Then, why I recall a game that I played in 1999? It was online.
I have no idea, since there were no microtransactions-based games then
at all, other than a few Korean-only games, most of which were MMOs. There were - and are - (wholly) free online browser-based games, of course, but the concept of "Free-to-Play" (but with extra,
paid content) was not yet in use outside of Korea.
Early 90s there were empire/city games also, but not online, of course, look up SimCity, the first version worked in MS-DOS.
Although we are (I think?) not allowed to name any games other than Elvenar on these Forums (and perhaps other InnoGames products - maybe unofficially? - I'm not sure), I can at least confirm that I have played DOS-based PC games of many kinds since 1980, not surprisingly including the game you mention and all of its sequels. However, none of them has ever featured "Free-to-Play" (with/without microtransactions)
OR player interactions (including building destruction, pillage of resources, etc.), since they are all (a) of the "buy complete game once and own forever" variety, and (b) PC or console-based, offline-only, single-player games, and as such not really comparable with "Free-to-Play" (or any other type of) online multiplayer games such as Elvenar. I'm afraid there's not much else I can discuss on these lines, while staying within Forum rules. Apologies.