MMO games work in a similar way to real life for sure. Especially MMORPG games. The whole narrative of these games is “you start a new life”, you make a new character, you develop its skills, you grow in power, you invest in it, you accomplish things and you climb your way up the ranks slowly. Like real life.
If you just want to log into a game and instantly start pumping then MMORPG games aren’t for you. You are not an MMORPG player. You can try other game genres like FPS games or MOBAs where you don’t have to develop your character and can jump into the action right away.