Mogstation and New Content

[Jandor]

Incorrect. The game plays perfectly well without extra retainers; they are in no way necessary to play the game, they are a convenience. Jump potions are the same, you don't need to buy one to play, it just makes getting to SB more convenient.

No, I'm correct. Retainers and jump potions aren't cosmetics. I never mentioned their effect on gameplay.
When people say the optional extras are just cosmetic they are 100% wrong.

This is only partially true. Subs can be enough to run a game but that doesn't mean they're enough to run a game well or to the standards that their players expect.

For a company like SE I can very easily see how the subs wouldn't be enough to pay for everything and implementing the cash shop could be a necessary part of their business model to keep the game going.

They ran this very game to the same standards they do now before it had a cash shop. In fact, they wouldn't shut up about how amazing it was financially.

Try going to a restaurant at a private club. You need to pay the club membership (subscription) just to get in the door then you need to pay for that really good cheese cake for desert (cash shop)...damn it, now I'm hungry.

Yeah, think I'm going to go and get some lunch.
Also, that sounds pretty expensive, does the club do other things besides food?