OP says ftp players should not have to fight the pay to play players. Remember? The question is: should the two be segregated.
My answer is no. Inno apparently agrees as they have rejected separate servers or neighborhoods or any of the other ideas players have come up with to make it easier on themselves. Personally, I am ftp simply because my budget does not allow spending on an Internet game. I do not look down my nose at those who are willing to spend. On the contrary, I am grateful that people are willing to spend so that I do not (cannot) have to. I am under no illusion that someone who spends real money cannot gain an advantage. But so what? So far, in my game, the spenders have not negatively impacted my game. To the contrary, those people have tended to help me up my game.
@Mustapha00, your posts in this thread are pretty much a parcel with your long running dislike of the use of rogues, Alcatraz, the city defense AI, and here other people's use of diamonds ( money) to achieve what they wish to achieve. The game is what it is. It has been said the poor horse has been beaten, but I will not hold my breath.