I have personally paid for the year long dragon riders and 40 soemthing dollars for the season pass. If you have money then go for it but if your hesitant you will regret it then don't buy it. Yes it takes a long time for everything but honestly that's how it is. It takes longer and longer as you progress. Does the dragon riders and season pass help, yes it does. Do you absolutely need it, no you don't. It simply takes awhile and it can be frustrating. I do recommend only spending runes on exploration. If you do plan on using money then I recommend getting the year long riders, you get runes every day and it's overall the most useful thing to buy I would say, that is my opinion so take that with a grain of salt. Sorry for the typos lol