[Micah]

They're really NOT optional in big games, is the thing. I had over 100 gems/turn coming in from items in a game as shinuyama by turn 75. Given how important astral magic is in the late-game I can't see how a non-clamming nation would be able to keep up, since all they'd have is a pile of water gems. IIRC I was getting around 40-50 gems of each type that far into the game (with maybe 100 provinces or so) so the clams represented a large amount of extra gems every turn.

Edit: I don't see how clamming is particularly mm-intensive though...every 5-10 turns if your water income is growing you build a few items or summon up a clammer. Other than that just group them up push F and then click misc item/clam, then right click a researcher somewhere and plop a clam on him. Hit "Pool gems" each turn. Done...maybe a minute of work/turn. I'd save a massively larger amount of time on my turns if orders weren't reset on commanders by removing items that don't impact the order, or if there was a way to retarget a ritual without having to go back through the different menus.