The Pim-effect, as they call it, was the only one thing that has prevented a project that was close to fiscal collapse from going bancrupt.
Else, the game would have been dead since several years by now .
I know this guy gets plenty of Flak, but without his swinging-around of the rudder and the more aggressive coin-milking they now do, the game and the mother company would have gone off business several years ago. Today, the studio is no longer depending on financial help by the mother comopany - the mother company gets fianced by the developer instead.
So, this Pim-effect must have made a significant difference. The difference between business death and business survival.
That is a fact. The good old days (which had many bugs, few reserves, few species, ugly weapons and several details in gameplay that almost killed the game during its first 18 months), where not really that good at all, I seem to understand. And most important: it were days when the company back then almost killed itslef with ruinous business policies.
I have my quarrels with them myself. I do not like the at times unacceptable low internet stability of their servers, and their prone-to-malfunctions patching procedure. The rest I can forgive - as long as I am left with the choice, and do not get forced to invest into stuff I do not want to invest into. Which is bird-hunting.