This post isn't about fixing flaylocks, or discussing the weapons themselves. I daresay CCP have the nerf hammer properly poised above the poor thing's head. The more interesting question at hand is a bit of a classic, but one that deserves to be brought up time and again...
Pay to win?
I'd like to argue here that flaylocks have pushed themselves into this territory rather handily despite quite vigorous attempts to avoid this kind of thing. There are a few reasons, but they all tie back to the same root: If an item is good enough that you must have it to remain competitive, the "you can get the skillpoints naturally" argument that applies to early-unlock aurum variants falls rather flat. Sure you can get the skill points faster than somebody who doesn't play the game as much, but what's important is that when a piece of gear's good enough, every match you play without it can be a liability. You might be leveling for the ISK variant, but in the mean time the AUR one will do. So basically what I'm saying is that while being able to "do more, faster" isn't pay to win in the long term, in the shorter view the waters get a bit murkier.
The other natural question can only really be answered through speculation. You wonder whether CCP delays balancing sweeps through items with these qualities. Certainly they have a monetary incentive to do so. The potential answer is even more worrying, of course. Whatever it is, the only way to keep everyone in the equation honest is to keep asking it.
