At least PA hasn't gone the Adobe route of subscription only (yet). You can still get permanent licenses. The 'heavy hitter' prices now are not only higher than they were before but they're also higher than what intro prices were the last time PA introduced new plugins. Used to be intro prices were one price and the heavy hitter prices were lower than that by a significant amount. That's all gone away.
As mentioned before in other threads here and at GS - I'm only waiting for the Ampeg B15 next month and I'm done with PA. If I want to spend the kind of cash they're asking then I'll go with other companies/developers that care for their customers, release working updates and are worth the price charged. I have no problem paying big bucks for plugins if the developer really cares about good customer relations. Ever try and get tech support from PA? Not happening
