Any other former MMO raiders getting that same feeling as when you finally realize that the boss is going down this pull?
Ever since I was young I've never liked money, or tried terribly hard to obtain it. Focusing my efforts and attentions on other things, even frivolous things, has been far more valuable to me than money. The reason for this is that the pursuit of money in our culture requires one to accept the pessimistic outlook on life when interacting with the financial system. The more time you spend interacting with a pessimistic system, the more you learn how to behave that way in your own life.
Now that I think about it, I can also see how gaming may have been used to train anons. First off it has long been one of the most cost effective hobbies that exist, meaning minimal need to interact with the financial system. Then it also strongly promotes the optimistic perspective on life, where you learn that failing over and over again is what eventually leads you to victory, as long as you keep learning and growing from each failure.
Money itself is just a tool, I agree. The rules and regulations that shape our financial system uses that tool to promote the pessimistic world view.