The pay to win gear inequality is an issue, but I think the real problem is the developers are obsessed with gambling, almost everything has to be a game of chance with a high percentage of failures. That's creates a negative vibe, doesn't matter if it's saving enchant stones up for months only to have them fail and you go backwards in enchant level, or the inability to do camps because there is always an opponent with +15 gear waiting to gank you, usually a sin in coward mode. Those failures also make a negative mood.
It's happy moods that make people come back for more, not negative moods.
Perhaps the devs, and marketing people, need to read up on the differences between cortisol, and dopamine?