OK, I wrote a spreadsheet. This is based on the 12 Arx that was earned in 34 minutes in the livestream, making it 18 Arx per hour.
A basic paint job is now 50p (£3 for a set of 6) it becomes 49p (in the £3.99 bundle) down to 36p (in the £49.99 bundle). I haven't checked any others.
- Decal @ 50: either play for 2hrs and 40 minutes or pay £2.99 and have £2.96 (4940 Arx) sitting in FDev's servers for your next purchase
- Decal @ 150: play for over 8 hours or pay £2.99 and save up £2.90 (4850 Arx)
- SRV/Fighter Paint @ 460: play for over 25 hours or pay £2.99 and save up £2.71 (4540 Arx)
- Ship Paint @ 620: play for over 34 hours or pay £2.99 and save up £2.62 (4380 Arx)
- Bobblehead @ 2450: play for over 136 hours or pay £2.99 and save up £1.52 (2550 Arx)
- SRV/Fighter Paint @ 3280: play for over 182 hours or pay £2.99 and save up £1.03 (1720 Arx)
- Ship Paint @ 5520: Pay £2.99 and play for over 28 hours or pay £4.99 and save up £1.87 (3300)
- Bobblehead @ 6450: Pay £2.99 and play for over 80 hours or pay £4.99 and save up £1.34 (2370 Arx)
- COVAS @ 8850: Pay £4.99 and play for 1 hour 40 minutes, or pay £2.99+£2.99 and save up £0.65 (1150 Arx)
- Ship kit @ 11750: Pay £4.99 and play over 162 hours or pay £2.99+£4.99 and save up £1.17 (2070 Arx)
- Ship kit @ 13520: Pay £4.99 and play for over 261 hours, or pay £2.99+£4.99 and save up £0.17 (300 Arx)
The whole point of an in-game currency is to allow us to make small purchases out of a single credit card transaction, so items 1-6 are unavoidable.
COVAS effectively becomes £1 cheaper and decals become free in small quantities.
It would be nice to have an option between £2.99 and £4.99; that's a lot of game-time if you don't want to sit on your Arx.
Edit: it's never a good idea to buy £9.99 for a single purchase.
Edit 2: gross error in bundle prices, but doesn't affect anything but the price saved.