Yes if you play the game for free you accumulate game points ip which is different from gold which you buy. Game points can be used to purchase champions and runes. Gold can be used to purchase champions/skins/boosts(out of game boosts)
Every week 10 champions are made available to play which rotate each week. As you get to like a champion you may want to buy it and you can do that with in game cash or gold. When you get to level 20 you will want to buy tier 3 runes (the only time worth buying runes imho) these will wipe your in game gold out so it's worth saving as they do add a lot of extra benefit to you i.e you may want to use in game money to purchase champions but do it sparingly as those tier 3 runes are worth the wait.
At the moment just dive in and play and it will all become clear
** so far this system works because you can absolutely play the game for free if you want - just takes longer to get champions etc **
Every week 10 champions are made available to play which rotate each week. As you get to like a champion you may want to buy it and you can do that with in game cash or gold. When you get to level 20 you will want to buy tier 3 runes (the only time worth buying runes imho) these will wipe your in game gold out so it's worth saving as they do add a lot of extra benefit to you i.e you may want to use in game money to purchase champions but do it sparingly as those tier 3 runes are worth the wait.
At the moment just dive in and play and it will all become clear
** so far this system works because you can absolutely play the game for free if you want - just takes longer to get champions etc **