There are people far more knowledgeable about this game then I am and some of the items listed below have been stated before, not perfect but my 2 cents.
to address war:
1) war loot make multiple of stars gained
2) everyone gets 2 attacks, a scout attack and battle attack, only battle attack counts as stars, this should address some of the sandbagging issues and a team cannot place 10 AA and 10 Iron Age bases and hope for 100 stars
3) Introduce new rank in alliance call “war commander”, this position will allocate SH troops donated to war, addressed next
4) total troop cards that can be played is based on total amount in war, if you have 20v20 only 20 troop cards can be played by total alliance in war, war commander allocates to bases during planning day. (Thinking this will address some of the P2W aspect)
5) introduce General stars for perfect victories (or % close to perfect). General stars can be used to lvl up generals no oil or time required.
to address the time issue:
1) introduce Big Ben clock tower as an event, last 7 days and reduces time x2 while active. Later sell it as. 3day or 7 Day tower but priced correctly and people will buy it. Also include a 3 day version with Marco.
2) change estate to 5 people and sell a house for either 9.99 or 19.99 with 2-3 people.
3) introduce time cards, from Marco, or chest that will help reduce time.
4) reduce times by 25-50%, especially on forest clearing and Econ building
to adress the NTG:
1) it should not be a chance on a victory if you receive NTG, a 3-5 star victory should guarantee either 1-3 NTG pending research and alliance perks
2) introduce trading post (yes another building and yes adds to the 4.5 years), but trading post allows you to buy, sell, trade NTG, and RSS. Pending on age of building you can be limited to amount of trades per day or transaction and as you buy/sell the cost increases over time
i am Sure there are a ton of issues with each of these but my 2 cents which sometimes ain’t worth the pennies.