Is the grind faster in this game than Shards of Dalaya?

Current EQ Live grind might be a bit faster than SoD, but only because of the game ruining Defiant drops and other rediculous attempts to hold onto their player base.

SoD, being completely rewritten (everything from all new items, quests and zone connections), feels like the game did back in the Kunark and Vellious days. The grind is made easier by making groups equal in XP gain no matter if you have two or six people, everybody earns the same as if they were duoing! Experience gains are written out in plain numerical value, and it even breaks down your modifiers (for example, the Newport Sewers give you a +15% xp bonus just for being there, and if you are new to any given zone, you gain a further 25% bonus for a significant time, gradually reducing in returns).

The grind might not be as fast, but if you add in the Main Quest, which has xp rewards of 100,000 multiple times and can easily take you from 1-65, all the while learning Dalaya's amazing backstory), I'd say the run to 65 (SoD's max level) is perfect! Throw in the ongoing war trying to take over our cities, and you have the recipe for greatness.

My character, Bume, is level 61 right now with 3 AA's and has a played time of 11 days (and he's my first character in SoD... no twinking, no power-leveling).

Although you should probably check the SoD wiki out and read the "What is different from Live" page to make your own opinion. shardsofdalaya.com