@Sarsicool First off, thank you for the words of encouragement. I don't often make the effort to specifically voice my opinion on matters such as this, so it's pleasant to see it's being received as respectably as it can be when it is merely posted on a forum on the internet.
Secondly in reference to you asking what other methods we can utilise to voice concerns on the subject? Well that I cannot be to sure on to be perfectly honest with you.
Forums like this one are specifically set up to provide a company's demographic a way in which to interact with them.
So we could arguably already be in the best place.
The key thing to bare in mind however is that it's not necessarily where we voice our opinions but how we tone them.
Fun fact: Did you know the loudest word ever shouted is "quiet"?
Not that this is deeply philosophical or anything, but how we as consumers conduct ourselves when trying to get our voices heard is of paramount importance.
A company will not indulge those who aggressively demand change, but will certainly consider the words of those who respectfully assert their concerns.
Heading to a place like reddit to call something like this monetisation effort something that can only be described with the use of foul language, will never make an impact or inspire change.
Like you say, someone, somewhere in EA must be aware of this controversy. Since raising these point myself and seeing hundreds of others do so since the latest update I have also noticed media companies picking up on and reporting it too.
It is debatable however if the negative air around this event will ultimately benefit Respawn and EA. After all, there's no such thing as bad publicity.
Take Rockstar games for instance. They intentionally funded journalists to write negative reviews for GTA V and in doing so made arguably the most successful game ever published in the last 10 years.
I guess what I'm now trying to say is, we have to encourage the right kinds of feedback to a company about their product, be it video games, supermarkets or whatever else.
You are also right in saying the community wouldn't likely mind some things being higher prices compared to usual.
However they rightly have to be justified expenses.
Keeping it related to Respawn and EA, we can easily compare Titanfall 2 and Apex Legends to expose big differences in marketing strategies.
In Titanfall 2 micro transactions can consist of just a few dollars ($5 - 10). For those few dollars players would receive not just one, but a whole selection of character cosmetics. With emphasis being on the option to select said cosmetics.
When compared to Apex Legends however, the micro transactions are questionably extortionate in the fact that players are having to spend more for less and what they have no real control over.
And so grows the controversy as to the player base being divided on why the prices are what they are.
Whether this is all truly a form of bad business practises is like glass coffins.
Remains to be seen.
After all I am only questioning if this monetisation effort is unethical or non-consumer friendly. Not outright saying that it is.
In the mean time though I think everyone can certainly appreciate the effort the developers have been putting into this content.
The Iron Crown event may be polarising to most but you cannot deny, Respawn and EA have demonstrated a commitment to delivering the content the entire community have been asking for, be it new cosmetics, new game modes of core gameplay improvements. Which is especially positive when you consider the game is free to play and only been out a few months.
Look at anthem... It launched around the same time and has ultimately gone nowhere compared to Apex Legends, despite having greater levels funding.
