Obviously me, and many, many others

by Leisandir , Virginia, USA, Wednesday, February 27, 2013, 20:47 (4290 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Ideally, if we're going to have rewards based on gameplay, they're distributed at a rate which matches the amount you want to play. That's not grinding; that's the equivalent of playing through the main quest in, say, Final Fantasy and leveling at a rate appropriate to the challenge of the enemies you're fighting.

Grinding is common but not required for a game which uses player investment. I have trouble imagining grinding in a first-person shooter, but then again, I don't play Call of Duty, so what can I say?

I've been sitting here trying to work out what I want to say, and I'm still not completely sure, but I do know that I still don't agree with you. :p To go back to League, which you mentioned earlier: you earn currency at a decent rate which allows you to purchase characters in about the time it takes to get familiar with them, and that rate is tied to your success, which means that when you perform better, you unlock at about double the rate. I play regularly, and I only purchase champions with currency I've earned through playing; but Riot has a good idea with the cosmetic options: since you can only access those by spending money, and since they have no influence on gameplay, they are more than optional. Riot found something that people are willing to purchase which does not affect the quality of the game itself in any way, which allows them to make everything which does affect the players available as a reward for playing while still earning enough to continue to produce new content. Win-win.

Now if only they could fix player attitude, we'd have a game that's just all around good.