the gem prices seem way too high for any amount of gameplay. An average of 250 red gems for a x1.75 upgrade? that's more than 10 days of waiting with default gem speeds, and with +1% for each achievement it really doesn't speed up.
there's some cheaper ones at around 120, but that's still 5 whole days with no active way to speed up or strategize around it for an "alright" upgrade
sidenote, I love the School mechanic but grinding it feels very stressful. I feel like a way to extend the time limit would benefit it a lot - unless it already exists and I'm just way too early in the game to have found it. Got maths in D+ and literature in B-- through the art of "doing the bare minimum and scraping by" (meaning getting at least 7 points and climbing up with 15%~ grade increases). I feel like I can't do maths fast and accurately enough in just 30 seconds, and literature is kind of a coin toss with what kind of "words" you need to type (ironically, the worst things are the uppercase letters. Numbers and symbols are a blessing)
it might seem like I'm being very negative about this game, but these are just two things that kind of annoyed me out of like 6 different mechanics. This game is a gem, and I just hope this feedback can make it more enjoyable
Hi, like I stated in another response, the school feature is already on the to-do-list to receive big changes in the next update. Reducing grind aspects and time pressure is a big focus there, as well as some changes to literature.
About gems, they were always intended to be a slow side feature, since the game is intended to be played over a long time. I get that it can be frustrating for new players to see all these upgrades locked behind a big timegate, especially when you don't have a +250% achievement boost. But I'd like to wait a bit more until players are able to afford a few big upgrades and start planning around which upgrade to buy next
I've found literature to be a lot easier too, and I don't think reducing the dust reward last patch was a good decision. If anything, that change makes it even more grindy since you need to do it 3x - 4x more for the same reward earlygame, and by the time it's at 100% efficiency you probably won't really need it.
Edit: The rework made it better, though I suck at math even more lol
