Video games are infamous for their ability to drain people's time for hours and hours. The most notorious type of game to do this is the massively multiplayer online genre. They get their name from being multiplayer games filled with sometimes thousands of people that can play online together at the same time. Often referred to as MMOs, these games usually offer an endless amount of content to explore.
Some MMOs are so time-consuming that players are able to play them for over a decade and still not discover everything the game has to offer. This usually requires the player to grind the same content over and over again until they unlock whatever it is they need to. This strategy is sometimes looked down upon by gamers, but others love experiencing the grind.
8 Warframe
Warframe is a third person sci-fi MMO released in 2013. It features fast-paced action gameplay that allows players to shoot and stab their way through enemies as futuristic ninjas. Leveling up isn't particularly grindy in this game but getting end game loot definitely is.
Some players may have to grind the same missions for countless hours to get the drop they're looking for. Warframe has procedurally-generated levels which allows for a lot of variety in missions to keep players from getting bored doing the same content over and over again.
7 World Of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is possibly the most famous MMO of all time. Released in 2004, it's a third person role playing game set in the fantasy world of Azeroth that is featured in previous Warcraft games. Reaching max level in World of Warcraft doesn't take too much time but exploring everything the game has to offer can take years.
Once max level, the player must grind dungeons that'll then give them gear so they can grind some more in raids that'll then give them gear to grind some harder raids and so on. Also, doing every quest or achievement hunting is extremely time-consuming.
6 Black Desert Online
Black Desert Online is a Korean MMO that made its way to western audiences in 2016. It's a third person fantasy role playing game with a unique style of fast-paced combat. The game features an insane amount of quests and content to discover.
Due to its unique combat system, the developers made it so fighting endless waves of enemy mobs is the most efficient way to level. Luckily this combat system is so addicting and rewarding that players won't get bored slashing their way through enemies. However, reaching max level and getting endgame gear can take hundreds of hours of grinding.
5 Ragnarok Online
Another Korean MMO with lots of grinding is Ragnarok Online. Released in 2002, it's an old school role playing MMO based on a Korean comic. Ragnarok Online is different from most MMOs in that it doesn't offer many quests to complete. The core gameplay loop is grinding through the game's job system to get rare card drops.
Once the player reached max level and was tired of grinding for rare drops, they were able to "rebirth" their character and start all over again at level 1.
4 Wurm Online
Wurm Online is a lesser known MMO released in 2006 from the creator of Minecraft. It's a Swedish sandbox MMO featuring a unique building gameplay mechanic. Players can construct buildings like houses or castles, mine and collect resources in order to make tools, terraform and manipulate the land, explore underground, and perform other actions.
To craft a necessary item, players must first collect the correct tools and have the required skills. Grinding resources, skills, and items is a total time drainer. It can take a few real-time days to complete a single house.
3 MapleStory
MapleStory is a 2D side-scrollling MMO released in 2005. Like most role playing MMOs, players travel the world and defeat monsters to level up their skills and abilities. When the game was first released, reaching max level was seemingly impossible.
In 2010, they released the "Big Bang" update and changed its leveling system. Now it's easier to reach the level soft cap of 150 but reaching anything past that is still very time-consuming. Like others mentioned, leveling up is best achieved by simply grinding mobs of enemies rather than completing quests. It can sometimes take around 10 hours of grinding just to get 1% of level experience.
2 Tibia
Tibia is yet another role playing MMO with an unbelievable amount of grinding. It's a 2D tile-based game with pixel style graphics originally released all the way back in 1997. The game features an endless gameplay loop of killing monsters, grabbing loot, and gaining experience to level up.
This game is possibly the hardest game in history to reach max level 999. It can take years of game time to achieve this and even though the game has been out for decades, only a handful of players have actually reached max level.
1 Runescape
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Runescape is a massive fantasy role playing MMO originally released in 2001. It was a huge success and is still one of the most popular MMOs to this day. Runescape allows players to explore the vast world of Gielinor and offers no linear story progression. Players are allowed to play how they see fit and set their own goals and objectives.
There are seemingly endless waves of quests, enemies, and resources to experience. Like other old school MMOs, it requires hundreds of hours to progress through the levels and with how much content has released over the years, it will take thousands to explore everything the game has to offer.