Short version:
Many, MANY 1-shot particle instances VS continuous spray instances pinned to objects
Sorry if this is a silly question, but I've been getting concerned about numbers recently:
Wanted to make a dynamic particle trail, so I did this: Object has "speed" variable, particle object is created every X seconds on it based on its speed. I didn't go with the "pin continuous spray particle to object" route because it seemed more complicated than just creating them individually, thinking "well, they are just particle objects, who cares if 1000 are on the screen at the same time".
In my understanding, a particle object only uses one vertex performance wise, so does this make a difference?