Poll: Feelings towards level grinding.

[RatRace123]

Level grinding, it's a sensation we gamers are all too familiar with. It's often looked at as tedious, mind numbing and in some cases its used to cheaply pad a game's length.
But, the odd thing is, there's something satisfying about finally reaching your grinding goal and having a more powerful character to show for it.

So, I wonder how do my fellow escapists feel about level grinding in games?

 

[Robert632]

I'm not a particular fan of grinding, as it basically makes you brute force your way through a game as opposed to other, smarter ways of playing. Plus it kinda just makes a game into a job, which no one likes.

 

[Jakub324]

It just turns what should be skilful application of the game's mechanics into trial and error. What a counterporductive fucking idea.

 

[spartan231490]

It's boring and this:

It just turns what should be skilful application of the game's mechanics into trial and error. What a counterporductive fucking idea.

but I don't mind it too much so long as it's not a great amount of the game, less than one hour in ten, or thereabouts.

 

[lokiduck]

I'm a weird person.

I level grind constantly because of my OCD. I played an online game once and I leveled until I actually maxed it out.

My issue is I DON'T WANT TO DIE. so I usually level up for hours on hours so i can be the god amongst annoying monsters. I have to be at least 10 levels above my current boss and I just CAN'T STOP GRINDING. I spend spend so much time grinding that I atually hate the game and I will even make mass strategies to win.

There was this one game... Castaway 2 you can find online. I hate the first one a lot because it was really hard to level up. My issue is... you get these monster eggs, and you grow the monsters and hatch them so as to swap out monsters that help you.

My issue is... I leveled so much, I couldn't actually swap out a monster because the one I started with was always 30 or so levels about the the new one. and if I had to swap, I would then have to spend Hours leveling up my monster. Which is why I didn't. I did spend quite a few hours preparing for the final boss though XD It still bugs me that I couldn't complete this one quest because I sold the item needed for it XD

However in the first game... My starter monster kept getting poisoned and dieing. However because he was so over leveled I couldn't swap him out... and because of that I had to keep leveling him up... However he kept dieing and loosing all that leveling up anyways... So I finally rage quit and haven't gone back sense.

Basically... Level Grinding, love it or Hate it... I will be doing it constantly unless the system is so broken you can't actually use it.

 

[Death God]

Depends on the game. For games like Pokemon, sure. It is part of the game and it is kind of the point of the game. But games like Red Steel 2 where your level grinding not to raise a level but for money for upgrades? No.

 

[The Abhorrent]

Having played WoW for several years... let's just say my opinion of grinding is less than favourable, especially games which encourage copious amounts of it. Challenging and rewarding? More like pointlessly tedious (on both counts), and I have plenty of that deal with in real life.

Expansive worlds, with lots to see? Great!
A long-winded epic with drama, action, and humour? No problem!

Having to go do the effectively same thing over & over again, only with bigger numbers?
Particularly when the only point is to simply acquire bigger numbers, and the story is pushed aside by the community?
No, just... no.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

If it is done properly, it shouldn't ever feel like a grind. If it does, then the developer failed.
That is the primary aspect I think people don't get about grinding. If you perceive anything as a grind, then the developer failed to make it enjoyable. If it is fun to play, then it isn't a grind, even if it may seem repetitive.

 

[Tselis]

Level grinding is what I primarily do. My husband hates it with a passion, so he never ends up wanting to, even when the characters need some levels to progress smoothly. So we came to an agreement. He plays games for me that he wouldn't normally play (also because I don't have the reflexes to make some of the QTEs), and I level the characters while he's at work. I can be extremely monomaniacal, so I don't mind the leveling at all. I actually enjoy it. It works out really well for us.

 

[Thaluikhain]

If it is done properly, it shouldn't ever feel like a grind. If it does, then the developer failed.
That is the primary aspect I think people don't get about grinding. If you perceive anything as a grind, then the developer failed to make it enjoyable. If it is fun to play, then it isn't a grind, even if it may seem repetitive.

Yeah, ok, that makes sense to me.

 

[Windcaler]

It depends on your definition of grinding. For some people just doing the same thing over and over again is a grind but for me I define a grind as a repetitive action that is not fun. Some leveling processes were fun, for example I had a blast leveling up through PVP in Warhammer but the leveling up in just about every other MMO was, for the most part, a grind

If grinding is put in place just to pad out a game, yes thats bad. However if the game makes gaining levels a fun part of the game, thats totally fine IMO

 

[evilneko]

I hate grind. If it's a single player game I'll find some way to speed it up--cheat, mod, whatever. If it's an online game... I'll probably just quit when my patience runs out.

 

[Epona]

Level grinding should be optional. I dislike games that require it but even more than that, I dislike games that don't allow it. Let me fight the way I want to, if I want to exploit elemental weaknesses, let me but if I just wanna come in with overwhelming stats then let me.

The best JRPG this gen prevented level grinding and that's a shame because Lost Odyssey was pretty damn good otherwise.

 

[ACman]

I have this thing where in an RPG if there multiple different dungeons I will attack them piecemeal killing of all the low level creatures I can before completing them if the option is there; getting the experience so I can be higher level. But I only like this if the monsters stay dead. If they all respawn it feels like I'm not achieving anything.

If I clear a dungeon it should stay cleared. Or refill with something different and interesting. Or refill with hoards of ineffective mooks that I can one-shot.

Any game where you have to level-grind is bad (Unless that's the central game mechanic any anybody who likes that sort of thing is weird.)

 

[evilneko]

Any game where you have to level-grind is bad (Unless that's the central game mechanic any anybody who likes that sort of thing is weird.)

Some people just like that sort of thing I suppose. I don't understand them myself.

 

[darkcalling]

I can accept it when it's necessary for me to grind a few levels out of my own incompetence at beating a boss or something.

The one game i REALLY hated it in was Exit Fate an indie jrpg i found online. I'm a bit of a completionist so all my characters always had to have the best weapons and armor I could buy (farming rare item drops was just too much even for me). There are 75 recruitable party members (suikoden inspired). I got all of them. Equipping them stretched what would have been maybe a 50 hour game to over 200.

GREAT game otherwise though.

 

[NeutralDrow]

Depends on the game. If I like playing the game at all, I'll generally be in favor of playing it even more.

Actually, there are a few RPGs (Tales ones, especially) where I wound up overleveled due to grinding, because I just got so caught up in what I was doing (training moves, cooking, going on reloading, optional sidequests, etc.) that the experience just poured in, and the fighting was so fun I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

 

[Dimitriov]

I LOVE GRINDING!

It was my favourite part of WoW.