Tokens are nice thing to have to the side. Like Dungeon x reward something with 100% change (complete it, and get it) then some RNG but at the same time some token system at least allows you to get some other things that should not be the mean goal but more like a nice to have. (much like the dungeon sets).
Make tokens the main way and it’s just as bad as what we already have. Tokens are just a currency and all the currencies in the game help to create this grind.
I also said that, in that thread: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/RNG-as-a-concept-Discuss/page/11#post4521223.
and
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/RNG-as-a-concept-Discuss/page/18#post4758907From a developer viewpoint tokens / currencies are easy way to have control over the economy but from a game perspective it is sort of boring.
“If this was a new game it would be easier to set up” Well, it would be a option for HoT.
Currencies are the only way to get rid of grind not what is creating grind.
The problem thats creating grind is at its core Anet not wanting to add a new gear tier every 6 months (and thank god for that ) . Some people just dont find cosmetics something worth playing for. They want their chars to become more powerful. Even people who go for cosmetics , releasing a new cosmetic set to work towards every 6 months will not work because some might not like it, others might find it a bad fit for their chars etc.. That forces Anet to make sure their rewards last a really long time which means it has to take a long time to earn that reward which is where the grind is coming from.
The least grindy way to achieve that is when they first introduced ascended gear. 30 laurels and you get a nice piece of ascended gear. All it takes to take 30 laurels is on average (strictly speaking you can do it in 20 days but..) is finish 30 dailies which back then was really play 30 minutes of whatever you feel like. That was really 0 grind thanks to 2 elements, a currency (IE you’re not forced into specific content types you might find boring) and time gating (IE they could just require 30 mins of game time from us just to reward us with a day worth of effort). Problem is people hated that. they felt they were wasting their time since only 30 mins of a potentially 8 hour game session was put towards their goal and they just didnt want to wait 30 days for their reward.
What made it grindy was dropping those 2 elements. without time gating the effort required could no longer be 30 mins per day, it had to be average play hours per day. Whats more for the most part it allowed people to pursuit their goal 24/7 IE while before people were free to play what they wanted all the time they can forced themselves to just work for the rewards and not have any actual fun make the grind feel much worst.
Currency was just never the problem. It was the solution but unfortunately one which went against human nature. Tragedy is while people complain about the grind its really what they want subconsciously. I know its a bold statement. But ask yourselves this.. would you rather have what we have now or we you rather go back to the old daily system (assume zeroed laurels)