Actually I’ve commented a lot about the need of minnows in this type of games for the whales to continue investing. That actually does apply also to MMO IAPs.Beyond Starcraft mining type games. There is a huge overlap in the mechanics, the focus is different but it doesn’t change much for the mechanic, the ROI part makes the mechanics only more difficult for the devs.

Yet, if every upgrade becomes more expensive... why are the production increases linear??? That’s applicable both with or without ROI focus.

Those just focus less on the returns. But focusing on returns is an integral part of Steem for many. Yet, if you look at my feed you may notice it isn’t for me. Otherwise I would post at least twice a day, and definitely also submit daily to Steemhunt where I am highest user level.