The Grind in Live Service Games: When Catching Up Seems Impossible
Drawing on experiences from Skull and Bones and Hitwicket
Since mid-February this year, my daily routine has been far from normal. Without an alarm clock, I wake up around 4 am, to spend a couple of hours playing Skull and Bones. Despite the abundant advice from my friends and readers to find something else to play, I am drawn to the soothing waters surrounding Saint Anne and Telok Panjarah during these early hours.
In the evenings, I’ve spent time trying to master the cricket-based arcade game Hitwicket on my phone since early February, particularly in anticipation of this year’s IPL. In terms of sheer numbers, I have invested over a hundred hours unlocking my Sambuk and equipping it with four sets of Zamzama IIIs in Skull and Bones, and a good amount of time in Hitwicket to progress from a team of eleven common players to a strategic mix of reliable ones, then starred them up, and am now working towards a roster of brilliant players. As the grind in both games continues, I can’t help but wonder how it shapes my daily schedule.
If you have ever played a live service or free-to-play (f2p) game, you have most likely spent time farming for resources, leveling up characters, gear, or structures in some capacity. All in the hope to achieve something unique, unlock something worthy or to overcome a difficult challenge. The grind is a big part of gaming experiences, almost akin to a right of passage, as players often spend numerous hours finding the most efficient ways to succeed.
The grind is also significant labor though and it often leads many to question its enjoyment when gamers commit to its various rigors. Recently, psychologist Dr Jamie Madigan on his website “The Psychology of Gaming,” observed how grinding in-games is an attractive proposition to gamers because it eliminated “the worst of the uncertainty, helplessness, ambiguity, and consequences for failure that come with those real-world jobs.” In other words, players choose to perform labor in games because the rewards the virtual world are unlikely to change.
However, this is easier said than done, especially in live service games that have been operational for over a year or two with dedicated player bases. In such games the gulf between a new player and a regular player seems impossible to bridge and, at times, even daunting.
For example, in my case with Hitwicket (launched in 2022), I am significantly behind regular players in my gaming journey, whereas in Skull and Bones, due to playing since the game’s beta, I am considerably ahead of newcomers. Looking at the in-game communities surrounding both games, it is important to ask: how do game makers offer opportunities to new players to bridge gap while ensuring that long-time players continue to enjoy the grind?
This is something I am witnessing firsthand in Skull and Bones, as most dedicated players have achieved the maximum possible rewards that season 1 can offer and have chosen to continue stockpiling resources. However, many players’ in-game messages revolve around how their efforts from this season will mean nothing when the new season arrives, as the game aims to attract new players and is expected to reset all progress. As uncertainty swirls within the game’s community, players are left wondering whether the game or its grind are worth their time.
The makers of Skull and Bones find themselves in an unenviable position. If season two proves to be extremely popular and attracts many new players, they may have no choice but to use it as an opportunity to relaunch the game, potentially sacrificing the interests of existing players.
Similarly, if a popular game like Hitwicketwere to gain numerous new players during the IPL season, the game’s makers face the challenge of retaining them while also remaining attractive to both new and existing players.
Questions, I have no answers for but are unique to games. As game makers increasingly envision prolonged journeys for their players, addressing these will require both experimentation and reflection. The grind though, is unavoidable, I guess?
