The reason people hate it is because they don’t follow the rules.

They put tax money in the center and pretend “free parking” means “payday”.

They prevent purchases until a lap or two around the board.

They allow landed-on properties to go unpurchased.

They allow no-rent agreements between players.

And then they have the audacity to bitch that the game takes too fucking long. After removing every god damn mechanism the game has to end.

There is strategy in knowing what to purchase, what to bid at auctions, what properties to develop and when and how much, and what to trade.