all_hell

I have been getting many of these recently

I haven't been in the starting zones for a while. perhaps thats why I don't see them.

It certainly can be already.

This may be in part to your multiple misunderstandings about how it works.

I am not sure if we're supposed to 'finish'.

This is still not true. You still don't have to do this. There are plenty of other options.
They already have access to it.

You left out the fixed part.

If you happen to be the sort of person who enjoys playing the game and you do story arcs, do Ouroboros arcs, do Strike Forces or Task Forces, do AE missions, and keep or sell any good drops that you happen to get, and try to enjoy yourself, it doesn't take nearly as long.
The only way it could take you 1000 days is if you don't do any story arcs, don't do any Ouroboros arcs, don't do any Strike Forces or Task Forces, don't do any AE missions, delete any good drops that you happen to get, and try really hard to be miserable about it.

Damage mitigation certainly helps. You'll also have to have the DPS to keep the time you need to stay alive down.

Fixed it for you:
If you don't do any story arcs, don't do any Ouroboros arcs, don't do any Strike Forces or Task Forces, don't do any AE missions, delete any good drops that you happen to get, and try really hard to be miserable about it, it could take 1000 days of tip missions to generate 500 A Merits (that you could turn into 14 top end PvP IOs that you could sell for 28 billion+) to trade in for 25 Purple recipes that you could've bought on the market for <12bil.

Disingenuous is as disingenuous does

This is entirely true if you CHOOSE not to use AE tickets and merits. Otherwise, it's false.

There are other options.

If you knew more about playing the market, you would know that it doesn't work like that. It has been pointed out that working the market doesn't take up "the vast majority" of play time. For me it takes anywhere from 15 sec to 5 minutes per day. Other people have different systems. There are many market guides out there. I am quite certain that not a single one of them suggests its readers should sp[end an inordinate amount of time at the market.
You're free to believe whatever you would like, but there's plenty of evidence that your belief about this is unfounded.

They are victims because they can get lucky drops and sell them for tens of millions? They are victims because they can generate inf and buy things from other players rather than having to luck into exactly what they are looking for? They are victims because... of what exactly? What harm is being done to new players?

Why would devs want to keep people who play the game playing the game? Mysterious.
There's no indication other than your assertion that the market--as it actually exists and functions as opposed to what you think the market is--is scaring away any new players.

This is another one of the fundamental things you don't grasp about the market.

If you knew more about the market, you might decide that it's not the discouraging thing you think it is.

Don't forget

" I don't understand the market or realize how to use it, but let me tell you what's wrong with it and how to fix it. "

I am sure you feel the way you do.

What is not true is the underlined part that caused your feeling:

"I FEEL that the market needs adjusting, since after 42 mnths of play I must strip every toon I have of all treasure to fully complete one character, and still fall short of having the supplies needed."

The reason you give for your feeling is untrue. If what you say is true, and this is the reason for your feeling then you can be freed to change your feeling because your reason is false.

Since you don't understand how the market works, how can you reach the conclusion that it is discouraging?
Since you don't understand how the market works, how can you know how to fix it?

They 'lose' by buying a car more cheaply than they otherwise could?

To be fair, they have made the market completely ignorable.

This is still not true. Repeating it again will not add to its validity.

IMVHO, your understanding of the market is directly relevant to the quality of your suggestions. Obviously, YMMV.

So you say.
I say that lots of people do just this. I also say that your assessment of what's the 'best' is flawed.

You don't see the competition as other MMOs, but rather console shooter games? That may be part of the reason why you don't seem to understand what's going on and what's being said.

RPGs aren't about being "finished". They are about playing.

Are you making fun of yourself?

What if you tell them that the game evolves and changes and that you're unlikely to ever "finish" a toon in the sense that you're using it? Cause that's how it is in MMOs. The game evolves, and what was once the best that you wanted, will change as the game changes.
There are many ways to play different toons in this game. Purples and PvP IOs are not the best choice for many, many toons and playstyles.

I notice that you don't understand what MMOs are about and why people choose them over console shooter games. As such I am not very confident that your suggestions will have the intended effect.

To be fair you have been saying that the market is broken and is scaring off new players. Demonstrating that the market is not what you think it is and that it's not broken how you think it is seems very germane.

As has been pointed out over and over and over, it doesn't take years per character.