I want to think that EA always has at least a little focus on strengthening neighbor interaction during events. So maybe the defense payout reduction was in response to the higher then expected average gold levels during the first week. Not sure if they had realized the cause (glitch) yet and considering the length wanted to slow earnings down. The glitch and their reaction ruined the neighbor interaction component but I think it was originally intended to be there,
I think another intention was to make this event a super grind. Something just to spark interest and give players something to do until the end. The overall content is pretty light and no real thought put into what happens after the prizes are won. They expected it to be much harder and when it wasn't tried to ad hoc a solution on the fly.
This event was definitely not setup to sell donuts.
