I've been staying out of the STO discussion, but I do have to offer a minor correction.
Cryptic has had multiple events over the years that rewards T6 ships to allow people to be competitive and be able to complete the top end content. And I'm not talking about the fact that you can grind Dilithium and trade that for Zen and buy T6 ships that way, without ever having to spend a dime on the game. No, I'm talking about special event ships where you can get them just from logging in and doing a daily over a period of time. Heck, they're literally having one such event
right now.
Add on the fact that there is an exchange that allows you to trade Dil for Zen, strictly speaking everything in STO can, in fact, be ground for if you spend the time and effort doing so.
So don't pretend that STO is pay to win, it's not, it's "pay to not grind". Does it have some predatory things? Yes, because it uses loot boxes. But even the way they use loot boxes is generally better than many other games, as the vast majority of items from the loot boxes are smaller scale items like weapons, which can then sold on the exchange thus ensuring everyone can get them over time, and none of the items are locked to the player who opened the lock box, generally speaking. Considering that it's an otherwise completely free to play game, not charging for their storyline content or even their major expansions, they do have to pay to keep things running somehow.
Of course, it's probably obvious to those who pay attention (Protip: my Avatar isn't the sigil of the Romulan Star Empire... it's the sigil of the Romulan Republic from STO) that I am actually a fan of STO, so take my opinions with a grain of salt. I'll admit it has flaws, the gameplay I've found has long since grown tired and stale, but it's not really pay to win, and it's an honest and good faith effort to reflect classic Trek with it's storytelling, even though it does often have to depend on the shooting and explosions.