You're not wrong here. A lot of what I love in Guildwars 2 is that there is random actual voiced chatter as you roam the map/town. Like, there's a guided tour going on in one of the hubs that you could theoretically follow the NPC group and learn something.

There are kids that play tag and run around; there are people that actually have fairly elaborate errands they do. There are also "critters" (level 0, 1 hp animals) like seagulls or rats that just wander around adding life.

Ultimately, it's unnecessary to play the game.. but man it makes a difference.