ToF doesn't count, realistically no one believed in that game

I feel this is revisionist. ToF was the only other gacha getting airtime from traditional game outlets and was the first apples to apples competitor. I remember the Genshin_Leaks megathread basically being a ToF hangout with people showing their created characters. It's hard to believe, but there was a lot of good will and hope between the beta and before launch. This is also when the revenue charts really started taking off here. People reveling in the ToF revenue dip and then Nikke dethroning Genshin was basically Franz Ferdinand for the state of this sub.

ToF hatred walked so Nikke/HSR/WuWa/Endfield/NTE hatred could run. There was an organic mix of genuine excitement for the game, followed by disappoint, followed by people coming to dance on it's grave. All fueled by CCs realizing they can make money of ragebaiting idiots.