I profoundly disagree with thoughts that gambling is a norm in the games. Mind you, it is regulated industry for a reason, in Europe it requires age consent and so on, even simple lottery has restrictions, that is why it is only question of time when Elvenar will have troubles with their aggressive attempts to cash in and some elements of this game. The spire is the exact replication of gambling websites, try to negotiate your way through it every week, you will understand very quickly (especially if you are in the chapters where decaying goods, mana, etc are required), that there is a strong push to pay (diamonds are equivalent of the cash). Try to fight without phoenix and military boosts - again I am 1100% sure that you will not go very far. So there are no workarounds, and those perks (for those who fight) will be reduced significantly or taken away with the overhaul of the tournaments.
Something to think about... How many players were spending diamonds on tournaments and how many on negotiations in the spire? Reading some comments and at times using negotiations myself, I fully understand why one might think that similar system will increase the spend if extended (changes to tournaments). But it is very naive commercial move. I played better designed game (more freedom to choose), but with less aggressive push to buy stuff, as soon as they changed their direction to aggressive strategy, they ceased to exist. Most players are rational people and do not waste their time and money on ridiculous things. I am just eagerly waiting for changes to the tournaments, then most likely I will stop playing - I have issues with the ethics of this business.
Finally, only because somebody is running the game (or any other business), they are not automatically entitled to the profits. That how world is working, and who cannot deliver, they disappear. As it stands, at this stage Elvenar is not delivering. It does not look that players' base is large here either, because there is no transparency here with all those abandoned cities who are left for months. This game will not be running only because of few people who spend here unreasonable amounts of time