Overly Positive

If there’s one thing that destroys MMO enjoyment, it’s the inevitable hamster wheel, the leveling ladder, the idea of “grinding” – repetitive activity that is needed in order to advance.

There’s a lot of people who dread the MMO grind like they would if a ferocious tiger burst through their window and proceeded to munch on their heads. The funny part is, the aforementioned tiger might be a preference to the tedium of killing the same mobs over and over and doing the same quests ad infinitum to gain that next precious level. Combine this with the usual annoyances and bugs you might find in an MMO and it’s a recipe for not disaster (which if you’ve seen any disaster movie would at least be different), but boredom.

The most recent example people can provide is not-so-much-Eastern-MMO-anymore title Aion, which, once you get into the 20′s, seems to be an excruciating exercise in leveling. The fear over not having enough experience-boosting quests and the seemingly insane amount of grind necessary to get to the next level has led to some folks I know scrunching their faces in what I can only describe as a cross between Oscar the Grouch and Bill the Cat. I don’t blame them, really. Seeing that you need millions of experience til the next level can be pretty disheartening.

Still, not surprisingly, I’m pretty non-plussed and most of the time am happy to grind away even though I feel the pain sometimes, myself. A lot of it is due to the “multiplayer” aspect of MMO.  Having others to play with, talk to, and yes, even complain about the endless grind helps it go by a lot faster – and if they are close to your level, grouping is a great way to make the bars fly by. I’ve also taken to being sociable in chat channels, watching for the usual laugh-worthy commentary, and putting in my two cents when appropriate. Sure, going in and saying “hey, it could be worse, you could be being eaten by killer zombies with fangs” in the midst of an MMO chat throwdown isn’t always effective, but it does help when you are hurting for something to distract you from leveling.

Really it comes down to enjoyment and engagement. It might seem like a “duh” move, but if you are really feeling like you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel to the next level and you are pushing a boulder up a hill, take a break, relax, watch some really bad reality TV – anything to take your mind away from it.  It might seem like you really need to login for 12 hours a day to level, but trust me – 3 hours of fly-by grinding will be much more effective than 12 hours of your mind feeling like mush.