[2020] Third times the charm, except for Dauntless updates

With the new hunt pass coming, we also got some insight in a few neat additions. Sadly the pass is the main post which is announced in the discord, which makes it feel like they're trying to keep the following announcement on the low:

Starting April 30, get a new contract quest each week for five weeks that offers both Hunt Pass XP and Seismic Intel as a reward for completion. Handing in Seismic Intel to Admiral Zai will provide the Ostians with invaluable information in combating the new Behemoth threat, and hint at what may be on the horizon. Here’s how to participate:

1. Speak to Admiral Zai in Ramsgate to gain access to your first Seismic contract quest.
2. Open the store to select the contract quest to “purchase” (it’s free).
3. Complete Seismic contracts and hand in Seismic Intel to learn more about the growing threat.
4. Finish all 5 Seismic contract quests to learn the root cause of the aetheric eruption in Ostia.

I love the idea, but as per usual with dauntless I see something which makes me feel like the community posts are being ignored.

Example 1: Free item in the plat store, right next to the option to pay for said item. Good for those who wanted to pay for it, but feels like a free item shouldn't be in the plat store.
Example 2: Outrage during the springtide event: Plat items in a normal store. Was the big deal on both the Reddit and the discord for a good few days.
Round 3: Free item in the plat store. -> this to me feels like a cheap way to get people to enter the store.

Don't get me wrong, I use the shop and I check it occasionally, but this just feels like they're ignoring the community opinion and making it less story-based than it could be. Why can't a regular NPC give us the contracts? why does the store have to be a middle man in this case? And why out of all things is it in the plat store if it doesn't cost plat.

I'd be happy to see the communities reaction on this one, but in my opinion, it ruins immersion to put it in the plat store and from a consumer perspective, it looks like a cheap way to get people into the store rather than making good content which makes people check out the stores because they want to.