Mustachian video gamers - what are you PLAYING?

[Ysera]

I'm playing World of Warcraft (obviously!). 🤭

I have played on and off since the game released. It's pretty much a winter time hobby for me, played in spurts of interest that decline after a month or two. Or a bad expansion... looking at you, Shadowlands!

To be fair, I'm not a typical gamer. Honestly, I play like a five year old on a sugar high. The devs and streamers like Preach probably hate people like me. Raids aren't fun unless I am ROFLstomping them solo two expansions later. I almost never play with others because I don't have blocks of time to commit to a guild or raid schedule. I hate grinding out anything and prefer exploring and collecting the shiny things that catch my fancy: mounts, pets, toys, soul shapes, transmog. I'd rather level by picking flowers and exploring than spamming dungeons or nonstop questing.

Right now I am catching up on the fun things I missed in Shadowlands since I didn't play much during that expansion. The aesthetics were interesting but everything felt like a chore, especially Torghast and the campaigns. It's been a lot more fun running through things now with the catch-up gear (or as my RL friend calls it, "welfare epics.") 🤭

I love Dragonflight so far! I haven't had so much fun since Legion or so. Fingers crossed the fun continues. 🤞

[LennStar]

I played "Sapiens" this weekend. It's an early early access village builder in the stone age.

I had a lot of fun and I could see myself letting my sapiens plant a huge forest on my nearly tree empty island just to look down on it and say "Yeah, good work sapiens!"

That said, if that (remember: early) thing doesn't get a lot of QoL improvements it will lose it greatest potential: building a huge, several thousand sapiens big tribe with multiple settlements. There is only so much you can do with 20 people.

[Sugaree]

I got The Room: A Dark Matter for the Oculus over Thanksgiving break.  It was actually a lot of fun, but didn't have a very long play time.  I'm having a very serious debate with myself over whether or not to get the Quest 2 headset.  There are a few games that I really want to play that are only available for the newer version, but I'm not sure that the kid and I play it enough to really justify getting the new one.  I might wait awhile and pick up a used one. 

[E.T.]

Playing Pokemon violet and spouse is playing scarlet. It's way more fun than the last couple Pokemon games. Lots of quality of life improvements and it's nice to be able to explore as a co-op. It looks terrible on a TV but it's perfect on a handheld.

[farmecologist]

I'm currently addicted to Diablo 3 - Ultimate Evil Edition.  Great game!  Not sure how I missed it until now.

Also, a TON of freebies and great deals this year for PC gamers.  I'm also addicted to checking gg.deals nearly every day.

[Arbitrage]

Played through High on Life on Xbox Game Pass.  It was amusing and fun, though the vulgarity was a bit over the top. 

Also spent some time with Warhammer 40k: Darktide.  I'd been looking forward to that one for a long time, but it's still not out for consoles, and it was the first game to really slam my older PC.  It's fun, but the shaky performance and frequent crashes have me looking elsewhere until it comes to Xbox. 

Going to have to preorder Diablo 4. 

In the meantime, I've fallen back into Elden Ring.  Never played a pure (or nearly pure) sorcerer - really in any Dark Souls game - so I'm giving that a go. 

[AccidentialMustache]

GabeN got me with a $3.88 monkey island 1 & 2 special edition bundle.

I played and loved monkey island 3 (and grim fandango, and indy and the last crusade) around high school/college, but I've never played 1 & 2.

I probably should have snapped up full throttle too but didn't.

For playing with friends, we're in a wacky french anime tactics mmo. It is weird but fun.

[zolotiyeruki]

Four of my kids now have their own Minecraft account, so I set up a server in our house and we can all play together. 

[BC_Goldman]

Four of my kids now have their own Minecraft account, so I set up a server in our house and we can all play together. 

Minecraft is still one of my favorite games!

I play modded Minecraft. If you're kids are into it I would suggest the Vault Hunters modpack. I haven't been able to play the season 3 release but enjoyed what I did play of season 2. There's a whole semi-randomized dungeon exploration aspect to it with its own skills and leveling structure.


Also, Epic is giving away Kerbal Space Program today thru early next Thursday.

[zolotiyeruki]

Four of my kids now have their own Minecraft account, so I set up a server in our house and we can all play together. 

Minecraft is still one of my favorite games!

I play modded Minecraft. If you're kids are into it I would suggest the Vault Hunters modpack. I haven't been able to play the season 3 release but enjoyed what I did play of season 2. There's a whole semi-randomized dungeon exploration aspect to it with its own skills and leveling structure.


