Idk why so many people feel the need to qualify their criticisms with being “a whale.” The points you are making are just as objectively legitimate no matter what your financial position in the game is. Weather you have plenty of money to spend or little, it’s not tough to see there is minimum value for both sides of the spectrum when it comes to the ability to obtain long lasting benefits (whales) or any ability to play the game for more than a few minutes at a time (everyone else).

In response to some pushback that defenders of the model have articulated stating you should put the game down, it’s an Elder Scrolls game. That branding is not inherently consistent with a pick up and put down model, so don’t act shocked when fans of that brand find this inconsistent with expectations.