I paid full price at launch for STO and ended up playing three months over two time periods.
It was a good, fun game and I enjoyed my time there. It was however lacking content, clunky and restricted in various areas.
If I had to go back in time, I'd have still picked it up, still played it and still enjoyed it... but I'd have waited until it was in the bargain bin.
They didn't. The lifetime subscriptions for these games cover the cost of at least 4 expansions, and they never get them. They could have paid the same as anyone else and got the SAME GAME, but instead they paid MORE for PROMISED content that was never delivered.
Technically speaking, they did not get what they paid for.
You cannot compare something like LoTRO or STO, which charged a monthly subscription fee, to Hellgate: London which did not.
Most people who I know that have purchased Lifetime Subscriptions do so because they love the game and foresee themselves playing for a long time and they pay for their enjoyment. If they enjoyed the game for the length of time it was going then they got their monies worth, expansion pack(s) or not.