The issue to me is not the buying and selling of gil, and whether that's morally wrong or not. To be honest, if every melee had 2 sniper rings at Lv40, experience points would be that much better. If every WHM had Erase at Lv32, it would be that much better. Yes, it's a bit aggravating to see someone walking around in tip-top gears when you know they put zero effort into acquiring them, but that's really neither here nor there. Deal with it, I guess, because that's a personal thing, and a moral judgement.
The problem with gilsellers is monopolization. The Ls-gang monopolizes Amemit. They are there 24/7 and it is extremely difficult to claim a spawn. Parispring and whoever else monopolize the Phantom Worm. They are there 24/7. It is almost impossible to get a claim, and in the past, they would MPK you if you did. Ochiudo's kote: monopolized (for the most part). Archer rings: monopolized. Fuma kyahan: monopolized. All the beastmen-stronghold items (Beadeaux, Davoi, Oztroja): monopolized. It is nearly impossible to get these items oneself; that is the problem. If you want one of these things, you pretty much have to pay a gilseller, unless you get quite lucky on a claim/drop. And many of these items have an extremely rare drop rate to begin with. True, some things like Ochi kote were improved, now that the mobs can spawn anywhere in the room, but gilsellers still dominate them. Don't believe me? Look at the auction house.
Something like Erase is entirely different. Why? Because anyone can go do a BCNM40. You're not guaranteed the drop, no, but no one can stop you from doing it. No one can rush in and open the Armory Crate before you do. Short of having a sketchy party member rip you off (I always do BCs with linkshell members anyhow), you're guaranteed to get whatever's in there. So you can 1) pay 300-500k for Erase, or 2) go BCNM for it. Tell me the same is true of amemet skin.
All the gilselling crews are attaining higher levels, and leveling more HNM-geared jobs. They all have been fighting HNMs too. Pasco, Nozokimi, Qinlong, they all had old-school HNM titles today. Getting the claim is one thing, and it sucks, but they also have no qualms either about stealing them from legitimate players. Why would they care about their rep? They're gilsellers! Everyone knows it. They don't have a reputation to protect for the future. If NMs are "fair game" according to GMs when the name is in yellow, what's to stop them from stealing HNMs? You can't even MPK them on Roc or Simurgh. These NMs are not terribly easy to lose claim on, but still, it happens, and claim-stealing has been reported already. Sure it'll be a while before this happens, but imagine them stealing King Behemoth. Why wouldn't they if they could?
Now consider the ultimate worst-case scenario: Gilseller Apocalypse Tu'lia. All gilsellers have been camping HNMs for months. They are all Lv75. They have the best equipment and abjuration gears. They even have some idea how to defeat difficult NMs. They camp 1 trigger for each god. A trigger squad 24/7 on Aura Statues to camp Ullikimi. A trigger squad 24/7 on Faust. A trigger squad 24/7 on Mother Globe. Sure, you can go up there and fight them for it. You and twenty other linkshells. And maybe you'll win it, maybe you won't. And pretty soon, it becomes such a pain, that really you either pay them for trigger items, or forget it. It's not worth the time. Or maybe they don't even bother. Maybe they just sit up with 1 squad on each island, and attempt to steal the actual gods from other LS who have gotten the trigger items themselves. There is no way to get Byakko Haidate other than defeating Byakko. There is no way to get Crimson hands other than defeating Seiryu. There is no way to get Genbu's shield other than defeating Genbu. Eventually, if unchecked, these items will be monopolized too. The fact that it is done so by people who sell the non-rare/ex items for RMT only makes it more insulting.
Xenger's thread opened my eyes to the fact that this is already in motion, and it will likely only get worse until the instances mentioned above become reality. Maybe GMs will step in and do something about it. Maybe there's something in the ToS (with which I'm not terribly familiar) that empowers them to do so, but I'm not sure.
As far as Ls and his gang are concerned, they are nice maybe. They are courteous. They raise you and D2 you and all other kinds of things in the hope you will turn a blind eye to what they are actually doing: monopolizing items and making them impossible for the players themselves to acquire. That inaccessability only exacerbates the situation of gilbuying. The fact that they are friendly and "play by the rules" does not excuse the fact that they are simultanously ruining the game behind the scenes. It won't be behind the scenese for long though. Soon enough it will be impossible to ignore.
EDIT: Also wanted to add, the difference between gilseller monopolization and player NM hunting is that very, very few players completely monopolize and item for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for months on end. Yes, it may be frustrating to see that same Emperor hairpin camper in the dunes for 6 or 8 hours one day, but that's about the longest real players usually have the patience to go. Most legitimate characters--even if they camp a marathon session like this--will not be there 24/7, or continue for many, many months. As we all know, the gilseller crews operate the other way. So no matter what time you are there, no matter what day, whether you're NA or Euro or Japanese, the same people will be there monopolizing claims and making it impractical for you to get one yourself.
Edited, Thu Mar 24 13:06:43 2005 by Mystoval