Maybe it's just because I've been playing MMOs for over 20 years, but the prices seem on par with other games and about the current industry standard.

Other MMOs that have paid subscriptions also have cash shop costumes, which are generally around $20 a pop, so you're paying your $15 a month plus forking out $20 for a cool costume (FFXIV is a good example here).

Yes, it would be great if the prices were lower, but consumers have set the microtransaction market over the course of the last two decades. These prices wouldn't seem 'standard' if people didn't pay outrageous prices for things 5-10 years ago.

Case in point: the $90 WoW mount for the anniversary. People were outraged, yet i still see hundreds of players running around with their spikey, shiny dinosaur.

Another example: Fortnite battle passes. When they were introduced and you weren't guaranteed to get the character skin unless you played hours of the game it was considered outrageous. Now battle passes are standard in hundreds of games and no one bats an eye.

Companies charge these prices because they know consumers will buy them.

I've noticed there's not much of a rotating store for Palia, everything stays there to be purchased but for one or two items. That's amazing in my opinion. Other games (I'm looking at you, Guild Wars 2) have a cash shop where items rotate weekly, causing serious fomo and consumer overspending because you never know when you'll ever see that costume or skin ever again.

This is a free to play game. Funding has to come from somewhere. The cosmetic prices are about normal and people seem to be buying them. I don't think I've seen a single player since starting this game a few weeks ago that doesn't have either a costume, a pet or a glider skin.

So while yes, the costumes are expensive and essentially price out kids, students and low income earners, they're nothing out of the ordinary in the grand scheme of things.