User blog:Mitteh71/Crystal Production

Like so many that are new to the game ask, I once wondered how to get crystals without paying for them. While yes, they are not necessary to play, it makes it much more fun when you can save up for something cool, like a premium dino habitat, that you want for your village. I play on iOS, so I don't know anything about the Get Free Crystal button/Tapjoy offers available to players on other devices. What I do know is that crystals are hard to get, and just 5 per week for completing the new theme challenge is just not enough! I wonder how it is that some folks with villages full of crystal items claim that they have never spent any money on their village- what is their secret?

I am a little ashamed to admit that yes, I have spent actual money on this game to purchase crystals, and regrettably, when they were not on sale. But do I regret it? No.

When I first played this game, there was no confirm button when using crystals to do anything- so when I was collected coins and not paying attention to what I was tapping, I was accidentally paying to hurry stupid things like resource production. That was so frustrating and made my not care about crystals of the game- I'm glad that got fixed.

The first crystal purchase I ever made was just 0.99, because there was a challenge to buy any crystal package. I don't even remember what the prize was, I just remember wanting to get it off my goal list so I could move on to something else (that was before the goal list scrolled so more than three could be going at a time).

I really didn't care about crystals that much- I bought things like the Friendly Forest, Tranquil Tundra,Wooden Bridge, and Giant Fly Trap. Tinyco promised that there would be updates and more ways to get crystals. And then the Crystal Bank came out. Of course I did not have 99 crystals (that seemed like a lot at the time), so I spent 9.99 to get enough crystals to buy one. I knew that I was going to have to get these crystal producers if I ever wanted a steady supply. So when the Crystal Tree came out, I decided that the 19.99 would be worth it and got one!

Now $31 is a ridiculous amount and looking back that was probably not a wise financial decision in the real world, but in my Tiny Village world, it did turn out to be a good investment, as I'm beginning to realize that we can all kiss the hope of more permanent crystal producers good-bye. So I saved my crystals, and bought more crystal banks during their other two releases. I was actually able to sell enough dinos during the extended Crystal for Dinos promotion to buy an additional bank, bringing my total up to 6. Now, I was bitter that during the Crystal Trio promotion cystals were on sale, so I could have bought a LOT more for that $31, but how was I supposed to know they would all get re-released on sale.

I do feel lucky to have had the opportuinity to purchase permanent crystal producers, though. It is not fair to new players that permanent (and cheap) ones like the crystal bank and tree are not even offered anymore. I absolutely refuse to spend my crystals on any temporary producers- I feel that players should boycott them so the permanent ones have to come back. I don't know about you, but I don't always have time to collect things from my village 3 times a day every day- I do have a real life. Therefore, purchasing a temporary producer that barely breaks even only when you collect crystals excatly every 9 hours is a total waste. I was super excited about the Crystal Mansion- only to find out that it too produces crystals only temporarily. So disappointing. I am very disappointed to think that the bank, tree, and original crystal store will never make an appearance again. The only hope for another permanent crystal producer is to build the Great Pyramid at level 45. I have been playing for 9 months and I am just getting to level 40, and 45 is still a long way off for even me.

I hope I am wrong. I hope that there will be new permanent crystal producers in the future, or that the bank, tree, or store will make a welcome return. Until then, I will wait patiently alongside the other frustrated and crystal-deprived villagers, of which there are far too many.