I hate feeling like a cog in the machine — like my actions don’t matter, like I’m wading through tedium before I can get to the ‘meaningful’ part. Tedium exasperates me, makes me start thinking about depressing things like not reaching my true potential. This is true in both real life as well as in games.

So it should come as no surprise that I hate grinding in games, even though just about every title — from popular games Call of Duty to the smallest, esoteric RPGs, force me to do it. There must be a reason for the constant inclusion of the grind — either people can enjoy it, or it provides something worthwhile for game designers.