And I thought they'd atleast let me play with all of the new civs in one game (like with the exp packs for civ3), but no, the limit's still 18... Any way to remove this? I remember it was next-to-impossible in civ4, but what about warlords?

Dale claims it is possible by editing the SDK in this thread's (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=179113) second page.

rhye already has released his earth map with 24 civs, its in the pre made maps section....

Thanks for the info. Let the games begin!