While I am not quite as confident as you, I agree with your basic point - we complained about the rate of release, Funcom listened. (And, just like many of us said would happen, as soon as Funcom slows down the ‘game is dead’ crowd immediately take that as ‘proof’ that they are right…).
I need to see some actual improvements before I will be happy, but I do support Funcom slowing down on releases. What we need to see is if that results in better quality (the hope) or the same low-quality just less of it (the fear). Only time will tell for certain.
I can’t speak for @E.y but my own opinion is that the loss of the battlepass is not that bad. Sure, it was nice to get a bunch of free stuff every few months, and it’s disappointing to see it go - but I never felt it would last forever and it always seemed like something of a ‘loss leader’ (sold at a loss to encourage customers to hopefully spend more on other products). I would guess that the loss they were making on it was turning out not to be so well covered by the profit from the bazaar - maybe not enough income to justify it. That would be a pretty natural reason to try moving away from it - and they do mention intending to carry on giving ‘free content’, though I would imagine at a naturally lower rate.
As for ‘buying those items from the bazaar’, I’m not convinced that is directly one to one. I liked getting free BP stuff, but I wouldn’t have spent on the bazaar for most of it. I only spend on the bazaar when it’s something I particularly want and am willing to pay the price for. For me, many of the prices are higher than I would be willing to pay for something, so I pass it by even if I wanted it - maybe others are more willing to buy (clearly that’s the business model), but I can only speak for myself. (Also, not playing right now, so all of this is a bit irrelevant - but the point remains about my view of BP and bazaar, and would be the same if I was playing.)
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