Reminds me of a long time ago when GameSpot and GameFAQs forums merged. GameSpot users had the ability to edit titles so they would have threads like “what’s your shoe size?” Then they would change the title to something like “how old are you?” to get the GameFAQs posters banned (due to the minimum age requirements)
As someone who has played several of these (including HSR), the games themselves can be very good, but it’s always despite its gacha mechanics, not because of it. It should be obvious that gacha is a predatory monetization model that has unfortunately seen great success.
This has led to gacha games often leading the mobile market in terms of quality, marketing and development. I’d much prefer it if more games were sold for a one-time fee or even a subscription model for live-service games, but these types of games will continue to be rare in the mobile market due to the profitability of gacha.
On the positive side, most gacha games allow even f2p (free-to-play) players to keep up with the story and events. Many players even find playing these games as an f2p player more enjoyable because of the challenge. So for those who have self-control, I don’t think they should be discouraged from at least trying these games.
Just finished TotK and now playing FFXVI. Both games have been absolutely amazing in their own ways.