Quote Originally Posted by Titania40 View Post
Um... Are you seriously claiming that leveling is not content, while then explaining about how Runescape's entire content setup is centered around leveling skills? If leveling is NOT content, then explain to me where the bulk of the content in 30 to 50 hour JRPGs is. Because level grinding is typically 70% of a JRPG's content... at least.

Final Fantasy 1 has one optional side quest, 10 or 11 main tasks, 7 or 8 (depending on how you count them) dungeons which are each mostly rather short, and can easily take 30 hours to beat casually. The vast majority of that 30 hours is grinding xp to level up enough to survive the next area and/or dungeon and grinding money to buy equipment/spells. There are sections of some dungeons that are specifically put in for level grinding, such as a loop in the Earth Cave's first floor that has battles against 2-4 ogres every single step for most of the loop. It doesn't go anywhere, just provides constant battles against foes which at that level provide a good amount of XP.
Why are you using a last-ditch effort game from nearly 40 years ago as a counterexample?