Grinding
#1
Mon, 08/06/2012 - 00:46
Grinding
Here's a cool Joystiq article about the joys and agony of grinding.
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/08/05/grinding-and-its-relationship-with-the...
Here's a cool Joystiq article about the joys and agony of grinding.
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/08/05/grinding-and-its-relationship-with-the...
The first game I remember grinding as opposed to playing straight through was Rygar on the NES. There was a level close to the end of the top-down map where you required both the grappling hook and the crossbow to continue. The level consided mainly of hard-to-kill robots that fell from the sky when they spawned (though, come to think of it, I think all enemies in the side-scrolling portion fell on spawn), but the robots were easy to kill though it could take awhile. I'd grind those to level the maximum amount of life available and power/strength. I'd grind the same two to three spawns for an hour or more as soon after getting the grappling hook as I could.
That trait has carried over into almost every other aspect of gaming; I tend to aim for the "perfect" build or abilities before continuing on. In the last few years though, I've managed to let go of that habit .... a bit.
I don't mind grinding at all. Leveling for me, is probably the most addictive part of gaming. Always reaching for that next skill point, the better weapon/spell/skill.
If I am exploring because I want to, then thats not grinding. Its an enjoyable past time for me, or perhaps its my own desire to leave no stone unturned.thats an example of the game developers being clever trying to make all of the game enjoyable, If its not forced down my throat it isn't grinding. If however you have to battle 200 orcs over and over to get one quest itemn or simply achieve a high enough level to proceed in the adventure, or continuously raid a single dungeon in hopes of the final boss dropping the item you need for your character and hopefully winning the dice roll against 15 other people also rolling on it.... That is grinding and a horrible game dynamic. Its lazy and lame and I hate it.
But if you like grinding then you may not consider it to be grinding. Games like Fallout or Skyrim I will happily check every urn in every corner of every dungeon...but being forced to do that would leave a bad taste in my mouth. I guess it comes down to whether or not the player has a choice...take away the choice and it becomes a grind.
I didn't make myself clear...
No, its true I hate grinding. When they develope a world thats beautiful and rich, where there is something different around every corner, so you want to explore, that doesn't even resemble grinding. Here lets use this example. Say you go hiking in the mountains, where wildlife is abundant, flowers are in bloom and there at the end is a secluded waterfall that you and your honey have all to yourself. Now thats enjoyable, nothing about that sounds like a grind right? Well how about that hike is now march around a old running track, or sports field, or say a mall, Where you are forced to go around and around over and over looking at the same things, experiencing nothing new and being crowded by a bunch of people all walking at different speeds getting in each others way and pushy to boot. Some dud keeps asking your wife if she wants to cyber all the while you know you still gotta walk round that track 100 more times today. Then at the end you get to take a shower en masse with a bunch of naked wrinkly old men. AHAHHHHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Just cause you happen to be getting in shape on your wonderful hike through verdant meadows while breathing in the fragrant air, canopied by azure skies, it wont make it a grind. At least thats my opinion and not necessarily yours. Though it should be. lol
My opinion on what is the difference between great game development and poor/sloppy/lame game development.
Since FPSs got into all this leveling shit.... i absolute hate grinding levels now even in RPGs.
All games grind now days. Few seem to be just pick up and have fun. When those types of games come out, they get hosed down by the critics because they are not "new" or "artsy" enough.
Hell, I just want to pick up a controler, crack a beer and whoop some ass with some friends. I don't want to camp a boss monster durring a 2 hour window, waiting for a spawn, against 4 rival guild only to hope it drops an item that has a 20% drop rate.
"Hell, I just want to pick up a controler, crack a beer and whoop some ass with some friends."
Sounds like Forza...
Haven't played Forza seriously in quite awhile. Hark back to the 2old2drive days.
Even Forza has a grinding aspect to it. Try to set a clean lap time in every class on every track and you'll see what I mean.
It really did take alot of the fun out of the game.
yeah, if you're a cheevo hunter, I can see that, but truthfully, it's something I've tried to ignore, but I will log on, look at who's on, and if no one's doing anything I'll run a couple season races, or pick a leaderboard track and run a bit of the stuff I haven't done yet, or seek out the tracks I haven't runa clean lap on at the least, but then again, I can also hit the rivals mode instead, it's equally distracting, and doesn't really feel much like a grind.
Speaking of which, when I saw "grinding" I had something else totally in mind...cue trombone...