I was in the same boat not too long ago. WOW did things change! The amount of food you need to get a dragon to level 10 still blows my mind. It takes more food for one feeding of a level 10 Fire Dragon now than it used to to feed the Fire Dragon from baby to level 10!!! I really do not know how beginners are doing it. I came back when my youngest daughter started to play, she has since given it up, and I have tried to keep her game going (it is nice to have a dedicated gold contribution) but I cannot seem to get anywhere. I will say that my game is better now and I really like Global Events and the Battle Arena is challenging. These two items were new to me. Oh yeah, the mine is AWESOME!! So hang in there, it does get better and when you have enough money, the 5 hour $75,000 super crop goes a long way to that feeding problem. I still have not worked too much on the neighbour list, but I really do need to. BTW, did any of your dragons go missing? I know of at least 10 of mine that are no longer on my islands.