Like a Hamster on
a Wheel?

"Grinding" for experience in EQ2 can be fun

by Paul "SLiDe" Shortt

Massively Multiplayer online role-playing games are what the player
makes of it.  A player can immerse themselves in their own
character and play according to their own imagination.  A player
can quest to their hearts content, running errands for non-playable
characters, searching dungeons, finding treasure and learning about the
lore of the land.  Players can even create items and sell them to
other players and make loads of in-game money.  These things are
all available in Everquest 2, but there is another important, popular
aspect to the game called grinding.



What is grinding?



Grinding is a term used when talking about mundanely trudging a
character to the next level by repeating the same thing over and over
again.  Norrathians can grind by killing creatures repeatedly,
gaining experience points shown by a progress bar that moves slightly
for each creature's death.  Grinding can be found in crafting
items also, but that seems to be by design.



Why do players grind?



Players will start to grind to progress their character faster than if
they ran around Norrath completing quests.  Some may argue and say
that completing quests net's more experience than killing a creature,
which is true, but they're missing the point.  While completing a
quest near a toon's level will give more experience than killing one
creature, a player can kill many creatures and gain more experience in
the time it takes to finish a long and tedious quest.  While
questing is a great way to get into a story or learn more about Norrath
or even get a few laughs, there is a certain addictive quality to
progressing to a new level and many people want to get there as quick
as possible.  Another reason that people tend to grind may be
caused by the casual nature of their play.  If someone doesn't
have as much time to log in, they may fall behind the advancement of
their friends and grinding is a good way to make up some of that lost
time.



Should this epidemic be cured?



Grinding isn't necessarily a bad thing.  This is an activity that
people truly enjoy.  The developers might not enjoy the fact that
people want to skip over a lot of the content that they have spent so
much time on.  The game wasn't designed to be walked through
without stopping to smell some of the roses so-to-speak.  If there
was a way to cut down on the amount of repetitive gaming it could
probably be done by adjusting the experience.  This was actually
done by Sony in the recent past.  Quests have become worth more in
XP upon completion.  I have even been more inclined to pick up
more quests as I run around looking for the next thing to kill because
it does help the progression. 



Grinding is here to stay.



I would say that 80 percent of my game time is dedicated to the
experience treadmill, but it's something I like to do.  I'm not
alone.  It probably won't matter if there are thousands of new
quests added to EQ2, or if the quest experience is adjusted again,
people like me are going to continue running through Norrath trying to
control the unending population of monsters and forest creatures. 




Spice it up.



It doesn't all have to be the same thing.  Grab a quest or a city
writ.  Many times you can incorporate small quests into your daily
kill fest.  This way you can see different parts of your virtual
world while wreaking havoc on the wild life and gaining experience all
at the same time.  You might even gain your guild a few experience
points on the way too.  SOE has done a great job by sneaking quest
items into the loot drops for many deceased mobs.  These quest
items can occasionally be associated directly with the monsters that
you've decided to kill which makes things a little more
interesting.  Upon completion these dropped quests, money or items
will be given to the player.  There are a good number of players
out there who are looking for experience.  If the usual grind gets
old, you might want to jump in or start a pick-up group where the main
focus is grinding for experience.  If you happen to be in a guild,
ask some of your guildies if they want to go.  These groups can be
a great source of conversation and laughs to help wipe away the regular
monotony.



One of the greatest parts of Everquest 2 is its non-linear game
play.  No one has to conform to any story line or task.  It's
a playground for a gamer to relax and do with as he wishes (as long as
it fits into the EULA standards of course).  Some have even found
an amount of solace in chasing new players around while shrouded in a
monstrous illusion.  Whatever you chose to do is up to you, even
if it is grinding for hours at a time just to get to that next plateau
of Everquest 2 enlightenment.

Have fun and don't hurt yourselves.