Reached a point where I don't know if I can keep playing TSO :(

[Xibor]

I'm going to sound redundant but pretty much every comment has been bang-on. You don't need to buy gems. They certainly help but not required. There are a lot of built-in rewards that will give you gems if you look/wait for them, and when you hit certain levels you get even more. The biggest thing is patience.

[Bluesavanah]

I'll agree with most others here you don't need to buy gems but I'll give fair warning the game is a terrible grind without them these days, most of the stuff lower players can make in abundance are pretty worthless and all the high-end stuff takes an age to accumulate through production or a fortune to buy with gold coins. That being said racing to 50 is fairly pointless, join a good guild and enjoy the company and companionship.

It used to be gear all your assets towards the Easter event for a free general or two but who knows if that will hold true next year, good luck in whatever you decide.

[Xibor]

racing to 50 is fairly pointless, join a good guild and enjoy the company and companionship.

Exactly.

[Lexidh]

Without gems there wouldn't be a game, they have to pay for everything some way. So chipping in for a game you spend so many hours playing by buying them once in a while isn't all that bad. Just think about how little you actually end up spending for all those hours of entertainment, even if you buy everything gems has to offer!

[Wanderer-nl]

Allright, thanks for all those replies. Yeah, I think I maybe got a little ahead of myself wanting to get a special gen this early?
Its just that when I get to the level that I could do adv like RB and the like, Ill be unable to efficiently do them like a lot of my guild mates... and all I hear is RB ls swap this and BK ls swap that, but I guess its going to take a very long time before I can participate in those, where really the best profit in the game is. But I guess thats just way in the future.

Anyways, again, thanks for the replies

Usually lootspots require to bring you a general with 1 recruit. Most players want a fast gen, but I don't always need that and would have patience for lower levels to bring a normal gen because they just haven't gotten as far yet. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one.
You could always ask in trade yourself, if someone knows in advance a slow gen will come, they can invite you a little earlier.

[Gamla]

RE = FISHSLICE

...a good guild....// ... many of the better guilds ....

Again you are 100% correct/perfect in your answer towards the nicely intersting question posted in this thread.
Just a small detail about guilds [cfr what does the guild stand for ] and finding the correct suitable guild ==> only luck and time can bring a settler into the correct guild. I do not know the number of guilds on this server, but sure I know that most of them only have 1 point of comfort which is the daily guild quest - all other issues are out of their comfort-zone. - A test of a guild cost about 01 week time +3days penalty included [cool-down time x2 ] indeed dear friendly settler it is a slow game.

[Wanderer-nl]

I bought gems maybe once or twice in the 3 years I play this game so far. It's a game I like and a sort of game I would buy if it was in a store. So didn't mind spending money on it to equal buying a game in a store. But I won't do it anymore. I specifically did it for the veteran but that was way back when there were no better gens available. If you don't mind spending a little money you could wait for a 2x offer and buy some gems.
Currently I'd advise you to take it easy. Plenty of events can reward gens (for event resources) and at some points you can buy major for beans, which you'll earn by doing FT's (and selling the ls for beans to go faster)
Also, choose mma over veteran. Major can carry 20 more units than vet but other than that they are completely the same. Mma is a better gen to buy.

And another thing You will always need LOTS of recruits so it wouldn't hurt to already make that production go as fast as you can. Then it doesn't matter you'll lose more because you don't have a fancy gen to use for blocks and you'll have more time saving up those gems. They come pretty fast. As you get to higher levels more gems will be rewarded for quests.

[TotoMok]

You will eventually reach the point where you won't care much for the Vet general and want the Major General (which is only obtainable without gems) or an MMA (which is available during the easter event for egg). (In reality, two of the best generals are available without gems!)

After playing here for several years I can say:
The use of gems is not for getting a competitive edge or game progress, but for minimizing time sink.

If you are willing to put in a lot of time for tedium (mines, fields, etc.) or just progress slower (spend more time building resources and swapping them for needed buildings rather than buying), then you negate the need for gems.

If on the other hand you want to avoid tedium or progress faster Gems can be helpful (endless copper mines, buying a lot of silos/watermills, etc.)

Now, obviously, BB would love you to buy gems. But the game is pretty well balanced that you don't need to

[Cully]

I've been playing since closed beta and never have used gems to progress. Just a lot of patience

[Sharahzade]

I normally don't write much, but just wanted to chime this in:
Today, I bought my 5th Gem Pit.

I am lv51 and the only gems I have obtained are from Weekly Login and Quest /Achievement Rewards.

It is possible to get up to 200k Gems without investing a single cent into this game. I will probably have my 10th Gem Pit by December - and then I'll be going for the yummy stuff.