I Like Circles!!!

I go back and forth in straight lines usually if I'm grinding, though for the most part I despise random encounters.

On the earlier ff's with tiles I walk in squares, in the later ones i tend to walk back and forth in time with the music if possible.

Usually a circle around a save point, but if the game gets you into battles based on the running animation, and not actual distance moved (FFX and FFX-2 come to mind), I'll put my character next to a wall, and hold the controller down until I see the screen switch.

There are exceedingly few RPG's I've played where grinding is required if I fight the battles I run into while simply playing the game, so I rarely grind. If I do have to though, I prefer to just run in any old random direction changing my path often. Except for in 2D RPG's anyway. In those I'll just move back and forth between two squares.

I pretty much do the same as scrumpleberry.

I run in circles most games. Sometimes I run randomly though, when circles bore me.

When I'm really bored (mostly when I'm grinding...) I tend to trace the surroundings so that I walk on every square.

8's. In FFVIII you can get in this pattern without touching eachother. It looks funny.

Depends on where I am. If I can opt for a wide circle I'll tend to go for that. Otherwise it varies between circles, lines or following the boundary of an area.

BoB has the right idea.

The figure 8.

I usually follow the boundary of an area and run back and forth between exits. Though it's rare that I actually bother as I'm not a big fan of random encounters.

I usually find the longest stretch of land in the area and run from one end to the other for a long time.

I used to have a third-party turbo controller that came in handy for levelling.

What I would do was set the turbo (so that holding down a button = multiple presses), tape down the X (or O) button, loop an elastic band around the analog stick and go to bed.

It was also good for FFX-2 and the Gunner dressphere's Trigger Happy. It made the Via Infinito easy as.

What the heck happened to that controller anyways? *curious*