Apparently sandbox mode would be too expensive and they aren't sure how much it would be used so aren't willing to do it. No surveys done on that so how can you make a 'data driven' decision there. ...
Just wait and see. They said we’ll find out in a few weeks, none of us are likely going anywhere until we find out. CG certainly hasn’t earned any blind faith but it could be amazing like the GAC was or it could be horrible, like more relic levels or Ships 3.0: Vehicle Boogaloo. Either way there is no point in complaining about what we’re not getting until we find out what that trade off is going towards.