Iron Crown Event: Is it a predatory monetisation tactic?

I absolutely agree that this monetization tactic is predatory for many of the reasons you list. It is just excruciating in every way and I agree wholeheartedly in what you state. Until reading your post, I figured that the one saving grace of the event was that - like similar events from titles such as Overwatch and other games - the Iron Crown Packs would be given out during the event IN PLACE OF Standard Apex Packs wherever they were warranted. Level up, unlock a battle pass package etc... PLUS what I would expect are special accelerated ways to unlock packs during the event itself. Apparently however, this is NOT the case?!

In other titles that use the "special time limited event" mechanic to any viability, this is a critical element - players in Overwatch during the various Holidays, Anniversaries, or Story Events (ie Uprising) are given ways to earn the special event boxes. Furthermore, if a user does choose to buy Event Boxes during the time, they're the SAME PRICE as the standard boxes. Now I know some will make the argument that Overwatch Event Boxes don't exclusively have Epic/Legendaries, but between the far longer duration of the events, the ability for the equal-priced and replacement Event boxes to contain those Epic/Legendaries that are special event related (as well as lesser rewards that are also event related), and the fact that Event related cosmetics - including Epics/Legendaries - can be purchased for standard crafting materials during the event - I'll say its a far cry more accessible in Overwatch!

Adapting this idea to Apex Legends, would mean replacing all the standard rewards with Iron Crown Packs (which have a higher chance of higher tier Iron Crown rewards including Epics/Legendaries - This will encourage more players to play during the event! ), allowing Iron Crown rewards to be purchased for lesser amounts of Crowns and/or equal amounts of standard Crafting Materials , and extending the event in length ideally. Furthermore, the current Iron Crown Advanced Packs could also be available with the same parameters (ie Guaranteed Epic OR Legendary, + Crowns) but priced MUCH less. I'd say 200-ish Apex Tokens would be fair - costing more than the standard, but not the current exorbitant pricing. Also, Daily and Event-wide tasks should reward more opportunities for Iron Crown Advanced Packs, giving players the chance to acquire them at a reasonable pace in addition to just buying them outright.

Finally, the Bloodhound Artifact . The current state is absolutely insane, requiring it to be be purchased for an additional 3500 Apex Tokens exclusively only after you've unlocked EVERY OTHER Epic AND LEGENDARY event item. Changing the event as described above, making all the event items/boxes more accessible would help this, but it is still a massive additional cost. I would suggest that to start that all the Iron Crown Packs be given a small chance of conferring the Artifact - Standard packs having about double or triple the chance of Wraith's artifact in normal Apex Packs, and "advanced aka Epic/Legendary guaranteed packs" having double or triple the Standard Iron Crown chance. Those chances are still very small, but at least its possible. In addition, the more accessible improvements from 2-tiered Iron Crown boxes, all boxes during the event being some sort of Iron Crown , purchase of Crown items with standard crafting materials (costs more, similar to standard Epics and Legendaries) as well as Crowns (costs less), lowering the pricing of the Advanced Iron Crown Packs (and allowing buying Rare Iron Crown packs for 100 Apex Tokens) etc... will make it more accessible and encourage players to collect the whole set through both play and possibly purchase.

Ultimately, I'd suggest that the cost for the Bloodhound Artifact scale depending on how many of the Event Epics/Legendaries you've collected. Collect the whole set and you unlock it! Its 3500 Token price should be the cost if you want it without any of the other Epics/Legendaries tracked, and it decrease proportionally for each you collect.

Monetization for Iron Crown is absolutely predatory and out of wack. I have to commend Respawn for making some of the items, especially the Legendary player skins and Bloodhound Artifact , really neat looking. However, watching EA monetize it - a short 12-day event with very limited time to unlock rewards (all the cool new stuff!), astoundingly limited ways to unlock any of them through play itself, being pushed towards absolutely insane costs instead etc... all come across as incredibly predatory. It seems quite obvious EA is targeting this event near exclusively at "whales" and well-off streamers who won't hesitate to drop the required $200+ to get these exclusive rewards ; frustrating, to say the least.

Worse, not only is it bad for player experience, but I can nearly guarantee that EA would likely net far more revenue if they ran the event as I described above in a more accessible fashion. They could have structured an event where it felt tangible and accessible to unlock these great new cosmetics, inspiring more play and interest in Apex during the event, where players already having fun and feeling rewards were accessible would likely pay a bit extra to speed up their progression, grab a few favorites etc... studies have shown again and again that non-predatory mechanics can be more rewarding. For every "whale" willing to spend $200 to get it all, there are likely 100+ people willing to spend $20-50 to get it all - a much larger profit! This really needs to change as it just feels offputting. New content and game events should be welcoming and inviting, but if they're mismanaged in search of whale-level payoffs using predatory monetization. , they're losing the potential to make a much larger, universally beneficial impact instead.

Edit: I know some will talk about  cosmetics being only optional and whatnot or "not pay-to-win' but that isn't really the point here.  The overpricing and predatory methodology is a problem no matter what, and  cosmetic content is still content - and desirable content at that;  the entire market is predicated on that factor!