I would agree if there would be more than one character to 'select'. However if one intended on getting back in the game it would be easier to just wait at the "character select" screen then start the game again.
Also...Why log in twice? Once before attempting to patch, and once again once the game has "launched" after patching?
Because you are logging in to two separate servers. We plan to improve this but this is the way the original launcher programmer set things up (and he's long gone from the team).