How to make grinding more fun

[deadmeme]

I really enjoy RPG-s, but I can feel the burn when it comes to grinding. Any tips from Codex Boomers on making grinding more fun? Unless, they include watching Shrek porn and the like.

 

[Butter]

Pay your gardener to do it for you.

 

[barghwata]

If an RPG has alot of mandatory grinding in it; it's probably not worth your time to begin with.

 

[Sreggin Etah I]

From my experience with JRPGs, grinding is fun when you're constantly leveling up and when leveling up makes you a lot stronger, making you feel being rewarded by your time spent. This usually happens early game in JRPGs. Dragon Quest games are pretty fun to grind early game, but towards mid-late the game become less and less fun, not only it takes more time to level up in mid-late game but gaining +2 strength doesn't feel as powerful when you already have 52 strength, buying a 35 damage sword doesn't feel as powerful in late game when you already have a 29 damage weapon, in contrast, gaining +2 strength when you had 8 strength or buying a 12 damage weapon when you had a 4 damage weapon was game-changing.

 

[Tavernking]

Can't see grinding being fun in anything but an MMORPG where you can chat with others also grinding (at least in the old days of the internet people would talk back) and have something to show off for your hard work in front of other players

 

[moraes]

Cocaine, alcohol, marijuana...

 

[good fucking shit happen]

Remove your pants.

 

[luj1]

How to make grinding more fun

you cant

Maybe in games that are designed around grinding like Diablo II

 

[Dishonoredbr]

Recently i played both Shin Megami Tensei Series and Digimon Cyber Sleuth and Hacker memory, never felt like grind was boring in either.

In Shin Megami Tensei , the combat was fast and so fun enough to make grinding or just figthing every fight that i never felt bad. After one point , became brain muscle to hit enemies weakness , getting 8 turns and winning in one round.

And Digimon had some many ways to get Extra XP (Tatician USB and Platinum Suka/Nunemon) and Evolution/Devolving was so good and interesting that also never felt like bad. Griding was not only getting better mons , was getting new moves , new route of evolutions , etc. Griding was part of experience. Not to mention, you could just force encounters and after griding , prevent any encounters at all.

I think grind is fine if your mechanics are actually fun to play around, like Combat in SMT. Or make multiple ways to easy up the grind, like Digimon or Dragon Quest.

 

[octavius]

Highly randomized loot, like in Might&Magic 2 or Diablo 2.

 

[Bloodeyes]

Play better games. It's acceptable to need an optimized build and optimal utilization of items and abilities but to complete a game but to require grinding is fucking bullshit and is just padding the length of the game. The developers are wasting your precious life don't let them do it.

 

[damagedbrains]

Grinding and fun never fit in the same sentence. It is a poor designer's means to an end. No grace behind it's thought.

It is the pure, unmitigated evil that birthed mtx filled looter mobile games, the design of which is now percolating through to our console and pc games.

So asking how grinding can be made more fun is like asking how we can numb half the brain that's left of the "engaged" player base. Leave that to the suits.

 

[Generic-Giant-Spider]

People actually grinded in Diablo II?

I just ran a Mephisto/Pindleskin Bot before I went to school.

 

[Gregz]

From my experience with JRPGs, grinding is fun when you're constantly leveling up and when leveling up makes you a lot stronger, making you feel being rewarded by your time spent. This usually happens early game in JRPGs. Dragon Quest games are pretty fun to grind early game, but towards mid-late the game become less and less fun, not only it takes more time to level up in mid-late game but gaining +2 strength doesn't feel as powerful when you already have 52 strength, buying a 35 damage sword doesn't feel as powerful in late game when you already have a 29 damage weapon, in contrast, gaining +2 strength when you had 8 strength or buying a 12 damage weapon when you had a 4 damage weapon was game-changing.

This is the heart of it. Games with smooth upgrade ramps don’t feel grindy.

 

[FranticDistortion]

Take all grinding and shove it into an arena/colosseum sidequest- everyone loves those.

 

[Lurker47]

Grinding is fun.

 

[Ghulgothas]

No. Pick a playlist and get back to work.

 

[mushaden]

Watch Shrek porn until you become enough of a degenerate to gather a following of creeps to talk to and watch you while you stream.

 

[Fenris 2.0]

Here are the few Games where I grinded a Lot and thought it was OK:

1. Bard's Tale: It was fun to try out the differend Classes, check out what worked and what not - didn't help with the stupid darkness/anti-magic-thingie about 2/3rds in BT2. While I was never able to finish BT2, but I was able to import my Party in BT 3 back in the Days and had some Fun there.
2. Dark Sun 1: It is still the Crowning Achievment of my Nerd-Dom: There is this Wizard Girl that helps you in DS1 in the final Fight; when she was out of Spells, she draw her Dagger and went into Melee - and died in a few Seconds of Course. It was a kind of Bonus-Quest to protect her during Armageddon; I grinded my Party to something like Level 10/10/10 to achieve this Shit and was pleasantly surprised when the Game actually rewarded this by having her still around after the Victory.
3. Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir: Well, it made no real Sense to grind after the Victory, but there was one High-Level Mod where you could import your Lvl 30 Demi-God you got after MotB - and a bunch of other Charas - most satisfyingly gained by grinding in the last Area of Soz. Unfortunatly the Mod broke after some Updates.
4. Final Fantasy 7; my only finished JRPG. A lot of hidden Stuff that you could only finish after a lot of Grinding.
5. Baldur's Gate - there are a lot of Mods that required Grinding. Was still Fun.

I think Grinding is Fun when the Rules System works and you have nothing better to do.

 

[anvi]

SpeedHack changes gaming forever! Also imo, if the grind itself is not fun, then don't play that game. The hope that it pays off later is not worth it. Hope is for chumps.

 

[Contagium]

Playing Wizardry 1-5, I'd just put on some good tunes through headphones (Mercyful Fate/Candlemass/Emperor, etc) and just get lost in music while leveling up for hours.

 

[V_K]

Cheatengine.

 

[Falksi]

I usually play RPG's which require some grinding alongside other none-RPG games, such as beat em ups or SHMUPS, to break up the pacing.

If I get to a stage where the grinding is wearing me out, I'll have a blast on something else for a bit, return, and repeat until I'm through that phase.

 

[anvi]

I speedhack through everything but in EQ I can do grind while I alt tab and do other things.

 

[Harthwain]

Remove the grind and make it about managing resources instead. Be concerned less about the volume and more about quality of what you bring - it should be meaningful. Use smaller numbers over larger numbers whenever possible.