So, while youre not wrong, there's an entire side of the fanbase that has optimized f2p(free to play) teams and builds for characters in those teams. Most of what you've laid out is true, but only one side of the coin... You're very focused on paying, and not on anything else, in your response... as far a gacha goes, this on is the least invasive ive played. That includes anything like Overwatch, COD, HALO now too...

There are daily events called comissions, as well as events that give the currency to get characters, as well as exploration and acheivements.

Also, its usually better to pull a new character instead of getting more constelations for ones youve got, except for the starter characters(hard to pull and rare) but those rotate thru the shop on a long rotation with time to build up the free currencies. There are a few other exceptions to the rule like the demi god characters called Archons, but they are the minority of the playable options(you can do very very well without an archon in your teams).

...Sidetracked... pulling for different characters instead of reinforcing your current ones gives you more flexibility on the technical side and more variety on the gameplay and overworld side. It lets you experiment and decide who to reinforce when they come around again. This is the recommendation for new genshin players.

Mind you f2p does take more time and patience, but Genshin Impact doesnt have "Pay to Win". There's no player vs player.

And the system is only "predatory as fuck" if you let it be...