I'd think the same thing, but the JP playerbase and the cash shop is going to keep this title earning for quite a while.

The reason the game is becoming worse is because they can spend less effort and still earn the same (or better) profit.

There is no incentive for SE to change the game into something western audiences are craving.

There's no getting around it in MMOs anymore: cash shops kill. It might be slow, it might be fast, but at some point the company will ask itself why bother with heavy dev if you can put another chibi mount in the cash shop and make as much as you do when selling an expansion.