Is grinding so fun?

kingtommyboy

I quite a lot of mmo's, mostly free ones. Those were the so called 'asian grindfests'

to give a few examples: Archlord, KALonline, Silkroad online, Perfectworld, Rappelz... I guess you can think about a lot of more games. They mostly are made in asia and have a chash shop. They are a huge succes in Asia. And in the West... I guess they do well. There are enough people playing those games and paying for them in their cash shops. I read a lot on this forums that people believe grinding is boring and can really be a pain in the ass.. I have to say I believe that too. Grinding is boring. I tried a lot of those games but I quit with all of them. Cause eventually I got bored of grinding.

But there are people who believe grinding is fun. And I really don't understand that.

So my question is, what is so fun about grinding? time to discuss this!

Mikeha

I play Lineage 2 which is a grind game and I belive that if you enjoy the combat that the game has you will enjoy the grinding. I find enjoyment in just killing stuff in Lineage 2 and especially when I am in a good group. Though I must admit that  I do not like standing in one spot and grinding though.  I would much rather go to a dungeon and work my way through it killing mobs.

Gabby-air

When your forced to grind then it becomes tedious but when you enjoy it, definitely not. I mean all you do is grind in sandbox games, dont you? but you pick what you want to grind, when you want to, and how you want to.

grandpagamer

Some consider quests as grinding in disguise and I can see that point. However, doing quests in a game where the lore is good  makes questing enjoyable for me. LOTRO  and EQ2 have great lore and that helps alleviate the quest grind. Other games, such as the 300 lb gorilla i will not mention for fear of attack, has absolutely nothing in the way of a cohesive story to follow throughout the leveling prosess and the questing in that game is tedious at best. So, yes, grinding can be fun if it has good lore wraped around it. As for grinding random mobs for xp or drops, no that is not my idea of fun.

inBOIL

if the gameplay is fun then the "grinding" is fun too

 

tbox

Quest grinding is still grinding. 

PenGs

Community definitely plays a big factor in it. FFXI isn't exactly the most fun game to grind in for me. However it wasn't long until I found an active linkshell. Some of my own music and a lot of random chatting makes the grind not just bearable but actually fun.

Aevenath

About as fun as stabbing your eyes with a thousand needles.

johnmatthais

Originally posted by Aevenath


About as fun as stabbing your eyes with a thousand needles.

You mean your hands? If the world is beautiful, I don't see why it would be anything like that.

Trihflu

Yea, grinding isn't fun, but when done right it can invoke more fun than boredom.  Sure grinding by yourself sucks, but you make friends when grinding.  Back when I played runescape a made tons of freinds by grinding.  And it's also preparation for something bigger and more fun;  So when you get level X you're like "Wow I can finally pvp in the Halls of Carnage without getting ganked!".  It's the reward, the friends and what you do after it that makes it fun, not the grinding it's self.

Ethian

Personally I enjoy grinding because I play with my g/f. We often just kill mobs to relax with each other ingame. I can understand people who get bored of grinding solo but in our situation we have fun doing it. Not to mention the xp is hella good! :-)

Toquio3

grinding with one or two friends is win. also, while grinding solo, if you really like your character's animations and sound effects, it can be great too.

Drakkhen

If you like grinding go grab a copy of Demon's Souls for the PS3.

Oh and PvP ... Demon's Souls has some sweet PvP!

 

Axehilt

The question is asked in a sort of odd way.

1. Games have activities.  Such as combat.

2. A well-designed activity is fun for a while.

3. It's not fun forever.

4. "Grind" describes the point at which it stops being fun, and starts being done purely for the gameplay benefits attached to it.

So the players who "enjoy the grind" don't enjoy the grind.  They enjoy the activity. The point at which something stops being fun varies from person to person.

I disagree with the insinuation that gamers prefer grindy mechanics to more varied activities.  If you have Game A which is grindy, and Game B which has the same quality of activities but more variety, players will choose Game B (other things being constant.)

