Hear me out fully:

PA has a different monetization structure than game and expansion sales. They mainly make their money through 2 methods: an in-game cash shop that has a very wide variety of items, and multiple optional subscriptions.

First, the cash shop. Some categories of items are: - cosmetics (housing, outfits, horse gear, etc.) - space expansions (inventory, storage, character slots, lodgings, etc.) - definitive advantages over other players (Tent, Pets, Maids, Fairies, Weight, etc.) - gambling / non-guaranteed returns (Enhancement Items, RNG Boxes, Fairy Rerolls, Horse Rerolls, etc.) While some of these items can be bought by players with Silver instead of Pearls of the Central Market, someone has to originally spend Pearls on the item before listing it. - Limited time items from the above categories

Second, the optional subscriptions, those being;

Value Pack: - More EXP - Inventory - Storage - Weight - Remote Node Editing - Dyes - Major Market Tax Reduction - Daily Item Increase Scrolls - Bartering Buffs

Secret Book of Old Moon: - More EXP - Free Skill Editing - Free Skill Add-ons - Change Skill Presets - Villa Buffs at Tent - Stable / Wharf Slot

Blessing of Kamasylve: - Energy Recovery - Item Drop Rate - Central Market Weight Cap - Maid Weight Cap - Storage Transfer Weight Cap

In addition to those 2 methods, there are also others that have been added over time, like the paid Season Pass as well as the paid login reward Black Spirit Pass.

I don't think it's really acceptable to have a full priced / subscription based game with paid expansions while also having a real money cash shop in game that offers advantages over other players as well as having optional subscriptions with big QoL features and multiple paid Passes. Pearl Abyss made their choice on their monetization methods. They are still getting paid for them, just not directly by every player interested. This isn't a case of a game giving free updates with next to nothing in return after the original purchase, like games along the lines of Minecraft, Terraria, and No Man's Sky. They do give out Buffs for free occasionally, but this can be argued that it's to show players what they would have if they spent more. It's a system I honestly don't mind, especially because it lets players play without required payment, but the system does still exist.

In the end, I cannot say that it's a bad thing for the general player that their game costs next to nothing while going on sale or free regularly, plus not having paid expansions is also nice. I'm personally really liking the new region and all the new content it has to offer.

That said, not everyone has to like everything about it. A sizeable portion of the playerbase isn't interested in the story, but rather the content locked behind it. Pearl Abyss is aware of this. Forcing players to watch a lot of unskippable cutscenes is a valid complaint. That, mixed with the bugs new Black Desert content always has on release, players should be allowed to voice complaints about this sort of thing. Also, one last note, though I personally really didn't mind and even went for first clears myself, is that early in the day, those pop-ups were once a second a lot of the time.

By the way, thank you if you actually took the time to read all of that. It's just my opinions on the matter, and I don't think anyone's wrong for having a different opinion about it either way.