I think what a lot of people don't get is that the difference between 28 and 32 point builds is pretty minor. "kick more butt" isn't even a question.

When one reaches 1750, one unlocks 32 point builds and gets a free +2 tome to the attribute of one's choice. Now, the +2 tome is actually usually more of a bump to stats than the 4 point jump from 28 to 32. (if you put it onto a stat that started at 18 or 19, it would actually be the equivalent of a 6 point boost). If you got the +2 tome for a dump stat, well, that would be a little different, but most peole wouldn't do that.

how rare are such tomes? For the casual players, very rare indeed. My char is level 17 now, was capped at 16 for a long time, but haven't had a chance to play it since the mod. Been playing for several years. Multiple raids. (I think a total of 30 something times in the reaver, I have all the ingredients for shroud crafting, about a dozen or so trips through there, etc.). In that time, other than the +2 tome, I've pulled a +1 tome to a dump stat (was worth more to me to sell) and a +1 tome in a non-dump stat. So, it's pretty uncommon unless one spends a lot of time at the higher level content (which some players do, and those players will find tomes to be pretty common). So the free +2 tome doesn't mean your character is exactly equivalent to all the other characters (because a very small set of players will have a lot of tomes available to them). But it makes it equivalent to 95% at least of other characters and better than most 32 point builds whose players don't have tomes.

I think a big part of the problem is that the world has outgrown the 1750 favor reward and the +2 tome. At the time they did it, tomes were VERY rare. My vote would be that the 1750 favor reward would be unlocking 32 point builds in general AND/OR a free respec of the character up to 32 point build (I actually don't care much about unlocking 32 points for new characters, provided that characters can eventually be respecced up to 32 point. AND the additional bonus should be something that stacks with tomes. (a +1 legendary bonus to a stat of one's choice, for example). That would make favor more valuable, in that it couldn't be eclipsed by tomes, and would also solve the "my character will never be as good as yours could ever be" problem.

I think the solutions are really:
1. A mechanism to respec current 28 point builds up to 32, unlockable at 1750 for that character only.
2. An additional reason to get to 1750 that is better/different than tomes which are still rare, but more common than they were when this came out. (my suggestion would be a stackable +1 bonus to a stat, but there could be a host of other ideas).

(I'd also prefer, if both of these are met that the "unlocking 32 point builds across the board" mechanism be done away with, and make it a reward per-character, not per-account. But this isn't a strong preference.

The big issue is #1. If this were available, there'd be NO issue with the unlocking thing, IMHO. Apparently, it's tough programming wise. But that's why we pay them the big bucks. I honestly believe that this is the best solution to keep both camps happy.

yes, they want to make money. But they also don't want us to burn out on the game very quickly, which is always the danger of taking stuff that people have to work for and make it buyable: 1. it runs the risk of making the game boring and not played for as long, because once you have everything, what's left to accomplish? and 2. it runs the risk of giving the perception that the way to have better characters is to spend money, which makes the "f2p" claims kind of a joke. Both of those things are long term threats to making money and have to be balanced with the short term gains of selling stuff in the store.

In the meantime, technically, yes, your 28 point build with the +2 tome is better off than a 32 point without the tome, but not quite as good as the 32 poitn with the tome. And yes, tomes can be gotten in other ways. But it's quite rare, as a proportion of characters in the game.
there's also a threshold effect. When people say it doesn't really gimp your character, what they mean is that no one but you is ever likely to know, based on results, whether you have a 28 point or 32 point build. if you are a skilled player with a decent build (and with a decent group), you'll beat most dungeons most of the time. And if you are either unskilled or have a crappy build, you'll be much more than 4 points away from beating most dungeons most of the time.

In most cases, in DDO, the outcomes are binary. You either complete the quest and get the loot and xp, or you don't. having a solid build, but being a little better because you have a 32 point build is kind of like being a little more pregnant. Once you're past the threshold, more/less isn't much of an issue.