It's funny how this is a Western "problem". In Asia, this is the norm, and people pony up cash with nary a troll in sight.

I am not a fan of microtransactions, personally, especially when they give those with deeper pockets an advantage over other players. This is far more relevant in PvP (combat, or even competition for resources like materials or even land to build on). Paying for vanity items is OK, since they don't detract from actually being able to get stuff done, but in the end, even companies who operate F2P titles need to make money to keep the lights on. I don't know how a company could survive on vanity item sales alone.

Judging by the asanine way WoW forces you to re-run instances to collect items, MT seems like a natural backlash response. Don't want to run that instance for a 30th time, taking the chance that the item you want won't drop, or you'll get out-rolled? Spend $0.99 and it can be yours without the sweat or obnoxious raid group!