I haven't been active on the game, nor forums for a while now.
But:
1. The thread died not because it was a horrible idea, the thread died because it was a suggestion and already had been discussed by all the people who chose to do so, all that was left was for either it to be added, for another idea that was agreed to be better, or to be told by the Admins/Mods that the idea would not be implemented and at witch time the thread of course would of been requested to be locked if not already done so.
2. The moving every tile and having it drain your money away slowly, is really a horrible idea. I prefer to pay for the time I wish to use, and then be teleported out without having to spend extra money or be robbed of the time I paid for anyways just to get to the exit before it starts taking money for the next session/other things I wanted it for. It completely counteracts the whole point of the process anyways.
3. The robot idea would also be a valid option, but maybe even further down the road to the point where other regions are added, as each generation of pokemon seems to get more advanced in tech, while in this gen they have door keepers.
4. The whole "I didn't sign up to play a game that's different than the original" argument is completely moot. Pointless. Stupid.
The games ALREADY different from the original. Having events, multiplayer, different workings, soon expanding on the map has already been confirmed, and will be implemented with other regions that the original game didn't have and infact lead to other pokemon games.
Your best bet is sticking to the original games if you feel this way. Pokemon was never meant for the pace that a MMO moves at. Much faster than a single player game. An example: You can trade with a much wider number of players than if you play with a single friend. Right there, you've speed things up, and are moving at a faster pace. Now times that by the hundreds of players you have choices from.
A MMO is just different, and will require a work around for a number of things. Things will change, and if it bothers you, leave, it's a shame you didn't stay longer.