I've always had a problem with these type of games where I don't want to miss story content because I highly doubt I'll play it again.
However I really had to let it go on this game and just go along with it. Now I'm in Act 3 and I'm drowning in gear. I could also buy gear to do a variety of builds if I wanted.
But don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Just play the game and do what you want.
Plenty of Cajuns in the area, which is basically French-Swamp-People