Which is why I said, itās not about what you do, itās about what you know. If you are still learning things then itās not a grind by definition.
Destiny 2 is a grind. You sit there in the same area killing the same stuff until you get the magic drop, then it may or may not be the thing you need. Then you get the next quest and itās do it all over again with a different mob and a different item. Specifically referring to the recent Black Armory update. Thatās a grind. Thereās nothing to figure out, and no way to get around it except playing the game for hours doing nothing.
Also, the stone leveling thing is super boring, and IMO robs you of the feeling of accomplishment of leveling through normal means.
Starting out, you need rock anyway. You need coal anyway, and iron, and copper, and money, and various other items and materials. You need to get this stuff, and in getting that stuff, you happen to get a lot of rock. Then you craft that rock. Not sure what the big deal is here. You make a bunch of tables, queue it up, eat a pie (or not, at low levels you donāt even need pie) and come back the next day. No grind at all, it just juices the rock for exp while you sleep. The only way for this to be a grind is for you to NOT know that you should craft ALL your rock whether you need it or not, because it uses zero resources (except time) to do it. Or to not realize that you really should get the mass craft epic.
robs you of the feeling of accomplishment
You realize that this specific phrase, āfeeling of accomplishmentā is a running joke in the industry as a euphemism for boring grind? It was mentioned by EA in relation to having to grind for something in some game, I think Star Wars Battlefront. Point being, you canāt say itās a grind and also you want to HAVE to earn the levels to feel a āfeeling of accomplishmentā, those are two mutually distinct things. Seriously if you just had replied to my post saying āWhy craft rock when I can just get a feeling of accomplishment?ā I would have LOLād and considered it a sarcastic joke. Thatās the context the phrase is used in.
On top of that, if you DO craft all that rock, you can start building with it which also gives a MASSIVE amount of experience. Just, tons. The fastest is still 3x3 mining, but on my crafter who does all my normal crafting, and forging, etc. it just barely keeps pace with my wifeās level, and she does a ton of building. She does crafting as well, but mainly, she has built a small city worth of stuff, and got max level for it. Building gives you a TON of experience, and you need stuff to build with, and crafting stone gives that to you. The game is just rewarding you for doing the things you really should be doing.
I maintain that if you are learning, itās not a grind, there has never been any game described as āI am still grinding through seeing new things and figuring it outā, thatās ridiculous.