I absolutely do not get the "What is the point of playing the game, if you can't progress by playing it" argument. How did you enjoy multiplayer games before f2p era? How did you enjoy Quake 3 Arena? How did you enjoy Dota?
Imagine if your protagonist had friends and sidekicks who could communicate using the sign language, which would be translated. Then we would have to use this, with all the visual knowledge and deductive reasoning to piece the story together.
Lumbermancer's comments