I don't get the bitching. Is it brutally expensive? Yes. Do you have to buy it? No. In terms of stats the gun is nothing special, the armor is quite good, but not essential. For a one time crossover, it's fine.
It generates FOMO though. I remember when you didn't have to pay for stuff in games, so I personally still find it very shitty to have to buy skins etc.
I’m still a bit unsure how plausible it is to make a multiplayer game, keep it updated, and not sell content within the game.
The good devs restrict it to cosmetic options, but I can’t say I’ve moralistically stuck to that kind of perfection - I’m okay with new weapons/characters as long as they stay balanced against old ones. It becomes a sort of hazy issue.
I'd much rather buy a full game from the get go and have everything available with no time limit on when i need to buy it.
There is no FOMO if you can leave it for years, actually get the game with all dlc cheaper second hand for a couple of quid and still finding a thriving community online that isn't focused on completing timed challenges for various currencies to get cosmetics you like the look of before they disappear from the store or the deal for the cheaper price runs out.
They hire psychologists to explicitly figure out how to better make sales. Logical thinking will not win. Microtransactions, which consists of crap you don't need, is a billion dollar industry and has bankrupted numerous homes.
No but your argument that no-one is forced to buy cigarettes is equally valid to arguing that for micro-transactions. One is chemically adictive, the other uses physchological tricks and is almost entirely unregulated.