There's always some degree of grind, yes. That doesn't make it fun, unless you like grinding. "It's always been this way" doesn't excuse poor design.
The problem is these systems aren't supposed to be fun-- they are thinly disguised retention mechanisms. That's their design goal and they effectively do that. So this comes down to intention rather than implementation. The devs want it this way because WoW is a subscription title and they need some sort of infinite or high-capped progression to keep players engaged.