Maybe this is only tangentially related to the topic, I hate HATE hate HATE hate it when you have a fixed number of characters with different skills, but only the ones in the party gain EXP. Therefore all these other party members are rendered pointless because it's bad enough having to grind the main party, much less others.

There are some games where it's acceptable, Pokemon being an obvious example. I've just come off FFIV TAY and feel grumpy that so many of my characters were perma-benched in the last chapter, so maybe that's what has fueled my rage.