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Free time is a resource just like money.
Read it like this as well:
"That is, in a case like this you're basically saying 'sinc eyou can't spend X hours of free time, we're making you pay a penalty of X^Y real dollars to achieve the same end." All this will do is s create resentment and a sort of quasi-caste system within your playerbase."
I, for instance, quit playing Worlds of Warcraft precisely because of this. I don't look at monster bashing games as a competitive enterprise (what does it matter to me what level someone else is?), but I objected to playing a game that was clearly designed to be oriented towards people with large amounts of free time. No job, no family, no friends? Great! You get to progress faster.
The idea that only one type of resource (free time) should count is one that only holds water with very hardcore gamers (of course, we are all text MUDers here) and that sort of design is one thing holding back MUDs as a whole (ie graphical or text).
Incidentally, I think your supposition about a caste system and creating resentment is a bit off anyway. Check out Habbo Hotel, for instance. 3 million players, using our business model, except that you CAN'T get anything without paying for it (unlike in our model, where you can get anything without paying for it).
Finally, it's worth pointing out that the market (largely a grey or black market at this point, since it's usually done in contravention of the Terms of Service) for virtual goods is, according to the best sources available, at -least- a half billion dollar a year market and growing very rapidly. Rapidly enough that Sony recently announced they will be officially supporting user to user RMT (real-money transactions) on some of their Everquest II servers. This year's crop of Asian MUDs at E3 had a huge proportion of them integrating RMT into their games.
--matt
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