Caveat: I haven't played this, I'll give it a whirl when I'm allowed in in a bit and report back. But from my perspective, they took a mixture of idealistic elements from Eve and gameplay elements from LoL.
All games are grindy if you define it as "the path to get the best shit ever." It's a full loot open world PVP game ala Eve. Near as I can tell, it has similar safe zone design as Eve, too.
No one is going to grind endlessly, put on full BiS, and go pvp with it. Soloists will wear what they're comfortable with losing, guilds will wear what their doctrine calls for (also informed by what the guild is comfortable losing.) 100 percent of items in this game are crafted. Attrition from battle will keep the economy healthy and carebear activities in demand.
Any longevity in this game will come from: comes from enjoying fighting with your guildmates to hold territory, or the meta-aspects of politics (diplomacy, treachery, etc etc), or ganking people, or getting loot without getting ganked.