I've read countless posts on this while trying to find ways to mitigate the large energy requirements for most side activities, I can understand the dev's point of view to some extent, with that said, a small suggestion that would help me for certain enjoy side activities a lot more and potentially others too, so they or I actually dare I say it 'fish, garden or pet train' for... "fun"
Planting a seed costs 2 energy... Why? Why not make it 1 energy.
A tiny difference, I don't believe it would 'bypass gameplay' as I've seen stated in regards to the cash shop potions being available for gold, just makes fishing, gardening etc something people can do for fun rather than for loot.
I only started playing with family a few months ago and was shocked when researching this to discover after adding a lot of new energy needs in the game the regeneration rate was actually increased from what used to be 5 minutes per point (unless this was an inaccurate post I read?)
Anyway, I don't know if this will be read by anyone in a position to comment on it or if this section of the board is more of a trash bin but I would hope this minor alteration to costs could be considered.