Kevin begs to differ!!

three panel comic from “poorly drawn lines” in which Kevin the Magical Bird is wearing shorts that don’t cover his bird ass feathers. 1st panel: Kevin: “Do these shorts looks stupid?” 2nd panel: Grey bird: “I wouldn’t say stupid.” 3rd panel: Grey bird: “But I would be thinking it.”

While I agree lootboxes are shite, and was dismayed when they brought them in, you can have them turned off in PoE if you have a compulsive/gambling issue (email support and they disable the purchase). Also, anything in a lootbox goes to the shop after the league ends, so you can just purchase the item. They also give a crap tonne of skins as challenge rewards for leagues, so you always be stylin’.

As for difficulty-- it has a steep learning curve! But once you get your sea legs (and later, Path of Building; free, community run) it’s impossible to go back to something like Diablo, imo. The intricacy and constant new leagues are the only reasons I’m still playing it seven years later :)

I have to mention the single game I know of that doesn’t follow the model. Path of Exile is completely F2P, all microtransactions are purely cosmetic. Some argue you need to purchase more stash tabs than the base four the game comes with, but I think if you’re playing enough to need more tabs, it may be worth it to buy.

For me, I wanted to supports the devs, so I have a ridiculous amount of skins, pets, and portals from supporter packs, which have no bearing on your character’s power or progress.

And there is a new league/expansion every three months for free. That’s why it’s been kicking Diablos arse for quality for years.