Questions regarding in-game virtual currency and purchases

noob_boy

Hello, sorry if this question seems noobish--but i dont understand how the in game currency mechanics in this game work. I mean i thought i did. The runes are used to level up your planeswalker, the red crystals are used to purchase mythics/masterpieces, and the yellow crystals are the standard in game virtual currency to purchase booster packs and new planeswalkers in the vault. You get yellow crystals and runes from playing the game. You can also get yellow crystals by paying for them. I don't know how to get red crystals?? So far so good....

So when you first enter the game and you go to the activity hub screen there is a box that always announces the specials and if you look at the background illustrations it always has the price of the specials in number of runes or number of yellow or red crystals but if i am interested in one of these specials and press on it-- the game immediately takes me to the google playstore password screen to pay for the special in cash. So what is the point of putting how much it costs in virtual in game currency? I dont understand or maybe i'm missing something? Example: right now  Epic starter pack (10 cards) in the specials section says 3500 runes, 150 red crystals on one side of the booster graphic and 350 yellow crystals on the other side of the booster graphic--then  beneath you get the text- "one time purchase only- $39.99"  Does it mean you need to have all 3 listed in-game currencies in order to buy or does it mean you can pay 3500 runes or 150 red crystals or 350 yellow crystals? It would seem a bit excessive if you need all three.

Speaking of excessive--i love the game, but the dollar prices seem to be a bit overdone. i can go to the corner target or walmart and get a real magic the gathering booster pack for anywhere from 3.50 to 5.00  and here i'm expected to pay $40 for ten cards for the epic starter pack? $30 for 3 cards in the black cards bundle pack?! wow! It seems to me the developers would get more business if the price of the microtransactions were more inviting to the player. So far all the cards I have i've managed to acquire are through playing the storymode and through daily rewards for playing. I would definitely buy specials in dollars if the prices were more modest.

Thanks for reading this and for helping me with my question!

Gilesclone

For any of the specials you pay only cash (or in a few very rare cases only yellow crystals). The yellow crystals and purple jewels listed are part of what you get.
So, for the "Epic Starter Pack" you get 10 cards, 150 purple, 350 yellow, and 35,000 runes. If you spend the yellow on cards, that's about 40 cards, 35,000 runes and a 1/3 of a Mythic.

In contrast, if you spend $100 on yellow crystals, you get enough to buy 250 cards.  (Or better yet, a new planeswalker or two and a bunch of cards.). 

Personally, I'd keep the cash and keep grinding for crystals and runes.

noob_boy

Thank you so much for clearing that up!  I love this game--but its interface is at times not very intuitive.
Once again thanks!

Azalie

You both seem mistaken on aspects of the epic starter pack.

Included:

2x 5x booster packs (10 booster packs in total, so 50 cards total)
150 Mana Jewels (the pink/purple gems)
350 Mana Crystals (the yellow gems)
35,000 Mana Runes (the gray and yellow triangles).

The total amount you pay for the above is $39.99.  You have to pay real currency, but everything is included.  

For a cost comparison, consider this:

1. 2 Premium Packs (each is 5 booster packs + 1 bonus rare card, so two packs is 50 cards total + 2 bonus rare cards) would cost 560 Mana Crystals, so about the same as $27.99 which gives you 500

2. Mana Jewels are really, really hard to acquire (which is obviously intentional).  You can get some in the "Trial of the Planes" events.  If you complete the event, you get 6 at Bronze Tier, 20 at Platinum Tier.  So the more you play the more you can get.  Trials are one per weekday, though a different colour each day.  In order to get 150 Jewels, it would take 25 weekdays at Bronze Tier, fewer weekdays at higher tiers.

3. 350 Mana Crystals: You can't buy exactly that amount, but you could get 440 with $27.98 (which is pointless since you can get 500 for $27.99 lol)

4. Mana Runes are experience points for the Planeswalkers, which you already know.  Like Mana Jewels they cannot be purchased alone, but you can get a bunch packaged in a special deal.  You get 100 Runes per fight win, but you can also get a lot of them through events.  If I clear events, I can get about 3000 per day (completing just the Training Grounds each day yields 1,050 runes and 15 crystals each day, regardless of tier level).  You can also earn through Story Mode with each win earning 100 runes (repeatable), but the bonuses for winning the first time or completing bonus objectives are a one-time thing.  So it would still take some time to earn 35,000 manually.

Result:
To get the cards and crystals alone, you'd have to buy a total of 910 crystals.  You can get 1000 for $55.98 (2x $27.99 for 500).  Epic Starter also gives you the jewels and runes, and you save $15.99 in the process.  That's why it's a one-time purchase.   

Of course, you can get everything in the epic pack for free by playing the game, but it would take time to acquire/earn.  It all comes down to which you value more: your time or your money.  (This is also true for in-game purchases for any game, really.)

I hope this helps!