Pick up EU4 the way I pick up all of my games…on a steep steep discount when the next one is announced.

Started CK2 legitimately (ahem) when it went free-to-play on Steam. Don’t like the idea of subscriptions for games, so picked up a couple of DLC on summer sales, etc… for dirt cheap. Figure "hey…I’m not an addict…I can handle only having one or two crucial DLCs. It’s fine.

7 expansion packs later and, even on summer and winter sales, the amount comes to far more than what the subscription would have cost, but by then it’s already been done.

EU5 gets announced. Both EU4 and HOI4 get steep discounts and new starter packs that integrate some DLC into them. Figure it’s a good time to get into both games, but I won’t need any extra Expansion packs because of the new included content and because there’s just no way either of them can truly compare to my beloved CK2. Once again eschew the subscription for both.

Fast forward to five extra expansion packs later (4 for EU4 and 1 for HOI4) and once AGAIN, I’ve spent more than the bloody subscription would have cost me in the first place.

I still don’t like or believe in subscriptions for DLC, but damn the addiction is real…