Short answer: you wouldn't buy this game, given your valid criticisms.

This type of extortionate pricing policy speaks to the general user base being nobs, die hard try hards and probably a toxic gaming environment. Having a barrier to entry in any activity prevents total idiots from entering. Consoles have made it easier for people who don't understand how to operate a PC to play games but that necessarily means those games will be replete with obnoxious people. The advent of smartphones has done that for the internet.

It's CoD. You're asking why people drink coke if you don't like coke.

Also, steam FPS reviews are full of people on full tilt. Use better review sources.

Why would I buy this?

I can only think of one reason, because it's the game your friends are playing.

You have two choices; buy the shitty game with the understanding that the game itself is not what matters but the time spent playing with your friends. Or, don't buy the game and spend the next few weeks, or months, not playing with your friends and hope they grow bored of the game soon.

I played Tekken 3 in PSX when i was a kid. One CD had everything, many modes, many characters, ton of fun.

Ffw to 2 years ago, i think to play with a friend Tekken again, searching in Steam Tekken only to see that it has 24 DLCs, many of them that are fighters (game has 16 unlockable characters, and 14 more being paid DLC)...

I feel like they could have called CoD Points something other than CP. 🤣

Ah it's very simple, you would buy this if you'd made your whole personality about being a GAMER, where you believe that the only real games are FPS PvP War Simulation, and everyone that plays anything else is a poseur.

miniature penis

Unsurprising, it's not for anyone but those who spend a lot to be able to frag the other one.

I stopped playing MMOs and online shooters a long time ago. Instead dividing my time between actual cycling and playing single player adventure games.

There is plenty of shit on steam that I wouldn't buy, just don't buy it

It's not for you, you are not the target audience. The target audience is the people who buy MADDEN/FIFA every year.

Reviews are mixed: not a great start

More than not a great start: Only people who have bought the game are allowed to review it, so reviewers are already biased towards liking the game, because only somebody who thinks they would enjoy the game would spend money on it. It's basically impossible to get a strong negative score by just being run of the mill awful. So "mixed" means that about 50% of people who though they would enjoy the game, didn't, which is quite damning.

I took a break from necesse after no lifing it for weeks after I discovered it. Now that it's just hit 1.0 I managed to gift a copy to a friend, and watching him outgrow my hard earned knowledge in a day with some guidance in mechanics was probably the most satisfaction I've felt this year.

Indies are carrying the industry and have been for a long time. Hmu for some necesse.

I'm all for hating on CoD, but the DLC "content" is skins and minor cosmetics, it really doesn't add anything to the game and isn't necessary at all. Also the CoD Points are for cosmetics as well. There's a lot of shitty things you can and should say about Vanguard, but it is not pay to win.

It's for people with more money than brains.

When people may get into a competitive game, data shows that they commit to it as their primary game.

It becomes a part of their identity. You see things like Leage of Legends going strong despite a slow down in new players - people just commit to it for better or for worse, likely because most of the skills they’ve gained in it and friends they’ve made will not transfer to other games. Even other FPS games have different nuances that are non trivial once a player becomes serious about winning.

Take Wild Rift vs Mobile Legends Bang Bang. MLBB is objectively a worse rip off of League of Legends and the Chinese game Glory of Kings, but it was first to market on mobile. Now that League has released their mobile version with immense polish and quality, many mobile moba gamers just aren’t interested - they’re already totally invested in their main game, despite it being proved in court that it’s a cheap copy. (Not cheap as in $$$ though)

When you’re a kid, spending time on any competitive game will be fun (if you can handle the baseline toxicity) since you will start bad at most of them. When you get older there is a real cost to switching, you will not have as much fun until you build up the years of muscle memory that would be needed to even approach your skill at the previous game.

Because of the lock in, if a competitive game finds a sizeable enough player base and lasts a good handful of years, the devs essentially get free rein to milk their cow as they see fit.

You don't. You play single player games like me and get to experience cool stories instead of dopamine lacking rage inducing PvP games.

Some dudes seem to be required to buy every COD game and every new sports game every year and that’s it until they eventually try to sell it all as a bundle on Facebook Marketplace.

I know this is a steam page, but y’know.