There is only as much grinding as you want it to be in this game, pretty much the charm of the game. You dont need to level if you don't want to, you can instantly make a pvp char and just take part in competitive pvp if that's what you prefer. Or, if you are a lore nerd that want to explore there's a big world and enough lvls to do that. And if you want to take part in large wars you can do that and gain levels, and leaving out the pve part as well. You can craft and farm and have a busy economy at AH if that's your kind of play. Or you can hang around in the cities and take part in minigames. Or you can do it all =) It's all a matter of choice really, and that's probably what's amazing with this game: there's something for everyone to enjoy the way they want to.