@ematt84I have to say that I was expecting some kind of smoking gun theory, and what I found was a description of the monetization side of a game I've been playing for three years and already know pretty well. Here's what I took from that paper:
"If you are not playing Apex Legends, you are constantly encouraged to reflect about what you are ‘entitled’ to."
Possibly true concerning the very young, the feeble-minded, or various other groups of people whose defining characteristic is their inability to understand the value of money. This is akin to saying that advertising in any form is unfairly coercive and creates a hostile environment for consumers.
"If you are not playing Apex Legends, you are shopping in Apex Legends."
What a load of garbage. If I'm not playing Apex Legends then I'm out somewhere living my life, not rifling through the store or checking to see what I'd have by now if I'd ponied up for the battle pass. That has never happened once in three years. Because I am neither young, dumb, or rich.
"The battle pass encourages players to stay engaged with the monetization layer of the game."
I don't think anyone needed a piece of descriptive scholarship to point out to them that battle pass is designed to encourage expenditure. Is EA supposed to make payroll and keep the lights on from customers' good will? Or maybe unicorns and sea monkeys will weave gold out of air and give it all to EA so they can keep going.
Believe me when I say that it pains me to be put in the position of having to defend any big corporation, especially one as odious as Electronic Arts, but I can't see what you're getting at if it isn't some wholesale indictment of capitalism and the profit motive. I mean, that's a discussion we can have, and you might be surprised that I'm NOT the guy who will come down squarely in favor of "profits above all else" or the post-industrial capitalism that does just that. But until the revolution comes this is the system we live in.
