This game is play to win.

[namirei]

"Any extra income" I cannot agree with as that does include pay to win. So long as the extra income they are seeking comes from providing, completely optional, convenience related services, that don't hurt anyone paying only their base sub fees, I agree.

Alright, I worded that wrong since I also don't agree with pay2win, and any extra income should only come for any additional convenience services like you said. I completely agree with you on the overreaction too. As you mentioned before though, if this retainer nonsense counts as pay2win then so does my Legacy account. I could do the exact same thing with eight characters on my server. That puts me at a higher advantage than the person with the basic account and four retainers without even having to pay a dime extra while they have to pay more. That's like a pay2win with a discount lol.

Sooo... I would hardly call the retainer situation game breaking or pay2win. The venture currency needs to be farmed to send the retainers out in the first place and then they need to be leveled to get anything near useful. The majority of the things the retainers can go out and get aren't worth much in game to begin with... at least not on my server. Five animal skins every hour until the retainer reaches level 2 doesn't seem like it will hurt anyone. It's not like they start at level 50 and can stock up on apkallu eggs right away. It's not going to get anyone godly gear either. I can actually see more people using this as a way to get around farming and not having to deal with ten other people all fighting for the same camp. This is especially beneficial for people who will actually use those items instead of just selling them. It won't hurt the people that sell materials either. If a crafter needed something for whatever reason right away and their retainer hadn't returned from their venture, then they can still just buy whatever it is they need.

Also, if someone really needs the extra space that desperately then that's just a convenience for them. I really do see this as a convenience service rather than pay2win like some people seem to see at as.