Nah it’s not agitation, it’s just a broader topic than it can seem. As a sandbox it’s true that there are a few paths to any goal. I mention game balance because when done well you don’t end up with a single, game dominating meta to min/max and we don’t really have that here.
There’s a somewhat recent thread about leveling techniques with some comparisons and videos, IIRC (I didn’t review the whole thread today) and probably some links to other references. Some of them generate more coins than others and it’s important to take note of follow up processing. People often just fall back on mining for coins and processing rocks for extra XP because it’s easy to explain and “fuels both fires” so to speak.
But if I’m giving advice I always point out that you need to keep and process all of your materials. There’s huge markets (I mean relatively) for raw materials in this game, and some finished products, and over time you will not that there’s not a lot of in between market for semi-processed materials.
This is because there’s a great deal of experience involved in the processing of stuff. Enough that our markets show higher prices for raw materials than intermediate products in many cases, even ignoring the energy costs (spark, heat) used in the processing.
Just some more thoughts on the matter. Powerful tools for new players can help with retention for some, and drive others off. That’s another heavily discussed topic but I’ve run into my time limit again.
In any case, I’m not frustrated by what you said or asked it’s just that these aren’t a collection of things that are simple to address all at once.