Mr T, shrug
when i first learned how to play internet games of this type, i spent the first round i played, cussing at the computer. i payed a PK mud for 7 months, cussing out my slow computer at least once a session. but i hung in their, because i knew that essentially, every one plays by the game rules, and i'm either being beatn out of skill, or that i fail to grasp the concept... i did "get it," and eventually had my time on top.
i'm with you, kinda, their is way to much sympathy for defeated players. to the point that "winning," keeps becoming more and more difficult. its really not as bleak as all that, but it does get discouraging.
your kind of thinking, is what attracted people early on. and it created a turmoil time of war lords preying on new players, before they even had a chance to figure out the war engine... let along build up enough. it was a daily blood bath.
secured mains did allot to slow that down. but a backlash occurred. with rule after rule, and tweak after tweak to disable hyper-activity. to the point that their ceased to be competition, and the few left with any war skill banded together, and well, we got war levels.
the game is recovering, from both what we as players, and the GM did. their is a real game of sim country going on, but its at the low levels. it will eventually grow up, and those of us old players, will be... well, honestly, i've been trying really hard to get into hybernation mode, and just collect money, this game will be great in a couple years. right now... well, its worth 4 dollars to me.