Timegating has to exist because no developer will ever be able to push new content at the pace that players consume it.
As a player - yes, it totally sucks to see updates like Siren Isle where you’re left wanting more.
But, try to recognize that if nothing was timegated, some players would clear everything in a few hours (whether it’s a new patch or a new expansion), there would be even more inequity between players and people would complain the game is boring and dead.
No it doesn’t. If the content is enjoyable enough to make people want to play it just to play it then a timegate is unnecessary
I recall, several years ago in an MMO not very far away…
They were on season one and two of a “Living Story”
and content was coming out so aggressively that folks were actually bringing it up.
Even I, a content gutter snipe, felt like the Sloth dude from Seven.
I couldn’t digest it fast enough.
That’s not to say you are wrong. You reminded me of it is all.
See? You come in here, make a statement of fact, and you’re about to get flamed and trolled as if you’re the reason we can’t have good things.
BRB, getting popcorn.
Does such a thing exist in an MMO?
or if it’s a sandbox where players are the content.
Idk, Vanilla didn’t really and neither did TBC and Wrath if memory serves.
You could totally no-life it, and people seemed to enjoy that.
No gates, just very big grinds.
If there’s only a few hours of content then time gating doesn’t fix that. People just do the little bit they have access to then have to wait for the next week. It doesn’t magically make there be more content if it’s stretched out.
Easiest way to push new content without timegating:
If we’re going to get technical: the release is being staggered, not time gated.
A “staggered release” means a planned, gradual rollout of something, where different parts or groups receive it at different times, often to manage impact, avoid overload, or build anticipation; essentially, releasing something in phases rather than all at once. Aka - over time. Hence, timegating.
Depends on the type of MMO, I think. In a themepark MMO, I largely agree. Just for very different reasons.
It has little to do with people clearing it too fast, and more to do with the pace of the game. The gameplay loop is repetitive. Most people aren’t going to get value out of an endless treadmill. They want on for a bit, and then off at their leisure.
So you need to maintain the treadmill, but keep the weights around for people who still want to engage at the gym but don’t want the treadmill. The treadmill’s still the main attraction, so it’s still getting the most attention, but occasionally we get a barbell update.
Occasionally you get a lifestyle content update in FFXIV. Occasionally you get a new zone in WoW.
The ring is already timegated by ilvl, gems don’t need to be timegated also.
Or they could have come up with a better design where it had some native passive stats and not 100% reliant on those gimmick gems.
Except there is a difference.
For something to be time gated, no matter when you start, it must still be gated.
If you start Siren’s Isle in 6 weeks, you can get everything right away, therefore not timegated.
The only true time gate left in game (AFAIK) is the Legion class hall campaigns.
“If you want to get technical”:
It is time gated for the next 6 weeks 
Molten Core, wooooo!! 
No, that content is not out yet.
If you start when it has been released, you will be able to finish it all in 1 week.
It is necessary for some people. Personally I think it needs to be done on a case-by-case basis. In general, no time-gate, but if you ever complain about not having anything to do, and wanting new “content”, then timegate. =P
The gems being time gated is just par for the course of stupid decisions by blizzard. Time gate the Ilvl. It’s largely irrelevant but the things that make the ring with using? Typical trash developer design like usual.
An answer for everything. No wonder you have over 24k posts.