I think vet rewards should be more for deco and aesthetic purposes and not actual use.
Reason being is that for those who have played 10+ years, many have not kept the SAME account the whole time.
For example, I have played since right when UOR was released, but my oldest account right now is 3 months.
Well, it all depends what purpose the Veteran Rewards need to have from a business point of view.
If they are to be a message to customers that if they hook with the game long enough (and pay their subscriptions i.e. the accounts remain active...) they get this or that cool thing, well, chances are that some customers will actually be tempted to stay with the game long enough (and keep being subscribed) to earn those Veteran Rewards.
This said, one needs to wonder whether or not yet another ethereal rideable would make the trick to have customers stay with the game to ride it.....
Some maybe yes, but I'd imagine for quite a few yet another ethereal rideable would not much be a reason good enough to keep paying the subscription until that time comes....
So, it all depends what is the purpose of Veteran Rewards.
To me, they could be a very good way to keep customers keep paying their subscriptions but of course, it all depends how tempting and good they might be.
By the way, the more players pay for their subscriptions the better it is for everyone since more revenues mean more resources and so possibilities to add new content to the game.
So, it is a good thing, not a bad thing.