Why gate what makes your game fun behind a grind? The word Grind btw is a colloquialism for a long tedious, and insufferable task.
MO2 will never do PvE better than what's out on the market. It's the PvP and its connection the world that matters. Why would you gate what makes your game fun and unique behind a grind?
"Don't worry man this game gets good after 80 hours."
Great so after the equivalent of 2 weeks of an additional full time job they finally in their time of leisure get to have fun.
"It's the grind that makes it Hardcore"
There is nothing hardcore about doing a repetitive task, that you can ultimately automate with a single line of code.
There are players who will stick around for the promise of what MO2 can be. However, they are the MINORITY.
You have to be able to show new players the hook, what makes your game great in the first day.
"Yea man I tried that game. I hit a rock with torch for an hour and then stabbed a glitchy zombie in the face that rubber banded back, and walked around a giant empty city. It sucked."
First impressions are pretty important, and unfortunately I doubt this game will ever have a great first impression, but it can still survive if players can get to the promise of this game is fast enough. An 80 hour grind (two weeks) is more then a bad first impression it's a bad minimum wage job.
The investment in this game is the guilds, the politics, the resources, the industry, the economy.
Setting up a macro to left click while you watch reruns of Always Sunny isn't intriguing
