First off I wanna say I'm no real fighter/grinder or any of that, but I see this change as a general problem for MD instead of just for fighters. I decided to open this in another thread since it's a new idea which could solve many aspects of combat, not just tokens, and I'd like to hear the community's opinion.
What I thought of was a double-system: Paying players and non-paying players. Both of these would be separate as far as combat is concerned; neither can attack the other. Everything would be different; the fights, the rewards, etc. However, this would only take place if the person BUYS credits. Credits earned or traded wouldn't switch the player to the "Paying" category, they would remain in the "Non-paying" category.
Pros:
-it will allow paying players to spend freely, and since more competition will be generated among paying players; they will be encouraged to spend more... all the rewards and bonuses from paying can be increased greatly... there will be nothing stopping them from spending... give them all they want
-there will be no "gap" anymore between payers and non-payers, they would be separate, which would mean that the non-payers would also be encouraged to fight to get to the top ranks of their own category, rather than saying "Oh I'll never be as good as the payers so why should I fight?" hence increasing activity.
Cons:
-there are already few players to look for when fighting, now there will be even fewer to fight with. However, I believe this isnt as much of a problem since more people would be willing to fight now that the "gap" would be removed
-all this needs to be coded
I would think and write more about this, but first I'd like to hear what the community thinks of such an idea in general, so that I don't end up wasting my time. It might turn out to be a good solution if more ideas from you can improve this. No solution can be absolutely perfect, but we can try to make one as best as possible.