Thank you for providing me with a civil reply that I can respond to equally civilly.

While it is true that I am a master of aggressive negotiations, I do try to let reason do the talking for me, however I do not hesitate to defend myself, especially when my quality is questioned by those who have no knowledge of it.
Setting me apart in the gaming community, perhaps, is the fact that for me, it is a hobby; a neat little bonus on top of communicating with my RL colleagues and friends, and sometimes as a way to let of steam in a socially-acceptible manner.

I take a dim view of those who seek to force their own views upon me, as has happenned in this — and many other — discussions, and tend to respond to Force with Force (pun intended).
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, if I remember my physics correctly.

Your point is valid, in that I do not particularly want greedy little fellas in my guild who joined just for a shot at the guild bank, however, such fellas can be used in the betterment of the community. They can fill up the necessary places to max the XP and Rep boosts while I find members more dedicated, more willing to help the community grow.
In my guilds, I try to make promotions a matter of personal merrit, and, as such, those who do not wish to help the community out leave in frustration at not getting their Guild Freebies, whereas those who show they are willing to contribute, advance to a rank at which they can partake of the guild’s resources, as I feel comfortable in letting them roam free, knowing that they will pull hteir weight in the end.

Let me make a brief, real-world example.
You are a software engineer looking to join an up-and-coming company.
X Inc. and Y Inc. are your choices.

X Inc. Salary: US$50,000 p.a. Type Z health cover, reachable by public transport.
Y Inc: Salary: US$50,000 p.a.. Type Z health cover, reachable by public transport, on-site parking, coffee machine on every floor.

Assuming both companies get decent responses, as in, their bosses are nice, their workers are happy, you get the picture, which company would you choose?

I’ll guarantee you that all other things being equal, I’d choose the one with on-site parking and coffee machine.

Thus it is also with guilds. Given the choice to join a guild with a friendly atmosphere and maxed perks, and a guild with a friendly atmosphere but few perks, which would you choose?

Even decent members, willing to participate in the community, will seek to do so in a more comfortable environment.

One last example: people firvantly tell me that if I put a little more dedication into it, I’d get all the money I needed, and would have joy for ages to come.
However, it is like telling a double amputee that if he put enough dedication into it, he could run the triatholon on par with un-impaired competitors.
It is unreasonable.

Compared to the sheer vitriolic hatred I receive, honestly, is my “aggression” so unreasonable? When, instead of attacking other people’s opinions, I seek to defend my own?

On another note, I have, actually, started a petition on the official forums.
At this point, the number of unique votes for lowering the price is more than the number of unique votes against it, it’s just that certain people forgot that they can only vote once, and not spam “you are an idiot, /notsigned” six times 🙂

I have also contributed several informative posts, using numbers to back my arguments, on the affordablity, and the time it would take to obtain, flagships. If you so desire, I may provide links..

~Meet
P.S. See? No agression in your comment, none in mine!