Stat Maxing

FFX cheat disc + autofire controller = maxed out sphere grid with no effort whatsoever on the part of the player :D

the highest i have got a character (w/o cheat discs) is about
87-Fran on FFXII

i think i got cloud, yuffie and Vincent pretty high as well

FFVIII: I used the trick of not leveling up until I got the stat bonus junctions, and then leveled everyone up like that. I maxed everyone's stats with junctions, I didn't really feel like doing it for real. Maybe I will one day.

FFX: I have maxed the sphere grid. I did the trick in the Omega Ruins to open all 12 chests to get the 99 Warp Spheres, which made it rather easy.

Kingdom Hearts: It takes a while, but I have maxed Sora's stats in Kingdom Hearts. You just have to collect enough items and have the moogles make stat raising items. To have the maximum MP possible you have to choose the staff at the beginning and be wearing 3 Atlas Armlets. Gravija ftw. I have yet to max Donald or Goofy's stats.

FFIX: I am in the process of "maxing" stats in a perfect game here. I say "maxing" because it's not really possible to max stats in this game. You can max a stat, but to max one you kind of have to give up on others. With the exception of Zidane's speed stat, the only stat that any character can max in the first place is spirit, which maxes at 50, so everyone is maxing spirit and getting as large a stat as possible in the other stat they use the most. This is a detriment to some characters, like Quina who starts with a measly 11 Spirit. But for other characters it's not so bad, like Steiner, who can max his spirit and come one point shy of the maximum strength he can possibly have.

I've gotten some higher than necessary stats in some games, but since most FF's get easy long before you max your stats I've never bothered. I don't get any enjoyment from spending a lot of time and effort doing something with absolutely no payoff except for the fact that I could say I did it and show how much time I have on my hands. I'd rather beat games, sidequests and optional bosses at lower levels and feel bad ass because I survived when I probably shouldn't.

I always think to myself "OKAY, OKAY. I'M GOING TO DO IT THIS TIME. I'M GOING TO MAX OUT THEIR STATS" and then I go on to do it for about 5 minutes and then get distracted by the wall or carpet because it's so boring and a waste of time. I can understand if someone really, really likes a game but that's never been the case for me.

I actually try to keep my stats as low as possible while still being able to beat the game. I really liked FF10 because of how you could basically save your levels on the sphere grid until you needed them. Made the game more challenging and fun for me.

Unless I'm maxing ATK or HP or such-and-such for a specific reason, I ususally don't bother.

Power leveling bores me, and I can spend my time sleeping or watching TV... :rolleyes2

The highest levels I've ever had were 70~1 for Final Fantasy IV (the II-SNES Version)