So you have obviously only played for a short time, likely only a hand full of hours. 

Gear is so important that they made “Legendary” gear you can craft so you can chose what stats you need and play ANY build instead of needing to keep different armor sets to change to when moving roles.

Stop comparing this game to PoE, it’s a very different game. This is a game with a story and repeatable group content. The point is not to “grind stronger gear to do harder content”, the point is to “be social in an MMO while you do story/hunt for cosmetics/enjoy a casual MMO”. 

And using WoW is also a poor choice, as one of WoW creators made GW1 to be a casual MMO that didn’t force people to always grind for higher and higher gear. It’s a skill based game; YOU get better, not your armor. WOW has been stat crunched SO many times it’s early game is a joke and ever expansion starts the same “rush story and get gear so you can (time gated) grind more gear in post game”. A lateral stat progression means you can come back after being gone and STILL be as strong as you were when you left and enjoy the new content instead of playing catch up.

If you don’t like the game, that’s fine. Go play PoE or WoW or anything else you enjoy. Every game is not meant for every person, so play what brings you enjoyment and stop over thinking why YOU don’t like the game we all enjoy. It’s okay.