They are handling it beautifully to make money. They game has arguably little to no pay to win in it. They are capitalizing on pets and outfits. Right now the breeding system for pets is disabled (they are most likely revamping it to make it take more pets to reach a higher tier, because more pets equals more money), and the clothing system is right where it needs to be.
I say that because if ANYTHING in the game had to be a money crawl, clothing and dye is the perfect thing for it to be. Lets look at what it is right now.
You don't get outfits really through playing. Most of it is real money, and those real money outfits are expensive. People complain all the time yes, but think about the complaint. "I can't dress up my character in a MMO" is a pretty tame fucking complaint when it comes to a game that has more depth in it then maybe any MMO, better looking then maybe any other MMO, and only 30 dollars with no sub.
So those people that costumes really matter to end up either buying them or quitting. Most of the complainers will be gone in the first month or so and then Daum can really sit back and look at their numbers and decide what the NA/EU market really wants. Chances are, what they are betting on, is that guess what, the people that care realized that the game has a crap ton more to offer then "dress up simulator" and they decided that buying a outfit to support a MMO that only cost 30 dollars still only puts their total cost spent on what a lot of other MMOs costs out the door...and then still have sub fees. Hell, its only 2 months worth of the typical MMO's sub fees and you are helping keep the servers running.
So the complainers are gone (or have quieted down) and then Daum releases the first clothing pack. This. Is. Genius. Why? Because if they released all the clothing at once, all the crazy outfits that KR already has, people would simply just buy the outfit they like best and be done with it. A staged release, starting with the "meh" outfits first and working their way up? Fucking Genius. They people that care about what their character looks like bought a outfit to look different, but since there are so few to chose from they don't really look THAT different. Need evidence of this? Look around this sub.
So now the first clothing pack comes out, and those people that care go "O shit, this outfit is even better" or "well shit, I should get one of these to look even more different" or even "hell yeah, gotta flex my e-penis" If these clothing packs are staged 2-3 months apart, GUESS WHAT, buying one outfit from each one is just like gasp you guess it, paying a sub for a MMO, something that is necessary to keep a MMO running.
Then the next one comes out...and then the next. All this time people are also buying dye to try to get the right colors to further distinguish themselves.
The criticism on this sub, the countless threads about it don't seem to realize what is happening is brilliant and necessary to keep the game going. Do you want another archage? This is what prevents stuff like that from happening, or at least delays it longer. I see people trying to say stuff like "well, if they were cheaper I would buy more" and other things to that note, and I always thing "damn, you should for for Daum marketing team if you honestly think you know a better price plan that would make them the most money" because guess what, that's what they care about. At the end of the day, the game has to be profitable. It has to pay for itself, and then some, or why bother keeping it running. It's not a damn charity. They think this is what's best, and that's what they are going to go with till they have a month or two of data outside the initial "starter month" of the MMO. If it ends up not working out, they will change it, and everyone should pray that it doesn't change to a pay to win cluster fuck, because I can promise you it will once they think they exhausted all other options to keep the game profitable.
The game is INCREDIBLY in depth. I have 126 hours play time in it. I'm only level 21. I haven't even touched or seen Alchemy yet. I haven't even taken my pre-order horse out of the stables, I don't even know what the fuck "training" is, or "hunting". I took one look at the farm system and went DAAAAAMMMMNNNNN, can't wait to check out that later. I've only seen two of the major cities so far. Haven't been on a boat, haven't done trading. Fished only a little bit. Nevermind the crazy guild and PVP stuff. There are tons more titles to be had, tons more places to see. AND WE HAVE LIKE WHAT, 30% IF THAT of the KR game so far? More is going to be rolling out consistently? More that we can see previews of because its already out in another country? Awakening? Ship battles? We are complaining about outfits? OUTFITS are what break and make the game for some people?