Incoming Hytale fan here (and player of VS at least a little bit). I really don't think it's the grind that people are that worried about. It's just that Vintage Story, while having many of the same engine features as Hytale, is a very different experience overall. Hytale was never meant to be survival-heavy, and had a much more magical, and much less *grounded* feel (or at least that's the vibe we got, seeing as we never played it...). Vintage Story is a great game! It's just not the experience that we've been waiting 7 years for. I, for one, really hope that this separate game mode pans out (even if Hytale does end up releasing as well). You can never have too many block games!