I went back and re-read UtM's post as well.

I would like to further that post by saying it is not only rewarding players for sticking around, or coming back, but it would UN-realistic to not have such a sytem in place. People who have been around longer -are- treated differently.
Let's take it to real life. The bus driver who has ben around for ten years will get cookies from his long time passengers. A new one will not. A returning driver will get welcome back gifts from the people he knew. A new one has no welcome back. An old solder will be pointed at by people, and things will be said like, "He was in the...". A new recruit will not have much of anything said about him, if he is noticed at all. You are going to invite people you have known for years to your next party faster than the new guy down the street. Even here in the forum, an oldbie, as you like to call them, will have greater weight taken from their words(or less if they are a known troll), than a first time poster.
That is how the world works. We are not an objective race, and to say that being known has nothing to do with daily life is just foolishness.