I am going to probably come back to this after I have given some thought for other features I enjoy, but I wanted to comment on the OP's last point.
I currently play a game called Boundless ("voxel sandbox" building MMO). This game does something similar to what you mention, and I love the way they handle it. Every level you gain, you get skill point to put into stats/abilities and a currency called "Cubits." These are used to purchase "plots," used to claim areas of planets to build and keep as your own, cosmetic items, extra skill pages, etc.
Level 50 is the "max," where you will obtain enough skill points to max out what skills points you can actively use. You can continue endlessly to level past 50 to gain more skill points and Cubits.
There are methods to level pretty quick with some effort, so you can obtain endless amount of cubits to use on the cubit shop. Everything you do; building, crafting, gathering, etc. gains XP.
You can ofc, purchase Cubits with real money if you wish, but you are not obligated to if you would rather put the effort into the game and levels.
Here are the positives I can point out off the top of my head:
- You CAN use real money if you want
- You also have the option to put in blood-and-sweat to obtain cool cosmetics without real money
- You gain enough of the currency where it does not feel like it is hopeless. You do not gain so much to make it feel like you are just being handed everything easy, but also not too low where it seems impossible to progress in-game without real money (many other games I have tried have such low gain on the extra currency that you would end up spending weeks and months to obtain a cheap item on the shop)
- The items you can purchase are not Pay-to-Win. There are conveniences and cosmetics, but nothing that really give you an advantage over other players. This might be debatable, as a lot of comments I see out on forums regarding the term pay-to-win, most people seem to think that anything paid for with real money regardless of utility (or lack thereof), think it is pay-to-win. So let me clarify my meaning.
* I refer to pay-to-win as purchases that increase levels with no effort, are items to increase stats/power that are otherwise
difficult/impossible to obtain in-game, allows you to mind control and dominate other players against their will, etc.
