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Well...I'm pretty sure this argument has already been stated before, but I'll repeat it here.
Running a good MUD does cost a lot of money, because everyone who runs a MUD must pay the bills in real life. So, thus, MUD developers need jobs like everyone else, and having a job leaves less time for developing MUDs. The most obvious solution that presents itself is to find a way to make a living from the MUD, so that the developer can spend all of his/her time on it, and yet still make a decent living. So, commercialism isn't necessarily a bad thing, because it essentially makes for better MUDs, since the developers have more time on their hands to run the MUD, whereas hobbyists must spend a good deal of their time working at a different job. That said, however, I'm not a huge fan of Pay-for-Perks; I'd much rather see flat monthly rates instead. But, in my opinion its not really an ethical issue. Commercial MUDs need revenue to survive and how to do it is just an issue that they must grapple with.
-Jaregarde
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