[crystalblueheart]

I played for 4 years as well, But we can both admit that hair coupons and costumes had hardly tainted what seemed like a flawless MMO at the time.
Seeing what happened next was also painful, with OS making gaps between players that had money (older, possibly rich or have jobs)
And younger (Parents not trusting online transactions with money/ no jobs)
That really set the tone for the game, Knowing when, unless you can chuck out $40 a week on extenders, etc. and becoming, what Bleeding X Heart referred to as "Slaves" seemed to be a sticking point for me, I had money, but the idea of spending copious amounts of money on a game that screams "FREE TO PLAY MMO" kind of puzzled me, Yet here it is.

Although I haven't been playing as long as those above, I can agree on your last point. Without a cash shop, the smarts of the players really show, but of course, there's always a catch. I don't use sparkcash and I'm fine, but there's always that one thing that you want but cant' get. My situaton is the "younger" side. It becomes a routine to some to keep spending money where it could go otherwise. Yes, maybe spend a couple of bucks once in a while to spruce up, but other than that, the heavily equipped SC slaves bug the hell outta me.