I started playing PA in the last few days and have really enjoyed it. For some background, I've done a far amount of gaming on PC, console, and mobile, with some limited experience in board games and almost none at all in tabletop. This is to say that I'm approaching it much more as a self-contained mobile game than as a port of a tabletop game.
A few hours in I was ready to drop a decent chunk of money on the game. Spending anything at all on mobile games is rare for me, let alone more than a couple of bucks, but the game seems impressively deep and enjoyable. However, when I checked the shop, I didn't find anything I wanted to get.
Bundles:
The only one in the shop at the time was Rise of the Runelords, which in itself surprised me, as I expected at least a few. Had New Adventurer been there at the time I might have gotten it. As is, having the only option at that price tag shocked me. I recognize that $25 is cheap for a full tabletop/console/pc game, but I never expect to see something in that range on mobile. That's not to say I think it's unfair price, but it is a price that requires a pretty huge commitment and a lot of perceived value. And that was the other problem; unlocking the full adventure is great, but the rest of the bundle was pretty iffy to me. I had barely figured out how to start using the two characters I had and the basic mechanics of the two character game. I did want more, but 9 at a time was a bit much, and something I had no idea how I would start using anytime soon. Moreover, picking the character I wanted to buy next and saving up gold for it seems like one of the funnest purchases in the game, and this bundle removes that completely. The character add-on deck I didn't even really understand; I figured it was a good thing, but without any knowledge of how it would change the game it certainly wasn't a draw. Promo cards were much the same, since I didn't know what they were or even what they might be like. Red dice, whatever (I've never been much for buying cosmetic changes). And the further you get in the game, the less appealing the bundle is, since you'll already have purchased parts of it.
Adventures:
All gold priced.
Characters:
Definitely not making a $30 starter purchase for slightly different versions of characters.
Dice:
Seem pretty expensive, but I suppose they're mostly for hardcore players so maybe that makes sense.
Treasure chests:
These seem fun, but I don't really have any idea what kind of cards they give you, and I can't really tell whether they progress the game in any meaningful way or are just power ups. I might consider them once I'm further into the game, but not as a starter purchase. (Also, the number of exclamation marks in the descriptions seems a little excessive).
Gold:
Daily gold was tempting, but 200 seems small, and 30 days seems very long. I would almost certainly have gotten it if it was 400 per 15 days, even at 2.99. 400 is much sexier, and I would imagine that if someone isn't into the game after 15 days straight, extra days probably won't make a difference. 4000 gold I might get to push me over the top of something I want, but it's also of course the lowest value. 9000 is more money and not much more value, and $20 is a lot to spend for an amount of gold that won't even unlock all the adventures.
Overall:
There just don't seem to be good starter purchase options. I was looking for low or mid price options that unlocked some of the story and some of the characters, and there weren't any. (Also, why aren't treasure chests included in the bundles? It would help explain what they do, and if there's one thing to learn from CCG's, it's how amazing opening packs feels). Something like 6.99 for two adventures of your choice, 2500 gold, and a treasure chest, or 11.99 for three adventures of your choice, 4000 gold, and two treasure chests. Those I would have snapped up in a heartbeat, but the RotR bundle was just a little too far past my level of commitment that early in the game.