Drakkhen

Grats on the post count Axehilt (1337) .. are you going to continue posting on that account or retire it? :P

Axehilt

Originally posted by Drakkhen


Grats on the post count Axehilt (1337) .. are you going to continue posting on that account or retire it? :P

 

heh, hadn't even noticed.  Don't pay much mind to post count usually (including 1-post posters, who I judge on the quality of the post rather than their post count. :P )

Illius

Technically it's only a grind if you dislike the activity.  For someone who dislikes camping in one spot killing spawns over and over the activity is very tedious and thus a "grind".  For others, like the example of the dude and his GF hanging out together killin stuff, it's not a grind because it's an enjoyable activity.

Some people are content working at an assembly line, making the same thing over and over for years on end and they're prefectly fine with that.  I on the other hand would find that boring within a few months and would look for something else.  It's all subjective. 

Illius

Originally posted by Vinterkrig

Originally posted by Ethian


Personally I enjoy grinding because I play with my g/f. We often just kill mobs to relax with each other ingame. I can understand people who get bored of grinding solo but in our situation we have fun doing it. Not to mention the xp is hella good! :-)

 

how you relax with each other in game? lol

Some people watch tv together, some grab 2 controllers and play a console together, others grab 2 laptops that are wireless enabled, sit on the couch and play mmos together.

Doesn't sound all that strange to me.

Illius

Originally posted by Vinterkrig

Originally posted by Illius

Originally posted by Vinterkrig

Originally posted by Ethian


Personally I enjoy grinding because I play with my g/f. We often just kill mobs to relax with each other ingame. I can understand people who get bored of grinding solo but in our situation we have fun doing it. Not to mention the xp is hella good! :-)

 

how you relax with each other in game? lol

Some people watch tv together, some grab 2 controllers and play a console together, others grab 2 laptops that are wireless enabled, sit on the couch and play mmos together.

Doesn't sound all that strange to me.

 

i sent my wife to another room, we hang out enough lol

it made me laugh ~shrug~

yeah but how long have you been married for?  

 

kingtommyboy

mh, well I haven't found yet a 'grindgame' that keeps me playing, I might try jade dinasty, it's from the creators of perfect world, so it might be a little the same :-)

Hedeon

well never found the free MMO´s enjoyable, but to some its properbly enough to look forward to the end game....usually PvP in the free asian model.

The worse moment in EQ2 were a group that of some reason thought it be nice to sit in one spot in rivervale chain pull mobs to 1 spot...believe the tank were the only one who enjoyed that.

no grinding is mind numbing horrid experience and for sure not what makes MMOs special....MMOs are special for what you achieve with other ppl...perfect MMO in my mind would be one without lvls but based on your gear how far you could reach in dungeons, but ppl would get through content too fast.

 tho eve somewhat is succesful with this, but then the skill obtaining is the real grind that you dont have to be around watching....then up to you how fast you want to earn them ISKs.

 

and whats up with the lack of dirty minded :P   heh vinterkrig p

Cephus404

Originally posted by Axehilt


The question is asked in a sort of odd way.
1. Games have activities.  Such as combat.

2. A well-designed activity is fun for a while.

3. It's not fun forever.

4. "Grind" describes the point at which it stops being fun, and starts being done purely for the gameplay benefits attached to it.
So the players who "enjoy the grind" don't enjoy the grind.  They enjoy the activity. The point at which something stops being fun varies from person to person.
I disagree with the insinuation that gamers prefer grindy mechanics to more varied activities.  If you have Game A which is grindy, and Game B which has the same quality of activities but more variety, players will choose Game B (other things being constant.)

 

I agree, I don't consider it a grind until it stops being fun and those games that have a widely varied range of activities are the most fun because if you get tired of doing one thing, you can go do something else.  Unfortunately, most games have one thing and only one thing to do at any given time, there's a single path upward and it's swinging a sword at random mobs.  After a while, that just isn't fun anymore and that's where I lose interest in playing a grindy game at all.