Ok. There is a lot going on in this thread. I am going to attempt pull this all together with my opinions. Please forgive me if it meanders a bit.
We all agree this is a city-builder game. (Hooray for one thing we can all agree on!
) I think we can all agree that there are three core aspects to the city builder: Research, Building/Resource Management, and Exploration/Combat. The first two are not really in contention here. The Exploration/Combat part is what everyone is up in arms about.
Currently the research tree is about 28% combat oriented (56 of 202 technologies). These include barracks and armory upgrades, unit upgrades, and squad size upgrades. This makes combat an important aspect of the game. I like where the new combat system is going, but I think it has been implemented poorly. The change has be drastic and has negatively impacted most of the players. I believe that those before Age 4 have been hit the hardest as far as game play. I think that the complete combat system should have been released all at once instead of in stages. Since we only have a portion of the combat system that is negatively impacting the players, very few people can see that positives that could be coming our way. I am hopeful that when this is rolled out completely that the combat system will once again be fun and challenging. I am sure that it will need some tweaking though.
There were restraints built into the game that restricted exploration. There was the cost and time it took to scout. At one point as I was trying to get to an actively trading player, I actually could not scout because the cost was more than my main hall bank could hold. The fights got more challenging as you went farther out. The costs of negotiating went up. However the developers have decided that those restraints were not tight enough. Whatever the reason, I do not see it as the players exploited the game. I could be wrong, but there has to be more to than that. I know that the general consensus from the devs has been the players have gone too far. I have yet to see a good explanation as to what "gone too far" really means.
One thing that seems to be the core issue here is the ability to make choices. That is one of the things that is attractive to any game. Those choices seem to be dwindling with the last couple of updates (the orc negiation fee and the partial combat system upgrade). There are always choices in this game. Which building do I build and how many? What troops do I need? What is my next tech to research? Should I do this quest or that one or neither? Should I fight a combat or negotiate it? How far should I explore? Should I spend money on this game? I disagree that the players were irresponsible with the choices they made. Again the focus here is on exploration. There is always the desire in a game like this to build bigger and better. The structure of the game suggests exploring and expanding. The need for KP, for relics, for space to upgrade to larger buildings, and for provinces to get expansions are all part of the game. It was suggested that the players have ignored some aspects of the game to simply explore beyond what is necessary. In my experience with the game, I have balanced my research, building, resources, and exploration. I have kept them at the same pace based on the needs of my city. I simply need more space to finish upgrading some buildings and to possibly put in some of the wonders that I have researched. I have 294 provinces conquered and need another 200 to get the expansions that I need to fill out my city map. But that is my choice in how to play. I could simply buy diamonds and purchase the expansions, but I have chosen not to.
As far as the chests in the research tree go, my understanding is that these were put in to encourage people to explore. The reason was that the devs wanted to ensure that the players would have adequate space to better utilize the tournaments. If that is the case, then the chests are not a stopping point, but rather a checkpoint. You should have gotten this far by now to ensure you are keeping pace with the technologies that you are researching. Therefore exploring beyond the requirements of the chests should be expected.
Edit: I forgot one thing about the chests. They could actually be a negative to players that bought expansions. I may be presumptuous, but I would think that if you bought a lot of expansions, you probably did not do a lot of exploration. Now suddenly you would have had to do a bunch of exploring before you could continue to do research.
I hope this brings a new perspective to both sides of the argument. I am frustrated with the way the changes have been done. I am sad that so many people have chosen to leave. I am hopeful that this will continue to be an exciting game.