Hi everyone! My name is Joanna - new player - and I have a few questions. I've been playing constantly because I quickly got obsessed with this game lol, so even though I'm a new player I think I'm pretty far with my characters (well, at least the ones I have). After reading some comments on here I bought the $4 Pluto and spent gems on his house also. I see you can buy Frozone for $4 also. A lot of you say how cheap he is so you HAVE to buy him, but I'm assuming you mean with gems. Right now I have 134 gems and getting earning enough to buy him seems impossible, not cheap at all! Is it just because you guys have all been playing so long? What are some good ways to get gems?
Do you guys have Rex or other gem purchasable characters and attractions?
Thanks!!
Frozone IN the $4 ($3.99 USD) deal, is what most players are referring to when they mean he's cheap. Otherwise, the gem cost for him solo is in the 3rd or 4th most expensive package when just purchasing gems, and if you read around here or on the game wikia page, you'll see that gems aren't that easy to come by in normal game play. So when Disney offers packages for "premium" characters (Pluto, Rex, Maximus, and now Frozone), most folks jump on the opportunity for cost (and time!) savings.
Gems are the premium currency for the app, so like other games with premium currencies in their game economy, basic gameplay isn't focused solely on the premium currency, but enhanced when it is used. When rewards are given out of this premium currency in gameplay (in this case, gems), they are SMALL tokens here and there to encourage the user to purchase more premium currency to complete their transactions.
I have all the characters so far in my game that I can purchase (Pluto, Rex, Boo, Maximus, and Frozone), as I'm not far enough to have gotten to Merryweather's game play. I bought gems to acquire Boo without a deal (since one wasn't offered to me), but bought Pluto, Rex, Maximus, and Frozone with their respective offered gameplay packages. I'm sure Gameloft has analyzed the spikes in in-app purchases when packages have been offered, and probably saw a significant rise in gem purchases during the Mother's Day Sale that was offered back in May.
I've earned many of my free gems from placing in the top 25 to top 50 of the various game "collection" competitions, but have also wasted the gems because of screen mashing and accidental spending (which they have now thankfully done away with!).
The thing is, I have friends who are playing the app, and some have progressed at a reasonable pace in gameplay, but haven't spent a dime on gems or premium characters. It all depends on whether or not you want to be a completionist (like me!) or just have fun with the regular game play!