Do it with your eyes open...
My point is just this.... Money (beyond) CD cost for anything is extra cash flow.
Do you think they hired extra programers to develop this "booster pack" or were resources which should have been creating scheduled upgrades/patchs and improvments (which are part of your subscription price) ge allocated to work on this project. You see in order to justify charging extra based on any cost those cost *Must* be incremental to normal operating expenses. I say that this "booster pack" did not have incremental cost an as such should be part of our monthly subscription services. I have *no* problem paying for Expansions, as they often require company's to purchase new software (Game engine, Rollmaster..ect..ect..) to upgrade the game. In an expansion substantial *incremental* development time and cost must be covered. In this booster pack situation I just don't see that being the case. I see things which could/should have been implemented (if patch schedule had stayed on schedule) and a simple money ploy. Now making more money is not a bad thing....but I can assure you that that *is* one of the primary driving forces behind the "Booster Pack" and I have a posting from a World Designer which says as much ......(decent honest guy so I'm not going to post a link to that here).
But here is what's said when a player says the "booster pack" should be free.
"Hey, on a personal level I agree with you. But, as neutral and social democratic as Norway brands itself FC still has to abide by the rules of the capatalist game to be a developer/publisher. We have other titles we want to make/publish and several more envisioned AO expansions. Regular patches will continue to follow (though in what form I'm not entirely sure) and AO's other meta-games will continue to develop. We've got clips of content loaded for 14.5 and beyond. Production takes aim, management has the call on when to open fire. "
Funcom World Designer
So let's not pretend that charging for this is just to *cover cost* .....again making money is good, but lets give to them with our eyes open
The work to create this was/is *NOT* incremental cost to normal business, it's *just* 3 or 4 patches rolled into one. Now, it's your money so it's all good. But lets not pretend that box sales for efforts you normally receive no incremental income from are not a positive. Bottom line, if you pay it is a great idea...if not then it was not.