Want to know the responsible answer to "mommy can I buy a Fortnite skin"? It's "no". Simple as that. Same as it was when the question was "dad can I buy this Harry Potter poster" or "mom can I get this GI Joe" or "grandma can I buy a stick to roll my hoop with" or anything marketed to kids over the past literally forever.
Don't want your kids spending money on video games? Don't give them your credit card number. Don't blame Epic for making a fun and free-to-play video game that kids enjoy. The people actually spending the money aren't kids being taken advantage of, they're actual consenting adults. Kids don't have credit cards so they cannot make digital purchases.
You had me up until this point. No one can deny the extreme amounts of psychology (read: manipulation) used in children's marketing. (Or any marketing...)
It's a good thing that such education "impacts the kids even outside of the game itself".
It's the equivalent of not having the latest sneakers (which was a thing in my age bracket).
Regarding the bullying: That's not related to brand choices but group dynamics. A skilled bully doesn't need you not to buy a skin for your child to bully her or him.
If you want to see a game that actively preys on the young you should look into Fifa Ultimate team. It forces you to spend hundreds of dollars opening packs of cards like in hearthstone but in the end of the day all of it goes down the drain because it doesn't carry over to next year's game. This is so absurdly predatory and they keep making it a heavier focus for the game every year.
At least skins and other virtual assets aren't filling our landfills with plastic crap.
If they want it that bad, let them go mow lawns or shovel driveways or whatever. You know, like kids have often had to do when there was something they wanted, no matter how silly it seems to adults.
Maybe it irks me so much because it represents the bottom of capitalism barrel and it's wildly successful.
I'm mad at Epic for making the trap, but I'm equally as aggravated at people for falling into the trap, even though it's clearly marked with giant neon lights.
Or at least let's not pretend that this 21st century version of status symbol nonsense is really any different than what kids have always been doing. Some kid has a SNES and you only have a NES... Who's got Air Jordans? Who's got the best lunch? The best toys. Whatever. It's all the same. It's always been the same.
Hell I remember 1990 my elementary school installed a pencil machine. And you got like two random pencils with whatever graphics on them for a quarter (or maybe two quarters) and people were dumping money into that thing like they were going to hit the jackpot and become pencil barons of the midwest.
It's always been the same song and dance, kids are morons, and they are subject to the whims of whatever fad.
Are you upset by the pricing? Would you be happier if the virtual outfits cost less? Are you upset that they're marketed to children at all? How is this different from My Little Pony making a child interested in their toys through their cartoon? Do you just hate capitalism as a concept (not sarcastic, that's generally my stance on things)?
I'm a gamer, and I'm not a fan of micro-transactions for components of a game you NEED in order to play (ie, extra lives in time based games, cards to play hearthstone/etc) but I really can't hate on a game maker saying "hey, if you want to play my game AND look like a panda, there's an extra charge for that". You're received the "complete" game for free and being charged for the game equivalent of a table with a better view at a restaurant. Food still tastes the same, game still plays the same.
I don't buy into the "please, won't someone think of the children", type arguments like this is a new problem or that this game is specifically for kids. Or that Epic should change their business model when it turns out lots of children end up playing their wildly popular game.