"In Praise of the Grind"
by Mike Schramm 
Aug 9th 2006 at 9:30PM
Liz Lawley posted a great piece over at Terranova this past weekend, in which she sings the praises of the grind. She compares it to pulling weeds-- a "mindless" and yet "indescribably satisfying" task. Unlike most players, who seem to be making an end run for 60 as fast as they possibly can, she revels in the grind. She actually enjoys the hacking and slashing of countless unnamed mobs, picking up the loot left over, and moving on... to more of the same.And I have to say, I agree with her. I play mostly PVE, not because I'm a carebear, but because there's a very Zen beauty to getting in the groove of collecting loot and XP just for collecting's sake. My NE hunter was my first character, and I had grinding with her down to a science-- Mark the mob, send the pet, put on a sting, pour on DPS until the monster closes, and then hack and dodge until it's dead. Finally, mark the next mob, skin the killed one, and send the pet off to start it all over again. I was almost angry when my bags filled and I had to head back to town and break my rhythm.
I will say that having music or television on in the background helps a lot-- I've made it through seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development across all of my many alts, and with the upcoming iTunes controls, listening to music will be easier than ever. But there's still a certain thrill in drinking in the game Blizzard has created all by itself, away from prepubescent gankers, angry guilds rolling on l33t gear, and QQing whiners. Next time you're in Azeroth, give it a try-- close your chat windows, choose a nice secluded glade, and grind, grind, grind away.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Tips, Quests
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Methodical Aug 9th 2006 10:54PM
Man, I'm quitting _because_ of the grind. Going out to grind more isn't going to get me back into the game.
I might've done this if I was playing when WoW first came out and was a pretty, interesting game compared to what else was out there. But come on, are there no other mindless games - online or single-player - that you find fun? Wouldn't yoga or some other physical activity be at least a healthier way to listen to music and achieve a state of Zen?
Pzychotix Aug 10th 2006 3:18AM
Almost EVERY game has a grind component to it. There's not much anyone can do about it. But for me, I didn't find it that bad to grind from 1-60. First 10-20 levels just breeze on by. After that, you've got the grind on.
For me, this was my first time in Azeroth, so I haven't seen a lot of thing. That's a plus and a downside. That means every once in a while, I can just go wandering, in search of that perfect grind spot, allowing me to rest up for another grueling grind session. That also means I have to go wandering, in search of that perfect grind spot, wasting possible grinding time. But sometimes I just grind in a crappy place anyways. The secret?
Having a 180 episode series for you to watch. I have a second computer, constantly cranked to youtube, and there I found a loooong series for me to watch constantly while I was on the grind. Since all you need to do in most cases is press a series of buttons, it's easy to grind while not paying attention to the screen. It's really not that bad.
Tad Aug 10th 2006 9:45AM
I've never been able to quantify why I don't mind grinding, but that "pulling weeds" analogy fits.
Sure, if you focus completely on WoW grinding it very quickly becomes tedious and soul sapping. But there's something very soothing about going through your favorite TV show (with http://ui.worldofwar.net/ui.php?id=649), getting into a rythmn, and just coasting.
I've watched every season of Farscape, Futurama, Family Guy, Scrubs, Fawlty Towers, and Firefly (twice) in their entireties while grinding away in WoW. Very relaxing.