I had a similar idea, with a 'hardcore' mode... No infinite gold generation, a set amount of gold being released into the economy daily or so, and players rushing to get that gold and upgrade their buildings... Or something similar, perhaps 50% of the buildings gold cost gets released back into the economy to make it less impossible?
KaW runs on much more than 'a server' What is their financial incentive? - no point unless they benefit from it.
I dunno how the developers can solely focus on money the way they do. If I were to host a game whether it's a mobile app or a full on game like DayZ, I'd want people to enjoy it more than milk the money out of it.