I take "grind parties" to mean fighting single mobs like a FFXI XP party. I haven't done that in FFXIV. I enjoyed it to a point in FFXI, but I prefer something more varied. Still, I would say adding a chain/link bonus is an improvement over the current system.

For the leveling journey I'd like to see something like the FFXI assault system with an XP award for completion of each mission. That's what I envisioned when I first heard about guild leves. Sadly, FFXIV guild leves are a pale shadow of FFXI assaults.