To Grind or Not to Grind?

It depends of a type of grind. If you have no quests and have to kill 1000 mobs per lvl to lvl up thats not cool at all. But if u are looking for and certain item and you grind a dungeon over and over again with people, that can be a lot of fun even if you don't like it atm
But im against grinding in general!

 

No. Grinding is not enjoyable by definition. However, grinding will continue to exist as long as subscription based MMOs do. Grinding exists mainly to make players continue to play for longer periods of time. Therefore, if you are paying per the month, you will pay for another month to continue making your character better. If you can get the best character in a month or two, there is hardly any reason to continue playing in most games.

 

nobody likes grinding. ..i am surprised somebody voted yes.

 

Thinking some more, there aren't as many things to implement as grinding that keep people playing as long.

There's the Puzzle Pirates route, with actual increases in difficulty of puzzles, and that works quite well. There's also the option of not using a skill system, like Splashfighters done, but both of these are massive changes to a typical RPG..

Anyone else have any ideas that could work to eliminate grinding while still making companies happy and moneyfull?

 

I agree with what quinn said--grinding pretty much makes people play the game longer. I also agree with everyone else in that it's aggravating and can turn even a good game into a boring chore. However, in RPGs, there isn't really a great alternative right now. Unlike, say, most 2D platform fighters, the "skill" of the player isn't physical. It's all based on how much time you pump into the game trying to gain those arduous levels.

 

I dont think there is a need for grinding in any game. As far as games I have played DDO is the only one that address the grind issue and got rid of it. I have been waiting and waiting for another game like DDO to come out but havent seen one yet that has the same depth and challenge as DDO.

 

I think that grinding should and shouldn't be in a game.

Grinding should be in a game because it makes the game harder. If a game is too easy, then people will start complaining.

However, grinding is very time consuming, so for those people who like FPS, but from time to time will play an RPG, this is probably a trait that is not desired in a game.

 

If by 'harder' you mean you have to spend days in a single area killing the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over, then that statement may be correct.

Grinding doesn't add any difficulty, it just makes a game repetitive.

 

I actually don't mind grinding, it just depends on the game. If the game can keep me entertained whilst grinding, then it doesn't matter. But most games cannot do that, so its a 50/50 for me.

If you're forced to grind, strike up a conversation with someone in the in-game chat (if it has one). That always keeps me from becoming bored .

 

This.

In grindy games, leveling isn't always terrible if you can find someone cool to talk to. However, it still gets old after a while, especially if you're grinding for a really, really long stretch of time.

 

Example Time:
In WoW the burning crusade most people complained that it was to grindy and hard.
In WoW Wrath of the lich king most people complained because they took the bosses to fast
In Catacalysm they went back to hard but not as hard, and guess what, practically everybody complained because either they couldnt take the bosses or they took them to fast.
Moral of the story:
If you cant make the game skill based it will always require grind.

 

grinding is OK but not the best

 

Sure. So long as the game manages to do something to remain entertaining and enjoyable whilst grinding. Just because so many games fail to do this doesn't mean that it's a bad concept. After all, if you have a game that's just filled with explosion after explosion and non-stop action it gets old after a while. Case in point- Black Ops campaign. Not an MMORPG, but a perfect example of what happens when you don't stop the explosions for a second. Is blowing up a rocket cool? Is shooting down helicopters exciting? Is detonating buildings awesome? Yeah.. it's all cool, but in rapid succession of one another it becomes numbing. In my opinion grinding is necessary in order to slow the game down a little. Plus it kind of makes sense. What would be the point of a game where you can go kill the most powerful creature/boss 10 minutes after you start playing?

 

In response to Lions: You wouldn't. Preferably there would be more actual content instead of repetitive grinding in a single area. It works for a short while, but it gets boring REAL fast.

 

Grinding should be in a game only enough to keep the game fun. Having no grind would make everything too easy.

 

Yea...but you cannot just give the players the achievement. They have to work for it or else the achievement/item you obtained has no value to you or anyone else. This could also be applied to people who use bots. They just stay away from their computer, get the achievement, and then brag to their friends.

Sure grinding isn't the BEST feature in games. But for some RPGs, this helps separate the "noobs" from the "pros/nerds"(nolife if you want to go there) in a way

 

i definitely think they should be an aspect of the game but i feel some mmo's depend to much on the grind for progressing through the game. all the MMOs out right now feel a little stale to me