The thought that always goes through my head when someone says "Players should not be penalized for lack of available play time" is that it you are then punishing the players that do have enough time. The majority, if not all, of the popular MMOs on the market at current are fairly easy for any seasoned gamer.

I don't consider myself an elitest by any meaning of the word. In FFXI, I didn't get relic weapons, I didn't get a Novio's Earring or Kraken Club, and I didn't have all the jobs at 75. I didn't complete these tasks, not because I didn't have the time, but because I wasn't willing to put the time in. I did, however, complete all the dynamis zones, kill AV, and have a few jobs at 75. My point is that I could experience all of what the game had to offer by playing a few days a week and at the same time, it didn't take away from the challenge it offered others who wanted to put the time in.

Something that always uplifted my spirits was seeing a piece of gear that took real effort to obtain on a random player in town. Knowing that I most likely wouldn't get that item didn't make me want to play less, or more for that matter, it just made me smile knowing that there was always something better. That isn't the case in any of the recent MMOs I've played.

In summary, if you can only play for a few days a week, you shouldn't be the best geared but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to experience a fight.