Grinding In GW2.

[Valeron]

Yeah, I can't imagine anything more grindy than getting GWAMM. Although if you find it fun then it really isn't a grind (getting the cartographer title killed my desire to pursue GWAMM).

[Fencers]

so much fun though. some of those zones are so well designed. GW1 still looks pretty good, guys.

the worst GW1 grind, as in the one that put me off- the sunspears. good lord!

[Valeron]

Some of the areas do look really nice. I just hated having to scrape everything. I mean finding that last .01%....really....sucked.

[Odeezee]

Ha! Have you seen the amount of achievements you needed in GW1 to max out? Just the one where you explore the entire world could take months- and clear every _single_ baddie.

I did it twice! ;D

you need Jesus!

[Fencers]

you need Jesus!

CORRECTION: I need a job. D:

[Deleted]

I really hope the grind isn't as bad as in GW1. Though the grind wasn't compulsory, it was the only thing left to do after finishing the campaigns (barring PvP). I remember trying vanquishing Cantha after the feature had been introduced to get the title but it was just too much. I think I finished ~10 zones before I quit. Its just not worth it for the small reward you get.

From what I've seen of the new achievement system, they seem to be going in the same direction again. Hopefully its not too grindy this time around.

[Deleted]

I don't care too much about grinding but the less there is the better it is.

[Durzlla]

Yeah, I can't imagine anything more grindy than getting GWAMM. Although if you find it fun then it really isn't a grind (getting the cartographer title killed my desire to pursue GWAMM).

This, personally i'll likely have GWAMM....eventually (got the game 7 months ago it'll be some time...), mostly because i find everything you need to do for it fun and not grindy at all... Then again i'm one of the weird people that likes to see every single shred of the map, and eliminate every enemy to show my dominance and claim everything in the name of the asura!!

[Odeezee]

CORRECTION: I need a job. D:

really? GREAT! i have one for you...get me GWAMM. we can talk payment when the job is done ^^

[papajohn4]

Although I have voted none of the answers were clearly represent me..And that because grind is considered a "bad" thing for some people because they don't know what grind really is...I am ok with Grind as long as I do it for a specific reason...getting materials to craft awesome gear, gaining reputation with a faction, e.t.c. The only grind I don't like is the grind to gain levels without any other meaningfull reward.

But the question is what defines an activity if it is grind or not?Because people tend to blame an activity as grind when the activity simple allow them to progress their character in their own pace...

Example :

1)Kill 10 wolves every day for 40 days (400 wolves total) and you will get exalted with the x faction. Not 9 nor 11, but 10. And if one day you cannot login (and you make our server activity seems low, so we must punish you), you cannot recover that day you lost. Thats the epic discovery of dailies from developers.

2)Kill 400 wolves and you will get exalted..you will decide when and how much per day.

Surprisingly, most of the people think that option 2 is grind!while option 1 is a wise discovery for the casuals...so first of all we have to define what is grind really..and when we agree we can talk if we want or not...I prefer anything that I can do in my own pace...I don't care how much I need to kill or how slow/fast I ll reach my goal, I just want to control when and how I will reach my goal and not to be forced to login every day to do X thing or else I loose progression

[Fencers]

really? GREAT! i have one for you...get me GWAMM. we can talk payment when the job is done ^^

Well, I didn't want to sound creepy but... I finished off my sister's GWAMM so she can have stuff in GW2. And also, I am just desperate enough to take the job... call me!

[Ynna]

Although I have voted none of the answers were clearly represent me..And that because grind is considered a "bad" thing for some people because they don't know what grind really is...I am ok with Grind as long as I do it for a specific reason...getting materials to craft awesome gear, gaining reputation with a faction, e.t.c. The only grind I don't like is the grind to gain levels without any other meaningfull reward.

But the question is what defines an activity if it is grind or not?Because people tend to blame an activity as grind when the activity simple allow them to progress their character in their own pace...

