After spending less than 10 hours in game, I'm already at 50 Greataxe, 50 archery, 50 axe skill. I have yet to really get going on prowess and I'm already that deep into my skills for pvp. Before there would be noway you could be that deep in those 3 skills with only hours into the game.

There will always be some sort of grind in any MMO you play. The amount of time to be PVP viable in DFUW is FAR less than what it was in DF1. I got completely burnt out on DF1... that grind was so fucking ridiculous, I can see why people have a hard time wanting to come back.