I have often wondered about this. Nearly every Asian-style MMO I have played has been a grind-fest. Little or no story lines, no emphasis on role-playing. No plots, hardly eny meaningful quests. Just grind, grind, grind, grind.

What is the attraction? I cannot get my head around it. I know it has something to do with a cultural differences, and someone once mentioned that it was because they are more community based, but what has that got to do with grinding games?

I wish I could understand it, as then I might be able to enjoy some of them more, if I realised the point.

I hope this post does not sound patronising, as it is not intended. I am not saying that our games are better than their's. I would just like to know what it is about. If I could suss it out, then I could really get into some of those free2play's in my hard drive.

Because it builds up community. In order to level up faster you need to group, which in turns gives more exp per players, (most of the asian mmo). Unlike WoW , Lotr that makes you share your exp when in group, which makes players want to solo more unless you are in end-game raid.

2 reasons come to mind right off the top of my head.....



1.) The Asian market seems to like games that have a higher emphasis on PvP than PvE questing. They like many Westerners think that battling other players is far more gratifying then killing AI mobs even though most of their games involve endless grinding on the AI to get to the good PvP. The main difference is the PvP in Asian market games usually has some world defining meaning to it, usually in the form of Clan/Guild territorial control.



2.) The Asian mentality that anything worth having is worth a lot of effort to achieve. This permiates Asian society on the whole and it reflects in their games. (This is meant as a complement to Asians so please don't start accusing me of stereotyping like some asshats on this forum like to do.)



These seem to be the main 2 reasons although there may be more.

OR, they are simply going for the easy way to earn money.
If any of asian games happen to go global, without a deep/complicated storyline, translation is faster and easier.

Asia is huge with many gaming companies. So if you are starting to wonder why cant they just put their efforts together to make a good game, they cant. With so many companies, obviously theres a competition to make the better game at a faster speed. Since gfx cards are constantly improving, instead of competing for better storyline, companies are competing to get better graphics. (look at AoC)
You dont see blizzard working with sony to make the world's most amazing game, that will never happen.

And whats with plot-critiques nowadays. Movies/games everything has to be a good complicated plot? Look at the old films like Con Air / Topgun, all simple plots yet huge hits at their times. Even old mmos like T4C / Ultima online / Helbreath, simple plots, yet huge hits at their times. Quit whining, all because you are getting older/numb to mmorpgs doesnt mean developers HAVE to build games to YOUR needs. Its all about the huge masses, and the minorities who keep whining are always ignored.

They are easier to make then games with storyline.

Maybe because there's nothing else to choose from?

maybe someone said about community games because of lots ov parties needed for the grind fest. indeed quests are rarely highlighted in asian mmo's, while some mmo's quests could have been a great centerpiece but quickly forgotten.

........i like to grind....O.o
5 hrs straight is my max
u get nice drops from mobs

I can't stand the grind >.< I love questing <3. But as a gamer I have to accept the grind and do it anyway... It's part of the unwritten code of MMO players.



P.s. Grats Windi3 in getting Formal Moderator!
This post has been modified on Jul 09 , 2008 11:36:10 AM by Shadowfox1.

I think it's because a lot of Asian gamers like the feeling of progression and accomplishment. Many that I have met/played with always wanted to max out their characters and get the best gear. Grinding is usually the most efficient way of leveling and you tend to get good drops off of mobs when you're grinding them for hours.

In my opinion, most players even if they are not Asians don't even care about the story of the game, if there is one. They think that it's a waste of time doing quest to level wherein they have the choice to level just by doing a killing spree on monsters. Every players goal is to be number one in the game he/she is playing after all if they can't do it in real life at least they were able to accomplish it through games.

Well, I would think that the grind is there to make the achievements through patience actually worth something.

The first asian MMORPGs were massive grind, influenced by games such as Dragon Quest. There just isn't enough content if there wasn't grind.

Yes, making content to please the massive amount of people who come to play MMO's without Grinding as a timewaster would probably be impossible.

No work = no pay, work for your stuff. Economy would be screwed without grind, if everybody could farm hotspots with their high levels, would there even be an economy?

Thanks for being racially specific.

I like grind fest when I'm actually with friends seeing them and having some good laughs and chats along the way. It's less boring then.

*Sigh* Think about it. Ever played a MMORPG without grind? I mean not like Guild Wars but WITHOUT leveling. Its boring. really boring. Grind gives people a feeling of Achievement, As example. Yay level 121!!! You get the feeling you are getting stronger every level. And in the end it pays off with the endgame content. Without leveling a mmorpg is just boring.

First what its the meaning of grinding? for me its being in the same spot for 4 our 5 hours just killing mobs, becouse you got no quests to do, what happens alot in F2p games.


For me for example, if i grind for 1 or 2 hours im bored and i leave the game for the day.

it might be wrong misconcept becouse alot of ocidental..people play for huge amounts of times, maybe asian people generally take it more seriously.

I cant see myself grinding (not playing) in the same monsters for 5 or 6 hours.

I think it is not just the Asians. Every group of people has its own share of those who love grinding...
Well I guess we shouldn't generalise that all Asians are like that.
Do note that China and Korea alone added up together is not even half of Asia. =P

Hard workers?