I was browsing Wikipedia and came across their definition of the word grinding. I think it is very accurate and opens up different thoughts about the subject, here is a quote from the site:
Grinding is a pejorative term used in computer gaming to describe the process of engaging in repetitive and/or non-entertaining gameplay (more often than not, battles in RPGs) in order to gain access to other features within the game. The most common usage is in the context of MMORPGs, in which it is often necessary for a character to repeatedly kill monsters, using basically the same strategy over and over again, in order to advance their character level to be able to access newer content. Grinding can also appear in other games in which features can be unlocked.
Synonyms for grinding include farming, treadmilling and pushing the bar (a reference to Skinner boxes in which animals, having learned that pushing a bar will sometimes produce a treat, will devote time to pushing the bar over and over again).
Used as a noun, a grind (or a treadmill) is a designed in-game aspect which requires the player to engage in grinding. The idea of having a designed in-game aspect which requires a player to not be entertained for a period of time seems contradictory to good sense, but has been justified in several different ways. The most common of these is that requiring a player to spend long periods of time to gain game power ensures a level playing field: a players will not have an advantage from the very start as a result of having better aim, faster reactions, or better tactical knowledge. If they did, then via the Pareto principle the top players in these fields would quickly dominate the entire game. Although the Pareto principle will still apply to the amount of time spent grinding, at least every player will have the potential to reach the top 20%. This was explored further in Raph Koster’s presentation Small Worlds. To many critics, this is exactly what is wrong with the gameplay concept of levels and grinding, namely that it is designed to discount skill.
I found the synonym, pushing the bar, to be very interesting. Push the right button, get a reward, doing this same action over and over, thus, the treadmill that never ends…I can relate to this myself, sometimes I feel myself entering a state of mind similar to that of a zombie, push tab key, press attack button, fight mob, mob dies, rinse and repeat, hundreds, thousands of times…obviously grinding can be a viable way to level your character if that is what you want to do, but I do prefer questing and change in scenery and the grouping aspect of dungeons to better my gaming experience and group dynamics. Thoughts, opinions?
I don’t really think any real solution is available aside from the old stand by, “If ya don’t like it …quit”. Many people use grinding to gain advantage over the people that have life I myself have no life and still Im not great at WoW but I have only played for like a week and a half. Grinding provides a way for the people to promote there skills for example. Me and another person play for the same amount of time and stay in the same areas one of us it bound to be higher in the end. Even if the amount of time spent playing is the same. No two people can level alike therefore grinding does not discount skill it does hinder it in gameplay, but it is never discounted.
Thanks for the inputs on this subject. Since this post was originally wrote I have had quite a lot of time to read other blogs about this subject and the only real solution is a total makeover of how we play MMO’s would have to be done. The elimination of experience points in place of achievements, closely related to what Tobold spoke of here–
http://tobolds.blogspot.com/2007/08/are-quests-new-grind.html
The grind is inevitable these days it seems…