Part of me thinks that for AE to really be viable for the purposes that the devs intended it, it really shouldn't have given out any rewards, but that the best arcs should have been integrated into the game's canon, either via new contacts or as something like newspaper or police band missions.
I always wondered why you earned influence/infamy/information from AE missions. I can see earning experience -- you're learning how to use your powers better, becoming more effective as a superhero. And I can see the AE tickets; they're the reward you get for participating in AE missions, just like ticket rewards in an arcade. But 'inf' is supposed to be, in game, a measure of other people's willingness to provide 'tangible' assistance to you, whether out of respect, fear, or self-interest. I can't see that crawling into your electronic navel and defeating any number of opponents in a virtual world is going to make
anyone out in the real world interested in providing you with any kind of assistance. "You want six of these targeting optics? These are for Paragon City's heroes. You're
who? Sorry, never heard of you. Yeah, I can see your ID says you're security level 40, but I ain't seen your name
anywhere. Now, you take Caloritron over there -- he's in the paper almost every day for taking out a Fifth Column cell or a Tsoo hideout; he even helped take down Dr. Vahzilok a while back. He can have pretty much anything I've got if it will help him make our streets safer. But you? For all I know, you're going to take these and shop them to the black market. Go build up some reputation,
then come back, and we'll see."