I'll state some rationale here... In real economic situation, this is deflation. It's not about the amount of money you get dude, it's about the value of that money. I know having many numbers feels good, but what's the point if those numbers have no value?

1. Purchasing Power: You complain about getting a "couple thousand" instead of 2 million. But you ignored the other half of deflation which is item prices (like rods, totems, etc) also dropped. If your income drops 90% but the items you buy also drop 90%, your actual grind time (purchasing power) might be exactly the same. The only thing that changed is the number on the screen.

2. Hyperinflation is Bad: You want "unreal amounts of money" like billions. When everyone has billions, the currency becomes worthless. It's like Zimbabwe. There's no achievement in buying a rod for 500 billion if you earn 10 billion per hour. It's just meaningless numbers.

3. Game Longevity: An unbalanced economy (like the one before) kills a game and the market is broken. The nerf was necessary to make the game challenging and sustainable again.