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Free-to-play games are pretty much always like that and its a necessary part of the game in order for the game company to make money and produce content for everyone else who isn't buying plat/spending money. The trick is getting the right balance, so there is still a point to play if you aren't spending a ton of money. As soon as it feels like people are just buying levels and gear out right, the whole thing loses all of its appeal. That is partly what turned me off from DL. At the very least, PL still requires a fair bit of grinding and playing. The best gear is not purchased. Its true thrashers make it, oh, let's say 4x easier, but the people who use thrashers still spend hours and hours playing the game and grinding.
If you want a game that isn't like this, there are a ton of subscription based RPG games, with bind on equip or bind on pick up gear and nothing is purchased with real money, except the subscriptions to play. Play a game like that and you have to go "earn" all your gear by actually defeating the bosses that drop the gear you want and winning the drop rolls for the gear -- the most well known game would be World of Warcraft.