They obviously make the game for those who spend the most. But even for bigger players it is hard to keep up with the top. My guess is they are aiming for a meta-game, but in that case they should also provide room for growth, a competition that is motivating for smaller players

Blackadder is only reittering what many have said before, and more recently about the latest update.

I would say Baby - dragon has it slightly wrong, and would suggest it's the other way round the game is constantly redesigned to encourage  the extremely addicted big spenders to spend even more.

If the motivation is only fighting there is no need for other updates, as updates do not effect this motivation.

My main town is around 90 billion influence and the clan I play in is currently under 500 billion influence.  I come to the site to play the game not to shop so I doubt that my town will ever reach a trillion influence let alone the fifty or a hundred trillion of the high spending shoppers.  But I find enough enjoyment to have kept me playing for a number of years.  Indeed I remember fondly my early weeks and months in the game and probably enjoyed the game most during that time when one million influence was a far off goal and instead of one hitting Ubers, level 1 invaders had to be carefully worn down with numerous hits.

It is true that upgrades are mainly concerned to expand the horizons of those who come to the site to shop.  But that only blights enjoyment of the game as played by smaller influence players and clans if a player indulges jealousy of more powerful towns and armies and stops focussing on the activities within the game which are open to them.  I don't visit Jotunheim but that does not make me enjoy a good CvC tussle any the less.  And there is pleasure to be had in making the advances that are possible.  In my own case we recently managed to get our SH built up to level four and the Tower of Odin built.  It will be quite some time before we can effectively fight Jotunn troops but it is fun making advances towards that end.

So I suggest you ignore the updates aimed at the shoppers, don't regard yourself as in competition with them and enjoy whatever the fun things are which keep you playing the game.

It's easy to say we're not in competition with them when they are playing in the same space. Have you tried farming ubers for mats? 20% (if you're lucky) into the 1st one someone will appear and in 5 minutes they've all been one hit and you're back to waiting again.

Try holding a seige in your SH and some passing L40 decides it's funny to wipe all the troops out.

For me the realms need a ranking system like the leagues where players and clans are separated by influence and everyone can still enjoy the game. I understand the sentiment of your reply but this boils down to hitting more and more invaders & ghosts for less rewards.

The fact that they are creating updates directed to those that are heavy spenders and more dedicated to the game affects  players who are more casual or those who have recently begun.

It was always the case, but it is more acute now than it ever was,and only gets worse as the tunnel grows longer and the light at the end of it grows dimmer.

Your idea of leagues within leagues within kingdoms isn't going to help,as everything  would still be open to all classes, neither is less well developed players to also one hit, even if they could afford it, there is always someone who can get there faster.

I can't see the game undoing what it's created to suit themselves, which is the instant quick fix  for players and more profitable for them.

You have to find your niche and do that and score that the big guys might not like to do, e.g. farming. Many large cities also like to have the small ones farmed in Uber-spots because they can then be renewed more quickly. My slogan: No famers - no ubers. In addition, the requirements for large cities are much more demanding in order to achieve points. So think about the speed at which you want to grow yourself in order to still have fun.