Firstly, I disagree on both counts. You can find good items, items worth selling for fair, if not huge bit of cash anywhere. As for powerscrolls not being a lure... I don't see how you don't see that as something people would want. Everyone wants character progression, all the advanced templates are based on 120 skills, and much of the end game stuff (depending on your approach) can be very difficult without maxing your skills.
Secondly how much money do new players limited to fel/tram need? Do you think they need to buy artifacts or something? They don't. They can just wander around, find some friends, kill some monsters make some suits... they don't need millions.
I feel like, as a vet your view of UO is focused pretty much entirely on the end game high level stuff, and as such you may have forgotten what it's like to be new, and how different the two experiences are. A new player just needs to get out there, raise some skills, kill some liches, see the world, see the cool houses, meet some cool people, and when they realize there's a lot more game beyond the limited free account, if they are a fan of the game, they will have a lot of reasons to want to subscribe, including a vested interest in a fairly developed character.
