I like the prizes that are good. I don't like it when the claw comes up empty handed or gives out coins / productions. I'm burning tons of goods and troops. By level 3 I'm burning 5 goods per negotiator...and up to 7 from what I've seen in level 4. That's 35 goods per try and with at minimum 4 tries, that's 140 goods per encounter. Even more if you need more turns and don't want to pony up 10 diamonds for yet another 35 good turn. Then multiply that by 12 encounters per level. That a lot of goods or troops to burn up for a chance at prizes like houses & decorations...
GE has always been a good way to gauge your level of progress. If you can't finish GE level 4, then you aren't ready to level up yet. Some say you should be able to do it 100% fighting. I'm more lax on myself. I almost always negotiate GE4, even when I can fight. I like the harder negotiations, actually more fun (for me) than fighting it. But if that leaves me sweating over goods, then not time to age up for sure.
And if you are not earning more diamonds than you are spending on GE, you're doing it wrong. GE is a diamond mine.
I think in the end I would like the coins and productions to be replaced by a chance at expansion, medals or even next era goods that would be great for getting ready to level up.
The value of things changes as you progress in this game. You are viewing the world through the lens of HMA.
When I do GE, I usually have the gather coins or gather supplies RQ running. So not a complete waste if I hit the quest.
Coins, I can always buy FPs with them.
Coins + Supplies, I can do UBQs with.
Expansions? Huh! Never ever will Inno give those away. Everyone wants more. I doubt Inno will ever make them easier to get. Never in GE.
Medals? You think I want more medals? I know you want more medals, but I have 15M of them and not much to do with them. And I'm newbie'ish. Coins or supplies are more valuable to me than medals. Houses and decos are more valuable to me than medals. At least I can sell those in the AD.