Honestly, this explains soooo much about the different perceptions and expectations we have sometimes. To me, and most players I know, everything revolves around the character. The character is the whole point of the game. Everything that happens, happens to give the character

something to interact with, something to surmount, something to grow.
Leveling up is exciting, because you get new customization options. I was looking forward to leveling up my monk, because I wanted to max out his calligraphy profession, that literally had no

impact at all ingame except for him being able to do pretty calligraphy, and it being part of his character backstory.
The whole game is a huge sandbox that is designed to showcase the characters. That's why people are so attached to them, draft elaborate backstories, and fight