So it seems not to be necessary, but in the midst of this conversation, I thought my take/experience might have some mild relevance...
Back 2+ years ago in the days of PC videos for 5/7/9 credits for 15 seconds, I was regularly picking up 450 credits in a day. I was also in a job which at times allowed me to play... a lot. Like I would buy a sleeve of 450 credit balls, then play that entire sleeve in a work day. I was also a Master/Tour Master and could reasonably expect to finish top 4 in 75% or so of tiered brackets. Credits were never an issue, even if I was continuously below 1000, since I always had the ability to snag more.
Then the video well dried up. I did more surveys, but those can be finicky and 5 credits for 15 minutes of clicking and failing to qualify is infuriating. Then I was job hunting and other life additions came into play. A new job with restricted internet access means I can't get credits during the day. Spending time with family means I am not devoting time to surveys at all. My phone is not up to snuff to stream 2 credit videos, so my total credit earning is restricted to the 30-45 minutes I am awake after everyone else is asleep.
So now I am in that place where I can either play the game or go after credits. And while it's just a silly game we all play, we do play to get better and be better, that is the point of the real game after all.