Grinding: Is it half the fun?

GRINDING. Why do we do it??I’ve pumped well over 1,000 hours into my all-time favorite game (insert your game here) over the years despite the fact “the whole story” can be completed in less than 40 hours.?So what gives? As marketers we often think about this very thing- but here are some thoughts that I believe we all can benefit from.

I overhear my son groan painfully (while he was playing his go-to FPS) “this is taking forEVER” ?and then takes off his headset, which makes me think me of my own experiences going on goose chases too numerous to count. The only reason I could think of why I kept at it was the VIEW along the way was SO PRETTY.?I’ve witnessed spectacular sunsets, snow storms and lightning strikes while going to a location the equivalent of hundreds of miles to dispatch bad guys and sometimes getting rewarded with a “thing/perk/etc” that didn’t necessarily make my gameplay improve that much.

Why? From a ‘brain science’ point of view, we know that intermittent reinforcement of an expected and predictable reward will continue to facilitate that particular activity- that much is pretty well documented- then it occurred to me: Is the old cliché getting there is half the fun, really true?

It turns out, it is.?

If I was traveling to the same place with the same view with no ‘unexpected encounters’- I’d probably stop.?If I had to ‘grind’ in the same area doing EXACTLY the same actions ?(think athletic drills without ever getting to scrimmage) waiting for my rewards to respawn…or not…my mind will probably go to all the other stuff going on in my immediate surroundings and I’d leave that world/area/map (insert your game here). Unless, the grind was connected to something I already enjoy doing for its own sake- like a PvP with my buddies in order to have that somewhat random drop materialize. If not- no big deal, I would have lit up the other team anyways ‘just for the fun of it’.?

The grind can be rewarding. The grind can be fun. Games ARE fun, and by definition- a “good game” is challenging AND rewarding. Will?I see something along my travels 'in-game' that is interesting- far off on the horizon- whether I visit it or not??YES PLEASE- I’ll keep exploring this exotic locale for the 10th time because of the “what if” while I travel may be triggered.?The grind must have some element of unpredictability in order to be ‘fun’ in and of itself.

Why do we grind? I think the answer- as sappy is it sounds; is hope.?Hope is a story we tell ourselves- a story about the promise of the rewards within reach.?As marketers, we must keep a careful read on the pulse of our community, listen to their groans as well as their cheers- and create experiences for them that make the view along the way just as rewarding as the payoff.