spex·er·cise [spehks-er-size]
–noun .
- Doing a repeated activity that is painful or tedious with the intent of building up skill or attributes, on a virtual character
- Exercise for your specs, ’speccing out’
Example: “I’m going to see how many whelps I can kill in 1 hour… starting now.. and GO”
Example: “Anyone here going to hit the raid (gym)? I need someone to spot me.”
Example: Murloc villages may not have much variety, but they make for good spexercise
[Origin: 2000+, ’specs’ + ‘pectorals’ + ‘exercise’]
The more I think about it, logging in to raise a level, get another roll on that Tier 3, or most other forms of PvE play have a lot in common with physical exercise (or mental exercise). I have the same feeling of ‘feeling the burn’ and toughing it out killing a bunch of mobs repeatedly or running an instance I’ve done many times before. It’s the feeling of suffering through hardship for some gradual nearly invisible gain. It’s doing an activity (walking a treadmill) without any goal (you’re not getting anywhere, you must look really stupid). But the gains from these activities are implied and understood (and made more measurable in a virtual world), but are generally not apparent as you exercise (you don’t see yourself getting thinner). In fact it can be argued that due to leveling pace and ’stepped’ levels (not gradual, consistent increases), the rewards from exercise in a virtual world are more apparent (and more rewarding).
However, that doesn’t change that the mentality is identical to self-punishment (including anorexia, self-flagellation by monks, etc). Let me cause discomfort to myself because it’ll make me a better person, without any immediate obvious proof that this is the case.
Competitive play is more immediately rewarding (victory), and PvE teamwork can be a reward unto itself. But why do we really spexercise our in-game characters? How much more does it help us get dates in Goldshire? A lot? A little? And how gold farmers and other bowflex/diet pill/thighmaster promises can prey on our get-rich-quick mentality that has been set up by this mindset.
It feels to me perhaps more sinister than it is (even though I enjoy the martyrium of a good exercise), but I don’t think I’m wrong in saying there’s something psychological about it.
The term is ‘grinding’ and has been for a long, long time.
I agree that the first definition could also refer to grinding, but the second one is more about the act of ‘flexing nuts,’ so-to-speak. Doing things that show off your skills (or skillpoints, or whatever the game has =P)