For a fee. I’m serious, you’re in trial mode in F2P games and everything you can imagine, is locked behind extra fees which would’ve costed you more than a simple sub would’ve.
The timegate is to ensure everyone starts from the same checkpoint so to speak. Or you get things like this thread where people complain there’s nothing left to do.
To upgrade your gear 
it’s a little bit of a circular argument but that’s the current gear up path instead of giving you literal new gear +1 ilvl.
I do hear this more often, I think they’d need a more guided walkthrough to it and/or simplify it a bit or introduce mechanics later.
I myself got an anicent card and nearly can’t play X_X (1060)