Also, Epic is giving away Kerbal Space Program today thru early next Thursday.

KSP FOR FREE?!  Dang, everyone needs to go download it.  I've put a couple thousand hours into that game.  Paid $17 for it a number of years ago.  Fun, challenging, educational...it's awesome.

[BC_Goldman]

Given my current lack of free time, I don't know if/when I'm ever going to get to play it. I was excited when I saw it since I've heard really great things about it.

At last count, I had around 300 games from their giveaways but have played maybe 3 and only for a couple hours.

[markbike528CBX]

Four of my kids now have their own Minecraft account, so I set up a server in our house and we can all play together. 

….snips…..
Also, Epic is giving away Kerbal Space Program today thru early next Thursday.

KSP FOR FREE?!  Dang, everyone needs to go download it.  I've put a couple thousand hours into that game.  Paid $17 for it a number of years ago.  Fun, challenging, educational...it's awesome.

Ditto.  @zolotiyeruki  this is the first time I’ve said LOL on the internet.   You are definitely one of my people.   I don’t think that I’ve done thousands of hours, but DW might have a different opinion.  A response to the unbelievers is the XKCD…..   https://xkcd.com/1356/   Subject to https://xkcd.com/1244/ 
edit to add the 6 words you shouldn’t say at NASA

[frugalnacho]

I snagged Civilization 6 for free when epic was giving it out a few months ago.  I'd never played any civ games but I have a copy of civ 5 so I decided to play that first and quickly got addicted and played it every night for a couple of months.  Still haven't installed civ 6 yet though.

After that I moved on to GTA V on the pc.  I also got that for free from epic a couple years ago, and just got around to installing it.  I played it on the PS3 like 6 years ago, but it had been long enough that I could replay it again.  The game plays flawlessly on my laptop; I use my xbox one controller wirelessly connected to my pc - also flawless.  If I'd have known how easy it was to install and play with my xbox controller I would have played it much sooner. I've finished the main story line and assassination missions and each character is sitting around $1.8B.   I spend most of my time in the game just fucking around.  Mrs. frugalnacho hates the game and hates when I play it because I kill so many people. She doesn't seem to be able to separate the game from reality. The last game I purchased a hammer, then went around hammering people, hiding from the cops/having a shootout, followed by more hammering when the heat died down.  Rinse and repeat until well over 100 hammer kills. I don't know why it's so entertaining, I have no desire to go on a hammer related serial/spree murder IRL.  I also think it's funny to hammer the cats and dogs which I would also never do IRL. I don't remember any house cats when I played it on the PS3, they must have added them at some point.  I completed the entire game, and surely I would have remembered stomping that many cats.

More recently I introduced my 5 year old son to super mario brothers 1 on an emulator.  He's never played video games. He really sucks at this point, but it's his new favorite thing in the whole world.   

Now that he's into it I want to build a dedicated emulator so we can play on the tv without using my laptop.  I want to build one using a raspberry pi 4, but the only ones I can find are being scalped for way over retail price.  I'm going to keep my eyes open for one.  I'm want to introduce him to all of my favorite retro games: mario series, mega man series, zelda series, sonic, and a hundred others I'm not thinking of at the moment.  I'm going to try and give him a slow drip of games so I don't overwhelm him by dumping 10,000 old games on him.  I'm super excited that he is going to get to experience all the awesome games I got to play throughout my youth. Even a bit envious.

[LennStar]

You might like a game called "Just Die Already", though Mrs. frugalnacho will certainly get angry.

I have been playing Against the Storm in the last days. It is fun for a while, but as I imagined, it is quite repeating after the first 10 settlements and in my POV it always ends when the real fun starts - after you have build the settlement to work.

I guess i will scratch the empire itch when the next X4 DLC comes out, should be not that long. Borons, I am coming!

[frugalnacho]

I keep checking around for the raspberry pi 4, but the only thing available are at scalper prices, or a kit which has more than you need and is also heavily inflated in price.

I just stumbled onto a listing on amazon that has a kit listed for $49.99.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BV97NZWT/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3W52CXU4Q2HXA&psc=1

It comes with raspberry pi 4 model B 4GB ram, case, power supply, 64GB sd card, heat sinks, fan, and hdmi cables.  I'm not sure how they are able to price it like this as the pi 4 retails for $45 for the 4GB model (and is in short supply, so not available anywhere).  I checked the price history and it's normally $219.99 for this kit, and it periodically drops to $49.99 for very brief periods.  I'm not sure if it's a mistake or what, but I placed an order immediately.  I opened amazon in multiple tabs (and also in incognito) and tried to bring up the listing as well as the seller store, and sometimes it lists $219.99 as the price, and sometimes $49.99, even though it's the exact same listing.

