Thoughts on Nanopods, limited time units and pay to win

There are currently discussions going on in the Z2 forums if the legendary sandworm is fair or too overpowered compared to other units.
The thing is, people complain that the last BS was too easy with the sandworm and that on the other side people without one had an disadvantage.
Also there is there is always the discussion going on if this game is pay to win or not.

I just want to throw my own opinion into this. When BN came to Steam I was one of the first that defended it fromt he claims it would be a pay to win game. Back then the game wasn't really about "pay for your position". recently the game has going in quite the opposite position from what it was at that time. Nowadays you have more or less to buy a limited time unit from time to time to keep competitive with the rest of the players. You don't need every limited time unit and you don't need big amounts of it (the last two limited time units proof both facts. One sandworm is enough to be strong and the BS limited time unit was just horrible). However, the time were you could go entirely without nanopod units, either limited time or regular ones, is over.
The enenies are getting a lot stronger compared to our own strentgh, they get units that outclass us even on max rank. Limited time units or regular nanopod units are on the other side a lot stronger and can deal massive damage, even as single unit for itself. A single legendary sandworm is nearly unkillable because of three facts:
It has huge resistances that make all damage almost insignificant. It need a huge force to take him down. He also has a strong repetoir of attacks that can deal with multiple enemies at one, one of its attacks can defeat all enemies in one turn and even if it takes two turns to prepare, it is unlikely that the worm will die before. The last fact is that his only weakness, freezing, is not common among the npc enemies. Of course, a player will always try to freeze a legendary sandworm but on the other hand, freezing units are unlocked very late into the game while the sandworm is avaiable among all level classes.
So, to sum it up, the sandworm is definitely the strongest unit in the entire game. You cannot argue this. Before him you could counter every unit with something and while the sandworm is no exception (he is vulnerable to freezing which removes his resistances) it is unlikely that he will ever face it. If you want to hurt one, you rub a sandworm in its face. There is a reason why people spammed him in the arena event: they knew he was almost unbeatable.
Even with freezing attacks you will have a hard time,e specially if you have to face 3 at once. there is no way you can keep them all three frozen at once and do massive amounts of damage at the same time.

So, the game has finally become pay to win. I cannot argue any longer against it with this new unit.
On the other hand, Z2 has always been generous with the nanopods. And that's what counts in my opinion. Okay, they removed a lot amount of nanopods from the BS but 95 is still a lot to get for free every month. That is one legendary sandworm (would have been nice if tehy would have sold the sandworm AFTER the BS so people can buy it with their profit). Also we have limited time events. They may be dumb and boring and take a lot of your time away, but free nanopods are always nice. And the last one was very generous (60 nanopods plus a free statue). If that don't is enough, you can always gain nanopods from pvp. It is very rare but i got the 100 nanopods from it already once and that's proof enough that this is not impossible.
Also, after all, people are paying real money for ot. I know a lot of people argue with "make only visual gimmicks or decoration aviable for premium purchases because that's fair". But a lot of people, me included, wouldn't pay for that anymore. For some it might appealing and in some games it works real wonders but for the major amount of gamers it is nothing they would pay real money. They would just keep playing the game for free. And I cannot see how premium visuals only fit in Battle Nations. In a game where units of the same type look the same, how will you manage it? Make the unit visual different like the gold tank? Make a gold unit of every type of unit aviable? might work, might fail, who knows. I guess the way it is, is fine.
At least we still get free nanopods and a s long as that is possible people can complain how much they want, the buisness will go on.

Well with Z2 getting bought out by the same people who make Candy Crush, the P2W trend could potentially get worse in the future. On the other hand, they might put more effort into the game and release updates more frequently. Hopefully the latter is true.