Papataylor: I am a senior on a very limited fixed income. I have been playing games on WGT for 18 months less than you have. I have yet to spend a single "real" dollar on the game. Since you live in the US you have the same gateway to "free" credits that I do.
I agree that some avenues to the "free" credits have disappeared or slowed down, but that does not stop me from working my plan to grow my bank account of credits. Just today I picked up another 200 credits. My daily goal is 133, about the price of one of the Nike balls that I prefer I seldom am short of that goal, but if something happens, I can go for an extended time and not change my needed WGT fix.
For those of us in the States, WGT can be absolutely "free" if time is available. In retirement, what else do I have, if not time.