yeah same here, stopped cold on two characters at lvl 22 & 23. I LOVE exploration and this game has it in bagfulls, but, unlike earlier Bioware (NWN) there is no reward. Nothing to discover that is not shown on a map or in a guide. I miss actually creating and dividing out points between actual character physical stats, feeling like I truly made this character unique. For me as well, seems like my characters are not mine (Like in Rift and LOTRO) and this tree ability thing is like totally unsatisfying, 1-2% increase...ugh.
I do enjoy the architectural and design aspects. Don't know, just not feeling it.