Split gems for weapon/armor skins:
Normal gems: buyable with gold and real money, grant access to everything except istant weapon/armor skin, but you can still buy tickets with RNG (you will have a nice gold sink + some happy non-paying lucky players)
Exquisite gems: buyable only with real money, grant access to everything, used particularly for buy directly weapon/armor skins.
Give it a try, if you make less money go back to your old system, and say that you need that system because you have to create new content and need more money.
I think people will complain less, just give a try :S
I refuse to believe that gambling is the best solution for all of us.
“Otherwise, your MMO becomes all about grinding to get the best gear. We don’t make grindy games.”
- Mike Obrien