Passholder/VIP

I love the idea of Passholder and VIP.  I was very excited to get to level 10 and activate a subscription type purchase.  Until the price point!!  I was all prepared to drop $5 on either but how can we justify similar costs to a subscription for AAA PC games?  I think at $9.99 I might even bite on a combo VIP/Passholder purchase.  Would be curious to see how many more people would sub at a more reasonable price point.   Love the game, but some of the price points are just jaw dropping and I fear are going to push people away and shorten the game's life as a Growth Game and rush it's entrance into Catalog.