Why Grind Quests Are And Will Always Be Bad

"Grind Quest"

It's a noun.  

              1. A computer game quest in which the player does something that is most likely too easy or too hard for their skill level, and which the player is asked to do over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

              2. What you do in a job you hate, except for virtual, in-game "rewards."

And now for a stunning change of topic: Xenoblade Chronicles is a wonderful game; it's so good, that mentioning the game in this post feels near terrible. Yet it is fitting, because its optional sidequests (and let's stress that word "optional") for the most part end up being grind quests. They are, almost all, of the "kill or collect x number of y" variety; they are the typical MMORPG stereotype quest, but IN A SINGLEPLAYER GAME. There existence in XC baffles me. More talk about them in this week's review.

There's no reason to cite the many psychological studies that say doing the same thing over and over again is bad for your happiness, because it's obvious. It is so obvious that I question the need for this post, so I will end this in this paragraph. In no game should grind quests exist (unless they're part of, say, an artistic statement....but even then!). Grind quests, as Jonathan Blow likes to remind us, are "unethical," which is a Blowian way of saying they're "Hitler." They exist in MMORPGs because they don't require you to be a skilled or smart player to complete them, and yield sexy, shallow rewards (such as in-game money, or temporarily cool loot, or extra XP), which is to say they exist in big budget MMORPGs because they addict players (via their easy, rewardingness), are easy to design, and guarantee the extension subscriptions. MONAEY!!!