I mean...the higher the barrier the less likely people are to play the game. I'm not so tied to WoW that I need to float $150 at it annually just to have access to the game all the time.The number of people who say they'll bail on the game as soon as they're outta tokens...wow...
Is the only reason you're playing that it's free? I easily derive $15 a month of enjoyment outta the game. That's like, lunch out somewhere, or a couple of drinks out. I've never found the sub price that prohibitive for all the joy the game gives me.
And really I'm just not happy with the game at all right now. Mythic+ should be cool, but instead it's one massive joke because the reward system is whacked out and nobody wants to run half the dungeons. The specializations I liked playing are at an all time low when it comes to flexibility or mechanical enjoyment and Blizzard just doesn't care at all.
PvP was a joke on Legion launch and their "fixes" have sent it spiraling out of control. Blizzard is regularly nerfing weak classes and buffing strong classes while the top three remain largely in place. They would have accomplished more if they literally did nothing. It's pathetic.
And what part of the game does that not extend to at this point? Professions are somehow a bigger mess than they were in WoD. Earning gear feels like a nightmarish balancing act with the poorly balanced secondaries, where 30 item level upgrades might not mean anything because one secondary stat can be worth twice as much as another. And that spills over to tier set gear that people feel forced into donning despite the fact that it may provide stats they do not find very beneficial.
Legion should be a turning point for the game to move forward, but instead I'm having less fun than ever and will drop it earlier than I did WoD. Unless someone is invested into raiding very seriously I simply cannot imagine the justification for staying engaged with WoW long term. If you really cannot find something better to do with your time or money that's kind of just sad. Even as it is I'm only engaged with the game as a social platform, but frankly the game is pretty poor at creating a fun or flexible environment for groups of players.