This is not PVP.

[Zynzyn]

AL was born a money sink, AL will always be a money sink.

Sts is a business. Some way of encouraging people to spend on it is obviously expected, it is not a charity after all. But it has been seen recently, that sts has been trying to balance it out by offering ways for the non-plat spender to acquire previously plat-exclusive items too - like ankhs, elixir kits, respecs, stash slots, mythic pets in egg form. They have given the farming community better opportunites through the Planar arena/tombs. There have been events and offers which show that AL is moving in a direction, trying to make it possible for everyone to enjoy the game.

@ OP - With the difficulty of endgame pve maps, it is a necessity for the stats of gear and pets to be high. When this maxed out gear is used in endgame pvp, ofcourse fights will last a nanosecond. However I do agree with you that the difference between the best gear and the second best is very vast and they need to find a way of narrowing that gap. If you are someone who enjoys strategy in pvp and long fights, you should create a low level twink, since stat points in those brackets are limited and clashes sometimes last even an hour or so.