I honestly don't think you and I could disagree more on this, Codewalker. For me it was never about the individual characters or the gear and level anyone had, but rather about the world, the enemies, and most importantly my fellow players. Yes, there were fixture characters that you loved to team with for Trials, and AP lurkers who gave each server a certain vibe and familiarity, but if they all disappeared and got replaced with a different dude in tights, as long ad some of the other players are back, it'd still feel like hone to me.
After all, I did love crafting new characters. Maybe this go round I would actually have a main who I always wanna play, but I don't think he'd be more "main" than Pointsphere ever was. He was my Badger, and I loved him, but ultimately I loved a lot of my other characters too, I just didn't have the earliest Anniversary badges and such on those.
It was badging more than anything else that connected me to Point. And I really don't see myself badging as much this time through since, well, I already did so much of it!