Mythic's "Wrath of Heroes" was born, lived, and died without ever leaving "open beta." But they sure as heck were willing to take money from the people that played it. Same with the "Neverwinter" Facebook game.
Because that $60 (plus monthly sub, if there is one) covers everything. That same amount in a f2p game covers maybe the bare basics, plus playable content in f2p games is rarely expanded upon while the real money shop gets the overwhelming majority of the development attention. Game design is based around what makes things…