Grinding: Where does it fit?

[Vern5]

"Grinding is a term used in video gaming to describe the process of engaging in repetitive and/or non-entertaining gameplay in order to gain access to other features within the game, or to allow the player to "grind" better/faster."

So where does Grinding really fit in gaming?

Where does it work best?

Where is it absolutely necessary?

Where should it never occur?

Also, as a gamer, do you personally enjoy grinding? Is it the act grinding that you enjoy or the tantalization of the rewards of grinding that cause you to grind?

Dish out your thoughts, people.

 

[Cobster]

It often occurs for me when i get absolutely smashed by a boss. Not really sure when it should never occur, i guess in games that are way too easy or have bad rewards. I personally enjoy grinding most of the time, as i like seeing my characters develop and eventually beat the boss which seemed impossible previously.

Also rewards are nice at times.

 

[Hong Meiling]

It does not fit anywhere ever. It's just tedium that artificially lengthens the game without content.
Grinding is OK when it punishes a bad player (Disgaea series...) but otherwise it's just a way to dripfeed players content.

Where it works best however, is many MMOs. It keeps the dollar coming in, since people need to put in so much time and effort to actually get somewhere.

Slight grinding, like having to redo a stage or kill a few monsters for a little while, that's ok.

But shameless massive grinding is just boring.

 

[dementis]

I hate grinding. It has no place in any game. It's boring and drains me of energy. This is the reason I quit WoW within 20 minutes of the free trial, I asked a friend what I have to do and he told me I had to grind the first 10 levels before the game gets fun...Any game that takes over an hour to become enjoyable shouldn't be that successful!

 

[FalloutJack]

If a game has levels and lots to explore, Jack just goes out and starts killing things 'cause it's fun. Doesn't need much more incentive than that.

 

[Woodsey]

Well, I usually like to have a couple of drinks first and then just sort of slide into it with a girl. Obviously you have to be wary of recruiting a soldier.

 

[Halo Fanboy]

Grinding sytems in games are garbage. First of all because grinding is boring to do and secondly because being able to grind in a game ruins the difficulty curve. If games want to have unlockable power ups then they should find a way to make earning any of them engaging and challenging.

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

I like how in Fallout (3 and New Vegas), when you kill things to Death. They. Fucking. STAY. DEAD.

You shouldn't have to grind. You should have entirely skippable dungeons which keep re-filling (like Arkham Asylum) so if you want to have fun fighting, you CAN. but it should not be mandatory. That's just lazy design to pad out the game.

 

[mireko]

In some games, whenever combat is fluid enough to not be a bore and actually yields rewards.

I used to absolutely hate it in all games, but after playing .hack, Vesperia and P3P I can see the appeal. Your power increases, and you get cool stuff.

 

[Patton662]

Grinding ?? Like Grindcore ?!? Check out Wormrot and Pig Destroyer, awesome bands.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Grind is simply a sign of a bad game, and the developers essentially saying "we don't want to do much content so here is some tasteless sh*t to chew on".

Maybe you can conclude why MMO's are so highly valued...

 

[Vern5]

What about MMOs? How does an MMO justify having Grind in it?

 

[DementedSheep]

It doesn?t fit anywhere. It?s just a poor way of trying to extend playtime.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

It fits well in RPGs that encourage exploration.

If I wasn't also finding items and quests while grinding to level 30 in Fallout 3, I'd have been pissed.

 

[Bravo 21]

It works because sometimes that's the way the world works, particularly in school. a lot of the time it seems that i'm grinding away a a quest(school) that to get XP(an education) that will allow me to do other quests(get a real job) that do have rewards(money). In that sense, grinding just fits with some types of games, particularly MMORPGs

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

I love grinding. That sense of accomplishment after you get a great weapon or defeat a boss after hours of hard work makes it worth every second. Also, I get addicted to "leveling up".

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I think that solely grinding is bad game design. You should always have a goal. I think some people were discussing monster hunter in another thread. That game has excessive grinding that could be made so much more appropriate through simple quests or other content.
WoW is successful becuase it always provides a goal and a reward for grinding while Aion said right thats all the quests you are getting for this level you have to now mindlessly grind x amount of monsters which western gamers just find tedious.

It's almost always better when added to an exploration part of the game as people are saying.

 

[Jodah]

I think it should be used as a way to make things easier. Basically the game should be beatable without doing it if you are good. If you are mediocre you can grind to get a level advantage or whatever the reward for grinding is.

Now this may also be a differing interpretation of grinding. To me grinding is repeatedly killing trivial enemies for relatively minor gains that add up. For example, in WoW when you grind furbolgs in Winterspring for Timbermaw rep. Side quests, such as killing the gangs in DA2 are not, at least to me, grinding.

 

[Chased]

Grinding has no place in games, I find it to be a lazy way to fill in content. Here's an analogy to better explain.Playing a riff or solo multiple times on guitar (if done properly) will make you better at it because you are essentially improving and learning over time by repeating the task. When completing a repetitive task in a video game to the extent that it becomes a grind you aren't learning or gaining anything from the experience.

For example, I could slay 100 goblins and according to the game I've gained X amount of experience. This experience I gained is superficial because over the course of my goblin genocide nothing had changed.