Irfidel (atys)
It does not take long to reach a good enough fame to get that service for free. Players don't have to be citizens. Neutral players can have up to 50 fame with all four nations.
If you can't give any product because the system is always full, then raising fame the corporal way takes quite a while.
Oh and I also forgot, NH is (or should be) a good way to come back from negative fame; otherwise when you're under zero you only have one poor option (one single mission-based npc in the capital). If going down in fame is as easy as right clicking the magistrate in the city, I believe going up could be easy too. Not to mention newcomers whose default fame is -10 and -20 respectively with two nations.
Try to start a new character and see how bad you're having it with money. Levels go by very fast, and you'll always need new equipment - jewels, LA, HA, amps, weapons, the list goes on and on. Mounts get lost all the damn time due to player death. Buying a q250 pick to CP for someone else (almost everyone needing a CPer is a master) sets you back by 16 and up to 20 thousand dappers. A world trek alone sets you back by tens of thousands.
Anyway... I don't believe in the Mother Theresa approach, that "pain is good for you" ;) Unless the subtle point is to leave in game only those good at developing a Stockholm Syndrome. The others simply quit when the game gets too difficult.
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