Questing or Camping

In MMOs one of the primary complaints has always been the 'grind' ... that is to say the repetitive completion of an action in order to gain the XP needed in order to gain the next level and advance your characters skills/abilities/power.

First of all I have always said, and continue to hold that the 'grind' is mental and is therefor never going to be eliminated. It is a state of mind rather than a function of any specific game mechanic. That is to say that all games (and life in general for that matter) have repetition, it is up to the player whether that repetition is a 'grind' or not.

The mental aspect of the 'grind', however, isn't what I intended to write about today.

As I've played MMOs over the years I've seen games move from the 'camp' based grind to the 'quest' based grind ... both have their advantages and their problems.

The 'camp' grind - This is the main 'grind' in many of the older MMOs such as Everquest where the majority of a characters experience was earned through defeating NPC foes. This lead to players finding NPC concentrations and setting up 'camps' pulling and killing the NPCs for the experience. Larger or stronger groups of players could, thus, lay claim to larger or stronger 'camps' in order to receive greater experience.

The primary disadvantages to the 'camp' style of grinding in the older MMOs were that 'good' camping areas became known and were often crowded or claimed by other players. It's static nature also contributed significantly to the 'grind' mentality as players frequently sat in an area for days or weeks worth of play time camping in a given area or zone. (20 levels or so fear kiting in the Overthere to name a personal experience)

The advantages, however, are more subtle and often over looked both by players and by designers. One of these is socializing - the ability to sit and chat while 'camping' in a given area. Socially there is also an advantage in creating multiple areas in which people can meet up and gather; that is to say that people will tend to go to the known camping areas, often logging out in the area as well, and as a result there will be a ready 'pool' of people with the same goal to form groups with.

This brings us to the 'quest' grind - Newer MMOs, in an attempt to 'eliminate the grind' have, of course, simply replaced it with another form of grinding. Basically they weighted the experience gain heavily toward quest completion, so hours of killing mobs was replaced with hours of running around completing quests. Tougher quests require stronger groups and give better rewards and experience.

The down sides to the 'quest' model are primarily travel and decreased socialization. Travel in that you spend time going to a quest hub, getting the quests, going to the quest areas, completing the quests and returning to the hub to turn in the quests and get follow-ups or new quests. The decrease in socialization is due both to people socializing less while traveling, and the complications it creates in group formation.

That is to say that even if you are at a quest hub you need to find a group, ideally, that is on the same quests as you, otherwise either you are repeating quests at minimal benefit to yourself to get others up to where you are, or others are repeating quests to catch you up to them. As a result some players will be unwilling to admit anyone into their groups if they aren't currently on certain quests.

The advantages are that it is a more active method of playing and sometimes can be easier to see progress as quest goals get checked off and experience is usually gained in large chunks at once. It keeps people moving and engages them more with the world around them and its lore.

Presently most games are all one way or the other ... that is to say that either questing experience gain so over powers camping experience that it is pointless to camp, or questing experience is virtually irrelevant and quests are only done for loot rewards or flavor by players interested in those things.

In many ways I think that this is a mistake. I like both systems, though I have to admit that in many ways I prefer the 'camp' system, and would like to see these two systems be able to live more in harmony than has yet been achieved.

Yes, in most 'quest' based systems you can choose to 'camp' in a traditional sense. You will still earn experience of course, but the problem is that you are essentially putting your character advancement on hold because the experience for killing NPCs is so anemic. In a single player game this wouldn't be an issue, but in a game where you end up dragging down your friends or guild as a result of your preferences it creates stress and tension if you choose to 'buck the game design.'

One of the 'problems' in balancing the two systems and having them work in harmony is the inherent boost that the 'quest' grind naturally gets ... that is to say that as you do the quest you get experience for killing the NPCs as needed for the quest, and then when you complete and turn in the quest you get an additional chunk of experience as a reward. So 'balancing' the two paths is somewhat of a developer's nightmare; too much of an experience boost from the turn in and we're essentially back to a pure quest grind system punishing those that choose not to quest, not enough and then the travel time and other such factors can quickly make questing too inefficient a path for leveling.

Of all the MMOGs I've played over the years, however, I find that I still, in many ways, prefer the 'camp' based grind of the original EverQuest. It may purely be nostalgia related as EQ was my first ever MMO, but actually I think it is because of the freedom it offers. I can still go and work on quests, and while it may mean putting my character's level advancement on hold for a bit while I do, the quests themselves offer their own rewards for completing them. It allows me to take a break from 'the grind' and still accomplish something, and, since quests themselves have their own advantages, it can be just as fun helping a friend finish a quest as it is gaining a new level.

On the other hand, in a 'quest' based system I find that since questing becomes the 'norm' in terms of gaining experience and levels the sense of accomplishment is really lost and as a result there is no satisfaction in the act of completing the quest itself. Psychologically there becomes nothing else to the game except earning the next level, or getting the next piece of gear and as a result it actually becomes more of a grind than camping ever really seemed to be.