Of course it is paid-for DLC content. Before the new Chapters’ content, the twelve DLCs were released. These had a lot of content ‘many’ players did not need/want/use, so have been scaled back to the BattlePass stuff. The BattlePass stuff contains a lot of stuff that’s likely aimed at the PvE and Roleplay communities as it contains reskins of existing stuff.

BattlePass stuff rotates around. Funcom sped the rotation cycles around. If you miss an item one day/week, you’ve a very good chance seeing it next time it rotates through. I agree, it would be nice if the whole lot on offer were all displayed at once, but Funcom appear to just be following what other Devs do to get players to fomo-part with cash, but no-one forces anyone to buy BattlePass content.

Players can also get free content via the Challenges TAB and also via Twitch stream-watching, as well as via the Journey quests.

So, ways of getting extra goodies?

  1. BattlePass (paid)
  2. Challenges (free)
  3. Journey steps (free)
  4. Twitch drops (free)
  5. DLCs (old stuff)

You can still buy all the DLC - I see they are all cheaper than when I bought them.
You can also dig about in Mods, which are all for free and astoundingly well presented.
If all else fails, a player could even join the awesome Modding community and make whatever they want via the DevKit.

“Stupidity”? No. Good business. I have never gotten much free stuff via any games I play or programs I use. New content needs salaried Dev and Art people (unless you’re a Modder - who also tolerate donations if forced on them). I know players that have every single BattlePass, Journey, Challenge, DLC, and Twitch item available, and many have never paid more than the cost of the actual game.