I don't know if this is necessarily a consensus, but I think expecting a game to be endlessly fun to be good isn't really the sort of standard we should be hold

I don't know if this is necessarily a consensus, but I think expecting a game to be endlessly fun to be good isn't really the sort of standard we should be holding games to. Other media such as writing or film doesn't promise to be endlessly entertaining, and ones that might are more like engaging in sport, which I would say isn't necessarily entertainment in the same way. I think there are a lot of players that see the Skinner Box-like mechanics popping up in mainstream works, and are increasingly turned off by it too.