Monday, June 23, 2014

In Defense of Grinding

Grinding... camping... farming... whatever you want to call it, it seems to be a staple in many computer role-playing games.  I recently read an article about a World of Warcraft player that achieved level 90 by picking herbs and mining.  Now THAT is some serious grinding right there.

There are entire industries created around farming - for you.  You pay them a small fee, they give you a level [x] character.  People complain (I have no link for that... that is just my experience admining a MUD for 10+ years), people write articles about how it leads to wide spread societal abuse... yet, game designers keep grinding in the game mechanics.  Why?

I believe the answer is simple - and something I would have fought tooth and nail against as a "creator" until I stepped back and became a "player."  The answer is... it is fun!!

It never occurred to me before I loaded up Darksiders and began to grind away at zombie after zombie after zombie.  It was fun.  It was exhilarating.  It really didn't matter the score - I gathered my 500 souls to progress... I didn't care.  I wanted to go smash cars on more zombies. Yeah... they are easy as heck to beat. Made it even more fun.

So, I thought back to my days actually playing MUDs (as opposed to creating them), and I realized I loved grinding.  I would camp out at the easy level and grind away.  Did I raise myself up much... no.  But, there was something extremely satisfying with racking up the vampiric butterfly body count.

Am I saying just create a game where you grind and nothing more? No.  But, I do want to put in a defense for senseless violence.  Sometimes, a game... needs to be just a game. Wacking things on the head - repeatedly, is just plain fun.  Don't take that out of your game.  You can drive yourself mad trying to figure out the perfect progression algorithm.  Instead, go camp-out and slay some level one zombies.  Your blood pressure (and your fans) will thank you.

Friday, June 20, 2014

So it begins... again

I feel like I have written this blog post a thousand times.  For all I know, I'm living in a "Matrix" world and I have written this blog post a thousand times.  Regardless, here it goes... my foray into blogging... again.

I had a number of fascinating topics for this post (no really... I did), but I settled on this one.  Why do I game?

This is a question that is both deeply personal to me, and, more importantly to my readers, a larger question in the geek-a-verse.  I follow my fair share of "geek" related blogs, main-ish stream news sites, etc. (i.e., I subscribe to Geek and Sundry and check out Think Geek every once and a while).  However, I was listening to a classic, but still a goody, the "Geeks shall inherit the Earth," by Electronic Funstuff when it got me thinking of this post.

Now for those not familiar with Electronic Fundstuff - they had an AWESOME album back in 2003 - 2004-ish.  It was phenomenal!  Instant classics, such as "Death Match Mama," "Civilization," and of course... the aforementioned, "Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth."  Sadly, I haven't been able to find them since then.  Don't know what they are doing, but if the fates allow - I want them to know - they inspired me.

Recently, I listened to them anew.  It got me thinking.  Table-top role-playing is a very unique aspect of "geekdome." Many "geek habits" are sort of mainstream now - comic books, video games, Star Wars (will save for another day), Star Trek, etc.  "Big Bang Theory" pays lips service to classic table-top role-playing, but frankly it isn't a huge feature.  Heck, even the "King of Geeks" Sir Wesley Wheatonton (please, Mr. Wheaton, if you happen upon this in a drunken stupor - that WootStout is strong stuff! - I have nothing but the most respect for your... +1 to TableTop... love your show, love everything you do... not a dick... I swear...) came out with a "board game" show before venturing to do an RPG show. (oh, full disclosure... I am a backer of Mr. Wheaton's season 3 Tabletop... and was estatic when it was announced he'd be doing the RPG show... shamelessly plugged donating to all of my friends... the one RPG episode he did [well, part 1 and 2] was awesome... so reminded me of my old RPG group!)

I remember back in junior high school branching out.  I met a couple guys that played Star Trek RPG (of all things). My parents were a little freaked out that I was going to another town to meet people I only "sort of knew" - but you know what? They were awesome, and a great game ensured. (and btw... we took plenty of precautions ahead of time... even back when I was growing up... you took precautions)

So, why do I play?  A question I often ask myself.  For years (as I will go into in more detail in future posts) I was the head admin (oh, who the hell am I kidding... I was a tyrannical, megalomaniac god-complex know-it-all) of a MUD (text based MMO... ask your dad) and sort of lost touch with table-top RPGs.  CRPGs have been a main-stay since high school - looong before decent CRPGs and well before MMOs.  Long after I had last thrown the dice on a table, I happened to be in the Bay Area (California... SF town) - during 3E launch.  It hooked me again.

Since then - I have dabbled in 4E, Numenera, Pathfinder, and many a home-brew game.  Why do I still love table-top RPGS... because they are awesome and I can play with a group of friends that are some of the nicest, most awesome people I have ever met.  Only one of my current group is from the "old days," but each and everyone of the folks I play with is a great person that I am proud to call a friend.  When I was in California, I played a bit of 3E - while I have been a shit-head in keeping touch... those guys were great.  Table-top RPGs bring REAL people together.  Yeah, we may fuck with each other occasionally... but you know what - these people have your back.

So why do I play the "grandfather of all role-playing games" ? Simple - the people.  In no community, anywhere, have I encountered a better, more accepting, nice group of people.  Happy free rpg game day everyone!! I hope you go out there and meet some of the great people that make our hobby one of the best out there.

And so it begins...