This entire thing is such a fascinating, if flabbergasting, case study. Living Story was paid for by the cash shop, expansions were paid for by the box price. Then Anet drops expansions, repackages Living Story as "mini expansions", sells them to us for full price and keeps the cash shop because free money.

And everyone cheers.

Content creators cheer.

Nobody is bothered. Zero care.

I remember when it started with horse armour, and culminated into Diablo Immortal. "Players" as a homogenous mass are like schizophrenic borderliners with an abuse kink. Yes they will throw their tantrums and bitch and whine, but everytime the industriy shits in their mouth along every step of the way from horse armour to Diablo Immortal, "players" ask for more.

The "expansion" is great for what it is and the resources that have been put into, but the underlying patterns have my hair stand on end. The studio barely got enough budget to create anything at all, everything has to be re-used ad nauseam, the fucking "hit stuff, fly and gather orbs, hit stuff again" design loop alone has more reruns per event than the bloody Beatles!

Proof that there is zero permanence and future-orientation in consumers.

I know all of that sounds harsh, but it's really just the very nature of our entire species. Case in point: the entire human fucking history.

Watching it so laid out clear as day right into my face though genuinely boggles my mind.

Well, that's how things are. Still enthralling to watch, though.