Faster leveling N0o0o0o0o0o!

[Rutelor]

Some people like the grind, others don't. Simple as that. There's plenty of things to level in the game if that suits your fancy. Half the point of letting you play all the classes on one character is to easily allow those that want to level to keep on leveling after they finish one class. Those that don't like it as much however, can move on to the things they really enjoy.

The problem is this destroys the possibility of building a real meritocracy, which to my eyes appears as the only option to build a solid game community in which mutual respect works as a coalescing agent. "If you like grinding, go grind raptors until you're blue, but don't impose your play style on the rest of us" is NOT a valid response, nor a strong argument. It ignores that bragging-rights and collective competitiveness stand at the center of the magnet that brings us here. We need equalizers in game structures; imagine for a second how fair (or not) it would feel for one team in a soccer match to play within the game's strictures, while the other team were allowed to use their hands to lead the ball, and to score from off-side positions. Games tie our hands to make us overcome hurdles (or they make us jump in sack bags, or force us to run holding eggs on a spoon balanced precariously by our teeth and lip muscles).

How would your summer-BBQ audience appreciate your grabbing the egg with your hand, spitting the spoon and running all the way to the finish line? Or if you removed your blindfold to give the donkey its tail back, while the rest of your co-competitors wandered aimlessly towards the opposite wall? MMOs are not exceptions to any of this. Or they shouldn't be.

R