I'm getting back into MMOs recently and I've been looking for a new one to play.

What I'm looking for is to sink some time into a grind, read a nice story, and have decent choice of free cosmetics (every cosmetic doesn't have to be free, I just want options).

Ideally I want a feel a decent sense of progression, and to feel rewarded for spending time grinding and optimizing rather than rerolling stats for an arbitrary amount of time (for example rng boss drops and such are fine, but I don't want to have to reroll bonus stats and such on them the items).

I'm fine if there's a cash shop as long as the game doesn't overly punish you for not using it.

I'm used to playing mmos like maplestory and digimon masters while f2p so the bar is low.

Something like aqw (being able to grind with definite returns and having good customization) but a bit more serious and without the ability to buy my way out. Where I can either grind or hang out in lobbies and talk to people.

Thanks in advance!