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

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

Usually I am to be a few levels over a the area, not enough to make it too difficult while leaving some challenge. There are cases where I disregard this, and power level so I have the next level of skills/spells that grant me a distinct edge in the next battle.

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

See question 2.

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?

It depends on how many playable characters there are, and if I feel they are worthwhile to train. On the second play through of most games I usually plan ahead and only utilize characters that I feel would be best for a secret/difficult boss.

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?

That would be my 300 hour play though of Suikoden III. Much of that was spent rather evenly throughout the game, obtaining rare drops and equipment as soon as they were available and increasing my stats to allow me to beat Luc and company in the storyline battles where you are expected to loose. I also attempted to train a good deal of playable characters for the strategy battles as well. Runner up would be my 200 hour play through of FFX, where I planned my leveling strategy to beat all the arena bosses (including "Omega Gold"). I basically did every side quest, went for every item as soon as it was possible to get it, and tried have everyone learn the next level skills (for example, I had Lulu on Fireaga when you would normally be on Fira.) I also took to time to convert Yuna to a black mage right after leaving Luca (due to rewards from Blitzball), as her magic attack is much higher than Lulu's.

5) Do you normally level up in every RPG you play? By that - ie grinding like an over-worked bitchy mom.

Yes, I glean some satisfaction from dominating every boss I run into, knowing that the extra time I spent leveling up or obtaining a powerful skill or weapon made it possible.

Jam it back in, in the dark.