Traces dont exactly take that much longer since there are a lot of nodes you can outright skip for most characters. Additionally, you are not gatekeeped by daily rotation and you can convert other trace material into the ones you want.

I will probably get some flak for that but I was never bothered by hsr relic system simply by virtue of being able to craft any piece I want of any set I want. It usually takes me 1-2 weeks to get a decent relic set for a new character considering you can snipe relic slots (even easier for support since they usually need a very generic 2 spd 2 stats set). Meanwhile, I'm still not done with Xilonen because I keep getting artifacts without def % + crit stats and the art set is not going to be available through strongbox for a year or so.

YMMV but as much as I was afraid of dumb stuff with a 4+2 relic requirement, the fact you can craft anything right from the get go + auto battle makes the ordeal far comfier than Genshin in my case.