I know it's a thing generally these days because of how shit multiplayer especially has gotten but if I see something that's 'online' now I don't want anything to do with it. Every new release it's the same story, they can barely be called games anymore they're more like a live service with some minor gameplay elements tacked on in the most half-arsed way imaginable. That goes for a lot of supposedly singleplayer releases as well depending on the company.
I think I'd much rather pour my free hours into something like Microsoft Flight Simulator because then I'd at least gain a valuable skill from it and I've also found myself delving back into the good stuff that was the early 2000's releases. Even if you see something that looks vaguely promising it inevitably gets annihilated by the DEI contractors that plague this industry now.
It's extremely ironic that the games industry is trying to cater to anybody who isn't a gamer and they seem to be all mentally ill weirdos to one degree or another who have an addiction problem and fleece them for all their money before moving onto the next cringey fad. I'm sorry for coming across too black pilled, but if a game does well it seems like that developers will go out of their way to ruin it because yet again, they've shown that gamers do not matter and we're nothing more than a vehicle for hype to get their product into the normie sphere who just want to college digital items all day instead of play the fucking game.
What's funny is that the most fun and engaging "online game" I've played in a decade was Sea of Thieves and that game is famous for having literally nothing to do in it besides make up your own adventure. Its got its seasonal battlepass but that literally flies to max level playing any part of it. I even bought a few cosmetics because after a few hundreds hours I felt I could toss the devs a few dollars since I got the game for 10$.
Its really that simple. Make a game I enjoy playing and I'll convince myself to give you more money.
Speak for yourself nigger. I fucking love collecting in games. I 100% complete Donkey Kong 64 every few years and would kill for that style of game to come back. I grind achievements and collect every bullshit irrelevant skin or whatever the game has available as long as it doesn't require direct currency (I'll grind to get X Coins that are also buyable if the rate isn't laughably bad).
That is part of the joy of a game for me and them doing it badly doesn't suddenly make the entire baby worth throwing out with their garbage bathwater.