Yes, it is an expansion, but they made it very clear that this is not in the same model we are used to. They stated it many times. Especially in the vidoc. I can't understand the pricing thing. I get it. But I understand the other side too. You paid 30 for 9 months of content. That started Tuesday with the release of the first forge. No arguing that there should have been something right out the gate. That was definitely botched. When I finally jumped into the forge I had a blast. Should continue to be fun. But the fact that it's gated behind higher power is lame. Your arguments, while valid, are also in some cases just one side of a discussion. And the advice to not buy until later is always an option, but the way they are setting up the game, if you wait until June to buy the annual pass, you won't even want to play half the old stuff because there will be way too much to do. You are paying to play it along the way.