In many MMOs players spend a lot of their time grinding. Meaning: stupid and repetitive killing of monsters without influencing the virtual world at all to gain experience, faction points, reagents, gold, and so on. That's because the actions of a players are and have to be limited and because there isn't really a difference to the normal „real life grind“ (earn money to live, repeat certain actions daily / weekly / monthly).
But what about the escapism? Don't we log in virtual worlds to escape from the daily real life grind? So why do we accept grinding in virtual worlds? Economists say this is due to the 'homo oeconomicus' – the benefit is greater than the cost. But are we really benefit- or even profit-oriented in virtual worlds? The other model is the 'homo sociologicus' – we repeat actions to take care of our character (we farm health potion ingredients to increase our survivability in cooperative battles).
Overall, it's all about gratification: we grind to increase our character's abilities and skills, to fill some bar to it's end to gain access to the ultimate abilities of our character. We are rewarded, but the reward is fleeting. This lacks in long-term motivation, though. And this is what makes players stick to a game, to continue paying their monthly fees. Thus, games should provide long-term motivation, put an intrinsic meaning in every action of the players. And not provide another time sink.
But what about the escapism? Don't we log in virtual worlds to escape from the daily real life grind? So why do we accept grinding in virtual worlds? Economists say this is due to the 'homo oeconomicus' – the benefit is greater than the cost. But are we really benefit- or even profit-oriented in virtual worlds? The other model is the 'homo sociologicus' – we repeat actions to take care of our character (we farm health potion ingredients to increase our survivability in cooperative battles).
Overall, it's all about gratification: we grind to increase our character's abilities and skills, to fill some bar to it's end to gain access to the ultimate abilities of our character. We are rewarded, but the reward is fleeting. This lacks in long-term motivation, though. And this is what makes players stick to a game, to continue paying their monthly fees. Thus, games should provide long-term motivation, put an intrinsic meaning in every action of the players. And not provide another time sink.
No comments:
Post a Comment