Hell yeah, grinding is BORING!  But I have seen and getting amazed on how people ACTUALLY REALLY can handle it!  There’s time when I felt, “Nobody can stand this!” during my hunting on certain level.  But the next day I login to the game, my fellow guildmate is already pass the same level when the day before we were at the same level!  What really more amazed me is a few days later, he is way beyond my current level!  That left me with a really big question: how the hell did he handle that grinding???

 

One of my friend did a little research.  Although it’s just for fun (not for published research), but he really test it statistically.  For those of you who don’t need any scientific facts, just skip to the next paragraph.  My friend did this to his friends as a sample for his non parametrical Factor Analysis method.  The dependent variable is grinding durability, while the independent variables are shown in the order below according to their factor load.  He used a 10% alpha.  So the result displayed here is not in random order but rather in hierarchical order.  For those of you who want to discuss the statistic fact, please PM me.  It’s not my research and this is just for fun, but my last thesis is using multivariate analysis too.  So I would be happy to discuss these methods.  Btw, my friend’s thesis is about online game.

 

And here’s the top 5 result on how people handle grinding, in order:

 

Chatting

There were time when I met my fellow “long time no see” guild mate and we start chatting and hunting together.  And out of our conciousness of time, we suddenly approaching our next level!  So I’m really understand why this method is being the first choice to handle the grinding.  A little focus group discussion indicate the following topics are what people mostly have during the grinding: (love) relationship and (dirty) jokes.  This is why it’s so important to maintain a healthy community in a game.  BOT will make the game ruined because of this too.  How can we stand the grinding when we choose to communicate with so many character that only saying, “Get lost noobs, I’m busy levelling.”

Tee hee I’m chatting wif a hawt guy

 

Quest

While some quests in game are basically grinding too, they provide a different feelings especially with the reward and self satisfaction for achieving something.  Sometimes people don’t really bother with the grinding while doing quest, and suddenly they’re really close to the next level.  And lately, I found more creative quest in some games, like when I play Granado Espada.  There’s a moment I have to become somekind of a detective to trace a thief.  And in the end, I have to slay monsters that, “not so coincidentally”, is the thief.  Although it’s an early level quest, I gain a level without noticing it.  Guild or group quest is also a good alternative.

 

Seek Rare Items or Certain Items

I still remember that I gain 3 level by grinding skel worker just because I want to forge a very very strong wind element bastard sword in RO.  The imagination of having an easy hunt in Byalan 3 and 4 with my new forged weapon make me forget the pain of grinding.  If items and equipment are designed well in function and fashion, it can be a way to handle grinding.  I also remember, when I was bored hunting requiem of pyramid in RO, I was about quitting the area, and I have 3 old blue boxes as a result of my grinding.  And I decide to open them… plate mail slot!  A 6 million zeny worth item during that time.  And suddenly there’s energy to do the grinding again in that area.

Hunt Bosses

There are so many motives when it comes to bosses hunting.  Items, experience, the pride (or honor if you prefer a decent one), or sometimes just for fun.  And as we usually find, that in the usual online game, bosses is not always there to be hunted.  We must wait and usually the spot is not just one.  And while we are waiting for our prey (or to be the prey), we must keep the area clean by killing all the monster that keep spawning.  And some of us, don’t mind grinding on that area as long as we can kill the long awaited prize, boss!

Rely On Your Own Mission

Well I thought that this motivation would be listed as number one in the way of people handle grinding.  But, seems like I was wrong.  Some people might not be the number one in the game because he or she doesn’t have any time privelege like others.  But having a motivation to be number one in guild might still visible.  Or being better than your closest friend in that game, can become a source of energy in grinding like hell.  Having a personal mission is sometimes very powerfull motivation to handle grinding!  When I play DOMO, there’s a moment that I have to slay almost 500 same monster just for the sake of stealing 1 recipe!  And when I did, I gain a level, and got amazed by myself in how I can stand that kind of grinding.

 

There are still several ways of people handle grinding.  But I just list the top 5 and I know that some method, although being mentioned by the sample, was being dropped due to the judgement that it is not a way to handle grinding.  For example botting.  He consider it not as a way to handle grinding but rather than a way to avoid grinding.  And please read many article about it (Layce’s is my fave article about this issue), it is ruining the game.  Another way is usually an event.  2X Exp even has motivated me several times grinding in Pirate King Online.

 

I made my own conclusion about this matter.  I see there are 2 major way to handle grinding.  The first is self motivation, or self mission, or self imagination, or self target.  Although it is listed as the last one on the above fact, but during my gameplay in any online game, usually this is what kept me doing the grinding.  The second is game feature that keep the player “busy”, so they will forget that they are in the middle of grinding.  The first 4 from above list are rely heavily on game feature.  I really interested in trying Mabinogi because Layce said in her article that the fighting system in that game will keep us busy so that we don’t mind grinding.  Unfortunately, at the last moment before open beta, there is a ban for non North American IP.  Really have a big dissapointment in that, just like Layce had.

 

The first way that I conclude is derived also from game feature.  So if the developers really design their game feature, people will stay in the game even if they must face the grinding.  And please share me your experience on this matter guys.

PS: All of the pic is not my own screenshot or my own pic, but it was posted freely before.