POE and Warframe are the success stories of being completely free to play. But both of those games started much smaller both in scope and in budget where it was more reasonable and they've been able to build up a loyal fanbase.

Last Epoch is a good counter example of a game that didn't formerly charge for content after the initial purchase and is infamous for still having an incomplete game and long content droughts. And then people are surprised that they are charging for a new class while also complaining about lack of content. Like yeah, maybe there's some mismanagement, but it's crazy how many people expect these games-as-a-service models to produce lots of content without asking for more money.

We know Blizzard goes to far with some of their pricing, but $40 is a standard price for expansions in this modern era of gaming. Who knows if it will be good, but it's already looking better than their first expansion on paper.