Grinding
 

What do you think about grinding (time spent doing tedious tasks, such as the classic examples of getting money in Graal: mining and fishing)? Do you think it would be possible to have a server without the grinding, while keeping players happy, or do you think a certain amount is necessary?

The definition of grinding will vary; one person may think making money is grinding, while another may think killing players for money or other items is grinding.

However, I think it's easy enough to decide what is and is not grinding on a server.


I think that a certain amount of grinding is needed. Players tend to get bored if there is nothing to work for, and it's just the same thing over and over (killing players). Perhaps it's possible to make grinding more fun.

A clear example of a server with almost no grinding is Utopia; despite its stolen content, upside-down economy, and poorly made scripts it did VERY well for a hosted server. It now rest in pieces thanks to a reset.

I do agree with some grinding though -- grinding makes the experience last a lot longer. GK and Zodiac are great examples. (However GK has lost its appeal; part of the reason is that the classes all end up being the same.)

The only thing I consider grindy is hunting for experience in RPG's. Make combat fast and rewarding, and it wont feel like the grind is there.

When I first started Symphonia. Some 'corrupt' staff member gave me a shotgun that 1 hit kills. I killed everything and got to like level 80~ in 15 minutes. Of course the server was gone the next day.

A staff gave you -that-!? No wonder it plunged.

They were going to reset several days afterwards anyways. I still thought it was an amazing server.

You know those days at school or work when you forget why you're there, and it just becomes a string of meaningless tasks? That's grinding. As long as the player has a goal that's bigger than the grind, they won't see it as a grind. ^^

The trick is to keep the player fueled with new challenges so they never feel they've gotten stuck in the grind. (I remember times in WoW when I seriously considered smashing my keyboard with my face x_x while grinding on trogs for an item drop.) Good challenges for the player might be learning tactics against a new enemy, exploring a new area, solving a dungeon, or nabbing quest items. In Nurica, I make a list of all the cool challenge/quests that we can do, and then space them out in the gameplay so that there's always something interesting to do. :)

Players also need goals that give purpose to their grind. It's sort of like their reason for playing the game. Typical goals might be an item/skill they want to earn, a status they want to achieve, or a storyline they want to unlock. Then at the end of each goal is a reward.

Another idea to spruce up the gameplay is to add an achievement system. Players like to be rewarded, and nothing breaks up a grind like finding out you accidentally unlocked a prize by killing 20 monsters without getting hit.