Pretty much sums it up for me as well. Where things went off the rails is when squeezing every penny out of the top spenders became a priority instead of a focus on the overall design of the game. Too many features that older players spent time building or buying became obsolete without warning such as defense buildings and also attack and defense skill points. Valor units don't seem to be useful either, mainly though there is a serious lack of design in the game currently making it tedious and boring.
It still however tries to play on your ego, when I first started playing I'd log in every morning and get pissed off because I got raided so I would resolve to get stronger, now I realize this is pointless due to the total lack of strategy required to play and just leave my bases raided. But the only hook the game uses now is a feeble attempt at ego stroking which got boring fast.