Elden Ring and the age-old question of farming

No, this is not a guide on how to get basic runes elden ringNor is it a collection of tips and explanations for beginners or how to make your character unstoppable, you won’t find videos or instructions on secret areas, weapons to discover, or new summons. Nor is it a review of the current game, capable of monopolizing the social feeds of all players, whether or not interested in FromSoftware’s latest endeavors.

We don’t want to go into the mass of opinions given by reviews, math averages, Metacritic / Opencritic data, positive or negative comments from journalists, gamers, programmers, industry experts, etc. You won’t even read controversy or criticism, which we think is and should be, about a game that’s sure to be talked about for years to come.

Instead, we’re going to be looking at an aspect of Elden Ring that’s influenced by the different players, or the “Agriculture”, an operation that may or may not be necessary in some cases, which allows the player to level up again and again by repeating certain actions in order to collect the runes necessary to increase the various statistics.

Agriculture is well known

There’s no question that farming is a widespread practice, we’re not just referring to Elden Ring, we want to extend the concept to the whole gaming world, at least in games where it’s possible to practice it. Besides, who hasn’t resorted to little tricks to scrape up some more experience points to level up and maybe unlock a previously useless ability or weapon? In fact, nobody forbids us to repeat certain actions tens, hundreds, thousands of times to continue killing certain enemies after theirs“forced” Rebirth for 10, 100, 1000 runes.

In a brilliant episode of South Park (Make love not Warcraft, Season 8 – Episode 10) The four friendly protagonists of the animated series spend days and days killing boars to reach a level that allows them to face a very powerful character. Of course, taking advantage of the TV show’s freedom of expression, things take a completely out of control turn, even if it still has a happy ending despite Kenny’s (virtual) death.

The ethics of agriculture

So, is accumulating resources a valid alternative to more ethical gameplay? Is that tantamount to breaking the rules? Elden Ring does not slow down or limit this loop of kills, respawns, resets, etc. They are techniques that can help players on several points, to advance a few levels, to have another advantage against enemies that are too powerful in certain phases of the game, or to get a statistic that then allows us to use a weapon or a newly obtained one Sign.

It is therefore not a punishable practice if progression (especially in an open-world title) is non-linear and does not follow a predetermined line or path within the game. Free exploration allows us to choose our path and the same freedom can lead us to locations destined for a character of a higher level than our current one. The solution can only be the acquisition of new skills or abilities through the progression of the character level.

Which one of you hasn’t faced skeletons right away? dark souls go to the cemetery? Skeletons that usually represent the enemy’s idea, fragile and easy to defeat, as games like taught us Castlevania or The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. However, the path through the graveyard (unless you’re traversing it in Usain Bolt mode) is downright punishing if you grapple with it in the early stages of the adventure.
In Elden Ring, the first major obstacle that comes to mind is hands down Margit, the inexorable omeneager to put aside our foolish ambitions and even those of our wolf allies summoned by Spirit Ash.

It is therefore not possible to say whether farming is a right or wrong practice, should be condemned or acquitted. If anything, it is a means to achieve an end, e.g. B. promoting the growth of the character level by level or the need to exploit it to get a better weapon. Of course, it is also possible to get runes in other ways, but since there are no restrictions and the world is huge and full of dangers and opportunities, why not use every opportunity that presents itself to collect a few more runes, since it is easy to lose?

Let us close this brief reflection with the memory of waking up at dawn thinking of the harvest FARMHOUSEthen it was serious business Agriculture. The virtual fields on which the plantations would be planned and the free time in which they could then be harvested were the subject of the study and the result of careful calculations and angry sharing on Facebook. The fields of Sepolcrides they will never be able to keep up with those of FARMVILLE and the lettering POWERFUL ENEMY SHOOTED will never give us and our “neighbors” satisfaction as a rosette.