The days of real parties with 6 people grinding for xp were generally no different than grinding for xp now. Either way it's soul-crusingingly boring and repetative. I honestly do not see any difference at all in xp grinding between colibri and abyssea except the difference in xp gain. You fight and kill things that don't give much fight back continuously, over and over again, for hours. What put it in your head that there was any diference at all? There's no more or less skill involved in XPing in abyssea as there was on colibris. The only difference is the omgwtfbbq massive WS numbers that really don't mean much because EVERYONE is doing them, and the higher rate of xp gain. Why would I want to go back to the same old thing for a tenth the xp, when I'm doing the exact same thing now for ten times as much? There was no skill involved in the old days of xp parties, except maybe in your puller, and that hasn't changed now. There was no need for epic gear in the old days of xp parties, it helped to have epic gear, but things generally died just as fast as they did without it. I don't see what you're complaining about. I don't get the comparison that you're trying to make. Things are no different now than they were then, except you've got a billion and one gimps running around in embarrassingly bad gear with their skill lvl 200 lvls under cap because of the speed with which they can gain xp these days. Is that what you're complaining about? If so, just say so and quit trying to make comparisons that don't make any sense. Perhaps you meant NMs and HNMs and such? Because your post seems more like you're trying to complain about there being no more challenge in those rather than in getting xp. If so, I suggest you go try voidwatch. It's quite enjoyably challenging after the ease of abyssea NMs.
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In my day vampires sucked blood... not cock.
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I killed Asmodean, let the speculation end.