Buzz
These were once very familiar practices that any gamer used to engage in.
It's undeniable that grind-heavy games still maintain a certain status, a definite place in the hearts of Vietnamese gamers. Even after the golden era of games like Võ Lâm Truyền Kỳ, Kiếm Thế, or MU Online, despite strong competition from MOBA and eSports titles, grind-heavy games continue to attract a large player base. However, with time, the culture and habits of many gamers have changed. Even habits that seemed ingrained in the older generation of gamers are gradually disappearing.
Headache-inducing character naming
In the past, not to mention choosing a martial arts school or a build direction, just coming up with a fitting, resonant name for one's character was quite a challenge. Especially in ancient-themed martial arts games, opting for a name with a strong martial arts vibe and significant impact was often a top priority for many gamers.
But nowadays, everything has become much simpler. Utilities have evolved to the point where users don't have to rack their brains too much. In fact, many games now feature a 'magic dice' option that, with just a click, randomly assigns a name for players to choose from. Instead of agonizing over it as before, now, auto features handle the character naming process for gamers.
Finding character building guides before playing
Traditionally, before stepping into an online game, old-school gamers always had the habit of thoroughly researching each faction, character they chose, thereby identifying the strengths and weaknesses and making decisions that suited themselves. It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that this was like a genuine 'research project'. Especially in an era where the Internet was not widely accessible, information was limited, and everything could only be sought through forums, 'researching' games became even more challenging.
But now, perhaps not many people have the patience to do this anymore. Simply play, and if it doesn't feel right, create a new account and start again, especially when it only takes a small amount of time to catch up with other players or even use 'godly' in-game currency to shorten the gap. Furthermore, the frequent launch of new servers by online games nowadays, sometimes weekly, makes it unnecessary to explore and study games before playing. Just play, experience, and then make your own decisions.
Joining guilds, seeking communities
Unlike in the past, guilds and communities in many modern online games no longer have the same cohesion and passion as before. This has also led to the fact that choosing guilds, seeking communities to exchange knowledge and make real-life friendships is no longer important. Moreover, guilds in many current grind-heavy games also fail to maintain offline gatherings or member recruitment drives as they did in the past. This is also why the grind-heavy gaming scene in Vietnam has been showing signs of decline in recent years.
