It's pretty easy to make 30k with 2 retainers by logging into the game for only 5 minutes/day. That's how I made my first millions without any spirit bonding stuff or time consuming endgame participation.

Also retainers will be usable for farming. There is no way not to see this as paying for power and efficiency. At the end of the day this retainer product is still created with your money and now it's being sold to you instead of inserted as content. This is wrongful use of our money as content is what we pay for in this game. SE is selling us because they assume it makes the game more fun to play and thus making this a desirable product. They are willingly using the subscription money to further dime and nickel their customers.

Extra retainers could easily be a 2-year sub reward or a reward for high level quest. It's neither of those and thus it has teft written all over it.