Crate or Church/Zeus is there a guide that discusses this

[iteachem]

So was looking around for a discussion about crates versus saving for a church or buying a zeus. I just hit 144 gold via tapjoy and was wondering the pros and cons..If someone could point me to an existing thread, I would appreciate it..

[mnju_03]

I did buildings first... I prefer my own economy over battles. Battles are my 2nd priority.

[Aid]

I bought both the church and Zues, wish I had not. If you can hold out until pirate taverns or gentleman's club, otherwise buy the crates. Now I love the Dominican restaurant....space saver and pays out well at higher levels

[mnju_03]

I'm curious though...Why not all? Just in whatever order you prefer?

[Aid]

I don't think the return is that great, for example the Zues pays out around 18k on level 2, but if I remember it was around 800k to upgrade from level 1. It has been a while since I looked at the ROI sheet, but I think these fell rather low. The church was 200 gold, but I think the gentleman's club is 225..the payout though is a lot different. The church at level one around 50k and gentleman's club is around 360k. For gold I think the higher level gold buildings are the way to go.

[Dravak]

It is what you are doing actively the most , since farming has been down the drain ... Just spent 2.5 million on unlocking chemical plant police car 1000 energy and 0 double deckers , so I am putting the money back into upgrades.

For one day I might have 84 million to buy that stupid jet times 500 :( .
3 crates is around 100-200 upgrades on attack/defense in average , so if you are not heavily into PvP .
The gold buildings are a beter catch in CC .

[Aid]

I don't know how to post a link, but this is from tramp

Those of you looking into buying gold and parlaying that into optimum-paying buildings, here is a metric for you. First I derived level 10 payouts of gold buildings with available data. Then I divided the payouts by collection times to get $/hr. Then I divided that figure by gold paid to get a kind of "return on investment" figure, represented as $/hr per gold spent. Sorting the list, we get:

Pirate Tavern, $3409.09
Gentlemen's Club, $3000.00
Palm Hotel, $1937.50
Rock Cafe, $1571.43
Wedding Chapel, $1173.33
Adult Movie Theater, $807.69
Smoke Shop, $550.00
Church, $300.00
Ice Cream Shop, $296.88
Zeus Theater, $250.00
Chicken & Waffles, $194.44
Basketball Court, $187.50
Gaming Parlor, $186.67
Anchor Imports, $133.33
Carousel, $132.00
Sushi Bar, $83.33
Blues Club, $70.00
Empire Theater, $45.00
Moden Art Museum, $28.13
Jazz Club, $12.50
Mansion, $10.63
Cowboy Casino, $10.31
Techno Club, $7.81

IMO everything below Anchor Imports is a swindle and even Anchor is questionable. Personally I wouldn't go beyond the first four. EDIT: exception being possibly buying two Basketball Courts with the initial 10 gold. EDIT2: this list was updated. "First four" previously referred to Adult Movie Theater, Smoke Shop, Church, and Ice Cream Shop.

[i need muney]

G-club, Rock Cafe or three crates.

[iteachem]

Thanks for all of the followup.

[Rhino72]

If you are only going to be very limited in your gold use then you should only get buildings. 3 crates will mean nothing as you get to the higher levels. The rock cafes, pirate taverns or gent clubs will pay lasting dividends for the rest of the game.

[Rhino72]

Sorry to make it even more clear for you iteachem, do not waste your Gold on the church or Zeus if your gold is very limited. Save it for the later levels and decide which of the three mentioned works best for you. Take a look at the money building spreadsheet in the best of the best guides and that will help you plan your gold spending nice you reach the necessary levels.