I saw it mentioned on an old thread from a couple years ago, but has any more thought gone into a referral reward system? i.e., getting certain in-game benefits for referring more new people to the game.

No thank you.

yea I would personally prefer to stay away from that, if you like the game tell your friends about it. That's how i was introduced to the game and brought a couple people in. however, i don't like the reward system at all.