This has been said, but it needs to be emphasized. This game is awesome because we have a development team that doesn't profit from the mod. They take steps to ensure they are advancing a game they would like to play.
Thanks to that, we've got the wonderful choice of grind or no grind. I'm not going to lie, if skip the fun was around when I first joined, I would never have retired. However, for those who do like to grind, constant retirement is an option.
There is absolutely nothing forcing you to retire. It's not like there are heirlooms in Strategus.
It's a choice. You can't pick both, and there's no real reason to complain about the grinders because when it comes to combat, it's always going to be a question of avoiding more mistakes than your opponents. Sure, this forces skip the fun characters and others who don't retire to make even fewer mistakes than someone with triple-heirloomed plate, but hey, it was our choices that led us here in the first place.
I mean, it's the same as choosing to wear a peasant shirt versus plate. You could have that advantage, but why bother when you can have more fun without it?