The latest update did not fix things for me. For what it's worth I have paid real money in this game.
If the development team will not play the game enough to learn what makes the game more (lately less) enjoyable then you can at least do enough testing to make sure you haven't broken something that has been a long established part of the game. Is that really asking too much?
I know you guys need to make a living. Why don't you work on ways to deliver value rather than use monetization (and gameplay) tactics that are only little better than extortion?
It's bad enough that the contests/war depot/epic tasks scan my storage and production queues for things I can't supply...now you're going to require more epic points? You give regional storage..but more commodities to store. A wash at best. More ways to earn regional currency, but demanding special items I cannot produce. My favorite moment was when war related tasks showed up in the contest of mayors on the weekend wars were down for an overhaul.
This game has always had a "grind" element to it.. If it doesn't get fun again soon I will be abandoning it next weekend.