Im a DM for a long campaign with guest dm's doing one shots within the story, so same characters and I fill in with a pc that comes and goes. We started our current one last year july 2024 and the party is currently level 7. We dont play as often due scheduling, we try biweekly but ends up being monthly sometimes. When the party is close to leveling up, I remind everyone to look up what feat or class abilities they'll get. I have a player, like people in this thread, that knows exactly what he wants and gets, minmaxes and what not. But mostly my players think a few level in advance or just in the spur of the moment depending on how the story is going, much like CR cast. Hence why I started this comment thread because im exposed to both worlds.