i heard somewhere i can set it to no tech brokering and a few other options.

any advice on how to do this? since i can't add natives or get the stability fix to work this may be my last hope.

What happens if i try to use advanced start/raging barbs/ will any options give crashes? (i will assume thats why it was disabled by default)

The change is easy: open Rhye's and Fall of Civilization -> PublicMaps -> RFC 600 AD / RFC 3000 BC in a text program (any will do) and delete the line in the beginning that states NO_TECH_BROKERING. It can be added back by copying the same line back there.