Before I post my question, I just want to point out that I have read down through 7 pages of posts. If the answer to this has been answered I apologize. . .
As a FF veteran I found leveling fairly easy (although if you note my sig you will see that I didn't get past 40 with any job). 85% of my time was spent crafting, fishing, gardening, and doing other things that were terribly slow. The last job I leveled, ranger, I took from 1-35 in less than a week. Exp didn't bother me, but there were built in timesinks into the game (no easy travel from the 3 major cities to each other, airship waits up to 12 minutes, AF quests which could keep you at a certain level for a month, etc).
So my question is this: After a month or two on the game, how is your progress? Are there huge undertakings that depend on higher level help or an alliance like AF quests? Are these seen as mandatory for your character like AF quests, or as luxuries, i.e., carby mittens. Is the pace of leveling ok? Please keep in mind I almost always take specialized jobs so I don't mind a party-centric focus when it comes to exp.
Sorry that my comparisons are FF based (something I'm sure this board is quite tired of), but it's my only frame of reference. I've already retired from FF, but before I pick up another game I want to be sure I'm not going to be spending 42 hours fishing for a .6 raise in skill (really happened). Thanks for all responses.
Oh also, dial up ok? My comp can handle nearly anything, but we live in the sticks. . .