I found that a lot of the advice given in Genshin related subs/discords is generally X does more damage than Y therefore X is a better character. IMO DPS is a good measure of how good a character is, but I don't think it's the only measure.

While the Spiral Abyss is considered end game content, it's often forgotten that majority of the game is played in the overworld. Your average player spends maybe 30-45 minutes every two weeks in the abyss but spends at LEAST 15 minutes per day on dailies as well as domains. If you're a newer player, then you're probably spending even more time in the overworld completing quests as well as events. I don't think it's far fetched to say that 70% or even 80% of the game is played in the overworld, meaning that a character's overworld performance is something that should definitely be considered when deciding whether or not to pull for a specific character. This is something that the theory crafting community completely dismisses as well - so much is focused on DPS that 70-80% of the gameplay is being completely overlooked. Now obviously TCers aren't gonna focus on the overworld because overworld content is generally pretty easy, but since a lot of "should you pull" decisions are heavily influenced by the TC community overworld experience is often ignored especially for new players.

Take the on-going Hutao vs Yoimiya discussions for example - I think the majority of us can agree that Hutao has a higher damage ceiling than Yoimiya, but this is usually where the discussion ends. People rarely talk about how Yoimiya is a better option than C0 Hutao in the overworld since she doesn't have to manage her stamina. For newer players that don't know what I mean - often times you'll be sprinting with Hutao and by the time you get to a camp you're already out of stamina and can't use your charge attacks.

Anyways, I guess this is just something to keep in mind when you're deciding to pull for a specific character, or if you're giving advice about specific characters. After all, everyone plays and enjoys the game in their own way. Maybe you're someone who enjoys min-maxing and having high DPS is how you enjoy the game, that's completely fine! However, if you're someone that cares about overworld experience then make sure to factor that into your decision to pull for specific characters! If you're a brand new player, I'd argue that overworld experience > abyss performance for your first characters because 95% of your time is spent in the overworld for the first couple of months until AR50 .

Edit:

I think people are misunderstanding what I'm trying to say. Obviously the overworld content is easy and can be done with any characters, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about characters that enhance the overworld experience such as Sayu/Yelan with their sprints, Zhongli with his shield/ore mining, Kazuha/Venti with their high jumps, characters that sprint on water. Heck even Xiao with his dashes are useful at times.

Do you need any of those features in the overworld? No, of course not. But do they enhance the overworld experience where the average player spends 70-80% in? Absolutely. For players who are already completing the Abyss with their eyes closed, do they need the newest/most meta characters to complete the Abyss? Probably not, but it does enhance the experience.

Take cooking a meal for example where 70% of the time is spent on prepping the ingredients. Of course the end product is important, meaning you absolutely should invest in your stove/pot/pans/etc but wouldn't having a sharper knife & higher quality board also significantly enhances the cooking experience?

Thats what I'm trying to get at here. Of course the Abyss is important - it's the only end game content we have. All I'm saying is players shouldn't be ignoring the overworld experience because it is indeed a major part of the game and most players spend majority of their game time there.