Getting weapons in FFXII is the same as questing to get 12 Gnoll Paws so you can get a better staff in WoW. Nobody would say they were farming gnolls to get the quest item, nobody I know at least. Also, you have to grind up levels to even get the chance to kill the thing that might drop the loot you need to get the sword...ugh.

You basically have to grind in FFXII to kill the optional bosses, because while you can beat the last boss with a party in the 50's, you have to be 99 for the last hunt. No matter how you cut it, that adds up to hours of grinding just to build levels, which got boring for me. I have an entire party in the 70's, and I just don't feel like grinding for 20-something more levels.

On gear: I just made sure I had the best weapons and shields for everyone, and didn't worry too much about armor until pretty near the end of the storyline. I don't know if that was the best way, but keeping everybody in the best everything would have gotten too expensive.