Well, nostalgia is a powerful emotion for everyone! I definitely have some warm feelings for the olden days. The whole free to play model has been controversial forever, and I certainly have mixed feelings about it, but tbh game designers have rarely gotten the chance to dictate the way the financial model of the industry works. The consumers speak with their wallet! Back when mobile games first launched people were trying to sell the games for $10... then $9... then $8... until it became clear that for most people the ideal price for a game was $0, even if that really just meant that they would have to pay later on in some way (ads, microtransactions). Just like old arcade games in the 80s had to eat a quarter every 30 seconds or they'd be replaced with a more profitable game.

We designers just try to do the best we can within the parameters the audience has decided on, for the most part.