As much as I want to work there, they're also responsible for peddling the pile of shit like treasure chests, unlock keys and "trading cards" which I find extremely repulsive.
My point is that you're probably better off being repulsed at someone else because in the scheme of things Valve really isn't that bad, IMHO.
I have no doubt that some people spend money they can’t afford to even in Dota 2/CS GO, but that feels more of a choice than other games.
You must be kidding. I mean at that point you'd hope some preservation instinct kicks in and you realize you are trading real dollars for a few bits on a server, and you go buy a chess set and play it down at the park.
It is amazing to me that people will just walk in with their pay check and leave drunk with pennies. Some serious neurochemistry going on there.
It also does not account for the presence of microtransactions influencing the design of the rest of the game towards selling more microtransactions which affects you even if you never buy anything. Granted, this could be considered as "payment" for a free game but once microtransactions/lootboxes/NFTs/whatever have or will become acceptable there, they spread to paid games too.
...which is a pretty fair business in my opinion.
And beyond that, the rest of the game is not being designed independently of microtransactions and that affects you even if you never buy any.
They certainly weren't on a blockchain though, or give the user exclusive ownership over them.