No more of a waste than buying literally any game.
If they were built like normal games, maybe, but games designed for whaling are invariably pay-to-win and exist specifically to feed the "minnows" to the "whales" as the content. Gacha games like the ones being referenced here are the epitome of that concept, having astronomically low odds of the best drops that only occur in limited periods of time for that extra Fear Of Missing Out, (with constant powercreep so that the things you bought last year are shit now, and the new drops will always beat them,) and are designed to force you to come online daily or even at specific times of day to get the best bonuses, since the more "engagement" they get out of you, the better. They're explicitly designed to trigger addiction more than enjoyment because that's how you bleed the whales dry. (Nobody goes into a game saying they'll want to spend $120,000 on .jpg waifus.)
Those sorts of games are a waste even if you play entirely for free.
If they were built like normal games, maybe, but games designed for whaling are invariably pay-to-win and exist specifically to feed the "minnows" to the "whales" as the content. Gacha games like the ones being referenced here are the epitome of that concept, having astronomically low odds of the best drops that only occur in limited periods of time for that extra Fear Of Missing Out, (with constant powercreep so that the things you bought last year are shit now, and the new drops will always beat them,) and are designed to force you to come online daily or even at specific times of day to get the best bonuses, since the more "engagement" they get out of you, the better. They're explicitly designed to trigger addiction more than enjoyment because that's how you bleed the whales dry. (Nobody goes into a game saying they'll want to spend $120,000 on .jpg waifus.)
Those sorts of games are a waste even if you play entirely for free.
Pretty sure I said spending a few dollars on something you enjoy isn't a waste. The value and merit of gacha games as a whole is an entirely different matter and not relevant to my comment.
Besides, while most certainly are designed that way (and most aren't worth playing even for free), not all are. Azur Lane makes all its money off skins, and the strongest ships in the game are almost all available outside the gacha.
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