Gotta agree with Mars on this one. When I first joined the game there were no bots. I joined a micro and noticed straight from the off that the gov they had there were enthusiastic about the game and was happy to teach you everything you needed to know. You could also see them putting in multiple hours a day making sure the alliance ran properly.
Then I decided to help out took a millcom role. Logging multiple times a day making sure we hadn't been declared on. Checking our members to see if they had enough mill, encouraging peeps to raid. Approving raids that fit our restrictions. It was time consuming yes but the game hasn't been that fun for a long time.
And when irl got in the way a gov member would step down and be replaced by the dude he was training. Being gov actually meant something you were the few who were willing to put the time into the game.
Then I started raiding and found the most fun part of the game. To be a good raider it was down to you to put in the time. I would then spend a few hours a day looking for targets or potential ones, save a certain link for next time. Check bank transactions and war activity of pretty much every nation in game. And felt a sense of achievement as I rose through the ranks as a early raider. The bots I feel have taken away the fun of the game plus the nerfs did't help, you succeeded on how much time you were willing to put in and you ahceived on your own merit.
The bots have made the game lazy thats the real problem.