RPG Concepts #1: Grinding
Welcome to my new series of posts where I talk about random concepts/terms used by RPG fans.
If you follow me for a while you must have read the word Grinding in one of my posts or comments. Role Playing Games, and RPG Elements have become so common that associated terms became common knowledge to gamers.
In video gaming, grinding is performing repetitive tasks for gameplay advantage. Many video games use different tactics to implement, or reduce the amount of grinding in play.
-- Wikipedia
Grind/Grinding is fan-based term the gaming fandom use for fighting weaker enemies over and over to gain levels and make playable characters stronger. It's more obvious in games with EXP system where every battle gives the player a set amount of points.
Mainline Dragon Quest games, require significant time of grinding.
Grinding is a time consuming chore (more so in MMO scene where levels are far apart.) It's also and easy way to have a Skinner box type gameplay, which can be seen as a downside for traditional RPGs. Skilled players might be able to avoid grinding by relying on their skill & knowledge.
Most RPGs require grinding to reach the maximum obtainable levels/stats. While some require a lot of grinding or strategy to be able to fight a strong boss, the final boss and especially a super optional boss.
Traceable, Repeatable & Guaranteed
While grinding is a chore, it's still appealing to many players due to the nature of the gameplay systems that require it. People love to see numbers go up, and RPG elements make the process repeatable, traceable and guaranteed.
If you battle the same monster you could always get the same amount of EXP, that guarantee makes grinding less frustrating even appealing to many people. Done right, a game based on grinding can be fun & rewarding. (I'm looking at you Disgaea.)
Disgaea 1PC - I wonder how many hours took them to reach this level.
Anti-Grinding
Some games do that by removing the EXP system which makes grinding unnecessary, some make the gameplay linear with less room to backtrack, while others make the fights less dependable on character strength and more on the players skill.
Chrono Cross leveling system is my favorite anti-grinding ever.
Some games like World of Warcraft, introduced a system that makes player gain EXP for the time they spend out of the game, making grinding for levels (but not farming) less appealing.
Conclusion
Grinding as a concept s closely related to farming in which the player does the same to gain items/money instead of levels. Some people use these two words interchangeably because in many games, items & levels are obtained by the same actions.
If it was required to progress in a game, grinding is a cheap way to make it longer. It can also be used as psychological weapon against the players. But when it's for a goal the player sets for themselves, it can be a good thing even though most of time it isn't.
Overall, I'm indifferent to grinding. Some games like Disgaea will make me happily spend hours on it, but not 'endlessly' like the people the game was designed for. Other games might make me avoid or not complete them when they depend on the grind too much. I won't mind, even enjoy grinding for 10 hours overall in 60 hours game.
So what do you think?
RPG Concepts Series:
Episode 2: Enemy Encounters
I've actually been doing some "historical" gaming posts lately, covering noteworthy games released in certain years (just made two about 93 and 2000) and grinding was there in some cases even before the MMO thing came along, but for me it really depends on the game, I remember for example Lineage 2 which is all about grinding for the most part and i didn't like it that much. Comparing that to Ragnarok Online which also has a big deal of grinding, yet for me that somehow seems less frustrating, might be because even grinding can be diversified
Yeah, I too think grinding can become fun or frustrating depending on how its presented, and sometimes the players mood and their available play-time.
You can't grind if you only have 1 hour free of your day and want something exciting.
By the way Grinding in Video games existed since the first few ones I think, I know that FF1 & DQ1 are basically 'grinding' games with so little to do outside leveling, and it's not only related to RPG.
When I was younger, I longed for rpg like games that would reward me with certain activities that I could do over and over and over. The more I liked a game, the longer I wished it to last.
Now, there is so much to do that small things like necessary grinding (or lack of achievements) will get a game put back on the shelf. The best games now are those that maximize and respect my time, preferring creativity, skill and strategy to brute repetition.
Cheers for gaming!
Both are so true... Even now, I wish that games last longer, but at the same I don't have much time to play everything.
I believe the best thing game creators can do, it to make a Trophy/Achievement for everything that can a lot of take time to do. (Not bad ones like beat X monster 999 times, I mean something like reaching lv.99)
My brain likes achievements! They make my gaming time feel so productive and purposeful ;p
Actually i enjoy playing merchant classes in most MMO’s so grinding for resources is quite enjoyable, plus I feel while grinding I can meet and char with people.
During raiding people don’t talk as much.
I was going to write about the social aspect of grinding in MMOs but forgot.
Yeah, grinding don't need as much of brain power to beat enemies so they players can take time to chat with other people, in raids everything matters.
I only have small experience with MMO and I haven't played one in like 6 years? So I don't know what changed in that time.
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I don't mind grinding. Especially when there is insentive, like to character customization stats.
The only game I despised grinding in was Final Fantasy 3 for the DS. But in general, I just did not like that game.
Best non-grinding system is Suikoden, in my opinion.
I agree, incentive can make grinding rewarding. Hmmmm...
I thought FF3 offered a lot of customization, though to be fair it's the
least interestingsimplist story in all the series since FF1.This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account after manual review.