Actually, the price question is a bit complicated.
Since paying items give huge advantages, the programmers have thought they would keep their price high so people wouldn't abuse.
I've even read people asking for more expensive political units for this same reason, for instance.
You can't deny this opinion makes sense.
Actually, maybe the key to both being more affordable and advantage paying players less, would be to make cheaper items, but with lower bonuses...
But then you'll have to admit it would be quite equivalent. :)
The problem is actually more about some rare people being so rich that those high prices aren't high for them, so they can have LOTS OF EXPENSIVE items, where ordinary people would rather have few expensive, or lots of cheap ones.
However, those people are so rare you can all name them... So yes, it can be a problem, especially if you unfortunately went at war with them... Otherwise, you shouldn't be botherd too much by normal people.
And in the very case you would be bullied by one of those rich coiners, then I hope you could ask Plarium, or at least one of us, to try and talk to them... Anyway, it's rare you get bullied without a reason, so sometimes it's better to admit defeat and not trying to get after them, so they leave you alone.
As I always explain to players we have to retaliate because they attack our pantheons, yes, our armies are bigger, because we're older on the game. It doesn't meean we love bullying people. It only means we have to discourage people from hassling our pantheons. We're not going on a personal war agaisnt them. If they leave us alone, we'll leave them alone.
I have to explain this, because lots of so-called bullied players have actually started hostilities and are even going at it again and again, and it's perfectly normal that their victims use the army they've gathered from their efforts, rather than doing nothing. Else what would even be the point of playing to get an army, if you can't use it ?