-term enjoyment in online games?

I’ve been thinking about this after a weird streak I had last weekend. I was playing a few different online games, and the ones with higher volatility felt exciting at first, but after a while it started to feel exhausting. Like, you wait a long time for something interesting to happen, and when it finally does, it’s great—but the gaps in between can be pretty draining. On the other hand, lower volatility games feel more consistent but sometimes a bit boring. I’m curious how others deal with this balance. Do you stick with one type, or switch depending on your mood?

That’s actually something I struggled with too for a while. I used to chase those big moments in high-volatility games, but I realized it really depends on your expectations and how long you plan to play. I came across this article recently: https://www.sarasotamagazine.com/adv...latility-slots, and it explains pretty well how variance affects long-term experience, not just short bursts of excitement. For me, mixing things up helped a lot—sometimes I go for steady gameplay when I just want to relax, and other times I don’t mind the ups and downs if I’m in the mood for something more intense. It’s less frustrating when you know what you’re getting into.

Funny enough, I never really paid much attention to volatility as a concept, I usually just go with whatever feels fun in the moment. But reading discussions like this makes me realize there’s actually a lot more strategy behind how people choose what to play. Personally, I tend to switch games pretty often just to keep things fresh, otherwise I lose interest quickly. Maybe that’s my way of balancing things without even thinking about it too much.