The latter part is really what pushed me away. I didn’t even hear about the game until it had been out for a year or two, and I was interested in the PvP scene; it just feels like unless you were playing from launch, you’re always gonna be behind.

The subscription would have, but the idea of being able to pay for that by just playing the game was neat, and even doable from their free trial if you joined a decent guild (or corp or whatever).