In the past, everything was better, some players say that about MMORPGs. This is not true for many elements, such as graphics, combat systems, or often the general scope of content. But MMORPGs used to be played differently, and that was mainly due to how grinding was done, says MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch.
MMORPGs have always been grind-heavy games. If I want to be among the best, I need to invest time. I must reach max level, farm the perfect equipment, and learn the mechanics of bosses as well as my own class. If I want to be the best PvP player, I need to understand all classes in the game.
However, something about grinding has changed in recent years. In the past, I played and farmed the things that I simply enjoyed:
- In Guild Wars 1, I spent countless evenings farming reputation for the Luxon faction with friends, or we repeatedly entered the Rift – an elite instance – to complete the Rift armor. Plus, I loved coming up with crazy farm builds that allowed me to solo bosses, such as with skills like Shadowform that made me immune to spells.
- In Ragnarok Online, I often went to low-level areas to farm mobs for useful loot to sell for a good price. It was simple and effective.
- Even in the early days of Guild Wars 2, I enjoyed simply farming specific materials at certain locations – without any guidelines or restrictions.
Today, however, much of the grind involves repeatedly completing specific tasks, especially daily and weekly quests. And that can be quite annoying.
Daily tasks are effective, and it’s bad if you miss them
The idea behind these tasks is clear to me: the developers want me to log in regularly, thus boosting player statistics and making it more likely for me to spend money. As a result, some MMORPGs almost begin to feel like work.
Guild Wars 2, for example, has introduced more daily and weekly tasks over time. Initially, the system was very open, with simple rewards for X kills, X different mob types, X events, and X resources collected per day. I could complete these achievements almost anywhere, regardless of my playstyle.
Today, I must complete more specific tasks and am forced into different contents, such as WvW, minigames, or PvP. Additionally, there are daily rewards for attack missions, fractals, world bosses, and weekly rewards for raids. On top of that, there are a lot more daily cooldowns, such as for crafting, material converters, or certain vendors.
Moreover, in 2013, daily login rewards were introduced, which naturally encourage players to log in every day.
Now I don’t have to do these daily contents, but I know that I will miss out on money and important rewards. This triggers “Fear Of Missing Out” – the fear of missing something if I don’t log in and complete the tasks daily.
Others are doing it too and have an advantage! Plus, I could really use that gold or those materials next week. If only I had logged in … Such thoughts are familiar to most of you.
Even in my current favorite MMORPG, New World, I am playing less the content I want, and instead focus on grinding gypsum casts for a higher gear level.
Additionally, I complete three faction missions daily, at least two dungeons, two rounds of Outpost Rush, and run a round of portal events. In the beginning, this was quite varied but now feels more like work.
However, it is perfected by Lost Ark. Ideally, you do every day:
- 2 Chaos Dungeons
- 2 Guardian Raids
- 3 Daily Achievements
However, not just once, but all this on 6 different characters. Each of these brings rewards. Additionally, there is once account-wide the Adventure Island, a boss rush, a cube, and a world boss or chaos gate. That adds up to about 2-4 play hours per day.
On top of that, there are weekly raids that you ideally complete with multiple characters. If you don’t want to miss anything, you can easily spend 30 play hours a week just on these challenges – login rewards included.
Grind yes, but does it have to be annoying and dictated by developers?
Those who read my columns know that I view grind critically – especially when it could simply be avoided:
- I reluctantly struggle through long leveling phases in older MMORPGs, such as FFXIV, and appreciate that you can buy story skips.
- In Lost Ark, I invested 90 euros to reach an acceptable point in the endgame.
- I am even convinced that MMORPGs without catchup mechanics will decline in the long run because many simply do not want to invest weeks or months to catch up with their friends.
However, in the endgame itself, I can fully understand the grind. If you want the perfect equipment or the most money, you need to invest time. But this time should be spent where you have fun, not where the game forces you to go.
Because often, these daily and weekly restrictions ensure that I can only play a certain content once. I can’t spend dozens of hours every day in an instance, like the Rift in Guild Wars 1. Often, it isn’t worth going back to an instance after one run – or in the case of Lost Ark after 6 characters.
So I am not only forced into specific contents but also excluded, at least a little, from those that I enjoy. That’s why some MMORPGs feel more like work than fun.
What do you think about daily and weekly tasks and cooldowns? Is that something good, or could you do without them?
By the way, those hoping for a new MMORPG with a lot of freedom should keep this title on their radar:
