[MUD-Dev] Removing the almighty experience point...

[Matt Mihaly]

Bloo wrote:
> Matt Mihaly wrote:

>> Everquest is all about the grind, in a very single-minded kind of
>> way, and it's quite popular. Is everybody playing Everquest an
>> idiot that's out of touch with what he/she finds entertaining? I
>> don't think so.

> Um....I'll take the 5th in public.

Heh heh.

>> Doing quests to get xp to get higher levels is still a
>> grind. You've just added an extra step. The problem, if you want
>> to call it one (I don't, as I believe the population of current
>> games clearly illustrates that most players like the grind,
>> consciously or unconsciously), is that the current games offer
>> largely one measure of achievement, and that measure is just a
>> number to reach by adding to it incrementally. That apparently
>> appeals to many players.

> That's one way to look at it.  Another is that people will put up
> with a lot to sort of 'play' something online that is escapist
> with other people from the convenience of their homes.  In that
> way, the grind is something tolerated rather than desired.

> And the lack of grind-free options that are entertaining is
> another factor.

This doesn't make sense. If the problem with grind-free options is
that they're not entertaining, and if grinds aren't entertaining,
then how are almost pure-grind games like Everquest entertaining to
these masses of people who are playing it but apparently don't like
grinds? If it's the other aspects of Everquest that these people are
finding entertaining, what are they, and why can't they just find
them elsewhere? There's precious little to EQ besides the grind,
which should make it exceptionally easy to replace if it's the
non-grind aspects of the game these players like.

I maintain that current players, by and large, are at least somewhat
entertained by the grind, and that slapping a new skin on the grind
while polishing its mechanics is enough to get them excited (see
CoH).

> I think people want to go where other people are.  That may mean
> putting up with the asinine grind, so be it. That is not evidence
> of grind-loving.

But there are lots of places where other people are. You're also
only really participating with the people on the server you're on,
which really widens your options in terms of reasonably equivalent
populations.

--matt
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