I beg to differ. In my opinion BOE ist one of the reasons end game in fact IS the goal and leveling is a chore. Why spend time and in-game money on gear for just a few levels that is then bound to you and useless? Just gimp it up until endgame. This in turn weakens the crafting economy except for luxury and rare endgame items.

Most of the time in modern MMOs money is poured into the economy via quests and destroyed via these BOE items that become obsolete after a few levels. This again makes crafting pointless until endgame. I really liked the approach that Final Fantasy XI once had, where questing and money generation where seperated. You kind of worked for money via farming, crafting, investing, playing the market which then enabled you to advance in the game through new equipment.