It is far less linear, since your characters can take any path they wanted from the very beginning of the game. The Liscence Board, on the other hand, cannot be customized, yet I feel that it is a far better system than the Sphere grid.

There are some really screwy calculations there. Yet, if you want to use the spheres for Aeon enhancement, you must gather an entire stack and waste them all to gain a single point in a stat. Spheres were extremely easy to come by, making them useless for the sphere grid system, since the odds of not having a needed Power, Mana, Speed, or Ability sphere is slim to none. Certainly, the Sphere Grid had more customization potential, but you could not access the vast majority of that potential until the very end of the game. It's just more versatile and offers deeper customization IMHO. On the otherhand, when you complete the License Board, you gain access to customize your party however you see fit and you can even change their customizations within battles which gives you a better strategic edge. In FFX, by the time your party finishes the initial path of there character (usually end game), they really don't need to go any farther in the grid except to level to fight optional creatures in the Monster Arena. The board is smaller than the Sphere Grid but it allows for deeper customization.

I prefer the License Board cause it is far more excessable and allows you to create the job class system (The system I really love) for your party.

Of anything, it taught me how tedious leveling really is. I don't think the Sphere Grid system is bad mind you, rather I just didn't think it was some great system template that every FF should follow. I'll stick up for the License Board since I never cared for the Sphere Grid system.

Kotetsu ffxii license board