I wouldn't say valueless, but you'd have to play the WW game to get those high value IOs. There is a way around that tho. Those running the servers can flood the market with cheaper IOs to keep costs down. Finding a base cost is difficult however.
As for wanting to run a TF but can't because everyone is farming? First, I thought I avoided using "everyone", but regardless, there's always people willing to do both. The mass numbers that have populated this project in the last week alone are giving options to team up for all sorts of stuff.
Having the option to powerlevel using AE or otherwise gives people the option to play how they want. No need to snub them.