For as far as I can remember, the server, or this game in general. has always been somewhat p2w.
remember two hitting kids with red revolvers and having 90 meds?
It decided p2w was the way to go from the start, that's how the server got funded. Almost every game does that.
In every update of FGunZ there was at least one buyable (with real cash) item that broke the game until it got nerfed and a new one added.
That's nothing from the past few years, you and many others just lost interest.