Most MMOs can't be P2P and survive. Players don't want to spend subscriptions anymore. Not because they're 'trolls' or 'riff-raff', but because quite frankly subscription is a dead business model, and so many MMO gamers are adverse to buying a box and then paying money monthly to be able to continue playing a game they already bought. Mostly due to comon sense and partially due to so many failed MMOs in the last 10 years. Now, you can throw out all the counters to that statement that you want, but the proof is in the numbers. Hybrid and B2P or even F2P models pull in more players which potentially mean more money in the long haul. Now I tend to agree with Yoishi that f2p is a much less stable income for an MMO.
It does have to potential to make loads more dollars than a sub based model does in short term, but it's sporatic if you can't shell out content and items players want. And yes short term in this genre matters now. New MMOs are coming out all the time with new features and improvements upon the core game system. EQNext for instance I think is going to blast this genre open and all of these games that rely on decades old syste,s (like this one) are going to have one hell of a hard time keeping up. Certainly subs create a more stable income that is substantial over times, but very few gamers play MMOs for years upon years these days. That of course has something to do with developers being stupid and allowing players to reach end content in less than a month (sadly this game included).

At the end of the day for me (and I don't mind paying a subscription provided the game is worth the subscription. and in fact I generally loathe f2p) is "What does the game offer?"

This game, while beautiful and interesting in some ways doesn't have a whole lot going for it that most other games don't already do or do better. It's only real sell point is the IP (and for some of us that's enough, but for most it isnt) which can be a love or hate thing for many, and the graphical quality.

That's the bitter truth. I like the game. I've learned to overlook my slight dislike for the combat system and how one-dimensional the classes seem to be. I believe the game has a lot of potential and I look forward to see what comes of it. But I'm not the type of delude myself into thinking f2p or needing to go hybrid isn't a possability. It isn't necessarily a sleight to the game, it's just what this genre has become.