What's the point of festivals now?

Going over the tentative price list and I noticed that a large chunk of items are festival related rewards.

So...what's the point now of even having the festivals?

I spent I don't know how many hours gathering leaves, tokens, and whatnots to furnish my house and my yard...and now I can just buy them?

Talk about making a holiday commercial.

And on top of that I notice that the Writ of Virtue and the Writ of Passage are now available for purchase. Correct me if I'm wrong but weren't those "thank you gifts" to subs during the anniversary celebration? (or at least a special type of reward for loyalty).

I won't go into the stat Tomes or the like, but I must say that I'm confused by the Return To... traits you can buy. Does that mean everyone can get racial specific travel now?

I seem cheated somehow...the fun seems to be draining out of the game for me. Granted, I never liked grinding per se, but I was working toward a goal...be it a Trait or a Shrew Statue. Now I can just pop into the store and buy it.

<shrug>


N