TG costs what now? 20-25? 2007- 2009, TG costs around 45-50, kiels are probably the same, tao gunka, fbh, sinx card and valk randgris around 80 - 100. 1 token = 3 berry tickets. Rucksacks(the +10 stats and a slot lower headgear) costs 300 each. All fparts are still 95 if you bought it from players. I didn't even bother getting emp back then, I was using FBH aura from votes and using scarf and fluffy wings as lower headgears.
Having low price on TG or mvp cards is actually not good for non donators like me. Back then, I can hunt TG, get lucky with a few cards and gain 100 tokens easily. I don't even have to OP them, because that was the market price.
Gearing up yourself and you can't donate, you have to play with the market prices. It was a godsend for me when TG costs as much as it did before.
I gotta tell you myself, I was not really that hard working in terms of farming. my guild members can vouch for that. What we did actually was this:
When TOB started, we came up with the idea to gain tokens as a group. We were small then, and that time, I as the guildmaster and not counting the ones that can donate is the only one geared enough to pvp and woe. We started farming as a group.
We put up a thread in the market place(kinda like what the guild Carpe Noctem did, I am not sure of what their name really but that is what I remember) and even my members in game, to have people tell us which items they want us to farm, and when do they want it. We kinda like created the guild as a "service" type of business. We even had our own forum for it. And of course, our prices was a tad cheaper than the ones in the market. But Carpe Noctem did this the best farming.
So, we get orders from people to farm the items needed for the elite quest(the knight quest back then), and we commit to the schedule. I was normally doing the MVP hunts since I am the most geared. The people who farmed the items get the payment if they needed it. If, like me, do not need them, they put it in the guild storage. In all the times that the guild was active, I do not remember anyone stealing from the guild storage.
There even was a time that we have a KOS service.
I recruited newbies then. When we started, about 3-5 of us are the ones that are decently geared. The difference with newbies back then was they wanted to play and enjoy the game. None of the people I recruited begged for items. I gave them direction, and they did it. If for some reason one of my co-leaders recruited someone who constantly begs, we kick him out. If one of my guildmembers kill another guildmember for no reason at all, didnt ask for a duel or something else, I kick them out and KOS them. It is indeed just a game, but me, hansen, shreya and lena valued loyalty above gear.
I do want to make TOB alive and do that again, the thing that prevents me from doing it are the new players themselves.