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<generator>Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/</generator><item><title><![CDATA[The Daily Grind: Leveling, the playing field]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/03/02/the-daily-grind-leveling-the-playing-field/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/03/02/the-daily-grind-leveling-the-playing-field/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/03/02/the-daily-grind-leveling-the-playing-field/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/culture/" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/game-mechanics/" rel="tag">Game mechanics</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/leveling/" rel="tag">Leveling</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/opinion/" rel="tag">Opinion</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/the-daily-grind/" rel="tag">The Daily Grind</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.startrekonline.com"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="top" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2010/03/sto-leveling-epl-301.jpg"  alt="" /></a></div>
They might be called <a href="http://www.cityofheroes.com">security levels</a>, they might be <a href="http://www.ddo.com">split between ranks and levels</a>, they might <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com">disguise themslves as skill grinds</a>. But in pretty much any MMO you care to name, there will be levels of some kind. (The only exception that springs to mind is <a href="http://www.secondlife.com"><em>Second Life</em></a>, and <a href="http://www.brokentoys.org/2007/07/14/utopia-hidden-underground-another-look-at-sl/">even that can be argued</a>.) Generally, it's accepted that the most meat to the game will come after you've made it to the apex of the leveling curve, whether it's a low cap or a high one. But that's not when you started liking the game -- no, even though most players see it as an impediment to getting to the good part, the leveling game is what first hooks you on the game as a whole. <br />
<br />
So today, we ask a simple question -- what game have you played where you most enjoyed the leveling process? Forget all of the endgame nonsense, whether you had <a href="http://www.playonline.com">a broad endgame</a> or <a href="http://www.champions-online.com">a fairly narrow one</a>. When did you just enjoy the path toward the endgame, perhaps even enough to be a bit saddened when it was over? Or have you always wanted to just get to the end without bothering with the whole "journey" element?<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/03/02/the-daily-grind-leveling-the-playing-field/">The Daily Grind: Leveling, the playing field</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/03/02/the-daily-grind-leveling-the-playing-field/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19378079/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/03/02/the-daily-grind-leveling-the-playing-field/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>disguised-levels</category><category>endgame</category><category>journey</category><category>level-grinding</category><category>level-up</category><category>leveling</category><category>leveling-up</category><category>levels</category><category>process</category><category>second-life</category><category>sl</category><category>tdg</category><category>the-daily-grind</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Eliot Lefebvre]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST</pubDate></item></channel></rss>
