The prices are too high!

Not really the definition of free market. That'd mean others are free to compete against you for the money by offering their version of the product. This is a closed system. If they want to add a new character and charge 100 bucks a shard - guaranted you'd get dumb krakens 7 star it. Apple can't offer the same shards at 75 of 50 cents a pop to compete. It's preying on a closed system where they set all the rules.

That said, they aren't quite that stupid. It's kind of like vegas setting the odds. The whole point there is the house tries to get 50% of the money on each side of the bet. House takes their cut so they win 100% of time unless they blow the odds and the wrong side wins.  Same thing applies here to an extent.  If they put out a lightspeed pack for the reqs for ahsoka, for example, and priced it at 500 bucks and no one bought it. You wouldn't see it again at 500. Next time they'd bring it down.  Their goal is to set a price that makes them money without making it worthless.

Are their prices high? No question.  If they weren't making sufficient money on them, though, you'd see things to try and up the spend.  In every business sense it's better to have 2 people spending 25 bucks than 1 guy spending 40 bucks. Though i really question sometimes if CG sees it that way. It would not surprise me either if EA forced them to set certain prices too, or if the deal with LFL make the prices high.  Does LFL get 30% of every dollar of profit? if so, the prices have to be that much higher for them to make money on it. So, it's not impossible that each sale requires money going to LFL, EA, and CG, so you have to fact triple profit into the price as well as overheard and salaries, etc.