It’s hard to find a game without IAP (in app purchases) these days and that’s a shame as Pay 2 Win really isn’t about skill, it’s just how much you can sink in. That said, developers often need to incentive to keep developing a game and to pay for the costs such as servers, etc. I remember there were a few games that were Pay to Play on the horizon, but after their announcement, they never seemed to materialise. Anyway, I’m waffling. Basically I’m okay with an upfront cost or a subscription, I just want a good game which appears to have longevity and as few events as possible. I want to play when I want to play as opposed to when the developers want me play.
Sorry that this isn’t an answer but your post reminded me of zenoina (1st one) and it was a nice $1-2 mmo on Android. Sadly they just pumped out sequels and I don’t know if they are still good or terrible now.
I wish they would choose updates instead of sequels
Oh my God Zenonia. I still miss 3 and 4 (never got to finish them 😔)