I hope there's not too much grinding.
I am not going to lie here....
As a free player welcome to the biggest grindfest if you actually want anything in game.Want a ship after you level past I think it was Commander...grind out that dilithium to buy it.Want to do crafting and make gear and weapons...grind out that dilitium to do it.Want to buy good gear from a vendor...grind out that dilithium to get it.
Just to make a MkIX item in crafting will take you 3-4 days of grinding the dilithium to afford that one piece...want to outfit your whole ship welcome to months of grinding just to do so.
BTW...Welcome to Star Trek Online.
Now the game is fun but it is a very big grindfest if you actually want anything good.Even for the subscribers.
Now you can get enough gear to level with as you do missions and can repeat them to keep up to date sop there are options...juts grindy if you want the better or best gear available.