I am skeptical that it's even real, or that everything will process properly.  I am expecting the order to get canceled, or just not fulfilled or something, but hopefully they honor the order. I feel comfortable buying from amazon because I'm confident amazon will resolve the issue if it's a scam or something.  They may not get me my pi, but I don't think I'll get scammed.

[frugalnacho]

I keep checking around for the raspberry pi 4, but the only thing available are at scalper prices, or a kit which has more than you need and is also heavily inflated in price.

I just stumbled onto a listing on amazon that has a kit listed for $49.99.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BV97NZWT/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3W52CXU4Q2HXA&psc=1

It comes with raspberry pi 4 model B 4GB ram, case, power supply, 64GB sd card, heat sinks, fan, and hdmi cables.  I'm not sure how they are able to price it like this as the pi 4 retails for $45 for the 4GB model (and is in short supply, so not available anywhere).  I checked the price history and it's normally $219.99 for this kit, and it periodically drops to $49.99 for very brief periods.  I'm not sure if it's a mistake or what, but I placed an order immediately.  I opened amazon in multiple tabs (and also in incognito) and tried to bring up the listing as well as the seller store, and sometimes it lists $219.99 as the price, and sometimes $49.99, even though it's the exact same listing.

I am skeptical that it's even real, or that everything will process properly.  I am expecting the order to get canceled, or just not fulfilled or something, but hopefully they honor the order. I feel comfortable buying from amazon because I'm confident amazon will resolve the issue if it's a scam or something.  They may not get me my pi, but I don't think I'll get scammed.

The price immediately went back up to $219.99 and stayed there. The tracking says the package has been shipped via china post.  I don't know exactly how china post works; the amazon page says it's "shipped" and the note says "Carrier picked up the package."  I hope that means it's out of the company's hands and they can't stop delivery. 

[FrugalKube]

I keep checking around for the raspberry pi 4, but the only thing available are at scalper prices, or a kit which has more than you need and is also heavily inflated in price.

I just stumbled onto a listing on amazon that has a kit listed for $49.99.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BV97NZWT/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3W52CXU4Q2HXA&psc=1

It comes with raspberry pi 4 model B 4GB ram, case, power supply, 64GB sd card, heat sinks, fan, and hdmi cables.  I'm not sure how they are able to price it like this as the pi 4 retails for $45 for the 4GB model (and is in short supply, so not available anywhere).  I checked the price history and it's normally $219.99 for this kit, and it periodically drops to $49.99 for very brief periods.  I'm not sure if it's a mistake or what, but I placed an order immediately.  I opened amazon in multiple tabs (and also in incognito) and tried to bring up the listing as well as the seller store, and sometimes it lists $219.99 as the price, and sometimes $49.99, even though it's the exact same listing.

I am skeptical that it's even real, or that everything will process properly.  I am expecting the order to get canceled, or just not fulfilled or something, but hopefully they honor the order. I feel comfortable buying from amazon because I'm confident amazon will resolve the issue if it's a scam or something.  They may not get me my pi, but I don't think I'll get scammed.

Now its back up to $69.99 I might order one as well

[dignam]

I, too have been waiting for RPi 4 prices to come down for a while.  I have an older RPi 2b that I'm looking to replace.

As for games: playing enough Rocket League to keep the rust off (been playing since about 2017).  I have a couple IRL friends that I play with, and it's always a good time.

Haven't played a ton lately; but AOE4 to scratch my RTS itch until Homeworld 3 comes out. 

Played the Diablo 4 beta and loved it, so I've got that preordered (which I swore I would never do, but here we are).  Another beta period in May, so my buddy and I are pumped for that.

[zolotiyeruki]

Haven't played a ton lately; but AOE4 to scratch my RTS itch until Homeworld 3 comes out. 

Oh, goodness, it's been so long since the trailers that HW3 had slipped my mind!  I was a freshman in college when HW1 was released.  I've lost count of how many times I've played through the campaign...

[dignam]

Haven't played a ton lately; but AOE4 to scratch my RTS itch until Homeworld 3 comes out. 

