P2W is getting a lot of flak, but any game where you have to do not-fun grinding to get to the "good part" is effectively P2W. You are trading something of value, your time, not because the activity is fun, but because it gives you power to then enjoy the game. It's P2W, just not using currency.

And this trade is arguably worse overall for society than P2W using money. In that, you are producing something of value for society to get that money; in grind-to-win, you are producing nothing of value for society (and the game company gets no compensation as a result.)

The cost of a grindy game can be shockingly high, if you bother to compute the value of the time you are spending on it. That you find the grind tolerable doesn't reduce this cost.