Sorry if this one has been asked before. I was thinking of getting into this game, but dislike the idea of random cards per pack (like those infamous magic booster packs), but in this game the description makes it sound like there all cards of a set are in one pack?
Thx
How Fantasy Flight Describes It.
In short--there are no random cards. This is true for ALL of Fantasy Flight's Living Card Games--you can see the "LCG" logo on the box. FFG does not produce Collectible (randomized booster) Card Games at this time.
If you want to have everything read this thread. It will tell you that you have to buy 2 copies of the Core Set to have full sets of everything, but after that the individual Force Packs have full sets of everything, so you do not need to buy multiples. You do have to buy 2 copies of the Edge of Darkness expansion as well, if you want a full set of that.
Essentially the full price to have EVERYTHING right now is $230. Which is pretty cheap compared to Magic. You certainly, certainly do not need to buy all of it right now, though. Buy a core set. If you like it, buy another one and build some decks. Buy 2 copies of Edge of Darkness. Then start buying Force Packs.
But there is NO randomness. Hope you try the game out--it's great! Welcome. 
Thx
Yep, he is correct. If you don't mind buying recycled cards, then you can probably find a collection cheaper than that on eBay.
If you are buying new, then you definitely want to get a core to start. There are competitive decks with just a pair of core sets, and even more with a pair of core and a pair of edge of darkness.
I will say though, I really enjoy this game and think that $230 for all the cards is a real steal.
It's actually $190 to get everything right now if you do the entire buy two core sets type thing. What I did was buy one of everything to get my collection up and it's been going against two of everything so far, which has been close. Deck building skills are heavy in this game to know what you want, but when Balance of the Force (only need one) comes out, it jumps up to $220. That's the competitive way.
If your going casual right now and want everything, then that would be one core set and one of everything else which comes to $140, or $170 when Balance of the Force comes out. That's the casual way. That's what I've been doing since July and it's been fun. Now I'm ready for competitive play but my play group isn't big enough for it sadly, which, is why I'm just going to get another core set this month with the new expansion pack.
That's two ways you can go, and as long as your playing for fun, both ways are awesome. Give the game a try and if you get into it, then choose which way you would like to go. For me, casual was fun because I play Magic: The Gathering and Weiss Schwarz tournaments ,so I wanted to do some casual stuff for a few months. I know my entire playgroup went competitive right away and I'm the only casual guy there as of right now. Lol. Hope this helps. =)
Edited: I play a game call Weiss Schwarz and for one deck, just one deck, I dropped $300-400 on booster boxes and working on a second deck from Madoka Magica. Truly less expensive here than Weiss Schwarz; just you are picking a good LCG to begin with. It also helps if your a Star Wars fan and know the lore as well. =)