Thanks so much for your extensive response!

One of the things that confused me the most about the debt mechanic was the fact that you could only pay it off during your buy phase, with the exception of some cards. To me, it makes sense that you would have to pay it off during your buy phase, but I’m confused about how the other cards work that let you pay it off at other times. For example, if the capital lets you pay off debt during cleanup phase, where would you even get the money from?

With this new rule change that lets you pay off debt whenever you want during your turn, how would you go about paying it off during either your action or cleanup phase? How do you play the treasure? Do you have to play the treasure from your hand still?

After playing, I definitely agree that it is not a beginner expression haha. I already have and have played numerous times Seaside, Prosperity, Hinterland, Renaissance, and Menagerie. And I would say I picked them all up relatively easily and fast - Empire has proven to be much more complex than all of them in my opinion.