Would someone please enlighten me as to the social or personal value they gain from playing EA?

As much fun as figuring out and abusing the game mechanics were, I don't see more than ten hours of gameplay here. Despite having interactive story elements and characters played almost entirely by real people, the game appears to have far less story depth than WoW or even Final Fantasy IV.

What would I get for grinding my way from lv 11 to lv 35 on EA as a reward that would be fundamentally different than from not continuing to play? Are there hidden quests or dungeons?