Interesting talk from Obsidian. Think I should pay homage to his station at some time too...
I have decided that on 12 March I will be making a pilgrimage to Pratchett's Disk in memory of the late great Terry Pratchett, and establish my home base there
Well if you don't find the value proposition good, you're more than welcome to not play it. Eve Online also took years to get where it is today and that's a game that costs $15 a month.
For me the value proposition is just fine. I already got my $60 worth out of the base game in the first two weeks of owning it, when I clocked in roughly 80 hours.