Really depends. Exp points range from a mere UI feature for skill progress (you’ve picked a lock you’re this much closer to getting better at picking locks), over fungible skill progress (you’ve picked 100 locks so you get stronger and can spend a skill point on archery), to pay2win madness.
Structurally exp points come into play each time any progression in a game is not immediate – “defeat the guardian at the gate, now you can go through the gate” has a 1:1 relationship between things-you-do to more-access-to-things, if you have to collect ten fox skins to gift to the guardian to let you through that’s a 10:1 relationship. Doesn’t sound like exp but in the raw game mechanics those things are isomorphic.
…to bring that later point a bit into perspective: Imagine a card game where you have five stacks of ten cards. You draw cards from the first stack (not just the top card) until you get a certain card that’s guaranteed to be in there (say the ace of spades), once you have it you can continue to draw from that stack, or move on to the second stack. Once you’ve drawn the special card from the last stack the game is presumed over though you’re free to both draw from any stack that still has cards on it, as well as sit around on the table doing nothing.
Doesn’t sound like a game? Uninteresting? It depends: It’s the mechanics of your usual walking simulator and they can tell very good stories. It’s progression by (semi-)random n:1 actions. If the environmental storytelling is good, if the setting is engaging, if the mystery is enticing, then time will pass like nothing. If you’re doing it with actual cards yes it’s pure grind.
tl;dr: It’s (modulo pay2win bullshit) not about the raw game mechanics, but how they’re dressed up, that make things grindy or not.
There are lots of other ways for progression instead of inflicting more damage because of some numbers.
I think of:
Just getting better at jumping/slashing/tactics
Having limited gear that you have to switch out or improve throughout the story
Gaining new abilities or allies
And just that if you keep “improving” and inflicting more damage and have higher defense, at the same time the opponents become stronger, it would have been the exact same difficulty level if the numbers just stayed the same.
Really depends. Exp points range from a mere UI feature for skill progress (you’ve picked a lock you’re this much closer to getting better at picking locks), over fungible skill progress (you’ve picked 100 locks so you get stronger and can spend a skill point on archery), to pay2win madness.
Structurally exp points come into play each time any progression in a game is not immediate – “defeat the guardian at the gate, now you can go through the gate” has a 1:1 relationship between things-you-do to more-access-to-things, if you have to collect ten fox skins to gift to the guardian to let you through that’s a 10:1 relationship. Doesn’t sound like exp but in the raw game mechanics those things are isomorphic.
…to bring that later point a bit into perspective: Imagine a card game where you have five stacks of ten cards. You draw cards from the first stack (not just the top card) until you get a certain card that’s guaranteed to be in there (say the ace of spades), once you have it you can continue to draw from that stack, or move on to the second stack. Once you’ve drawn the special card from the last stack the game is presumed over though you’re free to both draw from any stack that still has cards on it, as well as sit around on the table doing nothing.
Doesn’t sound like a game? Uninteresting? It depends: It’s the mechanics of your usual walking simulator and they can tell very good stories. It’s progression by (semi-)random n:1 actions. If the environmental storytelling is good, if the setting is engaging, if the mystery is enticing, then time will pass like nothing. If you’re doing it with actual cards yes it’s pure grind.
tl;dr: It’s (modulo pay2win bullshit) not about the raw game mechanics, but how they’re dressed up, that make things grindy or not.
There are lots of other ways for progression instead of inflicting more damage because of some numbers.
I think of:
Just getting better at jumping/slashing/tactics
Having limited gear that you have to switch out or improve throughout the story
Gaining new abilities or allies
And just that if you keep “improving” and inflicting more damage and have higher defense, at the same time the opponents become stronger, it would have been the exact same difficulty level if the numbers just stayed the same.