While not perfect, things have been slowly going in the right direction.

Adding the timer was the lesser of two evils. As annoying as they are, at least it limits plot flipping to an extent, but they didn't go far enough. By allowing transfers, better plots can still be 'sold' to people with less desired plots.

The timers however have their own problems that will, to an extent, be dealt with by the lottery system, but because the lottery system is only applying to SOME wards for some reason it's once again a half measure that won't entirely address the issue. But at least people will have a choice to just focus on lottery wards I guess?

What they ought to do is implement the lottery system into every ward, including transfers and new purchases both.

As for how many people use clock bots, even if the number were zero the timer system would still be flawed and the lottery system will still be a better alternative to making people stand around for hours clicking, because if they don't someone else will instantly snatch up the plot and you'll essentially never have a chance.

The idea solution would be to add enough plots, or a separate instanced housing system EVERYONE has access to, but I don't expect that to happen. The population influx is going to make keeping up with plots even more difficult and I don't know if their servers could actually handle giving every character an instanced house. Even if it was say, limited to level 90+.