Upkeep is sooner or later going to have to be fixed. As stated already, there are many players that don't pay attention to upkeep. In half a year, there will be more and more veterans to this game and upkeep will be gimped, unless some sort of dynamic upkeep is instated (or some other kind of solution). You can't just continue to increase the upkeep costs, as newer players will be shafted.
As rustyspoon said, upkeep is only a weak balancing act, and eventually, with the current system, it will collapse...
How long does it take to retire 4 times? About a dedicated month? Thats 4 looms * 450k which is 1.8 million gold. And don't get started on people who can already retire in like 3 days with their xp boosts.
And whoever said that fighting tin cans isn't all too intimidating, I agree. Sure, I may not be able to solo Goretooth or Tydeus with peasant armour, but plate wearers are penalized enough that they aren't invincible - the new anti-glancing system also helps "balance" plate. There are other people who don't even THINK about plate and do amazing (I'm lookin at you balbaroth and cyranule!)
This is coming from a guy with 1 heirloom (masterwork)... I hate grinding so am now going for level 32.