I have PTW and i have to report TOO many bugs/problems in the hotseat game (patch didnt improve anything=[ ?!)..Example of problems r:
1.Second (third etc.) human player cant pick race
2.Cant select game difficulty
3.Game crashes almost always in diplomacy talks with other civs.

Tell me plz if someone else experience the same problems.

I have had # 3 happen though not #1 or 2. Anyway, when i started new games, i always was able to pick my civs and the diffuculty level. And i believe that in diplomacy, just don't check active trades or details when checking against human opponents. Should be fine with the AI. Good luck.

Oh yeah, save it A LOT

#1: The interface for adding civs is kind of flaky. It works for me but sometimes I have to click on it 2 or 3 times to get it to work.

Haven't seen anything like 2 or 3.