1. Could be a bit nicer with the comment, no need to be snide.
2. The fact that it's a credit sink is not an opinion. Credit sinks are a part of any online game (MMO) where currency is a factor in gameplay. See
the Wikipedia article on the subject, especially where: when "commodities and wealth are
continually fed to players through sources such as
quests, looting monsters, or
minigames". Also, on the subject of taxes specifically, "Passive gold sinks may be
in operation at all times to slowly extract value from the game. Players are usually more willing to accept this method of sinking.
Passive sinks would be item degradation,
consistent taxes, or decay." Lastly, "excess currency leads to inflation of player driven prices".
It has a purpose, and it's not unique to this MMO. The reason credit trading was never implemented in the original VMK almost stems from this (and another closely related issue) - when you have an economy based upon a single item (ex. firewalls, credits), the game is extremely susceptible to inflation if either a) the item the economy is mainly based upon changes (ex. from a clock to a firewall economy, from a firewall to credit economy), or also if there is a continual influx of credits into the game.
Compare this to the issue of "money doesn't grow on trees" - the government printing more money in an attempt to allow more people to buy things. Printing more money without actually changing the intrinsic value of everything else involved in the economy (labor, supplies, etc.) just means that the dollars paid will have to increase (i.e. people want more money to work, and stores charge more money for items). This is evident in the fact that the first minimum wage in the USA was $0.25. 25 cents. 1 quarter. And that was enough, back then, to buy food for your family, as well as have a small amount of money for luxuries every week. Putting it in todays terms, solely counting for inflation and not the rise in the cost of living, that'd be worth $4.07. The cost of living back then (even inflation adjusted) was much lower than it is now. Generally, items back then cost 50% less than they do now. For example, adjusted for inflation, values are 2015/1938: Movie ticket, $7.84/$4.14, Gasoline, $3.24/$1.66, etc. Food staples also were generally only 50-80% as expensive as they are now (even after adjusting for inflation).
I know I got off on a tangent talking about minimum wage and the government printing money is inflation, but I hope it helps you see that printing money (or giving it for minigame plays) causes inflation, which is what a credit sink is designed to avoid.
-Whispered
