The #2 ranked player in Aetolia currently has never bought a thing with real money. He's level 100, has 7 maxed out skills, and one more that is a hair away from being maxed out.
The other IRE games have similar examples. If you don't want to pay real money, you just have to commit more time to the game. It's a simple time-money trade-off, and it's one that allows you to play for free, forever, as the #2 ranked player on Aetolia has, for instance.
--matt
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