I'm embarrassed to say how much I've spent on these games over the years. ;_; Probably at least $1k USD on the Japanese version of Love Live SIF, and maybe close to that for Bang Dream too. Then there are other gacha games that ate several hundred, like Magia Record and Dragalia Lost. I lost interest spending on gacha half a year ago fortunately, and the fact that I got bored of Bang Dream and haven't played in a year + uninstalled JP Love Live because I was tired of not understanding what they were saying was a wake up call. I still have the global Love Live app installed (spent at least a few hundred on that also) and Bang Dream too, since I feel guilty deleting all games that I spent so much on. But man I haven't played these in like a year or more and it's probably better I at least move them out to my tablet so I can access them if I have interest again, and make space on my phone which is my main device. But for now....I can't see myself playing them again.
trickster online the mmorpg which is closed now is what started the gacha addiction for me, around 12-13 years ago when they introduced their lootbox system. Back then as a teen I remember using my mom's credit card without permission to spend around $90 on lootboxes until I got the specific item I wanted. It's such a disgusting thing to have games meant for kids use gacha, since they're basically hoping kids (many of which have issues with self-contol in these situations) will spend a ton of money that isn't theirs trying to get x thing from a random pool.
edit: I've checked my Offgamers account (where I purchased all of my JP iTunes gift cards for Love Live), and my rank is platinum, which requires at least $1,000 spent. oof. Most of it was back in 2018 - glad I kicked that hecka expensive habit.
