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.
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