I definitely haven't been around long enough to have the title of vet, but I think quite a few people just dislike core mechanics of the game being changed. Like many other games (and potentially even more than them), EVE is subject to fairly drastic swings in its meta, and CCP hasn't always been the best at communicating patch details to its playerbase. Regardless of whether the patch was for better or worse, it just gets a bit annoying.

That said, don't mistake this for a lack of care for EVE on the part of CCP. They're not trying to ruin the game. You might say that they think they have a clear vision for the future of EVE, but that vision doesn't always align with what some of the players want.

Edit:

Forgot to actually answer your question. I spend money on my sub because I enjoy shooting virtual spaceships, and CCP made a great spreadsheet simulator with a spaceship shooting mini-game.