It's what I like to call cannibalization content. Shit low-effort content loops with vastly powerful rewards tied to them to make people play them short-term. It's a pattern that shows up whenever investors take control of subsidiaries to maximize profit.

That has nothing to do with the crowd that just likes to grind to make the number go up. Those are a thing as well, and it's completely fine. You don't need much of a carrot for those, those just enjoy the zen. The carrot you need for the people that'll drop the content like hot coal the second they're done with their armour sets.

Also, keep in mind that NCNet literally and in broad daylight repackaged Living World as "mini expansions" and sells them to us for almost full box price and people couldn't be happier. It's 2023, mate, over at LoL people are angry that they don't get enough microtransactions, and releasing beta versions has been a thing for over a decade now. Feeling old yet?