You’re right, I recalled the pattern being more complex and showing the progress towards the white robe, but I’m misremembering. The patter simply show how many times someone has completed the game, up to three times.
Opening the pause menu will cause the traveler to immediately sit down, according to my sister who played the game religiously for a while, this is the equivalent to “BRB” among people who play a lot.
Each secret you find will add embroidery to the clothing of the traveller, meaning players can tell which one should likely be showing the other around, as well whether someone is a first-timer.
Sticking together is also not that important. The game will match you with a new player if you get separated.
People who play it more than once typically do it to show new players around, that’s where the value of repeat playthroughs comes from.
That’s the version people actually play, and which has the furthest developed systems to do bigger stuff. Look up PaperMC, it enables some wild stuff for Minecraft multiplayer.
The server options available for multiplayer in Bedrock are truly pathetic in comparison.