Don't buy the Starter edition. The
Standard edition starts you off with a decent selection of operators (20 total, known as the Base Ops), enough to be competitive with and not necessarily disadvantaged.
Unlocking an additional operator requires 25,000 Renown, the in-game currency, which you earn as result of playing matches, going through the tutorials, Terrorist Hunt, and by doing daily/weekly challenges.
It takes a while to accrue that much Renown though, let's just say approx. 25-30 hours depending on how efficient you are with the grind.
Paying for and utilizing Boosters is one way to cut down on this time as they provide you double the amount of Renown earned, but their effects only last a limited time.
In the shop you can currently buy 1, 3, 7, 30, or 90 day Boosters.
You say you don't give a shit about ever unlocking characters, but I think if you come to really like the game and invest enough time in it, you're likely going to want some of them.
You don't need them, of course, but you might think some of them are cool after seeing them in action. They all have abilities unique to them and, for some, exclusive guns as well.
I bought the Standard edition for $15 (lowest price I can find right now is $30), played for around 50 hours and started to feel this way.
So I spent $35 on R6 credits to purchase the Y1 & Y2 Operator Bundles (8 operators in each bundle, 16 altogether).
There's currently four Year 3 Operators available that I plan to get through Renown.
I don't care about skins or outfits, I'll never pay for these, and you do get random drops, Alpha Packs, just from playing the game.
Each pack provides a free skin.
My rec is to buy the Standard edition for the 20 Base Ops, and then unlock operators that interest you with Renown.
Flowchart for choosing which operator to buy next
