That's what one might think or want to think. But my experience is different. I mean, i gave examples where stuff happened. You were not required to have a house and store things there in the mentioned games, either. And the people were aware of the upkeep, some kept things fine there for years, till random stuff happened, which kept them away from the game for too long.
The observed reaction never was like "oh, i knew the rules, it's fine, i am so glad i can start over". Not once. Instead it always resulted in the player migrating to another game. Usually after contacting customer support, a lot of cursing and sometimes with taking the guild along.
Quite true. And they are made for a limited part of the playerbase. I still am astonished that there was zero, nada, nilch, for the regular player. During the beta i still was hoping that they'd have at least some small goodies prepared and would just not show them off, so they'd be the nice surprise at launch. After nothing happening for so long for the average player, any small goodie would've made a huge difference.
Instead there was nothing. Which again, translates badly. I mean i mentioned it above: i very much expect my friends, when gaming on this weekend, ask me about the new ED patch and what's up there. And i will have to tell them that there is nothing, not even a tiny quality of live upgrade, included in it, which would be for them. The complete absence of anything for the average player implicitly carries the message that FD doesn't care for them.
Also, having to say that there's absolutely nothing of interest for them doesn't really support my cause of spending another evening with them in ED. While there's plenty of other games out there, which put lots of effort into catering for more casual players.
It's not just the casuals - I have billions and one of every ship but there was nothing for me in this update. Indeed, it ruined populated space for me. Now pondering a return to RDR2 or trying out NMS. It's a sad day.