I realize you're not disagreeing with me. I understand its all about money. But back to building wonders. Think about it as comparing checkers to chess. Chess is strategic at an entirely different level than checkers. Its why the more cerebral types play chess. And that's how I see the big picture of Grepolis.
If all you can do is sim, but not also have a strategy for your alliance to grow, conquer and expand in preparation for wonders, then you're not a complete player. And if all you can do is attack and blow people up, but you can't prepare a good strategy for building wonders at the end, then you're also not a complete player.
The game has obviously morphed into something completely different than it was back in the early days. Heck, its a lot different than the first worlds I played in. Heroes, harpy nukes everywhere, instant slinger nukes, spells that can take out troops in a city as well as buildings. Spells that can instantly fill a city with troops to snipe a CS. That's not the game I started playing 3 years ago.
So maybe, they need to create more TYPES of worlds, AND more importantly, be more specific about what type of world it is, so that a first time player would better understand the different settings and could choose one that fits his lifestyle.
You already have a world with no conquest (Hyperborea) and worlds with and without morale, but what about a world with no heroes, or a world with no Wonders? Maybe a world with no events. A player could select the options he was looking for, and get placed in a proper world, instead of where he doesn't fit. Think about the poor noob that gets stuck in a speed 4 world, not realizing exactly what's happening.