I used to be a grinder in turn based RPGs. It really took playing Oblivion for the first time on a reasonable difficulty to make me realize how much fun it can be not just raping everything.

In Skyrim, I managed to get my block to 100 naturally without spending undue time grinding it up and it was extremely rewarding. Every time I got access to a new perk I loved the anticipation of working toward the next one. I can absolutely own people with my shield now, but without working my way there I really don't think I would've appreciated the skills that 100 block gives me or learned how to work them into the combat system efficiently.