This is insane. I always found the joy of grepo being the fact it was free and never having to resort to gold use, instead I live on my wits and intellect. Many others like me feel the same way. Caving in and buying 30,000 gold coins is lazy, defeatist and creates an unfair advantage against those who prefer to live by wits alone. Gold use is something that is accepted. This just means that someone with super deep pockets doesn't have to farm, or do 5 minute demands or live on their toes as after each attack, voila - free troops. This is one step away from simply using a credit or debit card to buy whole city slots. Hey, why not do that. If you have X number of cities and want another 10 slots but can't be bothered to play properly then why not buy them. In fact, why not buy the first 10 slots as soon as the world opens so after the first week it becomes a race to see who can get to 100 cities within the first month.
Alternatively, just have everyone in an alliance chip in and the crown can be bought instead of legitimately won.