Oh, goodness, it's been so long since the trailers that HW3 had slipped my mind!  I was a freshman in college when HW1 was released.  I've lost count of how many times I've played through the campaign...

Homeworld holds a special place in my gaming heart.  I remember reading the HW1 "owner's manual" (forget what it was called) back to front several times.  I think it was the devs describing the units and their designs.  Even that, at least to my 8th grade brain, was well written and had tons of thought put into it.

Actually glad they've delayed release to get HW3 up to snuff, I hope they take their time and do the previous games justice.

[LennStar]

One cans only hope.

Though the thing I remember most of Homeworld is how annoying it was to rebuild your stuff :D

I have been playing the Boron DLC for X4 for the last week. Now, it's not like that changes the game a lot, but the Boron design is really cool.

I also want to look at wartales now that they have an official 1.0.

[zolotiyeruki]

Haven't played a ton lately; but AOE4 to scratch my RTS itch until Homeworld 3 comes out. 

Oh, goodness, it's been so long since the trailers that HW3 had slipped my mind!  I was a freshman in college when HW1 was released.  I've lost count of how many times I've played through the campaign...

Homeworld holds a special place in my gaming heart.  I remember reading the HW1 "owner's manual" (forget what it was called) back to front several times.  I think it was the devs describing the units and their designs.  Even that, at least to my 8th grade brain, was well written and had tons of thought put into it.

Actually glad they've delayed release to get HW3 up to snuff, I hope they take their time and do the previous games justice.

I have the GOTY edition in my basement, complete with the manuals.  Ah, the days when games came with an entire book of material.

[turketron]

man I remember as a like 12-year old being fascinated by the backstory in games like Diablo 1/2 and Starcraft, there was a ton of lore written in the manuals for those games. And then when you play them a huuuuge chunk of the lore is never mentioned again, haha.

[Arbitrage]

Playing The Witcher 3.  I bought it years ago during a Steam sale, played it for several dozen hours (and enjoyed it), but then got involved in other games and never made my way back to it until now.

It has its flaws, but it's just fantastic even 8 years after release.  The storytelling and the variety of both the main quest and the side quests are just a cut above almost all other games.  Largely avoids the typical 'Ubisoft-like' repetitiveness of open-world games.  Finished the main game and am working on the expansions.  If I finish both of those by the time Diablo 4 is released, maybe I'll delve a bit into New Game plus; we'll see. 

[LennStar]

Oh yes, Diablo I was nice. But best handbook of all times is still Strike Commander.

[Adventine]

Playing The Witcher 3.  I bought it years ago during a Steam sale, played it for several dozen hours (and enjoyed it), but then got involved in other games and never made my way back to it until now.

It has its flaws, but it's just fantastic even 8 years after release.  The storytelling and the variety of both the main quest and the side quests are just a cut above almost all other games.  Largely avoids the typical 'Ubisoft-like' repetitiveness of open-world games.  Finished the main game and am working on the expansions.  If I finish both of those by the time Diablo 4 is released, maybe I'll delve a bit into New Game plus; we'll see.

I bought The Witcher 3 on sale last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Blood and Wine DLC is my favorite!

[dignam]

Now just waiting and containing my excitement for Diablo IV release.  Latest beta was an absolute blast and actually felt like OG Diablo (i.e. it was quite challenging and loot was not showered upon you).

[sixwings]

I've been going back and forth between Diablo 2 (waiting for diablo 4) and Age of Empires 2 DE, AOE2 is stressful playing on multiplayer so it depends on my mood. I've been trying civ 6 but it's just so complicated for me it's hard to get into.

[Arbitrage]

I played some Last Epoch while waiting for Diablo 4.  It's a fun distraction, with more complexity (which I like) in character building.  More akin to D2 than D3/D4 in that regard.  It's still early access, and has its share of issues - difficulty curve, base itemization not that interesting but crafting is fun, viable build variety, endgame content - but I don't regret spending several dozen hours with it.

I played the first two betas for D4 but not the latest one, which I did hear positive feedback on.  I guess I distracted myself sufficiently in that it felt like release was way out in the future, but now I see we're a mere 3 weeks away.  Going to start with Rogue.

[Philociraptor]

Diablo IV looks pretty neat! I gave away my gaming PC back in 2020 so don't have a way to play it, but it has me thinking about building a mid-level PC soon.

In the mean time I've been putting some major time into TotK since I got it on Sunday. Truly amazing so far.

