Thanks for your comments.  I'm not convinced that land will do anything significant for new players besides giving them spells to buy from landholders.  How much will that actually enhance game play?  Your guess is as good as mine.  Land will not be the panacea that some make it out to be in my opinion, but time will tell.  Land might be fun for me since I have 130+ plots, but most people can't afford one plot.  As far as bots are concerned, I hate them too.  I even hate the ones the high level players use though the cognitive dissonance is strong in that area ('good bots' vs. 'bad bots').  All game play automation is bad IMO.  I agree on the packs being too expensive.  I think that's one reason that CL sold as poorly as it did (though it's blamed on the bear market).  The fact is that people seek out distractions in bear markets.