Back to the Grind

Well, it is Monday and we are going back to the old grind, so I thought I would take a few minutes to discuss a common aspect of some video games, generally MMOs, grinding. Grinding is when a player must fight like a hundred of the same monster to level and get stronger so you can fight some more. Fun. It is not just combat either. In Runescape for instance, it changes it up so you also must grind up the woodcutting levels by clicking on trees, or clicking on tinkerboxes then wood, thus making/grinding fires. When I said grinding fires, there was no pun intended... This makes Runescape the grind king!

A normal man leveling in Runescape!

Why grind? Because like a lot of people, I think it is so you spend years playing, thus years of subscription fees for them. 

How do you stop grinding in MMO/RPG design? It is simple. Make new content all the time and lots of it. The players are just grinding once they explored/did everything, so add new quests, so they don't grind all the time. Eve Online also reduces grinding because the player doesn't have to do anything to improve the skills. They level even if you are logged off, nonstop, so to get to the highest levels, no grinding. Just waiting...

What do you think of grinding?