Tier 4 Gem finding chances

[Blind_Antelope]

I have just reached tier 4 to find that all the gems I have collected for the previous tiers are now worthless to me for crafting at this tier. Wish I knew that before I spent all that time and AP to go digging for them.
Now I look around the tier 4 provinces and find that ALL the digging sites have only a RARE chance of finding anything.WTF? Is this the case for all professions in this tier? Now I have to spend ALL my AP for a day to find a couple of gems? or do i have to spend all my money on buying the raw gems so I can increase my CP to advance to the next tier?
This just does not seem right.
Can someone explain the developer's reasoning behind this to me please?

[snif]

you could have checked the ingredients of T4 recipes, before moving on...

[Crassus]

Gem crafting is the hardest of all! But also the most profitable of all! 2 pearls worth more than a diamond...
If you play it right you will not have any gold issue!

[Cuorion]

Discussions around the secondary professions tended to reach the level of epicness around here some time ago. Fact is though, the most usable a material is, the more easy it is to be found, and the cheaper it is. Crassus's example is proof enough.

[Blind_Antelope]

you could have checked the ingredients of T4 recipes, before moving on...

How would that have helped? Knowing the recipe ingredients doesn't tell me how hard the items are to procure. I have no problem with the gems all changing, just that I have to spend 24 AP to find 2 gems.

Gem crafting is the hardest of all! But also the most profitable of all! 2 pearls worth more than a diamond...
If you play it right you will not have any gold issue!

The prices of gems do not justify this need to use all my AP on finding them. The pearls are great, but there is NOWHERE to even mine them. Using 24 AP has found me 2 raw agate gems and given me a drop of 1 ruby, which I can't even use at this tier for a recipe.

I chose the jeweller/stonecutter at the beginning of the game with no prior knowledge of the game, only the 'How to Play' provided by the developers. I still cannot see the reasoning behind making this aspect of the game so very difficult. I enjoy the crafting aspect of the game and feel thwarted because I cannot even find enough to begin crafting.