I'm a returning player. I am a PVE player and the reason I play MMO's is the fun of discovery and the stories.. I've always had issues trying to get involved in the GW2 storylines, the way they are presented many having to read small print conversations makes it hard for me to care about the NPC's or the story line which impacts immersion. I don't feel what I say or do really matters. I wanted to check out the latest stories but I like to do things in order so I have some sort of history to build a connection with the characters in the story. I started on Living World 1 & then got most of 2 done before I was presented with a episode that was locked requiring that I pay to play it. I get your a "free" mmo but this is STORY. I also play ESO there you can sub or buy a DLC (in its entirety) giving you access to a new land, new story quests. Here I have to pay per episode and it's not access to new land with other quests, its the same lands with no other quests included. So as a returning player or even a new player, I have to pay to play or hope that they'll allow free access sometime in the future. I came back thinking of buying the expansion but there are times I can't play due to work or health so not sure it's a good investment to buy another expansion to a came that will lock me out of the stories if I don't complete them in a certain window.
I know you need to get money but I'd rather pay a sub or if you had homes, & real mounts to buy, giving you money for them. Or crates like SWTOR & ESO have with a chance to get mounts, pets, & other items. I have a house full of music boxes in ESO. Love them, now I can collect w/o dusting. Wish you had that here to make money & allow the stories to be open if you own the expansion they came in.