The cost is strange

Love the game. Love everything. The stories are interesting. I understand that the way it is developed that it needs to be time gated.
I would rather have just bought it outright than this odd costing mechanism. Spend money to buy gold to buy something else?
I understand the need to make money but I cannot give money in this confusing way.

Testeas about Game of Thrones Ascent, v4.0.0