I appreciate the OP's metaphor, but I can't say that a sandwich shop can represent the release schedule of an MMO. We don't pay a subscription fee to get our stale bread, moldy cheese, rotten meat sandwich from a shop. I don't think it applies.

I've played a lot of the mainstream MMOs (not all). They all have patch cycles for releases. The nature of an MMO is that we are paying a subscription fee to access the service. The same way we pay a usage/subscription fee for internet, mobile, paywalls, VPNs, etc. I have never played an MMO that released the entire game, all in one patch, and then the developers "peaced out" while the company collected subscription fees for a decade.

I do agree that it feels like a long time between patch cycles. Personally, I sub/unsub (and set a reminder on my calendar for 42 days so I don't lose my house). When I do spend that $15, I tend to hit the game hard for weeks. And then leave it behind for 1.5 months.