The MMO standard is big patches with massive content, but is this really the best way to deliver in 2014? Perhaps a release when finished approach would be better. Let's take 2.1 as an example and see what it could have been like if the content release was spread out of the 4 months:
September: Daily Beast Tribe quest and Hildebrade
October: Crystal Tower and Good King Mog
November: EX Primal and PvP
December: Ultima, Housing, and New dungeons

I'm actually thinking this might be a better model for sub based games. It give players a reason to log in every month and helps them feel like they are get something for their sub fees. The key word is release when finished.

PS-I have no issues with sub fees, in fact I still find them very cheap.