Dragoon42:
This new expansion (Velious) is alot less "expansive" than their last expansion (Kunark). Whereas Kunark upped the character level limit (up to lvl 60), a new playable race (Iksar), 20+ new zones, etc., Velious only added 16 new zones and a new interface. Hence the cheaper price...
With that said, I haven't been impressed with Velious yet. Judging from EQ fan sites, the quality of loot from the new expansion is really crappy compared to Kunark.