Personally, I'm fine with 16 players and private rooms.
MUST have private rooms, I don't care to play with the random unwashed masses.
I'll pay for DLC for any game that's worth it. I want the developers and publishers to make money and continue putting out a good game. I don't want it to be like a PC game where I depend on people I don't know and have to trust to put out content (that I don't trust). PC flight games have also died off due to player mods and content, making them less reliant on buying actual new games---the flight sim market is a great example of that. 15 years ago flight sims were everywhere--not so anymore. The most recent flight games I have are IL2 and Lock On. DCS Blackshark is practically an indie game, the only way you get new flight games. So, I'll support these companies when they give me what I want. I don't want this genre to die off again.
Put the game out, make it good and I'll keep buying dlc and new versions of the game. Give me private MP rooms and I'll keep playing the game.