I really couldn't agree with "Wonders are just a small part of the game."
Imagine two people racing over a long distance, with different "miracles". One has a super fast car and the other a nice bike (he wasn't there at the right time, when those cars weren't very expensive, and now he can't afford them). Both of them have to sleep, eat, make something, trade somewhere, but their goal is to cross the given path. Of course, for second player will be more difficult and progress will be slower. Ok, the other player is doing well, in time he will collect the funds to buy a car, not a super car, but a car, and he will reach the given city. But guess what, it will never reach the first player, because in the meantime the first player bought - a plane !!! And the beginner will go on foot and may not get further than the first bend !!! How is that fair, how does it improve? Maybe the climate has changed, it's not raining, it's not cold, etc... But the journey, what is important, is no longer the same and the same for everyone. It may not be visible yet, but when the inventory is emptied, when SF, CC and RR are used up, it will be obvious to everyone how an unbridgeable gap has been created.
I like to compete and be among the good ones. If I can't do that here, I have to find something else where I can be better, because this race won't be for me if I can't get close to the best. I don't have to be the best, and I can't, but I like not to be too far away from them. If you can't achieve that, all you have to do is look for something else, where you will be able to arrange successes and get closer and closer to the goal and the top. I think many players think the same and that it is completely pointless to talk about any progress and improvement of the game