I remember when Allods pulled the same greedy scam with their cash shop during beta, at least half the population walked away in disgust. I'm not sure who the NW developers are listening to, but they're certainly not cultivating any player goodwill with those prices.
I agree with your assessment 100%. The leveling process is painful, the recipes are lackluster, and the end results are pitiful. The only reason anyone is leveling Alchemy is because it's the only new thing to do in game right now. Once everyone gets to lvl 20 and they realize that they've been hornswaggled, there will be…