Libertad!

 After 7 years, I finally broke free. I quit Marvel Strike Force. That game that popped up in countless ads until it wore me down lol. I joined an alliance, risked getting kicked, got promoted to captain, and then leader. It was the game that stuck with me through the entire pandemic... I’ve never had such a hardcore habit, logging in every single day, no exceptions.

But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows... the game was blatantly pay-to-win. Offers for resources and new characters cost as much as a full AAA game, which already raises a massive red flag. Whenever a shiny new character dropped, the whales would spend enough to buy a brand-new car... with that kind of money involved, you’d expect some serious payoff or at least a polished experience, right? Nope. Every update came with the expectation that something would break, and we’d just get some measly compensation for it.

Over time, I stopped playing the competitive modes, one by one... I no longer read the patch notes, watched videos hyping up new content, or shared anything with my alliance.

The final straw for me was when the parent company bought Pokémon Go. 3.5 billion dollars. The company is swimming in cash. They had resources this whole time, yet for 7 years, every update put the game’s competitive integrity at risk.

Get out while you still can, break free, don’t fall for the sunk cost fallacy. What are you even getting out of it? Are you being respected? Is your money being respected? Is your time being respected? Set yourself free.