11-03-2009, 11:09 AM
I differentiate between Grind and "Grind"
"Grind" = pointless act of doing something repeatedly for no purpose other than its what you do when you log in and spend X hours playing
Grind = required activity in order to improve your characters abilities in some way so that you are better prepared to do whatever it is you do next
I think Grind is part and parcel to what MMO's are. I think "Grind" is horrible and should be avoided at all cost.
If all it is Kill 100000 Orcs an thats it. Then start over with Vampires then that would be "Grind"
If in the process of killing those 10000 Orcs, you're better equipped to kill Vampires in some way then its Grind.
And I'm OK with the idea that going from Orcs to Vampires, you'd not be as good at killing Vampires as someone that had already killed 10000 Vampires.
Thus I think its the external skill factor that would allow portability. I think there needs to be another dimension, ie
Skills:
Sword vs Vampire
Sword vs Orc
Dagger vs Vampire
Dagger vs Orc
Where Vampires might have a higher "resist" to Sword and Orcs have a higher "resist" to Daggers.
You then get your relative "noob" experience vis-a-vis one mob type and another. But you haven't just created an artificial wall between one activity and then having to basically do that all over again and again for no reason other than being tired of killing Orcs.
"Grind" = pointless act of doing something repeatedly for no purpose other than its what you do when you log in and spend X hours playing
Grind = required activity in order to improve your characters abilities in some way so that you are better prepared to do whatever it is you do next
I think Grind is part and parcel to what MMO's are. I think "Grind" is horrible and should be avoided at all cost.
If all it is Kill 100000 Orcs an thats it. Then start over with Vampires then that would be "Grind"
If in the process of killing those 10000 Orcs, you're better equipped to kill Vampires in some way then its Grind.
And I'm OK with the idea that going from Orcs to Vampires, you'd not be as good at killing Vampires as someone that had already killed 10000 Vampires.
Thus I think its the external skill factor that would allow portability. I think there needs to be another dimension, ie
Skills:
Sword vs Vampire
Sword vs Orc
Dagger vs Vampire
Dagger vs Orc
Where Vampires might have a higher "resist" to Sword and Orcs have a higher "resist" to Daggers.
You then get your relative "noob" experience vis-a-vis one mob type and another. But you haven't just created an artificial wall between one activity and then having to basically do that all over again and again for no reason other than being tired of killing Orcs.
Too many games to fit in signature....