[wenchhhie]

First, let me say I love this game and I'm always one of the first in line to purchase all the new tools, buildings and upgrades. I'm a crow, I like shiny things, I can't help it LOL

I have to say though that I'm not really loving the most recent upgrade and even more reluctant to rush out and purchase all the FC items. It got me to thinking about what does it cost to play this game really? If I wanted everything, which of course I do LOL So, please allow me to show folks a bit of math, in a minute.

We can see, very quickly that unless you have been playing this game since the beginning it also quickly becomes cost prohibitive. Of course, one could argue, that you don't have to have all the bells and whistles to play the game, and you'd be exactly right. The trade off is a less than satisfying gaming experience.

Today was the first time that I had to pause and really calculate the cost of various upgrades and bigger tools and buildings.

As far as buildings go, I have purchased and will continue to purchase them all . I have the farm cash to do it and it's something that's an investment and not going to cost me more FC over and over.

Land upgrades, I have purchased them all, mostly with FC and will continue to do so. Again, for me, it's an investment and something worth spending FC on. What woman doesn't want more space huh?

Tools are where I hit a brick wall now. For me, this is where the well runs dry. I'm perfectly happy with my 6x6 tools. They work good. Anything bigger is not really going to be much of a value add. The idea of larger tools assumes that every farm is seeded entirely from side to side and top to bottom. Realistically, with all of the creative farm designs now, it's become less frequent that I see this sort of farm. Therefore, 8x8 tools hold little appeal for me.

But, here's my point and what I wanted to know, was, how much have I spent so far for everything.

Harvesters
4x4 Harvester $45
5x5 Harvester $30
6x6 Harvester $20
8x8 Harvester $30
Total FC spent on harvesters: $125

Seeders
4x4 Seeder $45
5x5 Seeder $30
6x6 Seeder $20
8x8 Seeder $30
Total FC spent on seeders: $125

Plowers
4x4 Plower $45
5x5 Plower $30
6x6 Plower $20
8x8 Plower $30
Total FC spend on plowers: $125

Combine Harvest-Plow
5x5 Combine $35
6x6 Combine $45
8x8 Combine $40
Total FC spent: $120

Combine Harvest-Plant
5x5 Combine $45
6x6 Combine $45
8x8 Combine $50
Total FC spent: $140

Bulldozer
4x4 Bulldozer $15
5x5 Bulldozer $10
Total FC spent on bulldozers: $25

Mobile Sprinkler
Flowers only $45
Crops & double growing speed $50
Trees & double growing speed $45
Plants & double growing speed $50
Total FC spent on sprinklers: $145

Log Truck with Chainsaw
8 x 4 chainsaw $40
8 x 8 chainsaw $40
Total FC spent on chainsaws: $80

Aggregate cost of Harvest/Plow/Sow: $625

Flower Harvester
8x4 Harvester $40
8x8 Harvester $30
Total FC spent: $90

Manure Spreaders
Fertilize crops only $50
Fertilize all $40
Total FC spent: $90

Tree Shakers
8 x 4 shaker $45
8x8 shaker $30
Total FC spent: $75

Fishing Boats
3x3 boat $35
5x5 boat $25
Turbo boat $50
Total FC spent: $110

Upgrade: 26 x 26
10,000,000,000 coins or $30 FC
10 billion coins x 16 = 160 billion
$30 FC x 16 = $480 FC

Upgrade: 28x28
5,000,000,000 coins or $25 FC
5 billion coins x 16 = 80 billion coins
$25 FC x 16 = $400

Upgrade: 30x30
4,000,000,000 coins or $30 FC
4 billion coins x 16 = 64 billion coins
$30 FC x 16 = $480 FC

Upgrade: 32x32
4,000,000,000 coins or $30 FC
4 billion coins x 16 = 64 billion coins
$30 FC x 16 = $480

Aggregate cost to upgrade all farms:
368 billion coins or $1,840 FC

Let's look at the cost of remaining tools that I haven't identified previously. Without listing them individually, the total FC cost for remaining FC tools is $697

Now let's look at buildings (factories/service facilities). The total FC for all would be: $2,503. It's worth noting that many people, including myself, purchase more than one of many items.

At the end of the day, my total FC investment has been in excess of $8,160 FC.

Now, don't get me wrong. I have happily invested and reinvested FC. Bigger tools no longer add to my gaming experience and I choose to not invest in them at this time.

However, since finding reliable workers who will finish the work compared against the time I spend checking to see what's done and what's not, trying to hire people from the market, only to have them stolen by other market slugs, I would happily spend, and spend a lot to have a quick and easy means of performing the work myself via tools that will in a single click peform any of the following tasks:

Don't make me buy cheap tools and upgrade upgrade upgrade. That only makes me cranky. Let me bypass all that and just pay $120 or whatever it would cost. I'd be willing to bet that this is something that many would happily invest in as well.

Single click harvest/plow/sow
Single click harvest all trees
Single click chop all trees
Single click harvest all flowers
Single click load all factories
Single click load all service facilities
Single click load all other

I would give my kingdom for even some of these things!

Also, can you please make it easier to sell stuff at the market. I often have an inventory excess of items that are used in factories and service facilities. I'd really like to have an easier way to liquidate portions of these items. A pick list would be useful. I nice pop up check box approach instead of scrolling and scrolling and scrolling and scrolling to find everything I want to sell.

After all is said and done, I am a happy player. I will continue to play. For me it's a game. For SK it's a business. I get that and don't begrudge it at all. I will simply be more discriminating with my investments. Like anything, the value of an item is worth only as much as the market will bare.