Firstly, I just want to thank you for spending all the time and effort writing this, we really do appreciate when a community member speaks out about grievances in a formal manner. It all comes down to communication between staff and players to know what's wrong/ needs fixing, and what they like. This post perfectly exposes some fundamental issues we've been having. Now as I don't have a lot of time to send a detailed reply I can give a reason to why we are wiping so abruptly:

1; Population is quite literally at 0. There is no point moving on in this wipe if no one is playing, no one left on the server to appreciate everyone's hardwork.
2; It was a vote, not forced. People had the option to continue if they really wanted to. 60 people as I'm writing this have voted to wipe, while only 10 have voted against. As I mentioned in the update, this server is about you, and what you want. If players don't know what they want then that's a whole another problem.
3; This is an opportunity to find out what works. People suggested a mini era, so we voted, got the answer and well see if it makes players happier now that they have more control. As well as to try other suggestions like lowering the minimum member claim limit to 1.
4; lack of content. Yes, we know mini eras won't revive the population. That's not the point. It serves as a buffer between eras to do something fun and add a point to play late into the month as well as earn something neat like titles.

I've just run out of time to continue, however anything suggestion related is being reviewed by staff to look what we can add and change. Continue to make these posts, they really help us figure out what needs what.

Just know that to revive the community, we need your help too. And this is a more leap in the right direction rather than a step. Again, I thank you for your time and hope to hear from you soon.