I sent SAVE files to Monika who will give them to the Tech people.  I should have an answer by the end of this week.

The auction bugs the heck out of me too.  First because it's cumbersome (IMO).  2nd because there seems to be someone who basically just stays in the auction outbidding people.  Some of the prices are ridiculous!  Some items that are bronze and common as dirt (at least in my collections) are being priced at 300 or more!

I won't pay real money to advance either.  I have paid coins to upgrade and even gave some to the orphans!

I'm still not sure how those special items work.  The ones that decrease your energy needs in scenes by a % and give you more gold by a %.  I can never stay in the game for 30 minutes.  It's more like 5 or 10 right now.

I hope I don't have to restart the game but if I do it should go pretty quickly.

I'm in no hurry, Wendy.  Holding on to those cystals and will only part with them to get stuff that can't be bought using coins.  Holding on to my special items.  Holding on to my food.

lilyr - you need to save up food items so that you have access to plenty of enegy when you use on of the special item that increases coins, experience, lessens amount of energy needed (and, alas, if the game works liek ART, you can ny use one item per 30 minutes)

I wish all the bronze items were common as dirt.  I still need 1 more jewel egg and 1 more songbird egg to give Chumblepots.  I only have 4 quests open, and 2 of them are the quests for the relics and you just have to wait for somebody to tell you where to search.  (People who click through the "boring" dialogue beware.)  All I can do is try to get those 2 eggs and get my hands on enough blueprints to play the third mini-game and hope those actions open up another quest or two.

Tirama, you only have 4 quests open?  I have so many quests all going at once.  I have so many spare eggs.  I like the collections that reward you with experience points...one of them gives you 1500 stars and I have lots of extras for that one which I can exchange for it, when I need to level up.  

My mistake, I read wrongly, you are right, the biggest amount is 1100 stars.  
I once exchanged for 500 stars and leveled up immediately without noticing that I could have played 1 more area first...such a waste.  Now I'm more careful.

barregar wrote:

My mistake, I read wrongly, you are right, the biggest amount is 1100 stars.  
I once exchanged for 500 stars and leveled up immediately without noticing that I could have played 1 more area first...such a waste.  Now I'm more careful.

That's a relief.  I thought something was the matter with my game and I'd have to start over again.  I'm going to let my energy build up and hopefully tomorrow I can play several HO's and get rewarded wth something I need.