magic find

[Skyy High]

People figured out the loot scaling system, but it took a long time and a lot of misinformation. I suspect the same will happen with MF.

[raspberry jam]

I don't see why harniq's version would be undetectable. WIth a sufficient amount of drops, any bonus from MF, no matter how small, should be visible.

[Akirai Annuvil]

That way there would be no need to spend money on the magic find buff if you have the right equipment, but you might still want to so that you can equip a stronger set of armor.

Or it works like DII/DIII, and ANet makes money off of people who want quality gear. My money's on the latter option.

Also, I'm starting to think that the personal storyline has lots of effects that you'd normally find in the cash shop as every time I see such an item the person who got it said they were doing a lot of their story.

Basic marketing for a cash shop: give one free version of the purchaseable consumables. People will buy more afterwards. If someone has spend money at your cash shop once, they will do so again multiple times.