I didn't know 1pass had changed. Glad I ditched them for Bitwarden a few years back. However I think bitwarden makes their backend complicated enough to scare off casual users of it like me who thought about hosting their own backend :) .
1password has effectively made 1password 7 the last version that will support local vaults on desktop, however, the mobile app has indefinite support for local vaults (since they don't want to segment their app users based on subscription / local).
Not offering reasonable storage for a reasonable price is a way to keep users that they don’t want away from their service.
Just like 1Password. They are extremely non subtle in pushing users that want local vault away from their customer base.