Grinding (video games)

Grinding is a term used in video gaming to describe the process of engaging in repetitive and/or boring tasks not pertaining to the story line of the game. The most common usage is in the context of MMORPGs like Final Fantasy XI, World of Warcraft, Tibia, or Lineage in which it is often necessary for a character to repeatedly kill AI-controlled monsters, using basically the same strategy over again to advance their character level to be able to access newer content. MUDs, generally sharing much of the same gameplay as MMORPGs, encounter the same problem. Grinding may be required by some games to unlock additional features.

Synonyms for grinding include the figurative terms treadmilling (a comparison with exercise treadmills) and pushing the bar (it can be a reference to a weightlifter "pushing the bar" on a bench press, over and over to get muscle gains, or a reference to Skinner boxes in which animals, having learned that pushing a button will sometimes produce a treat, will devote time to pushing the bar over and over again, or also can be a graphical reference to push the character's experience bar to higher values). Related terms include farming (in which the repetition is undertaken in order to obtain items, relating the activity to tending a farm field), and catassing, which refers to extended or obsessive play sessions. Used as a noun, a grind (or treadmill) is a designed in-game aspect which requires the player to engage in grinding.

The most common form of level treadmill seen is the practice of killing monsters for experience points. In this way, the player progresses towards the next level to defeat more powerful monsters.

Grinding is a controversial subject among players. Many do not enjoy it, and disparage it as a symptom of poor or uninspired game design. Others embrace it, claiming that all games feature grinding to some extent, or claim to enjoy the practice of regular grinding. Some games allow players to bypass grinding by paying additional fees.

Why players grind

Several answers have been suggested for the question of why players grind. A major motivating factor is the players' desire to pursue what appears to be the game's ultimate goal, which for many games is to reach the highest level. There is usually little or no incentive for players to continually seek new challenges. Once they have found a means to reach their goal they will be averse to tackling new risks and instead repeatedly play through familiar content. Sometimes players might actually enjoy repetitive tasks as a way of relaxing, especially if performing the task has a persistent, positive result.

One reason that is less influenced by player choice is a lack of game content or to be able to battle stronger enemies. If the player experiences all interesting content at the current level before reaching the next objective, the only alternative might be for the player to grind to the next level. "Interesting content" is key here since the player might have been given "new content" that is too similar to previous content to be considered interesting by the player.

Additionally, the players may grind for the enjoyment of being better at the game. Putting in the time to grind leads the player to gain experience and level up. Increases in level come with additional statistics boosts and abilities, which in turn allow the player to defeat stronger enemies. The gamer knows that time invested in grinding is directly related to strength or ability in the game. This relationship is encouraging to players, consistently rewarding their grinding effort.

Controversy

While grinding's potential to cause players to stop being entertained may be seen as contradictory to good game design, it has been justified in several different ways. The first explanation is that it helps ensure a level playing field. According to the Pareto principle, players with better aim, faster reactions, or more extensive tactical knowledge will quickly dominate the entire game, frustrating the now-powerless vast majority. By creating a direct correlation between in-game power and time spent grinding, every player has the potential to reach the top 20% (although the Pareto principle will still apply to the amount of time spent grinding).

The problem may not be that talent and skill are rewarded, but that the rewards are based on relative talent and skill. If only the top 20% of a game's players are rewarded, 80% must be receiving little reward, even if objectively they are highly talented. If there is no hope in the future of these players being rewarded, they will likely leave the game, causing the population to shrink, and thus reducing the number of people who can be in the top 20%. Grinding has the benefit that, although only 20% of the population may be rewarded at any given time, 100% of the population will have the potential to be rewarded in the future, and will have no reason to quit. Raph Koster also addressed this issue, explaining that "... the average user is below average — meaning, the median user lies below the mean on the win-loss curve, because the win-loss curve turns out to be a power-law distribution."

