It’s time to do the drill, LEVEL POWER UP TIME!

Originally Posted by Spatula

1) Do you level your guys up SIGNIFICANTLY higher than what’s expected for the current level/boss?

Only if I am playing the game for a second time, or if the game makes it too easy to grind levels. When I play through for the first time, I try to avoid a lot of grinding.

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2) Do you level your guys up so they can fight the boss on more “equal” footing, but still have some difficulty?

Only if the boss kicks my ass the first time I go into the fight. If I can get by without much extra grinding, I will.

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3) Do you level only certain party members in which ever RPG you might be playing, or do you go the full nine yards and get everyone maxed out?

I like to keep everyone who is available to me at a similar level, and I like to gain all available abilities by the end of the game. I don't mind a little grinding if it might gain me some extra abilities, but I don't want the game to be easy.

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4) What RPG do you recall has having the longest time spent on pure leveling up? Alright, running to the local town to restock supplies you can count, as long as it’s mainly just raising the level of your characters?

Does Disgaea count? If not, then I'd have to say that one of the Suikoden games was a big grindfest for me. At least those games make it relatively easy for you.

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5) Do you normally level up in every RPG you play?

If you mean grinding, then no. I could list several RPGs that I finished without ever doing that. I usually try to complete as many of the optional objectives in an RPG as I can find, and there are some RPGs that just lend themselves to level grinding, but other than that... such things are usually reserved for those RPGs that earn a second go-around.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Spatula

Oh, level grinding, not familiar with that term.

It's what the guys I know who play WoW call it. Since MMORPG are mostly about gaining levels in a routine and efficient manner, it was inevitable that some terms would be coined to describe it.

I don't play WoW, but it's just the perfect term to describe that feeling for the parts where you feel like you need to gain levels just to be able to progress. Somehow the word "grinding" describes the tedious process perfectly to me.

Incidentally, I gave up on Star Ocean 3 because I felt like I needed to grind just to stay alivel, and that made it feel like work, not fun. That's something I thought would be revelevant to your topic. I like for the progression to feel natural, in a game.

For some reason, I enjoy Disgaea and other titles in the SRPG genre though. I even enjoy the power-levelling in Disgaea. It's a different gameplay experience than gaining levels in a traditional RPG, and I can enjoy that kind of levelling up, and stat-based gameplay. It taps into a whole different part of my gaming brain.

There's nowhere I can't reach.