"Upgrade Treadmill" is a very nice way to put it. I'm using this term from now on.
All your points are pretty much how'd I put it. If the core gameplay loop is all about leading me to the microtransactions window, it's an instant No for me.
This goes for almost all free games such as Apex, Fortnite, Destiny, etc... where skins are the primary source of revenue.
That's without mentioning "games" which I consider gambling like Genshin impact, Fifa ultimate team, and all kinds of shameless gacha out there
"It's free" is not an excuse for preying on people's psychological weaknesses.
I think "Red Queen Race" is the term from philosophy I'd use - the faster you run (from the Red Queen in Alice) the more you stay in the same place
"Well, in our country," said Alice, still panting a little, "you'd generally get to somewhere else—if you run very fast for a long time, as we've been doing."
All your points are pretty much how'd I put it. If the core gameplay loop is all about leading me to the microtransactions window, it's an instant No for me.
This goes for almost all free games such as Apex, Fortnite, Destiny, etc... where skins are the primary source of revenue.
That's without mentioning "games" which I consider gambling like Genshin impact, Fifa ultimate team, and all kinds of shameless gacha out there
"It's free" is not an excuse for preying on people's psychological weaknesses.