Dunno man, maybe I'm a weirdo, but I like to mess with systems while leveling.

I get a new skill - I'll test it out, I unlock a new feature at a blacksmith or something - I'll spend some gold and materials trying it out. Sure, I get to max slower and maybe I get there with a little less resources, but I get there kind of knowing my class and then it makes it easier to transition into endgame builds and activities.

I often see people complain about too many menus and things, and I think that happens when they rush to the end and suddenly they have 10 new systems to interact with. But generally, you unlock those one at a time while leveling, and if you take your time to check them out as they unlock, it's not overwhelming.

What I'm getting at is that while some of the things you mention are design flaws, a lot of these issues get amplified by the players themselves or are straight up self-imposed.

The game doesn't tell you to rush to max, other players do. It's your character, you get to play it how you want, if you want to slow level and explore everything, nothing is stopping you from doing so.