He didn't mention buying gems, just Legendary chest bundles, right? I can definitely relate, having started playing the game last spring and wondering if it was worth continuing once I realized how many character sets would never be available to earn no matter how long I played. I did eventually throw some money at some Legendary chests since I was enjoying the game and it had been free up to that point. I hope I haven't spent $200, but I've probably spent close to $100 in 8-9 months between occasional legendary chests, $4 character bundles during events so I have a fighting chance of getting everything during the event, and a bunch of $5 "Magical" chest bundles when they threw a ton of characters in them a few months ago. I've never bought gems, they never seemed like that great a deal, even if you buy them in the highest quantity.
People burn $10 a month on lots of frivolous things, and I don't feel bad supporting a game I enjoy (and it's the only one I play). I do agree with the reviewer that it would be nice if the old events could be triggered in newer players' games so that we would have the opportunity to earn the characters instead of only gambling for them. That's what I envisioned happening when I noticed so many grayed out character sets in the book as I was getting a feel for the game. And aside from the leaderboard events that take place during new movie events, it seems totally doable from a programming perspective to let an old event run "off line" for a newer player.