I've no problem grinding in game. The first one had an element of that. Do all the side missions to get all the upgrades and such. Plus I like killing orcs and using the nemesis system.
That said, if progression is blocked by some arbitrary value that can only be reached via grinding, or buying stuff...Fuck that.
That's bullshit. That's designing the game for the purpose of getting people to pay money. It doesn't matter if it's optional, that should never factor in in the first place. Imagine playing Skyrim and being told you need to kill 1000 dragons before you can complete the game. It's not impossible, but it makes no fucking sense.
I have less of a problem with loot boxes for upgrades and cosmetics, because it's doesn't usually mean the core experience is lessened. Some fucking arbitrary value blocking progression, that can be circumnavigated via paying for shit, is total bullshit.
A really good video was posted on the Shadow of Mordor subreddit the other day that goes pretty indepth.
https://youtu.be/tgYcmNOFmis
They tried one of the
right after finishing the campaign and were able to complete it without doing any extra grinding or lootboxes.
If that's the case, then no problem. As long as you can do it without extra grinding, I'm cool with that.