Played for about 5 years and thousands of hours. Spent way too much money in that time. The game has been in decline the whole time. Each "illusion of choice" has forced the community to pick from two awful options so they could claim they were giving the community what they wanted when in reality every change has been for the worse. I remember very high SL and RP rounds being the norm, along with massive boosters that have all disappeared.
I cannot stress this enough -- if you are new and considering playing this game, absolutely steer clear. You are most likely beyond 1 or 2 years of heavy gameplay from reaching top tier vehicles.