I hate the concept of free-to-play games. As someone who has grown up mostly buying boxed copies of video games at the store, I greatly dislike the idea of being given a game for free and then constantly harassed to pay later in exchange for cosmetic items or other things that directly impact my enjoyment of the experience. The fact that these games are wholly designed to maximize profits rather than to fully-realize a great gameplay experience is something I find rather gross.
Having said that, it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture. Video games have always been influenced by the business model behind them. Even if you go back to the arcade days where the monetization of the medium began, there was a business model driving that experience, too.
