Because of Hunts~~

[Chocolate_Rain]

Absence of a reward is not a penalty. As a raider you are in absolutely no worse a position than you were pre 2.3.

Also, if your friends will pay however much a month to do something they literally *hate* they should probably 're-examine why they are playing this game. It's not healthy and it's not something SE is forcing them to do, it's their own competitiveness

Absence of a reward is, in fact, a penalty given relative standing. If another option for gearing is out there, no matter how much you hate it, if the rewards are good enough, you're gonna do it. That mentality has been around since i've started mmo's(eq1) and the hamster wheel will continue to turn. The developers then have to make sure that option is balanced with the rest of the content. The ball was dropped big time on this.

As for your second point, I absolutely agree. But the raider mentality is get stronger by any means necessary. In fact, I'm examining if this game is worth my time as is.

[Aegis]

Absence of a reward is, in fact, a penalty given relative standing.

But that's not the same thing at all. A penalty is something that has an active negative impact on you. Relative standing is just your insecurities. If there are two players in a party, A and B. And player C gives A some gear, he hasn't penalised B. This is especially true given that all PVE content in this game is cooperative. Other peoplegetting gear easier is going to make your parties easier.

Again, failing to reward is not punishment.