Lesse...
* I haven't done any pvp. I have not heard that I've missed cookies because of such.
* first dungeon is at 30? I think? Haven't hit it; I'm nearing 30 with Thana. There are small group encounters. Often if I just wait a bit -- and I'm impatient, so like 3 mins tops -- someone shows up to help. Reason being: quest completion reward (which these count as) is probably 10x if not more of your xp. Probably more than 10: 15? Huge. So when I get a bing! that there's a nearby event, I'm motivated to hustle over. Also, as an Elementalist, I need help, although I'm getting better: I recently soloed one. As a Guardian, pfft, own.

* eye candy: I've seen the equivalent of Stormwind, Elwynn Forest, and whatever the next dry-grasslands zone is, plus Darnassus and the first elf starter zone. No wait, and Duskwood, right. Elves are visually very interesting. Story, mrm, a bit toooo tree huggy for me, but dude, their body artwork is MADE OF plants, so okay. Zones are artistically different: the new Duskwood I'm entering is quite different from the bloody swamp I was in before.
* platforming: I suck at this. It's only required if you're a completionist: you do some jumping puzzles to reach Vistas, which give you a cool cinematic view. Getting all of them AND Points of Interest AND Waypoints gives you a nice box of cookies. Me, I think it's fun. Have yet to find one too hard for me. Did I mention I'm really bad at them? One took me... 8-12 attempts? Another... 3-5? So far, when I fail, it's at the beginning, so my theory is that the hardest part is at the beginning.