BS is the deflation dungeon.

1.) Reduces total amount of gold in game, which is getting too high.
2.) Without the low drop rates, the market would be flooded and dead cheap. Items are already flooded now, weapons on cs list is really long. The only reason the price is high is because people are keeping them high hoping they sell.

I do agree with you about exp, exp grinding is as it sounds, work. All games have tedious branches of boring and long grinders, but I thought this was a casual MMO. I like the elite idea, I just don't find it fun, nor do a lot of players.

Note: Item prices aren't too high. you can get 1,000,000 gold for the Gemstone Wand in 12 hours of PP farming, or 4-6 hours of hardcore croc boss farming. Then you can do it the old school way, farm for the items yourself.