I think it's cute how alot of people keep bringing up what Wizards did. You say they didn't have any Pre-releases? They didn't need to. The game was crazy popular. Also, why would you even base anything on what they did... they tried to kill the game.
Of course the game is better off now. It is run by a competent company, and people who care about the game, rather than solely focusing on the mass intake of money. But when Pokemon started to revive the game, they offered much better player support at Pre's, Gym Challenges, ect. Now that the game is almost back to full force, they are starting to cut back. That's the correct decsion. Why should they keep spending money to the extent that used to, if spending less would do the same thing now.
But, when people, like the Topic creater, start to notice these changes, and they become unhappy with them, then something should be done about it. I mean you could say leave if you aren't happy, but IMO I wouldn't want to play a game if that's the company policy that supports the game. But really, right now the pre's are still very good. If they evey make a massive cutback again (like say they leave it at $25, and they bascially do away with anything extra, you just get the packs) then they could have a problem on their hands (e.g. remember, in the past they gave entire boxes for 1st place at the pre's, and they only cost 15$ a person :O)
At the moment however, there really isn't any reason to discuss this.