A server reset is a big 'ol kettle of fish in either direction.

However looking at "other games" similar to Evony, I've found those who impliment timed server resets (usually about once a year) tended to have a much more even power structure, where those that do not (Evony) tend to have a smaller number of old players that just go around dominating the server... pretty much killing interest in the game.

In general the barrier to entry for games that reset yearly is rather small whereas in Evony the barrier (especially on older servers) can be insurmountable. But if that's really what Evony is aiming for, then that's the way it is. Many of those in this "ruling class" pay pretty well, so the Devs are happy to have them.