Eesh. It makes the DeShaun Watson contract look like a good value!
(hadn't seen you around the forum in a while, couldn't resist)

Dude. I remember us vividly discussing circa 2017 "Are the Browns the worse pro sports team of all time?"

Good to see you.

I agree, it took me about 5 years to realise.
In 2007-2008 I was playing a game called Grand Fantasia, an MMORPG that got everything I liked in a single player RPG like classes and dungeons... and yes fetch quests too and grinding (I didn't mind that back then).
A free2play so in my young mind it was free.
But after lv 20 it started to be harder and harder to buy items/craft items and without the right gear to do even just the "single player" part of the game. At lv 40 it was already almost impossible, at lv 50-60 I was shopping without even realising it. It all started with a gift, a really good deal (1€ for a lot of stuff) and than I was in the hole. Thank god I didn't have a lot of money back then.
I started to realise I was not doing quests anymore, it was all about buying/selling in-game items, even just fashion items without any bonus inside the game.

When I discovered gog in 2013 (if I'm not wrong) I actually understand that I prefer to buy the game once and get everything.. that's when I decided to stop playing Gran Fantasia... but I had to put a "fake" ending to the game... I put it at lv 70 so I reached it and stopped playing.
It was a way to deal with the fact that I would end it because I knew without an ending I was likely to go back to it.

Grand Fantasia still exist and I decided to try only this year to play it for a little bit until lv 80 just to see if I was mature enough to avoid the trap of buying stuff (I know for a fact I was not there just 2 years ago because in Pokemon TGC online I almost fall into the same trap but I was able to stop before thanks to my previous experience. That game got no microtransactions but you could buy physical cards to get a code, so basically the same thing with one more step)... And I'm happy to say that I just played a couple of weeks, reached lv 80 doing just quests and ignored the stuff that they were selling like usual. I put an end to it again (this time for real since back in the days I already made lv 80 gear that I was never able to use) and I finally uninstalled the game (I was not able to do that for almost a decade). It was not really fun, but just a way to bring myself to uninistall it for good.

And I also notice one thing that was not clear to me... most people in Grand Fantasia don't even thing about playing. People sell/buy fast levelling all the time. Most of the dungeon runs are made by one fast user that will solo the dungeon while all the other people collect the daily quest money. Most people are only thinking about money, not about playing together having fun.
I basically had to solo all the dungeon (thanks to my old gear that I spent too much money on).

That's my experience.
I probably spent about 200-500€ on that game back in the days most of that on fashoin items... so a lot more than just buying games. And I never felt like the game was complete.
Not just that but when the game will close my save file will be lost too... I hate thinking about that.
That's the main reason I hate microtransactions and always online not just loot boxes and not just items that give an advantage in the game. From my experience I can say for sure that costumes and other fashion items are part of the gameplay, looking cool is part of the game.

I will never play again a game like that, I will never spend money inside a game...
But I know many people will and I think that's not fair that's why I support drm-free games.

It's not a waste of time because there are many fetch quests, that's ok and part of some game like most Final Fantasy.... it's a waste of time because your save will probably just disappear when the game close eventually. And I was already lucky with it since Grand Fantasia still exist, while Pokemon TCG Online don't (that was the first multiplayer only game I played after Grand Fantasia, and also the last...).

Never again even if now I feel like I can avoid the trap I don't even want that kind of games anymore.

But that is why I said the topic is a bit silly, because all it goes is: 'MMOs are a waste of time' - 'No, they are not' - 'OK'.

I guess this thread was a complete waste of time?

Incredible story, friend. +1

Amok, you're not worth it, mate. Enjoy taking the mick on people. I'm going back to hiding again.

Congrats.

Likewise! Come to think of it, various people over the years have told me that watching sports is a waste of time, but I've already invested so much time and energy in it. ...I'm starting to understand how MMO players feel, haha.

Oh nonononononono

I will stand firmly against any and other statement that could possibly indicate that our best years lie behind us!

Take a break friend, sort your self out... Dive into that pool of abuse and hurt your build up throughout the years... Kick it out and come back reinvigorated!!

Yes You Can!!! @gamingfirst!!!!