Daev

Such wonderful and simple survival build! I'm definitely going to upgrade my sad, square cob hut into a lovely dug out.

First mod was the rivers mod. I kept it pretty minimal after that with simple QoL mods like Better Sticks, Carry On etc just to dwindle down some of the few things I find needlessly tedious or grindy.

It depends really on the kind of game. HD2 I blast heavy metal and rock to really get into crushing foes of Democracy. Vintage story and similar are games I never listen to music, but I'll maybe turn on a podcast if I'm grinding for something and I decide it is a tad boring. Definitely interested in checking out some of these suggestions, might change my mind on the idea!

Agreed, some of the grinds could be better implemented/polished, however it sounds more like you don't like this kind of game. You are pointing to core gameplay mechanics and progression systems as the source of your anger (most of which can be tweaked by world gen settings or mods, such as monster and rift spawns.) @Ceepert already spoke on that though very well. This is a game about the journey itself and not getting to super mega awesome endgame gear and you would probably benefit from a different game. I do encourage you to try some mods though, you don't even need a zip software necessarily, it's a drag and drop system. Also definitely try messing with some of the world gen settings and ask around the forums and discord for some advice. Vintage Story is certainly not for everyone (I bought two keys for my friends to play and they have both played exactly once with me, which is fine because I understand that MC is more their speed) that being said I do hope it grows on you because it is such a chill and gratifying experience.