I always assumed (without any evidence, I know!) that their previous pricing already had support and all other stuff wrapped into it. What they've done now is separate the product ($299 for forever license) and the support component ($240/year).

So, under this scenario, the one-off $798 (was it?) it would have cost you before to get one forever license+support will give you only two years of support instead. Total cost for us (those using ad-free) is actually higher, but entry cost is lower.

It see more makes sense to separate the support component explicitly, as there are those who prefer to continue using the free license. This gives them the opportunity to get proper support, even though they haven't purchased a paid license.