You know what does devalue your time and effort, though? RNG. The fact that two people can do the exact same quest, put forth the exact same amount of effort and time, but one gets an exotic handcannon Hawkmoon, while the other gets ascendant energy. This is why it cannot be called earning. It is luck. You could shoot a lvl 5 dreg and it might poop out a legendary engram. This is the 20 dollar bill analogy. You have no control over the result, and the time and effort you put in does not equal the same reward as someone else who put in the same time, and effort. That is like saying you earned it when you win the lottery. You can say it, sure... but everyone will still think you are full of crap, and also you have an ego problem. His analogy is correct. Yours does not make sense. I don't ever "sometimes" get paid when I do a job. I always get paid, and it is always at a constant rate. Much like weekly heroics. If you have the skill, you can earn just as many coins as the last guy who completed it on lvl 30. This is earning.