I only play one character (per area, sometimes I feel like some early game fun and make a new character elsewhere in the wilderness and not interacting with the other characters life in any way). There's a point before which I'd just shrug off a death and keep levelling the descendant, and after which I would say fuck it and stop playing till the next world/salem, since by then I am bored of the game.
DoG and the other vets keep playing because they reach the point where they are pretty much above the "game" and in it for the human aspect ie politics. I've never got that far.