[A Vicious Cycle]

"Instead, if the money supply is insufficient, we just print more money for the economy."

You state no less than 4 times that money doesn't magically disappear. Actually, there's one way that it can disappear, and it is through "printing money". The government can't just issue currency - the currency needs to be backed. In a fiat system, the currency can be issued as a debt, but that debt accumulates interest from the moment it is issued. That interest represents value that does not exist within the system, and thus there is more debt in the system than there is currency in circulation, resulting in the economy having a negative value. Printing more money when the supply becomes insufficient is therefore counterintuitive, because you are further contributing to the loss of value within the system. That approach might work in a system with some sort of material backing, such as a gold or silver standard system, but it makes absolutely no sense in a fiat system.

[Is it possible for a game developer to say, “It’s finished” anymore?]

I've been playing CN for over a year now, and recently joined CC (through your link, lol). Both are great games, although I have to agree with Reagan on the point that CC will need more in-game features to be truly successful, because I just don't see it as a game that can sustain itself primarily through the social interactions. I see Iniquity's Gebler as being an integral part of the growth of CC, as it is committed to improving the game's community, and much like my alliance in CN, The Brain, it's an environment where everyone is just there to have a good time playing the game.

I also played AE for a while, and I found that the CN and CC communities are far and away more personable and more mature than much of the AE community. AE is a great game, but I found that once I reached a certain point it was impossible to progress further, as I found myself constantly in a state similar to perma ZI in CN. Only I had done nothing but progress in the game. I kept to myself, and yet still I was a target, and diplomacy was ineffective in ending hostilities against me. There was a lack of respect between players in AE that CN and CC do not have, which is a huge reason why I have stuck with your games, and not with AE.

Also, I play another pair of games, hockeyarena.net and metroho.com, both hockey management games. I've tried other sports management games, but again, those games had something missing that, like CC and CN, HA and MetroHO did not - a great player community. What these kinds of games need more than anything is a community dedicated to improving the social interactions within the game. Improvements to keep the game fresh do help though, and there is always room for improvement, but as the developer, it's your job to make those decisions.

Furthermore, the suggestion box is great to have, but people don't realize that it's there for them to make suggestions, not to demand upgrades and improvements. I like how some of the discussions have progressed within the suggestion section on the CC boards. In some cases, rather than demanding something, people are making suggestions, and others are chipping in with their opinions on it, whether it's support for the idea, suggestions to improve upon the initial concept, or reasons why it can't work in the game. That's how it should be. Community and developer working together to improve the game. Obviously the developer is the ultimate decision-maker, but the developer has to consider what the community wants (as you have been doing), and the community has to realize that it's the developer's game, not theirs.

All in all, I think you're doing a great job, and I thank you for it. Keep up the good work!