I'm definitely not the F2P type, but I've been considering giving Puzzle & Dragons a shot. As a person who doesn't really want to spend all day rerolling at the start, and doesn't want to spend hundreds of dollars a month in IAP (though I'm not opposed to spending reasonable amounts in IAP), is there any hope of having fun, or am I just going to end up overwhelmed and be forced to dump in piles of money to make progress?
I guess, more simply - is it possible to have fun without either spending tons of money or spending huge amounts of time micromanaging gameplay to avoid running into the limits of free play so quickly? (Some of the contortions that I've heard people make to make any progress in games like Simpsons: Tapped Out or Candy Crush Saga without sinking in hundreds of bucks make me cringe a little.)
Note that I'm not expecting to get hours of play a day out of it, but I don't want to find my daily play artificially ended after 5 minutes due to an unfair, arbitrary stamina meter, either. Also, sorry for jumping into the community thread and asking this, but I figured that asking the people that play a lot is the best way to get a reasonable answer.
You're in luck...There's a Godfest coming up soon, and those are the BEST times to roll/start the game.
E: Sorry if this is messy, I was typing and reading at the same time. These do not go hand in hand.
As a pretty heavy IAP player (probably ~$10-30/month on average depending on events, what I'm doing, etc), I can't comment entirely on the F2P nature. But I can say this - with a good starting roll, you won't find need to spend much of anything.
There are two VERY strong arguments to be made when it comes to the F2P nature of PAD and the starting roll.
1)
Some say the starting roll isn't important anymore. That is SORT of true in that they have introduced monsters that you can get without paying that have slightly less powerful leader skills than some of the stronger gods. One example I can think of right off the bat:
Zeus Stratios
He has a similar leader skill to one of the strongest leaders in the game right now...
DTron
Zeus is 4x ATK when HP is less than 40%
DTron is 4x ATK when HP is less than 80%
DTron is a lot easier to trigger. The problem? She's from the rare egg machine (REM). Her ideal subs are also SUPER luxury (as in, all of them require you to pull the REM). In theory, you can clear Heaven & Hell to get the mats for Zeus Stratios without ever pulling the REM. There's a team on PDX that requires NO pulling. The game has evolved such that you can get away with not spending much of anything if you're smart about how you spend your stones and know what you're doing. There are a few folks here on GAF who are non-IAP that can comment on this. They may have different opinions on starting rolls.
2)
Some of us believe that you need a good starting roll to make your life easier. I (and many of us) fall here. In order to maximize your enjoyment with the game, I feel that you should start with one of a few certain monsters. Why? Because the game has evolved from needing a basic 2/4/2 or 4/2/2 team to needing 9/12.25/16/25x ATK in order to safely clear content without spending the IAP currency magic stones.
By starting the game out with a Bastet or a Kirin or a Horus or a Haku, you've put yourself in a position to build a team that can regularly hit the high multipliers AND can get away with subs you either pick up in regular dungeons, technical dungeons, or event dungeons. Once you build a basic team, you can tackle Hera for your first gravity users and start beating up other descended dungeons. What this means is that a strong starter leads you into the "end-game" content of PAD.
The big issue with getting a good starting roll is that it's not easy. It can take days (or even weeks) of rerolling, and that's super shitty. By doing the rerolling during a Godfest, your chances are much better to roll a good starter. If you don't plan to spend much of anything on the game, it's best to muscle through it.
Now!
If you decide you ARE going to spend a little here and a little there, getting a decent starter is all you need to aim for. Why? Because when Godfest comes around, you can just roll 4-6 times and MAYBE get a great god! But of course, you run the risk of getting shit on like some of us have...I have had great Godfests (pulled Kirin, Luci, and Hades all in one of them...These monsters are super top tier), but I've also had shitty ones where I pulled complete garbage. It's luck of the draw. RNG.
In terms of how much balance goes into the stamina and your real life...Weekends especially, you can basically play until you get bored early on. There's a way to grind out your rank that requires almost no down time. The problem? It's boring as hell.
Once you get higher in rank, unless you're like some of the super players, you're going to WANT a break here and there. It can be pretty draining farming some of the super hard dungeons (like fucking Zeus Dios or Twinlits). In those cases, your stamina will slowly refill and give you that break. Of course, it will be a while before you get to that point. Once you're regularly clearing the super hard content, you may be to the point where you're willing to spend $5-10 a month to refill your stam and keep playing. That's the boat I'm in at this point.
So that was a REALLY long way of saying this:
If you think you might get into the game and the community (which is seriously awesome...GAF dudes and the FB group are full of really awesome and helpful people), AND you think you'll be willing to spend a little bit of money on the game, don't go crazy chasing the dragon. Reroll for a god that isn't terrible (we'll all be happy to help with that), and enjoy the game and the experience.
If all of the above is true but you DO NOT want to spend money, brace yourself and get a good starter. In my opinion, it will pay off. It's not mandatory, but know that it will make your life a lot easier.
If you're just playing just to play and kill time, don't stress. Take your starting roll and have fun.
For what it's worth, a LOT of us have well over 300 days played (I know I'm at around 370, and a few of us have hit 400 or closing in on it). PAD is EASILY one of the best F2P mobile games out there.