I'm in the same boat. I'm told that if there's someone who has the motivation for that level and uses it on every rift, then you can finish the story. People are just going from one to another, not following the rift detector which may or may not have bearings on the game. I, too, bought some motivation from the auction house and could only afford 3. Now I barely have a gold in my bags. I opened a ticket about it because, after restarting chapter 7 and then chapter 8, the NPC with the star over her head (Kamilla?) is still standing there with a green star over her head and not willing to talk to anyone. Anet needs to make it that if you didn't receive it or you lost your motivation, you can just get it back from her. I agree that this is annoying and I wish they'll figure out a way to fix it. Anyone who had this happen should open a ticket so they can't ignore it. I want to finish my story.