By shitty hat do you mean tf2?

Cause that’s all I played during the rise of microTXs. To me, the way valve went about it was literally the line between monetization and not ruining the game.

I thought that meant it can be done, all it proved looking back is publicly traded companies suck!!

I think what really started the current levels of rot was online passes for used games. They saw that people were playing without paying them directly, and wanted to stop it.

It was unpopular, as were map packs (which split the player base in online games), and here we are now with endless lootboxes and gacha elements. Sure, you can play without paying, but you'll always feel like a second class citizen if you do. Everything you want will be held deliberately out of reach, and the aspect of "fun" has been reduced to collections and bars filling up.

It's bred this generation of zombie gamers. I went to see my sister at Christmas, and her husband was playing Fallout 76 "doing his dailies". I did ask what it was for and he said he didn't really play it or want anything from the points it gives, and admitted what he was doing was kind of pointless. And then fired up the next game and did the same thing.

I tend to just stay away from multiplayer games these days. They're pretty much all like that. The idea of playing because it's fun is dead.