Never had a problem I would feel forced to spend money. AFAIK in AC games all microtransaction were something like coolest mount or nice armor.

I’m not sure about the discount though. My friend told me he paid ~50€ instead of full price and I saw some guides about that.

But since my entry point in most games is below 30€ (20€ preferably) I can patiently wait. Still have Ghosts of Tsusima on my list, so probably I’ll take that in Easter sale and wait for AC to go lower to a more reasonable price.