Recent content by ssjdkcrew

I wanted to post something which is, for me, the gravest problem in all of video games; the dearth of anything for nerds to play. I am a *colossal* nerd/hardcore/serious gamer. Sadly, none of these words (indeed, *no* words synonymous with them) have a universally-accepted definition, so I'm...

Sure. As I said, grinding is just doing the same thing multiple times, to earn some reward, and in Shining Force, this can be done by using the spell "Egress" near the end of a battle. You'll return to the last church, with all the XP you gained from the fight. Then, go back and play the...

Right. Insofar as you empathise with the character in the game, you share in the experience of his/her victories/accomplishments in this way. Right. I agree with all of this. I just don't see that this is in any way a reply/refutation to what I said in the OP. Here, you pose a...

I'm okay with it when a game opens up your options like that; sure. I like how they did it in Morrowind; there were lots of shortcuts, if you were willing to pay, but the land still felt large enough. I certainly agree, though, that other gameplay mechanics, done poorly, can certainly make...

That's a good point. A game with lots of grinding can be made difficult by simply making the grinding difficult. The latter, not the former. Any time you do the same thing multiple times, in order to achieve some advantage, it falls under what I've heard people call "grinding." Dragon...

This is one reason why I loved the first two "Shining Force" games so much. It gives the player something to do while grinding, but not in such a way that the player feels like an intruder in the mind of the main character. If you're suggesting implementing a more realistic system of...

Yahtzee and I don't agree on much, but we agree on this much; "if I ever need to lose money, I can just throw it off a bridge." It was Cloud, actually, but yes; I agree. This isn't really a grinding issue, but it -is- an issue. See, I -want- to play a wizard in all of those games from...

You're right. This is key. When a character is made stronger through effort, the player should notice it, due to more than just a changing number in a subscreen somewhere. Like, being able to defeat an enemy in three hits instead of five, or execute a new kind of slash during a combo (a-la...

When I say "grinding," what I mean is, "any time, in a game, when one performs the same kind of action more than once, in order to acquire some bonus or enhancement to their character." That's all. This encompasses pretty much all forms of leveling, whether they're engaging or not. I'm using...

If the game does grinding well, instead of badly, the game will also be fun. As I said; not trying to get anything. Sure, you *can* get something, but it's not what you've been "trying" to do. Well, I certainly agree that luck-based gameplay is problematic at best; even in a good game...

I think you're right. It makes me sad sometimes. That depends. Are you talking about asking the *player* to do it again, or the *character?* See, in RPGs, you're not supposed to be doing everything. It's not the *player,* but the *character* who you play as in an RPG, and therefore...

I think you've just outlined the difference between good and bad grinding. Good grinding asks something of the player, or involves them in some way. I suggested two types, but I'm sure there are others. This seems to imply that leveling is not enjoyable. I disagree. Right. You're not...

Recently, the subject of grinding in RPGs has come to my attention; that many modern RPGs seem to be trying their best to excise grinding entirely, and I think that this is certainly a topic that deserves discussion. Grinding, like all game elements, can be done very well or very badly. If...