Brilliant post. And sad, though maybe it will inspire some creative developer out there. I haven't played any of the games you mentioned so I can't speak on those but the way you explain it makes it sound easy enough, in theory. Is it hard for developers to work as a team on a single idea? Would you need a team to make a game with some of the mechanics you describe here? It's very interesting.

I love your idea of gold as a diminishing return currency. Let me know when that one's ready ;)