I believe Anet does not yet understand the greatness of a class specific storyline. It does not have to be long, but it does so much in fleshing out the class/lore.
WoW used to have them (no longer). They were fantastic adventures that made you feel special while connecting you with your fellow class. It fleshed out your place in the world and lore as well.
One of the best mmo’s to do it was ffxi. You had to do a questline to unlock the advanced classes and then around lvl 40/50 another questline began and you received class-specific armor. Some of the stories were funny or sad or even serious (depending on the class).
I mean I have no idea how the denizens of Tyria view mesmers. The only remark I hear from npcs about a class was when a soldier was talking about Trahearne being a creepy necromancer.