Does Character Matter?

Two exciting things happened last night: my husband (and I, over his shoulder) got his first look at Hodir on the PTR, and I confirmed that I can consistently do 2.5k dps. The Hodir fight contains the most annoying parts of Keristraza, Gruul, and KT, plus some extras that will be fun to learn to manage. 2.5k dps would be acceptable and valued in a lot of guilds, and I know I can improve.
A conversation came up last night that got me thinking about the importance of character in WoW. I'm not going to go into details of the conversation, just my thoughts. In an MMO, you are playing with people from all different viewpoints, which is one of the things that makes it fun for me. Some people don't care about character, as long as bosses go down. I do.
When I look at character, especially as it relates to WoW, there are a couple of things I look at. The first is: do you put your ego aside when you need to? I play with people who have huge egos, and my ego is pretty large as well. That's how I made it through engineering school as a disabled female, and that's what drives me to improve my dps. However, if my ego gets in the way of helping the guild, or just being a decent person, I need to set it aside. Similarly, the people I value most bite back comments that they realize will be hurtful.
Secondly, how do you treat those with less skill than you? Are you willing to reach out to someone who needs help with advice and encouragement? If someone comes to you, will you answer their questions without being condescending?
To me, character matters because without it, you lose yourself. Plus, character is attractive. Do you want people in your guild because they like you and want to follow you, or do you want them just to kill bosses and pick up loot?