Take a look at World of Warcraft grinds for a sec. Every day in there, you will here people talking about levelling up. Some people are grinding to 80, others are powerlevelling, questing, or running instances until they get to 80. Different takes on exactly the same activity. Or take a look at what I am doing right now on my Warrior. I am grinding Warsong Gulch to get the marks for the mounts (working on my 100 mount achievement). I feel compelled to do it to get the mounts, yet I hate the actual Battleground and feel forced to do it repetitively. Yet, there are some other people who do the same thing I am doing (endless WSG), some even with the same objective in mind, who enjoy it. Those people are not grinding, I am.Originally Posted by JKTrix
Precisely why I love the Sessler's Soapbox series. What you see on G4TV productions is scripted. He is playing a part.
The Soapbox is where he is allowed to speak in a more 'real' manner, while still kind of in an official context. The man is an Executive at G4, one of the bosses. I have heard him in other podcasts over the years and in candid discussions. He has a level head. I don't really care for his scripted antics on TV (I haven't watched G4 in a long, long time...at least a year and a half), but I respect the man himself.
As far as the definition of 'the act of grinding', you're right, it is not fun and he doesn't address that specifically. I think it is the reward of the 'grind' that makes it fun for him. It seems he was talking in the context of Borderlands (and a little bit of Too Human), which is a loot grind much like Diablo. And people enjoy playing Diablo.
In the gaming context, people do use the word 'grind' as a negative attribute. So, he is showing this video as a counter-point. 'Grinding', designed well, might not seem like the chore it is. A point that may be difficult for members of a JRPG fan site to easily grasp.
A grind is never fun. No matter how repetitious a game is (and tons of games have repetitious gameplay without being accused of grinding), if you are having fun playing it, it's not a grind, it's just playing the game. It only becomes a grind when you are not having fun at the repetitious activity (and, thus, are usually doing it for a reward that you think will be worth it).
So a grind in a game is never defensible. What he was doing in Borderlands was not a grind. He was enjoying the hell out of it, and doing it just because he liked the activity, not for any reward at the end (at least, not that he mentioned). As he said, he was doing it because he wanted to be doing it, and that is not a grind, that's just good gameplay. Repetition is not necessarily a bad thing, but a grind is.
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