Still arguing over semantics, at best. If you want to really break down that one comment from almost two years ago, no where does it say “anything and everything that we charge from now until the end of time will always be DLC cosmetics only, we promise.” Context of the subject matters as well, in which the quote is pulled from was very clearly summarizing the upcoming DLC at the time (the very first one). Out of context, it’s still semantics, at best.
If this wasn’t a game named Conan Exiles, there would be little discussion on the matter I imagine. Any other game in the world that released expansion like content would be considered widely acceptable that such content should be paid for. You can look at hundreds of games over decades for examples, or Ark (4 paid expansion) if you really care for a more direct recent example.
I posted this the last time this topic came up, which is from a much more recent June 2019 Dev Stream.
Twitch Comment: The game needs more maps. If there are technical issues, make it as Instance
Robert: We don’t have instance tech either, so that in itself is a technical issue. The space we have on the map is limited by two major factors; the Unreal Physics limits, which deteriorate over distance, and also the fact that we have more dungeons planned out and these need to be placed somewhere - we earmarked the northeastern part of the game for this purpose. Don’t get me wrong, we’d love to put more land into the game, or make a new map but that is a significant addition and certainly wouldn’t be a free update if we did so.