[dignam]

Diablo IV looks pretty neat! I gave away my gaming PC back in 2020 so don't have a way to play it, but it has me thinking about building a mid-level PC soon.

In the mean time I've been putting some major time into TotK since I got it on Sunday. Truly amazing so far.

GPU prices are way down now that it's not really profitable to crypto mine with them.  I recently built a PC for my nephew for about $600; mid/low level but plays most games alright. 

You could probably build one with an RTX 4070 for around $1200.  For reference, my 3060 Ti ran Diablo IV at 144 fps with no issues at all.

[LennStar]

lol that's mid-level now? 1200 dollar?

I still use normal HD so I wish there were actual small cards without additional power plugs. 75W should be enough with modern tech for all my games. I am still using a Geforce 1650 Super, which runs on 120W and I only have to down some details in 2-3 games.

But Ryzen 5000 are really cheap right now, since RAM und mainboards are also. The new generation not so much.

[zolotiyeruki]

lol that's mid-level now? 1200 dollar?

I still use normal HD so I wish there were actual small cards without additional power plugs. 75W should be enough with modern tech for all my games. I am still using a Geforce 1650 Super, which runs on 120W and I only have to down some details in 2-3 games.

But Ryzen 5000 are really cheap right now, since RAM und mainboards are also. The new generation not so much.

Yeah, I just bought a refurbished Ryzen 5000-based computer for our kids for about $300 this year, including a Radeon RX 5500.  Building a Ryzen 5000 system with a GTX 1650 or 1060 is pretty darn reasonable nowadays.

[dignam]

lol that's mid-level now? 1200 dollar?

I still use normal HD so I wish there were actual small cards without additional power plugs. 75W should be enough with modern tech for all my games. I am still using a Geforce 1650 Super, which runs on 120W and I only have to down some details in 2-3 games.

But Ryzen 5000 are really cheap right now, since RAM und mainboards are also. The new generation not so much.

Yeah, suppose it depends on the individual.  You could easily spend $2500+ on a tricked out PC.

The *70 series nvidia cards are generally considered maintream/mid range for GPUs.

The PC I built for my nephew I purposely bought a card that didn't need auxiliary power plug.  I got him the GTX 1650 super as well.  That way it needed a less expensive power supply, etc

[salt cured]

In the mean time I've been putting some major time into TotK since I got it on Sunday. Truly amazing so far.

I'm only about half way done with the story, but this is easily a 10/10 game for me. Incredible.

[Valley of Plenty]

I've been doing another playthrough of Fallout 4 roleplaying as a Space Marine from the Warhammer 40k universe. It's been a blast! Went full Brotherhood of Steel storyline and have been in power armor ever since getting the first suit during the first minutemen quest. All I have left now are minor questlines, so I'm starting to get pretty bored of it.

Once I'm finished with Fallout I'm thinking I might play Ark for a while, or maybe go back to Oldschool Runescape.

[evme]

I'm a Zelda fan and I really enjoyed Breath of the Wild but I think the new sequel (Tears of the Kingdom) isn't very good. It's just too grindy and boring for me, with very little that's new and interesting. I think reusing the same world map was a mistake, even with the added sky islands and underground. The new dungeons (temples) are weak and way too easy. I much preferred the Divine Beasts from BotW. All in all a big disappointment for me.

[Dreamer40]

I'm a Zelda fan and I really enjoyed Breath of the Wild but I think the new sequel (Tears of the Kingdom) isn't very good. It's just too grindy and boring for me, with very little that's new and interesting. I think reusing the same world map was a mistake, even with the added sky islands and underground. The new dungeons (temples) are weak and way too easy. I much preferred the Divine Beasts from BotW. All in all a big disappointment for me.

I’m absolutely loving Tears of the Kingdom. I find it soothing. And I like how there are so many different ways to solve the shrines, not just one right answer for everything. I’m weirdly obsessed with finding all the armor pieces and upgrading them... But I can totally see how it would disappoint some people so I don’t discredit your views at all.

[Wolfpack Mustachian]

Thanks for both the opinions on Tears of the Kingdom. I'm torn about it especially with the price tag. I'll probably get it at some point. I really enjoy Zelda.

[Watchmaker]

I just started Breath of the Wild for the first time, and while it's been okay, I'm finding it a bit repetitive and boring.

[evme]

I just started Breath of the Wild for the first time, and while it's been okay, I'm finding it a bit repetitive and boring.

Open world games are often like that, especially if you haven't played any before. It does get better if you put more time into it.

