I'm fine with the currect system. You can afk in peace without a string of bored stacked dudes coming over and clearing the entire zone every now and then. I wouldn't mind drops from pk either but I don't trust ncwest to make autohunt exploitproof and I would outright quit if they prioritized pk drops over safe autohunt. I'm not gonna grind the same mobs day in and day out for hours on end.
Also, op mentions blazing swamp, enchanted valley, phantasmal and whatnot then talks about incentivising people to spend. Mentee alts aren't gonna spend my dude. As for Ketra/Varka/Sos, people die because they are too squishy or their tank dced, not because someone is running pk alts in those areas. Without any sort of pk penalty I'm sure it would start happening though.
I'm here to make adena. That's my idea of fun in this game. I have no interest whatsoever in competing with other people's wallets. I already know the outcome. As for why most people pick yuls; it's because they think they'll be able to put out the same dps as the top yuls but in reality most end up being lvl110 and unable to do IT on their own in all their exalted glory.