You are an asset to a group day one( you can rez,gank and just as another body and set of eyes) around 2 months playing somewhat casually you should be a big asset( you should have no problem getting a 2H mastery to 50-75, have all the needed spells in LM and GM, and should have no problem getting atleast 1 other school to 100(even less time if you play more) 4-6 months you should be an initial part of the group!( yes the higher your stats and skills the more damage you do and the more you can take, but that means much less in group fights) So you wont be able to waste many above your player or toon skill level 1v1 at that point but you should not expect to correct?

Wolfgang if you played for 2 years as long as you didn't just sit around the city your toon should be MORE than ready to pvp even 1v1 and absolutly in a group. At this point you could choose to continue to grind if you so wished but could purly pvp if you wanted. I myself like grinding, farming or whatever you want to call it. It can be fun if you make it so and of course earns you gold and items with which to further your bank and or toon, also it gives me a sence of accomplishment and short term and long term goals. If all I did was pvp by my own choice or if they changed it to be that way it would remove much of the sandbox aspect and I assume everyone that is unhappy with it now would still be unhappy. With all the changes they have made to skill ups and including meditation I personally see no need to increase or change it further.

We can all agree that DF is as hardcore as it comes and is unforgiving, some like it..many don't. But The "grind" will ALWAYS be there for a persistant MMO and is not as bad as it is in some games, it is other aspects of the game that make many blame it all on this "grind". I see no problem with the general aspect of DF and have never been presented with any kind of proof/evidence or witnessed any on my own that says different. It's certainly not for everyone(we all all unique) but thousands of people enjoy it daily.

Sinij as far as pve goes you cant expect to stand there toe to toe with a mob(s) and exchange hit for hit with it especially if its a mob that for instance say my toon could not do. I would be more than willing to help you out 1 on 1 it getting a better grasp of what DF is and what it takes, hit me up in vent or pm me here and we can set a time/date to go over the basics.