I feel like you're mixing justified complaints ("this game has addictive gambling elements and you're targetting it at children") with less justified complaints ("this completely optional skin which has no effect on gameplay looks cooler than the default but costs money").
I'm mixing them because they are mixed. Go to any gaming community and look at what they're talking about. Justified and unjustified complaints, with the main focus on monetization and how evil the developers are who are manipulating them to pay.
What I want to figure out is how to monetize a game that removes the assumption of bad faith and detoxifies the community. I came to the conclusion that it has to be free. Every other monetization will lead to the abuse we see developers receiving.
