There is a problem with the system, but it is not accurately worded anywhere in this topic. We'll get to that later.
So, the main problem here, and I see it ALL the time (I was here in a way, myself, just a couple of years ago), lies in expectations and the (very natural) desire to progress faster than you *want*. Allow me to elaborate.
This game is pretty much psychological warfare, until you *get it*. It is an MMORPGs, in all the ways that matter psychologically. You want to progress as fast as possible. You want to take on new challenges. You want to succeed with things you failed in the past. You want to grow. This is all very natural. This is what drives us, in real life and in games. This is where the emotional "paycheck" is in games. If you are progressing you feel good.
Then there is the other aspect. You want to learn. You want to understand. This usually takes time. So much so, that generally in competitive gaming there is time set aside for "research", and in some settings even entire teams to do the research for you.
These are at odds with each other. In this game you want to progress fast, slowly. And usually emotion takes over so you end up rushing progression faster than knowledge, and your wallet pays the price.
This game should be better at holding new players hands. Teach (or at least inform people) that this is a marathon, not a sprint. You need to, ideally, build bankroll faster than you progress. You need to build skill, faster than you progress. You need to gain knowledge, faster than you progress. This is hard. VERY hard.
This next section is for anyone and everyone:
Take your time. Learn the flows of the economy. Build a database (mental or otherwise) of how things move and when. It is very predictable. exploit the crap out of it. Build your bankroll faster than you progress (ideally through timing. Possibly by playing slower than deposits (if you are sure you want to go there) and only every scale up for an opportunity (be it now, or later). Fight your emotions, ideally leave the emotions out of it entirely, treat every interaction as a transaction and move towards a goal. There is no need to progress only to make you feel good. There are other ways to feel good in this game, albeit slightly less rewarding unless you build for it.
''Spend more money youll be amazed" meenwhile nothing changes. Moving the goal post is the only answer in 2026.
I am with Marco on this one. The advice is not "spend more money, you'll be amazed". What I am reading is "Slow your spending, skill up, learn and improve. You'll be amazed"
EDIT:
Oh right! I forgot the problem with the system. The problem lies not in that the required amount of loot instances for balanced results is too high. The problem is that it scales too fast and too high. If the game had actually developed properly (with a balancing authority) we would have much tighter separation and lower boundaries. There would have been creatures with hp in the ranges of 10-5000 or so. And you wouldn't need to keep millions of PED in bankroll for hunting the biggest *normal* things. hp increments would be in 5s and it is likely the boundaries would have been "punies" (as they are) to "somewhat of a gamble" with the biggest.