I adore customizing my character. It literally took me two hours on the creation screen to finally settle on a design! Creating the character personality and weaving in elements of your own is something I look out for in a good RPG/game. In the creation aspect of the game, I like how wide the net is.

Normally in an MMO, I am also very obsessed over my cosmetic wares. SWTOR is a game in particular in which the clothes and style are extremely important in molding the character personality and traits. For FFXIV though, I have been rather slow in this area. I think it is mostly because the glamor system just fees to restricted in many ways (In terms of verity and price). Cosmetics should be a simple and fordable aspect of the game, I think. To be fair, I very much doubt I would change how my character really looked anyway at this moment in time. I mean, look at that hat? It is beautiful!

As for NPC, I adore Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn for many reasons. I love strong, female characters and she certainly is that. Her style is great and works well, what with the white skin and black clothing. I also thing there is a good amount of depth to her personality. In the Leviathan patch, there is a wonderful scene with her and Y'shtola (Another great character) where they debate, and it ends up being a wonderful character moment for them both. Her voice actress is fantastic too, encompassing her personality well.

I hope this answer your questions!