Regarding the whole price thing, what's more important to me as someone who likes to play games is not entirely the price, but if it's worth spending that much. Is it worth it at it's full price sans sale, or would it be more worth it if it were on sale?
If I learned anything from a minor (yeah right) fiasco I had with Steam, it was that much of the games I got because they were on sale was more because they were on sale, and not that all of them were necessarily good games (not saying I have a lack of taste when it comes to games). What I mean is, I got a few 10 dollar games that were worth more my money than some of those 20-50 dollar games (which I got on sale for up to half or even 75% their base price) I spent on.
So to put it, simple games like VVVVVV, Audiosurf, and Plants Vs. Zombies I had more fun with (and a bit of replayability) than fighting with my graphics card (or the complexity) with pricier games like Crysis and Bioshock and such. Simply put, paying for a full Minecraft account right now is worth it. Had more fun than what I've been doing in the free (and creative-only) mode. Plus, I can have a custom character made. I'm also enjoying the new features that creep in every once in awhile. Just as long as they don't make craters in a beautiful setup.
EDIT:
And speaking of beautiful setups, my front door area got blasted by a creeper when I wasn't looking. Lost a chunk of land, had to salvage some of my flora (plus cactii guard), and kill some fauna killing my other flora (AKA, my stash) However, I did finally get around to moving on over to the Greater Mines project site, so I also have another spawn point made. I finished the dock and the long pathway to there as well.
I only have the frontside made, but I do have a somewhat working Im/Ex made for the docks, so if I need any material ASAP, I can always tinker around with this; and with the spawn points setup, it should make Im/Ex-ing much easier to pull off as well if/when needed.
I may have to re-think where I'm placing the Great Lighthouse however. I did alternatively add a compass station near my spawnpoint to serve as a way of pointing where my landmarks are from my home point. It seems to work well, though as it stands, it's not a complete compass.
Additional projects I have been thinking about is that I noticed a couple cliffs that overlook the river that I think I can make carvings on that are reasonably large enough. Of course, I'll need to observe them from the river to make sure they will work. Then I'd have to decide on what to carve, and them work on the monument. Another project idea I have in mind is constructing monuments that are optical illusions, whether visible from a certain vantage point (like the entrance/exit of a location, or from the compass) or from "God's perspective" IE-Cartograph-rendering.