@Safely_Sane I get where you’re coming from, but we have to look at this from the perspective of newer players (or those grinding for a year or less) who simply cannot afford to buy Gems.
For players with smaller cities, the math just doesn’t work out. When you rely on Treasure Boxes, you might get 10, 100, or maybe 250 Gems twice a day if you’re lucky. If you use those scarce Gems to toss Charms, you halt your own progress. Think about the ROI: To help someone get 100M coins (which isn’t much for Crown levels), you’d need to toss 25 Unicorns. A single Unicorn costs the tosser 950 Gems but only pays out ~4M Coins to the receiver. The benefit just isn’t there.
It’s far better to put those 950 Gems into a City Building. That building will pay out Coins, Charms, and Gems for the life of the account. It’s the difference between giving a man a fish (he eats it and ends up in the same spot) and giving him a fishing pole (he can go on indefinitely).
Asking everyone to toss is a tall order unless they can afford to spend $500 every other week. In my 4+ years here, I’ve sadly seen people blow their entire savings or Social Security checks just to keep up with Gem spending. Please remember, what we say here can affect others and might pressure them to spend money they cannot afford. Sometimes it literally comes down to choosing between putting food on the table and buying gems. For many especially retirees this site became a lifeline during COVID and remains their main social outlet. Demonizing them for not spending money they don’t have doesn’t help anyone.
I’ve tracked this with my own accounts. From what I can tell, a new account takes about 2 years to reach 450B (VIP for Life) - but only if you literally do not toss , reinvest all your gems into your city, and micromanage your treasure box 12+ hours a day. The game is a grind until you max out your city (23+ Level 4 monuments). Once you max out, the treasure box starts dropping 1,000 to 10,000 Gems . That is when the true potential unlocks.
For example, I have a 1.5-year-old helper account. It has rarely tossed a charm and is still only at 677B with 11 Level 4 monuments. Those 11 buildings cost 80k Gems each (880,000 Gems total). If I had tossed those gems at parties instead of building up my city , that account would be nowhere near that level today. The math is clear: until your city is maxed, tossing is a luxury most players simply can’t afford.
Regarding busting parties, while smaller parties are easy to bust (see Party Bust Tiers Explained & Dragonet Guide), the higher tiers are expensive. A Tier 7 Party Bust requires 105,000 Gems to complete. That averages out to 4,200 Gems per person ! That is a huge ask. In reality, usually 5 to 10 players contribute 75% of the bust while the rest simply cannot afford it.
Ultimately, players should look for parties that match their budget. If you love to toss, look for ‘Blitz’ or ‘Party Buster’ parties where tossing is required (check the party details). But be careful: I know many players who have treated tossing as mandatory since day one, yet after 4 years of playing, they still haven’t reached Crown Level 1 because they gave away all their growth. Many actually gave up due to the lack of progress. On the other hand, by saving and building, I have surpassed Crown Level 150 by more than double during that same 4 years.
Now, because I saved, I can afford to toss and bust smaller parties, bust Tier 7s parties occasionally, and maintain a healthy gem balance. I can participate in Yeti and Dragonet hunts and build every single chromatic monument. None of this would be possible if I hadn’t prioritized building over tossing for the last 4 years.
In short, expecting players to toss before they are ready is essentially expecting them to sacrifice their own progress.