Some tiles cost more than others...
And they said it was sposed to be a gold sink like everyone keeps hollerin' for
the cost was lot higher when they first priced them, so the current cost is much better. And it is worth it to have so much more space.
Just because they lowered it from an extremely high 300M to 30-40M does not mean it's worth it. You are not getting any more space with the new designs than you had with the original ones, in fact is some cases you're getting less useable space than we currently have. 3-4M would be more in line with what the current customizable homes are and even that is a higher per tile rate than it should be. Not sure where they got the Tile Cost but it doesn't reflect what's on TC1 now nor what it was when we had the contest. If I remember correctly it cost about 2M for my castle design when I created it.
Castles and Keeps were, when I started playing, special. Something to aspire to and save for. It is my opinion (rightly or wrongly) that the pricing of these new versions is done with the aim of re-establishing that special-ness.
Yes, the rares traders and other 'elite' types can afford multitudes of them with their banks full of 'platinum'. But for regular players who don't trade rares, buy gold or indulge in other, what might be called 'non-playing acquisition of wealth'; who get their gold from playing the regular game content, they are a special, big purchase, just as they used to be - as they should be.