Ah, I completely forgot about Artifact authorisation. Yeah, I suppose that does let you gain a benefit.
Plus you get a monthly bonus of cartel points which you can spend on any unlocks and things which you don't have, or weps/armour/mounts (but most of them are mostly cosmetic).
Yeah, nevermind SWTOR then if you definitely don't want a game with P2W aspects.
But really, I don't find them to be that bad, at least in most MMOs. I don't normally feel compelled to pay nor that I'm being restricted by not paying. I don't tend to find it makes a game unenjoyable.