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Grinding, in the computer gaming sense, is a pejorative term used 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 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.
Level treadmill
The level treadmill is a term used by fans of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) to describe the uninteresting gameplay of endlessly gaining experience points and levels by performing repetitive tasks. It compares this kind of play with exercise treadmills. This practice is also known as level grinding. It is one of the most common criticisms about MMORPGs.
The most common form of level treadmill is the practice of killing monsters for experience points. The player constantly chases after the next level in order to be able to defeat the next slightly stronger monster. The outcome of MMORPG combat tends to depend more on the character's numerical statistics than the player's skill. Thus there is usually little for a player to do beyond clicking an attack button until he or she wins, or is forced to flee when nearing death. So whether fighting small rats or large demons, the player is performing essentially the same actions, the only difference being the larger numbers in his character and the monster's attributes. In other words, running forward while going nowhere, as on an exercise treadmill.
Players often critcize level treadmills as an obvious method of requiring the player to play the game longer. They argue that the most interesting gameplay comes when their character is at the highest levels, where they can effectively participate in raids or player versus player combat. They believe that the MMORPG provider's motivation to add treadmills is to slow the time it takes to reach the highest levels so that the player pays more subscription fees along the way.
Some enthusiasts of the genre have objected to the term level treadmill as an oversimplification of an MMORPG's gameplay. They argue that, like traditional role-playing games, there is no goal in MMORPGs other than to enjoy the experience. However, some would argue that in traditional RPGs, players play for enjoyment, and to act out their character; in fact, some players deliberately create weak characters because they find them interesting to play.
It has also observed that intense grinding can actively damage the role-playing aspect of a game by making a nonsense of the simulated world. A classic example of this occured in Star Wars Galaxies, where skills were improved by using them. It was therefore possible to see groups of three people, in which:
- One person was repeatedly deliberately falling over, taking a small amount of damage each time.
- A second person was healing the first, increasing their healing skill, and taking "stress" damage themselves.
- A third person was dancing for the second, relieving their "stress" damage and increasing their dancing skill.
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). Gamers originally used the term catassing to describe someone who is obsessively playing an MMORPG.
References
- Dunin, Elonka (ed.). "IGDA Online Games White Paper, 2nd Edition - March 2003". (PDF)