It's gone to that 'freemium' mode than a handful of MMOs are doing. The core content is free, but if you want extra stuff, you have to pay to unlock it. They actually make more money this way than a subscription model.
That being said, if I DO like it, it might be a bad thing xD. I can easily see myself trying to get people to upgrade my account for me to get the extra races/classes >_> Even without upgrading,there's still like 8 classes and 4-5 races to choose from.