I am surprised actually, at how shallow many players have become, just because someone writes something bad about their pet game.
1st off. The writers definition of Grinding:
It means constantly repeating something in order to reach your goal, of which the most common instance is repetitively pressing a button or clicking the mouse in order to kill monsters, all in hopes of leveling up and getting more powerful and access to more of the games content.
2nd: The wiki definition of Grinding:
Link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grind_%28gaming%29
Grinding is a term used in computer gaming to describe the process of engaging in repetitive and/or non-entertaining gameplay in order to gain access to other features within the game... ... .
Base definition:
To Grind means to do one task the most efficient way possible in a repetitious manner.
That being said. If noticed, that by Wiki's definition, the writer isn't actually isn't so far off.
Many people fail to see that, he is simply drawing up a case that even in a apparently low grind game like GWs,
grind still exists.
Granted that the writer is indeed somewhat backdated and negative in his perspective of the GW games, and was mentioning old features. But try this: Assume that the game as it was when he wrote it ( When game was still in Prophecies, without Factions / Night Fall / EotN ) and how much of it, can you actually say is
not true, at that point in time.
I noticed that a majority of the posters here failed to actually take the whole article, read it, and try to digest the main factors he is trying to put out.
So, to all of those who are still wearing those coloured shades. I will put forth what the writer is trying to get at:
1.
"You just can't eliminate a grind."
Going by the Wiki and base definition. This is actually true. But Grind can also be fun too. Some people actually like to a particular activity over and over again.
This is almost true for all games. ( Hell, if you do want to get better a game, you would repeat doing it until you can do it well, right ? ).
Remember, even simple games like tetris, minesweeper can be grinds. You are just simply doing it over again and again, when you want to do it well. Whether you enjoy it, is another matter.
You know those games on facebook ? They can actually be considered a grind too, if you find yourself doing it repetivitivly over and over again.
If the writer also bothered to show case other simple examples like the games above, I mentioned above, you might find what he has written more digestable. ( He did mention a racing game though, but I guess he gave huge referential weightage over to GWs as his main point ).
2.
" ... ... game developers attempt to hide the grind. They don't want you to know it's there, not because it's a secret, but because anytime that the grind is so obvious you can detect it without having to think at all the game is going to get boring and old, quickly."
This is another main point. Take a step back, and look at how the writer described GWs. Without taking the negativity of the article too personally. You would just about see that, he is actually quite on the ball.
Here is his summary take on why grind exists in GWs.
" In games like Guild Wars however, they hide it and have you do challenging missions to distract you, missions gamers will enjoy. These keep your mind off of the fact is, all you're doing is killing monsters in order to get items. But once you get to the end and find yourself repeating missions for items and achievements, you'll understand that the grind is still certainly there. "
Finally, his end argument :
" So stop dreading the grind, start embracing it. It'll make gaming a lot easier so you're not switching games every two weeks. "
His end statement is actually quite off, he should instead be saying:
" Look for a game which has grind which is pleasurable/acceptable to the you. "
That would have played alot better in his reinforcing the points he initally set out to state.
P.S.
That being said, I am somewhat puzzled by how some of the posters here attack Asian gamers, with regards to grind.
If they actually don't realise it, they are really no different from the so called hard core gamers. Slightly cleaner pots calling the kettles black.
Just because you have different levels of tolerance for grind, doesn't mean you can go around calling others extreme.
Case in point : By the base definition, even studying can be a grind. How do you intend to bridge the divide between students who are just academically gifted and those who studied hard to attain their dreams ?
