Squeal of Fortune, Soloman's General Store - The New Priority for Jagex?

As promised, I'll be sharing a few thoughts on major updates I've seen since my return, starting with the much debated release of the Squeal of Fortune (SOF). This particular update has generated a great deal of discussion among the RS community. The main concern many had with this update was the fact that SOF rewarded various experience lamps and necklaces, and the spins can be bought with actual cash. Had the rewards been purely cosmetic, there wouldn't have been backlash to this extend (or at all).

This issue with buying spins is brought to a whole new level with the 2012 Christmas event where players scurried to collect different colored presents, which were most easily obtained through SOF. The purple dragonstone present even had it's street price elevated to 50M  immediately after release before crashing to 13-15M the following day. The relative ease in which we can obtain the present from SOF in addition to the high demand for said presents made the notion of purchasing steeply-priced spins so much more alluring. Although I'm not discounting the fact that free spins can be obtained as drops and rewards for completing daily challenges or quests, they do not come in frequently, nor are they aplenty as rewards/drops.

Presents come significantly easier from SOF. 

Another new inclusion that I don't really like is the special pets from the Soloman's General Store. The items were only obtained through microtransactions, and for a while, remained purely cosmetic. Then came an update in August when the bank boosters were released, generating yet another wave of controversy. Back to the special pets, which were a relatively recent release, are followers capable of foraging, banking and scavenging loot at different stages of their growth. Of course, if you want to throw more money in, you can always buy extra items that would speed up their growth.

A full description about the pets, their abilities and treats to speed up their growth can be found on the official site.

Maybe it's just me, but I think Jagex is losing subtlety when it comes to making the players pay. Back when I first joined, though membership did offer some benefits when it comes to training speed and bank spaces, it was mostly justified; members had a lot more skills and items available to them, hence the need for a larger amount of bank space. It has been a tad blatant in the recent couple of years from what I've observed. Starting from the removal of free-to-play users from the highscores, which I honestly saw as a rather dick-ish move to attract more members, to all these nice little items and pets for people to pour their money in.

I'd be lying if I said that these new pets not appeal to me at all, and I might very just well get one of them when I do have spare cash. I understand that it is probably within company objectives to maximise profit. Still, I wonder what it is that's making the company throw all subtlety away to embark on such an aggressive route of profit-making.