Example :

1)Kill 10 wolves every day for 40 days (400 wolves total) and you will get exalted with the x faction. Not 9 nor 11, but 10. And if one day you cannot login (and you make our server activity seems low, so we must punish you), you cannot recover that day you lost. Thats the epic discovery of dailies from developers.

2)Kill 400 wolves and you will get exalted..you will decide when and how much per day.

Surprisingly, most of the people think that option 2 is grind!while option 1 is a wise discovery for the casuals...so first of all we have to define what is grind really..and when we agree we can talk if we want or not...I prefer anything that I can do in my own pace...I don't care how much I need to kill or how slow/fast I ll reach my goal, I just want to control when and how I will reach my goal and not to be forced to login every day to do X thing or else I loose progression

Actually, both are grindy for different reasons. And the second example will feel more like a grind, since most people want to reach goals in one big go. That's how quests generally work. You have a major one, which breaks into smaller sub-quests. And it's unlikely that "kill 400 wolves" is a main one (and if it is, it's a terrible one). When the quest pop up, people will think about every one of the 400 wolves they'll have to kill, probably one at a time. And as soon as they get the quest, they'll start killing wolves until they have to quit or get bored, and they'll talk about the "fucking annoying grind of the one wolf-quest".

A better quest would probably be to kill 400 wolves in total, but you can only kill a set number (say 70) per week. This sounds more manageable, and the "per week" implies it's designed to be done in parts, not in one big go and even that's not perfect.

And we've already established that it's impossible to find a true definition for grind. We haven't even been able to come up with a proper ad-hoc definition of it, since it's experienced differently by everyone.

[Blood Crusade]

After playing L2 for years grinding has been a part of my playing experience. I don't overly enjoy it, but when there's to much of it, I get bored. Now, if I can grind with a party of friends for said grind periods and not lose much out of it, then I'll be just fine.

[I like pie]

Given GW2's purported combat system, I think grinding will much more enjoyable than in a hotkeyed MMO like WoW, where all you do is press the same 3 buttons, in the same order, repeatedly, then dingle around and wait for respawns.

Pretty much, we'll have to see how we take to grinding in a game like GW2 because combat is so awesome. I'm sure they will add a bunch of titles/emotes etc. for people that DO want to grind, like they did in GW1.

[papajohn4]

Actually, both are grindy for different reasons. And the second example will feel more like a grind, since most people want to reach goals in one big go. That's how quests generally work. You have a major one, which breaks into smaller sub-quests. And it's unlikely that "kill 400 wolves" is a main one (and if it is, it's a terrible one). When the quest pop up, people will think about every one of the 400 wolves they'll have to kill, probably one at a time. And as soon as they get the quest, they'll start killing wolves until they have to quit or get bored, and they'll talk about the "fucking annoying grind of the one wolf-quest".

A better quest would probably be to kill 400 wolves in total, but you can only kill a set number (say 70) per week. This sounds more manageable, and the "per week" implies it's designed to be done in parts, not in one big go and even that's not perfect.

And we've already established that it's impossible to find a true definition for grind. We haven't even been able to come up with a proper ad-hoc definition of it, since it's experienced differently by everyone.

So it is clearly psychological...It is the lack of people to control their selves and manage their time/activity correctly. I agree with you that the most people would try kill the 400 wolves at once, than having to separate it into smaller tasks. But the truth is that the effort is exactly the same. Either we like it or not, rewards need activity (kill, travel, use, e.t.c). Either you are free to manage your activity time or the game force you to specific activity per week/day...But at the end of the day , when you will go to that vendor and claim your rewards, that rewards have the same "activity" cost..

Personally I haven't done dailies last 2 years..I refuse to take part in this stupid and lazy design because I feel I am cheated to login every day and do something that I must do or else I get penalized. Remember TBC for example. Everything was repeatable.

