There is a distinct difference between mystery of quests, adventuring, areas, and the overall plot… and the mystery of playing the *kind* of character you want to play.

You should have a clear and obvious choice of "I want to bash things, and give a rat's arse about magic", or "I want to bash things and magic intrigues me", or "I love roasting things and floating around, and hate the thought of being a warrior". The fact that the choice is not obvious at all, and never chosen but instead earned through very specific actions you perform, makes it highly frustrating.

I love great mysteries, puzzles, and challenges. I highly dislike being forced to play a character I did not make because it was vague how to do it.

I respect your wishes that the game not hand-hold players, and agree with that. But disagree strongly with carrying that over into what amounts to "character creation", whether it is up front or through actions - it should be more clear. And I really dislike your tone in this topic.. some of us are probably old enough to have grandchildren. I don't, yet.. but my cousin does.

Anyhow, I've gone and completely started over. I figure while I lost 40+ hours of playing around, exploring, figuring out mechanics, and learning how to fight via melee quite well.. all of that experience can be put into a new game. I'll chalk up my first game as a "Warrior that I didn't finish".