VIP is (by definition) to reward those who’ve put the most money into the game… It’s bound to be expensive… It’s an extra privilege and not a right.
The bonuses are all nice whatever VIP level you’re at.
GoW at the end of the day has to survive as a business venture. Whatever the f2p passions of @Sirrian and the devs (and I understand they loathe p2w at least as much as we do), if the game doesn’t make enough profits 505 will pull the plug. They’re not a charity…
So we have a little creeping in our system to put good collection stuff and extra rewards out of reach unless we play for months or throw in some cash… So play for months - the game is so fun and engaging that should be manageable? Or add some cash to show your support and get a few extra freebies along the way.
The shop/VIP and other 108 stuff is cool for us, but in some ways just another business gamble. If it works, 505 makes more money and will allow more to be put back into the game - for all the cool content/guilds/events/minigames we’d like to see. If it doesn’t work and too many people are put off by the economy changes or sense of p2w, then the devs and 505 will respond and change it…
Personally I feel the balance is going to be fine. This game’s whole mechanic and the culture the devs gave us mean that p2w feels unlikely to me. There’ll never be anything in-game you can’t get with hard work or blind luck.