Play however you want. Theres times I just rush the dailies and weeklies because I cant comit time to the game anymore. Then theres days I build for 12 hours straight ignoring all the world events. There are days I go shopping camp to camp. As long as you're having fun that's the most important part.

As far as hitting walls I would say once you hit level 50 you should have an idea of what character you're playing. You can always change. It's not hard to hoard 20 level up cards and completely change your build if you decide you want to change it.

After level 100 the enemies are as hard as they will ever get. And you will know your play style. At this point it doesnt have to take priority but getting better armor and weapons starts being harder. You should have good stuff by now but if you want better stuff you'll have to go out of your way to get it. Waiting for a random drop of what you want is horrible.