The grind is there, it's been out for nearly 3 weeks and no one has capped level yet afaik (it was ~2 weeks for WAR). I've been playing for about a week and I'm level 20, but I'm not playing that many hours per day (and didnt play a few days).
The PvP from all accounts and video's I've seen looks really effin fun, and starts in their version of the frontier (The Abyss) around level 25. I was watching some videos yesterday, for instance check out this solo sorc pvp'ing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt1a3bBcp8A
About the PvE:
Level 1-18 = Solo Quest
Level 18-20 = Group Quest/Grind
Level 21-25 = Solo Quest
Level 25-28 = Group Dungeon (Training Grounds)
In the 25+ areas there are "rifts" in the PvE zones, that is, enemy players can come through the rifts and PK. So it's a little bit of a Mordred feel where you're mostly safe, but never truely safe from PvP while PvE'ing. And that is a feature I really love and I'm looking forward to some PvP in my PvE.
The Abyss also has mobs you can grind on that are worth more XP since they're in an all pve zone, so I'm going to hit that up as soon as I reach 25 too.
