Quote Originally Posted by FoxFlame View Post
Everything just described, and much of what I neglected to list, sounds very inconvenient. From my (limited) experience, it is. Without delving into "pay to play versus pay to 'work' at a game" (which I'll save for that other thread) I suppose I'd have to ask, "Why is this a bad thing?"
To oversimplify a response: it would be a bad thing because it directly allows a player to pay for a game mechanics advantage over other players. If your suggestion were along the lines of being cosmetic only, it might receive a more positive response - say (example) an option to have your cargo disc no longer appear as the little floating pile of boxes with a tarp, rather it appeared as a goblin with a grossly overloaded backpack, while offering no actual statistical variance from a standard disc.

I do understand all sides of this discussion, and by no means am I trying to come across as "nothing must change ever!!!" I want this game to continue forward, but I just do not see some of the options suggested as doing anything more than damaging the community that makes this game what it is. As others have said above and elsewhere, should there be some cosmetic-only options for small amounts of cash added to the game, to allow a minor influx of capital, then by all means great. But should there be options added which directly allow a player to gain game mechanics advantage over any other player who chooses (or is unable) to spend the extra however much money on it, that will only cause more strife than good.

It might just be that I don't see it as bad because...I don't know anyone who enjoys anything you just described. (E.g. Grinding, hauling, etc) I'd likely have more misgivings if it were anything combat related.
Ok, now people can call me weird. I don't mind grinding for construction purposes, and hauling parts to build up my own plot or the plots of friends/others. When I first started playing this game, on through when I left (due to no fault of the game, I was invited to rejoin people I knew through previous games in the release of EQ2 and didn't have time to play two games at once), and since coming back, I have loved the construction aspect of this game. The crafting in general here has always stood out from all other games, with few coming close to the attention it has been given here. I was one of the first 100 Masons around, not because it was a goal to hit 100, but because I actually enjoyed building up people's plots and other world structures so much it just happened to get me that high. Hell, I still haven't even hit 100 in any adventure class (84 CRSB highest), and my main is around 2600 days old. It wasn't the "work to get there", it was the goal at the end of seeing that bridge completed, or seeing that last silo go up on a friend's plot, or that Saris Manor House finally get finished - that was what made the leveling and grinding along the way worth it.