Welcome to the grind! Why do we grind in games?

[DieGrootHammer]

I am fascinated by the fact that we spend all our day slaving "for the man" in our day jobs, doing repetitive tasks over and over, dreaming of being able to just go home and play games, only to get into a game where we grind of hours on end the same thing over and over. All of this just for a higher number, or more resources, or a higher level, or maybe for some loot.

Destiny 2 is upon us, a game that is no stranger to the grind. A game where grinding ultimately nett you some epic loot, resources perhaps, and big numbers behind your level status. What I find interesting is that millions of people will play this game for houndred of hours, constantly grinding away at leveling up their characters. Its a new grind people will happily abandon their IRL grind for.

Now don't get me wrong, grinding in games are not a bad thing. It's just that some games are obviously better at getting people hooked to their grind than others.

So which games are better at The Grind than other? And do you particularly enjoy the grind that some games implement? And more importantly, why do you grind?

For me, the grind in a game should feel almost meditative, zen-like. Almost like a state I get into where I just happily grind away. Games like Minecraft comes to mind. It has a fantastic grind. Would also put racing games into this pile as well. The grind in racing games just doesn't feel like work to me at all.

What say you?

[CyberDemon]

I can only grind in games that have a great lore. Otherwise, I lose interest after a week.

[PythonFSi]

I'm grinding for souls in DS3 because I feel I have to

[HavocXphere]

For me, the grind in a game should feel almost meditative, zen-like.

Not sure whether you mean the same thing, but I'm usually hunting for flow. Don't really get that from pure grind though. Fast paced FPS more likely. And RTS if I like them. And oddly enough economy type games like Anno.

Grind like say Skyrim is good. But if it's collect 100 shiny trinkets / do something X times...yeah nooooo.

[Glordit]

Gaming is an escape from reality. The second a game feels like a job, you need to stop. Unless of course you are playing EVE, then you are just becoming an accountant in your spare time.

I don't see Minecraft and Racing games as a "grind". I see running the same path/area 1000's of times to get an item or gold or creating 100's of the same items to sell so you can purchase a item. Which you need as a set of 100's of other items to create something unique. (In the end it's just a bunch of pixels) Sometimes the grind is part of the game. Darksouls comes to mind, the grind is there to make you work at it so when you make it through, you feel that sense of achievement.

Then again players grind in games for many reasons.

People like to have that sense of "accomplishment" that is attached to the hours you spent grinding, which you have to go through in order to revive your special reward. In turn, obtaining an item that not many other players have, can make you better or more special than others. So there is a vanity of sorts attached to it. There is also the simple fact that some players actually might enjoy the monotonous nature of grinding. MMO's are famous for this.

While others see things like competitive multiplayer (which has its own grind) as a method to display ones skill. Overwatch, CSGO, LOL, DoTA2 all have massive competitive player pools with millions of players fighting for the top ranks. People spend 1000's of hours playing these games. While it can be seen as a grind, sometimes even with thre two same match ups there can be so many variables to take ino account that the game would play differently every time but, I digress.

Either way there are probably a plethora of reasons to why. I like to think that; because humanity is very social, deep down inside we secretly enjoy "showing off" (when grinding ends in a reward) weather we like it or not.

[DieGrootHammer]

Either way there are probably a plethora of reasons to why. I like to think that; because humanity is very social, deep down inside we secretly enjoy "showing off" (when grinding ends in a reward) weather we like it or not.

Great comment and I like your thoughts. This particular sentence is interesting to me. This is so true. If you look at the most played games currently, more than 70% of them are all mulitplayer focused games. Games where you will complete the same tasks over and over, effectively being a grind to some extent. But because you do it with friends, I believe people enjoy that grind more. It's like the grind must come with some multiplayer for it to be successful.

[Blazzok]

I'm grinding for souls in DS3 because I feel I have to

You definitely don't have to play areas over and over to grind souls in DS3, you'll get enough souls just playing normally.

Unless you die, drop your souls, and die again before claiming the dropped souls again. If that happens too often, then you might have to grind a little bit.

[czc]

I don't really think I grind.

[StaggerLee]

I'm not a fan of "grindy" games. I find them to be more work than fun and that completely defeats the point. I have never been able to get into any MMO for this very reason.

However, I am a big fan of Diablo 3, but I have not played it as much as some people, and I haven't played each character to level 70 more than once - I still have the Crusader and Witch Doctor to level. So I guess I enjoy the enjoyment of discovery in this game, especially with regard to the character abilities.

[PythonFSi]

Unless you die, drop your souls, and die again before claiming the dropped souls again. If that happens too often, then you might have to grind a little bit.

Pretty much this yes.