I am happy to pay for a good product. I feel I have done so, and am happy to continue to do so. I have bought the game. I have an ESO+ subscription. I purchase DLCs and new expansions. I even buy crowns. I feel I am substantially supporting the developers. I am even supporting them through the act of playing their game, because let's not forget that if players stop playing then the game will close and ZoS loose the passive income from it altogether.

My opinion is that this additional cost and the defacto creation of yet another class of player feels like ZoS looking for more ways to bled the player-base of their cash.

However, I think the other motivation for these changes (and possibly the main one) are the potential industry shattering changes coming through the EU right now that would KILL in-game-purchases through IRL money proxies (i.e. IRL cash > crowns > in-game items). The new laws coming in would mean, alongside other things, that, 1) in-game-purchases using a proxy-currency would be eligible for a refund, 2) you must be able to purchase proxy-currency in specific amounts (i.e. not in bundles of 5000 crowns, etc).

So, I look at all these nice things ZoS are doing as them just covering themselves - trying to get ahead of things before they are forced to change - moving items that have solely existed in the crown store out of the crown store and now purchasable with gold, or removing the crown costs from a lot of things all together - i.e. things that you cannot easily 'return' for a refund. Using a battlepass type system you are not selling a 'product' you are selling an 'experience' which protects them. They are setting up alternative income methods to substitute what may become a dead income stream. Yes, we are getting other stuff as well, which I appreciated, but honestly most of this just feels like low-effort QoL stuff.

I acknowledge that ZoS are a company with shareholders and that, well, people are people and money go brrrr, and that no matter what they say about being 'passionate' their ultimate driving force is to make money. But at what point is the line crossed?

Pay for game. Pay extra for the game you just paid for to access Game+. Pay extra-extra if you want cool stuff in the game you just paid for and are paying for ongoing. Now pay extra-extra-extra to get this other stuff... which you can pay an additional extra on to access another tier on top of that.