Interesting read, Goldenpaw. I agree that perception is important according to the end user. I think there is also an argument to imply that it's just a cuddly thing, and that SoE do already produce monthly letters etc to remind us what they have done.
As for the gambling. They had the same thing in EQ1 - just another way to remove money from the game. Astonishing for most of us, but some have more money than they know what to do with
