As everyone, or the vast majority know, Dynamight posed a game determined to put aside the grind system.
But what is Grind?
According to my definition, it is any process oriented to perform a certain action, or group of actions repetitively in order to acquire access to "something" that means the progress of our character, the increase of his faculties, his power or access to new options in the game.
With this in mind, it is very difficult to think that an MMORPG game can be totally free of this type of mechanics.
For example, to get a house the player needs a certain amount of gold (500 coins during the last alpha test). Acquiring these coins is nothing more nor less than a form of "Grind". Kill over and over and over again the same type of NPC in order to get the gold to "access" a new option in the game, "Housing".
In this aspect and trying to stay true to the concept of "Nothing of Grind" I think that a solution would be that access to the lot to build the house has to be obtained through a totally different system, such as:
- Solve a random generation puzzle.
- Clear the area of random enemies to claim it.
- PVP duel between 2 players who want to claim the same place.
- A challenge of questions about lore.
- A chain of unique missions.
And many other shapes that do not represent something repetitive and monotonous, or at least, not so obvious.
Returning to the specific topic of gold and grind during the alpha test, yes, in the end the game will have the ability to offer different ways to get these coins (rewards, sale of objects to NPCs, market, trade, etc.), the point is that the ¨currencies¨ in any game that has them fulfill a certain function designed and oriented to regulate most of the activities, from encouraging their accumulation to promoting their spending, thus making a forced cycle where the most obvious result is nothing more or nothing less than the "Grind" of said precious asset.
This opens the question that if in a game like Dynamight proposed it is convenient to have this type of system to regulate the economy and access to other functions.
We will see how it turns out...