It's technically possible to play this game as a free to play (F2P) player, but the game makes it very difficult to advance without paying for stuff and I recommend anyone wanting to play without paying looks elsewhere. Nearly 20 months into the game now and developing legendary heroes or more advanced troops has pretty much stalled for me. Last October, (it's March as i write this) having reached level 30 I set a target of reaching the next level to recruit Plasma troops. However the rate at which I can develop my settlement as a F2P player means it will be at least another 12 months and probably longer before I get to that goal. And fully developing any legendary heroes I have, I am probably talking a decade with the rate that upgrade fragments drop. For anyone willing to pay it's a decent game I suppose, and I have got close enough to a few people across the world to call them friends. This I think is the only reason I continue to play. So it's very much a case of paying your money or making your choices.