>>45884138>zero effort, maximum rewardI think that's a fairly good definition, though it depends on how you define "effort"
Does "effort" mean the amount of time and labor you put in or the amount of thought and skill involved?
Because those aren't the same. Grinding is high on "time and labor" but very very low on "thought and skill". To me, "cheese" is usually the other way around - something where it takes a pretty in-depth understanding of the game mechanics to be able to pull off, but once you know how to do it, it's quick.
To use an analogy, say you're trying to open a combination padlock. One way to do it would be to painstakingly try every combination. Another way would be just shimming the lock with the right shaped tool. Both are "incorrect" ways to open a lock, but I'd say that only the latter is "cheese" while the former is something else - more like "brute force"
>And the game punishing you by making you come up with a better strategy is worse than the game punishing you by making you grind because...?In a well-designed game, "coming up with a better strategy" is always going to be an option anyway - even if grinding is available. And it's the more desirable strategy, too, because who wants to sit around in the grass for an hour beating weak Pokemon for measly exp? Or at least, re-thinking your strategy SHOULD be better when compared to grinding - if it's not, there's something wrong with your game. The most common culprit is that "come up with a better strategy" actually means "use a different team" which, in practical terms, translates to "catch a Pokemon (or several) and grind it a LOT". If your strategy to prevent grinding actually forces players to grind, you messed up somewhere.
Grinding is inherently boring and undesirable. If players are choosing to grind, that means they think the other options are even more undesirable. Making grinding impossible doesn't solve the problem - you need to give players options that are better than grinding.