[Watchmaker]

I just started Breath of the Wild for the first time, and while it's been okay, I'm finding it a bit repetitive and boring.

Open world games are often like that, especially if you haven't played any before. It does get better if you put more time into it.

Yeah, I've only played Fallout 2, 3, New Vegas, 4, Daggerfall, Oblivion, Morrowind, Skyrim, Deus Ex, No Man's Sky, RDR, RDR2, Ghost of Tsushima, and every Zelda game leading up to BotW, so I'm probably still getting the hang of this open-world thing. ;)

(The above is entirely in jest, no snark intended!)

I'm still playing it. I don't hate it, but I am still a bit bored.

[frugalnacho]

Elder Scrolls Online is free at the epic game store right now.  They did away with the subscription-to-play years ago, so it's free to play online indefinitely once you own the game.

[Valley of Plenty]

Recently started what I estimate to be my 100th Skyrim playthrough.

I'm going all in with mods this time, which is something I've never really done before.

Much as I do like the variety that community designed mods provide, I don't like how they encourage developers to drag their feet releasing new titles. We're coming up on Skyrim's 12th anniversary, and there has still been not a peep from Bethesda about a release date for ES6, or even a title for that matter. We got that vague landscape fly-over teaser at E3 like 6 years ago, and nothing since.

After this long of a wait, the next Elder Scrolls game had better be a fully immersive VR experience where I can literally experience the sensation of hurling lightning bolts from my hands.

[Philociraptor]

A few of my fraternity brothers have a WhatsApp group for playing games on Board Game Arena, we just completed a Wingspan "season" of 3 teams of 3, where each person plays each combination possible from the other two teams (9 games total). Nearly came in dead last, but enjoying the game big time, trying out Arena mode and it's pretty fun.

Also just defeated the final boss in Tears of the Kingdom. Once I got back to my save file I found out that I completed approximately 69.22% of the game so far. Will probably put it to rest for a bit until DLC comes out, then decide if I want to start over or continue on my complete file.

[farmecologist]

Recently started what I estimate to be my 100th Skyrim playthrough.

I'm going all in with mods this time, which is something I've never really done before.

Much as I do like the variety that community designed mods provide, I don't like how they encourage developers to drag their feet releasing new titles. We're coming up on Skyrim's 12th anniversary, and there has still been not a peep from Bethesda about a release date for ES6, or even a title for that matter. We got that vague landscape fly-over teaser at E3 like 6 years ago, and nothing since.

After this long of a wait, the next Elder Scrolls game had better be a fully immersive VR experience where I can literally experience the sensation of hurling lightning bolts from my hands.

If you like the Fallout series, check out "Tale of Two Wastelands"...a mod that combines Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas into one huge game.  Super, super impressive.

https://thebestoftimes.moddinglinked.com/intro.html

[Arbitrage]

Playing Diablo 4, mostly.  Took a brief break in the couple of weeks before Season one, then picked it back up two days ago. 

During the break, I tried Exoprimal on Xbox Game Pass.  Pretty good romp there.  Staying power will depend on how they manage balancing and expand it out. 

[LennStar]

Why has a Diablo game seasons???

[Arbitrage]

Why has a Diablo game seasons???

They add some different mechanics and give you a reason to roll and level a new character or two.  More the heart of it, it gives the company a way to continue to drive revenue through season passes (which are optional and do not affect gameplay) and continued engagement of the playerbase. 

[Sanitary Stache]

I just picked up Destiny 2 after many years and have run into this season pass and expansion phenomenon.  I thought the game was free to play because I was going to get to re-play it from 7 years ago, but that isn't the case.  I am not sure if the original game is still there, parts of it seem to be, but the whole thing is now very confusing and everywhere I turn there is an advertisement to spend $100+ on a season pass or an expansion. I guess its alright since I didn't pay for the game, but it seems a little slimy to coat so much with advertisements for themselves.

I may also be influenced by a reaction I read to the recent State of the Game update from the developers which claimed the game runners were making decisions to drive revenue, but weren't being honest about it.  I'd like to be able to see what the game is without the advertisements.  I keep getting pulled into expansion story lines that don't make sense because I haven't completed the first game, or earlier expansions, and I don't have the expansions, so then I can't really play anything that I just got pulled into.

Also I am surprised this game seems to alive after so many years.

edited to add.  After writing this out I thought, "I need a guide" so I found one online at blueberries.gg which I am not familiar with.  It seems to be talking about the things I am having trouble with.