[KaVir]

I would check D as well, having refused every donation I've ever been offered (my usual answer is "If you want to help us out, write a review"). The 2-option suggestion would benefit my mud more than the 4-option suggestion, because there would be fewer muds in the same catagory. However it is my firm opinion that the 4-option suggestion would be far more useful for players.

I would also be strongly in favour of such an option, my only concern being that it's more easily "gamed" than the other four, as you pointed out (both here and earlier in the thread). In particular, the idea of making purchasable bonuses obtainable for free - but requiring several years of work, effectively making them unobtainable in any realistic sense.

An alternative, which I mentioned earlier, would be to have an option for "locked" bonuses - purchased bonuses that cannot be transferred between characters. The reasoning behind this is that if players can transfer bonuses between each other, they'll form their own economy based on supply and demand. If the Sword of Doom requires 10 years work to earn for free, then some players will purchase them for $10 and sell them in-game for something more realistic - you're effectively allow the players themselves to define the in-game value of the bonuses.

The drawback of such differentiation (both your #5 suggestion and the locked one) is that it comes down rather heavily on the games that sell purely cosmetic purchase-only locked rewards, such as a "donator" title. I guess the text area would allow them to clarify their stance though.