But is the claim of AI not that it can produce outcomes on its own through some sort of machine learning using different input? If it requires a team people anyway, then what is the point in calling it AI?

I don’t buy lootboxes or anything. My point was that something that can seem benign in one company’s hand, like Fortnite in OP’s post, can be taken to greater extremes than thought before. I saw it happen to both the app stores and games over a decade plus. There are degrees of badness that can be discussed while still agreeing they shouldn’t be there. I am with you though on the wish for games to have less ways to spend. The only stuff I ever buy is stuff that’d be equivalent to expansion packs on PC back in the day.

I dunno, I have heard good things about Fortnite’s battle pass. But if it is anything like Overwatch and lootboxes, people will take what was a decent system and morph it into something terrible. I’ve heard nothing but bad about OW 2’s system. Halo: Infinite is better with no time restrictions but few desired rewards. And this is only the first go around. Hopefully I am wrong, but I have not seen it go any other way in the past decade.