how many patches are actually there?
at first i was able to play during patching, but now there's no such option. i'm tires of waiting, please tell me that the 38GB update is the last one.
i just want to play the game. :x

You cannot play while patching. Or, to be more precise, you *should not play* while patching. Patching is the addition and replacement of essential game files. What do you suppose happens if you are playing, meaning the files are in-use, when the installer tries to replace them? If you have a system where installing/patching takes a long time, go and do something else and forget about it.

thanks for a very helpful advice dude, i figured that much on my own.
but you've forgotten to answer the question that was the very reason of creating the thread.
so, let me repeat myself.

how many patches were there?

That attitude will get you nowhere.