Welcome to MMOs. The grind is a part of every MMO in existence. At least.. every successful MMO. They simply do it differently compared to one another.

The grind is designed to keep you playing and thus keep your subscription active. Without it, SE would not make nearly as much money with XIV as they do.

Plus, 8 hours all together out of, lets estimate 40 free time hours, isn't that bad. It also makes sense since MMOs are designed to be time sinks.