Well, what do you want to do?
In the end, that's what's most important, because everyone else is going to have some idea of their own on what's important and what's not.
Me, I can accept some level of difference between a character's game mechanics and their backstory (though I would prefer that that difference not be too large, i.e. not having any of the classes that they're supposedly skilled at even partly leveled). Trying to tie a character's roleplay too tightly with their mechanics just starts to fall apart when you begin to address the questions of "Should I represent in-character actions with in-game skills? What about item stats and character strength?", etc., etc.
In other words, I seek the middle ground. Don't ignore it entirely, but don't base in-character competency on it, either. Nice and simple.
In the end, that's what's most important, because everyone else is going to have some idea of their own on what's important and what's not.
Me, I can accept some level of difference between a character's game mechanics and their backstory (though I would prefer that that difference not be too large, i.e. not having any of the classes that they're supposedly skilled at even partly leveled). Trying to tie a character's roleplay too tightly with their mechanics just starts to fall apart when you begin to address the questions of "Should I represent in-character actions with in-game skills? What about item stats and character strength?", etc., etc.
In other words, I seek the middle ground. Don't ignore it entirely, but don't base in-character competency on it, either. Nice and simple.
