So these are all very good points, but they really do illustrate the problem very well. First off, "grind' does not equal "character progression". You are right in that people want systems of progression, but you shouldn't use it with grind interchangeably. They are not the same. A grind is an implementation of a sort of progression system, but it is not the sole implementation. Coming up with fun, rewarding, and innovative implementations of progression has been pretty much the problem with the industry since WoW came out. WoW, in 2004, came out with the archetype that you see today, and now many of the mmos that have come out since have been labled wow clones mainly due to similar mechanics. You have rep grinds, xp grinds, quest grinds, craft grinds etc. in pretty much every single one of these games and they all play remarkably similarly. Its the reason you see many franchises that you might expect to have successful games really not enjoy anywhere near the same success as a WoW. People have been there and done that, and the ones that arent there anymore are looking for something truly innovative to come of the out of the industry to catch their attention. Why play a LOTRO, SWTOR or whatever when it is pretty much the same thing as WoW? The only reason would be is if you are interested in that IP more. Right now I feel the industry is in stagnation and this video and the views of WoW devs demonstrates this to a great degree.

-Greeve