Consortium : Zaxxis insignia turn in quest
Lower city : Arakkoa feather
Skyguard : kills mobs give rep, plus shadow oil (something like that)
sporregar : repeatable quest
Maggar : Ogres in Nagrand
Aldor/Scryer : repeatable turn in quests

And probably more I cannot remember now. I never felt that I must do all this at once! And some of them I never did them, but when I decided to do some of them it was really fun because it was my choice when I will do them and how much time per day I put on this. The alternative would be to have to do 1 quest every day and gather, 10 zaxxis insignia, 10 mark of sargeras, 30 arakkoa feather, e.t.c.

So are people able to control their activity/time and manage it wise? Or people need a “daddy” to tell them every day what to do and for how long and if they don't there is some kind of punishment?

[Uriel]

so the game isnt out yet nor a playable alpha or anything and you ask questions about it? Or do you ask in generall?

what do you mean by grinding anyway? Farming stuff for profession? Killing mobs to grind exp? farming repuation or farming maybe arrows or potions?

for me farming is ok. In Wrath i kinda enjoyed it to fly around sholazar mining ore and sucking Gascloudes on my eng. Farming made alot more sence back then as it does today.
I played Mythos the free2play game. Half of each level must be done by grinding Exp from Mobs wich took quite a while because most questchains where buggy. I was ok with that as long i see the goal behind it. It was ok it was fun cause you got drops wich you may use and tons of gold or Professionstuff.

In GW1 i didnt had to grind for professions. Most of the stuff i needed to improve my armor i got by collecting stuff from mobs i had to slay anyway. It was more than enough to craft nice stuff exept for rare materials but those are of course rare.

basically each RPG is a Grind. you kill stuff to collect Armorprieces, then you kill even stronger stuff to get even stonger Armor and so on... I dont mind cause it belongs to the genre. Also the game doesnt getting worn out so fast. Sadly thats one points Blizzard changed over the last several month. Grinding implies being patient... most of the community unlearned to be patience anymore.

[Ynna]

So it is clearly psychological...It is the lack of people to control their selves and manage their time/activity correctly. I agree with you that the most people would try kill the 400 wolves at once, than having to separate it into smaller tasks. But the truth is that the effort is exactly the same. Either we like it or not, rewards need activity (kill, travel, use, e.t.c). Either you are free to manage your activity time or the game force you to specific activity per week/day...But at the end of the day , when you will go to that vendor and claim your rewards, that rewards have the same "activity" cost..

[...]

So are people able to control their activity/time and manage it wise? Or people need a “daddy” to tell them every day what to do and for how long and if they don't there is some kind of punishment?

The effort is the same (obviously, you have to kill 400 wolves in total), but human nature is to just tackle the activity until bored and then (when they come back to the activity) will decide to separate it into smaller activities. And since

You can't fight human nature.

why don't we just divide the tasks for them.

And both the dailies and the TBC-way you described do that, just differently.

[Cuchulainn]

so the game isnt out yet nor a playable alpha or anything and you ask questions about it? Or do you ask in generall?

what do you mean by grinding anyway? Farming stuff for profession? Killing mobs to grind exp? farming repuation or farming maybe arrows or potions?

It's really any way you want to take it. Some people can even go as far as to say "By the simple act of playing a game, you're grinding for no IRL reward. Thus playing games in general is a grind". I'm really leaving this thread open for people to interpret and discuss why they do or don't like grinding in the way they see it.

[Barrowmore]

I love how there's 0 reason for me to do anything resembling dailies in GW2 as a PvPer with no interest in playing dress up with my character. It just makes things like grinding money in WoW for gems, enchants, etc. seem laughable.

[Cuchulainn]

I love how there's 0 reason for me to do anything resembling dailies in GW2 as a PvPer with no interest in playing dress up with my character. It just makes things like grinding money in WoW for gems, enchants, etc. seem laughable.

A good point. I also think it's pretty awesome that a player can get from 1-80 just by PvPing and all the gear rewards and enhancements accumulate as you keep PvPing. ANet really hit the nail on the head with this one. It really does make grinding for PvP gems, Enchants, Gear sound silly as a toothless blonde whore.