To be perfect honest, if raiding is your only purpose in a storydriven MMO I don't think this is the game for you.
I have no issues with sales, I think having sale on a skip potion is bit much. Guess I'm alone with that opinion seeing how all replies so far in this thread been like it's a good thing to skip everything.
It's a double edged sword. I think Road to 60 is a good incentive to pick a low pop server in order to populate it more but I understand people's complaints about out leveling everything.