Microtransactions are a slippery slope in my opinion and Runes of Magic seems all too eager to screw safe mmo economics and ride the resulting money landslide all the way to the jagged chasm below. How is an mmo economy supposed to work if people are competing with the game for matt sales? The idea that people should pay extra to make the experience less of a grind fest is ludicrous at best. If a developer knows its gaming experience is deficient in some areas it should correct it rather than dangling the improvements in front of the player base as if it were some expensive antidote.
For example, the WoW developers have taken to heart the comments and complaints of their player base over the years and made their game more accessible in the process. They’ve reduced the prices of mounts, the time it takes to level, and the punishing difficulty of raids for all players who pay the same amount of money every month. Improvements to the game aren’t a luxury but a core part of the experience every participating player expects to receive.
The problem with microtransactons is that they are misleading in this regard, offering you a sub-par experience for free and then requiring you to pay more money piece-by-piece for the full, satisfying experience. This results in the dedicated players having to spend actual money to stay on top, and the players who wanted a free experience facing a game in which they are increasingly marginalized.
So, overall, we are left with a game where if you want to play for free you get a poor experience and where if you want a total experience you have to pay just as much if not more than a monthly a subscription would cost. How is this better than the current model?