For example early levels of brown way, if you are casting your rock armor and not going in to combat, I would consider that just useless practice. That is just me of course. Casting defensive wind is the same. I would find it acceptable to cast one of each per combat. Personally I would prefer that those two spells worked like armor, if they reduce damage you get a practice point. I do not know that they actually do reduce damage or block hits or anything.
I am not really faulting you for trying to back up your character story, it is a failing of the mechanics that training magic is generally casting passive magic over and over to no purpose.
Actually I applaud you making the effort. For me I am whatever my character is, he may end up being great but the game is in the getting there. That is what I learned in the pen and dice days. In those days if you were not off on an adventure you got no credit for using your abilities and even then if the DM thought you were being cheesy he'd tell you it was wasted effort.
I do not suppose it would be much different on the new server but you could play a different type of character. As for there being no role play most of the people I have talked to have been role players, I am the least of them, I say what I have to say whether IC or OOC. It is all about the game, though.