The ripchips being earned for free, is the exact reason why they consider it not being "paid". If we buckle and hunker down and make sure they change it, we're good. It's the simple fact that we start the game in the tutorial world and have to spend time to rent our way back, or to pay for the skate.pass to have an elongated rent way back for the duration of the season. The devs are using obvious loopholes to not have it considered a paid way of entry, but it is. They WILL NOT admit it. Sure, RipChips are "easy" to come by, IF you have all the challenges unlocked being 10 across the board, or you follow the devs incentive of inviting everyone in the server to have 1-2 people join for 2 challenges and then leave.. Or, if you're lucky and have friends that play and haven't abandoned the game yet, and do challenges with you. It adds up, regardless. Just like you mentioned, if we have to rent each area; it WILL add up. We should have IMMEDIATE FREE (no GRIND required) ACCESS to NEW content and areas.