I think I fit in the first category too, even though I never played before the soulbinding of UTs.
On one hand, I feel like the game was built from the ground for players of the first category I mentioned. Lack of registration (no longer in place), no level requirement in items (still in place, thanks Mad God) and permanent death (like they’ll ever remove that) seems to imply the game wants people to hop on and start shooting right away, without worrying about what they have, but only about what they’ll do with whatever they have. And even if you wanted to take pride in grinding for a certain UT, you could. So what if another player bought his UT? That doesn’t change the fact you “worked” for yours.
On the other hand, what I just wrote is irrelevant, to a certain extent. The game now attracts players of the second category and they are a big part of the community. Not taking what they feel is important in the game seriously would be a reckless and somewhat disrespectful move from whoever is in charge.
In the end, my question still stands: how to conciliate “experience” players (the first category) and “collectable” players (the second category)? I don’t know. And I’m afraid nobody knows.