Look, reality is they are a corporation, not a charity. Free to play games will always have a very developed pay wall or what's the point of even making them? What incentive does a developer have to make the coolest shit in the game easy to get? Even back in the day when there was no cash shops (God, I'm such a boomer), there was crazy amounts of grind... just ask anyone who did the cleric epic weapon quest  on everquest about grind, and there was no cash shop to buy them.<br><br>All that said, a developer really shouldn't say things that are demonstrably untrue.