Im fine with grinding in a lot of games, but I expect Rivals 2 to be multiplayer and competitive first. I don't think it makes sense to make people have to grind for characters in a game where the main focus will be finding your main and playing online.

Try grinding your rank when it comes out?

As someone who plays fighting games only for the multiplayer: I hate having to unlock the characters, as I'd be either forced to play a character I'm not interested in or a mode I don't care about.

The game?

Competition

Grind your rank instead.

I absolutely hate grinding in games. Why should I do less fun stuff to unlock the fun stuff?

Unlocks are different than grinding though. You can still give perks for engaging with the game, like different outfits, story levels, etc. But don't lock game modes or characters behind grinding, screw that.