Your comment made me think of the most recent indie-ish game I've discovered (albeit late to the party) which is Hades. Looking at it in light of this discussi

Your comment made me think of the most recent indie-ish game I've discovered (albeit late to the party) which is Hades. Looking at it in light of this discussion, it would have been way too easy to include microtransacations. Make it a little harder, make the elements you invest into building your character a little more scarce, sell the weapon aspects... It's an absolute blessing really that it didn't happen that way.