The question was: Does the G/E 'baby' players? ... yes, it very much does. I wouldn't go as far as to call them lazy, 'dependent' perhaps. If the GE were removed tomorrow, it would cripple tons of the players who have only known the GE, many of whom haven't got the faintest idea how to produce items for themselves. Bstaffs, super sets, monkfish, and bruised blue pointy snelms, all magically appear for them if they have enough gp. Yes, the GE is fast (most of the time), and overall has more benefits than drawbacks (*cough* price manipulation *cough*) but, I don't think this was meant to be a 'pro/con GE' debate. The GE, as is, frees up a lot of time for doing what you want to be doing, that is if gathering ingredients isn't your thing; but, at the same time it makes the game incredibly shallow IMO. There is a lot of depth to this game, and if you are a newer player who only uses GE to get everything, I think you are missing out on much of what the game has to offer. I am not saying walking across the map for a spade spawn is depth ... I'm saying, at least knowing how to make that "bulls eye lantern*" (*insert X item) from scratch is depth; and perhaps you'll even find yourself doing it one day, when no one is selling said item on the precious GE; or maybe even find yourself doing it for fun at some point.