The article is from MMOsite Writer Club member Oliase.
In my several years in the industry a lot of things have changed, from the companies to the games their market and develop, to the consumers to which they aim their products. The audience of online gaming is expanding in both directions, as now older audiences are being targeted with games such as 3Feel, but at the same time younger audiences are being aimed for with titles such as Hello Kitty Online. One thing that has not changed is the eternal hate for that oh-so dreaded #DY#grind#DY# that people always complain about in online games. The one thing that can demolish a nearly perfect game, one with amazing graphics and fun controls all backed up by a great storyline and friendly community. But why do people dread the grind so much, and why do some people feel other games are #DY#more grindy#DY# than others? Today, we#DY#ll take a look at what exactly a grind is and how it#DY#s portrayed in several different games.
Grinding: The repetition of an action in order to achieve a goal.
What exactly does this definition for the grind in online games mean? It means constantly repeating something in order to reach your goal, of which the most common instance is repetitively pressing a button or clicking the mouse in order to kill monsters, all in hopes of leveling up and getting more powerful and access to more of the games content. Most people will say comments about games such as Maplestory about how #DY#grindy#DY# they are, because you#DY#re constantly fighting monsters with mediocre controls and lame computer-controlled non-skill based combat in order to level up so you can move on to a new type of monster. Just saying that makes it sound boring! But what if I told you that in reality every game has the same exact grind, and it#DY#s completely inevitable in order to get rid of it in online gaming while keeping the game entertaining. Don#DY#t believe me, well I am going to pick out some specific examples of games that most people on gaming forums refer to as being not very grindy, mainly in comparison to games like Maplestory.
Guild Wars.
At first glance to an untrained eye, I will admit it#DY#s easy to make the mistake that this game has no grind in it. I mean, you start out as level one, with the max level being only level twenty, which can be reached fairly easily through fun, sometimes challenging missions that gamers enjoy to compete on. To add on to that, you can start out as level twenty in order to enjoy the player vs. player combat right from the start. How could this game possibly be grinding if I don#DY#t have to sit here for hours slaying snails in order to level up so I can move on to green slimes?
The reason is this; Remember the definition of grinding I gave above, well the last part of it is what I am talking about. In Guild Wars, they have simply changed the goal that you are grinding for from the common goal in online gaming, but the action, whether most realize it or not, is the same action in the majority of online games. Instead of fighting monsters over and over in order to gain levels, you have a different objective when you start the mission or go out into dangerous terrain with a party full of henchmen. Haven#DY#t figured the goal out yet, well the goal is items, specifically rare items.
Allow me to put it in perspective. Say you have just bought the game and you create a level twenty character and you immediately head over to the player vs. player arenas in order to compete, in hopes that this game where the player vs. player is so cherished for being based upon skill and strategy, not cumulative time played, lives up to expectations. Could you possibly beat an average player, meaning someone who doesn#DY#t suck at player vs. player, who has been playing for over a year? No. I don#DY#t care how good you think you are, you can#DY#t. The fact is that without items a player vs. player character is basically a level one, except with more base damage and health as well as some other attributes.
You have no elite skills, you have about 20 skills total per class, probably about half of that in reality. You have no weapon upgrade parts, giving you a lot less defense, attack, health, or whatever your opponent has on his axe shaft. You have no gold for runes to equip onto your armor, everything is just standard stuff that a level twenty role-playing character could get by killing the easiest of monsters. You have nothing compared to your opponent, thus skill plays no part in the competition. When you#DY#re using a base skill that does 30 damage on your opponent and he#DY#s attacking back with a skill that freezes you for five seconds, and drains fifty health a second for ten seconds with a seven second recharge time, how the hell can skill help you out there? It can#DY#t.
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