Another alternative to grinds is to remove designer-defined objectives, leaving the player free to do whatever they want. This creates a new problem where many players might be confused about what they are supposed to do, or they might lack the motivation to do much of anything in the virtual world. To reflect these different playing objectives (or lack thereof), an open-ended game of this style, such as The Sims, is sometimes called a "software toy." Grinding is seen as a reason to increase the amount of time it takes to reach these levels, forcing the player to pay more subscription fees along the way. An example of this kind of MMORPG is RuneScape, which requires players to spend extensive time to achieve the highest level.

The IGDA Online Games Special Interest Group has noted that level treadmills are part of the addictive quality of MMORPGs that caters to those who play more than 25 hours a week (hardcore gamers).

Various games' approaches to issues of grinding

• RuneScape features a "Slayer" skill, which requires players to defeat a certain number of a specific type of creature. The monsters are randomly chosen based on the player's combat level. Players gain experience while fighting the monsters, which increases both their Slayer level and their Combat skills. Because the effort is repetitive and time-consuming it is considered "grinding". A newer skill called "Dungeoneering" was introduced that does not require grinding. There was some controversy over whether the skill had any legitimate use.

• The Lord of the Rings Online features a "title system" in which players are rewarded special titles, and often new abilities, for killing massive quantities of particular types of enemies. This can make grinding lucrative, as the player benefits from the added experience points and can receive a title they can show off to other players. For example, killing large amounts of Wargs grants the player the "Warg-Slayer" title. Killing even more Wargs results in more advanced titles, such as "Warg Foe" and so on. This system also exists in City of Heroes/City of Villains, where these titles are named "badges".

• Guild Wars tries to reduce grinding by using a very low maximum level (20). Equipment with maximum statistics become easy to obtain at maximum level. Players can still improve themselves by acquiring new and different skills so they can create more varied combinations of skills, or they can gather points for titles that improve certain skills usable only in PvE. The game was designed to be difficult even for players who have reached the maximum level and obtained the best equipment, but without creating huge gaps between the hardcore and casual players so that both could enjoy the same challenges. Additionally, any more time spent playing only produces better-looking characters, rather than stronger characters, so that, unlike most MMORPGs, success is a matter of strategy rather than time spent in the game.

• Eve Online features a system that does not require continuous play to increase character skill. Characters are plugged in to their ship's computer and are trained at a rate based on their attributes. Attributes can be enhanced via cybernetic implants to decrease training time. Training occurs continuously, in real time, whether the player is logged in or not. Some of the advanced skills can take as long as a month or more of to reach the next level. Players still have to grind for ISK (money), minerals, and NPC faction standing.

• Final Fantasy XII features a "Chain" effect, which occurs when a player kills the same monster over and over, doing so increases the number on the Chain and increases the quality of the items dropped by the killed enemy. With a maximum of 999 chained kills, the Chain can only be broken by killing a different monster, or leaving the area.

• MapleStory features a party quest, called the Dojo PQ, that can be done with several players or solo. It is available to all players level 25 or above. It is a boss rush, in which the player or players revisit many bosses, one by one, all in a row. There are two rewards that promote grinding in this particular party quest. The first is after you beat every boss, you get Dojo points, which, when accumulated in large amounts, can be used to get equipment for your character which boost stats. The second is that you get a title for 24 hours when you beat a certain boss 100 times.

• World of Warcraft features dungeons that can be played in segments, so that players can play the game in smaller chunks of time. This is because most people can't afford to dedicate several hours of continuous playing time to complete them. The game also includes a "resting system" which increases the rate of experience gain for casual players, based on the amount of time spent out of the game. Similar systems exist in other games, including Lord of the Rings Online and City of Heroes.

• Some games, e.g. FarmVille, consist exclusively of elements that in other games would be considered 'grinding'. Chris Melissinos, curator of the Smithsonian's upcoming "The Art of Video Games" exhibit, expressed his dismay at his wife's appreciation of Farmville saying, "It's all grind!" His wife explained that, "I only choose to plant things in my farm that bloom beautifully;" Melissinos understood that the enjoyment of watching her farm grow was a self-defined goal rather than a game-defined goal, ultimately concluding that Farmville is really no different than any other game.

See also

• Experience point
• Level (video gaming)
• Progress Quest