The OP does have one inarguable point: season passes are a cash grab. Don't buy season passes, they are essentially paid preorders for DLC. That provides no value to the customer whatsoever, it's a purely anti-consumer move.
Isn't everything you sell technically a cash grab. The way I see it, I'm paying for next seasons development. I'm happy with that as long as it keeps the game running, without money the game will be shut down surely.