I am not sure why MkElderGod is complaining about the reduced effectiveness of the mega city gambit, if he claims he doesn't even use it. If he doesn't even use it anyway, it shouldn't even affect him. Why is he complaining?
His claims in the lines of "games being nerfed because of nubs" is just another sign of examples that clearly indicate that perhaps there needs to be a better understanding of what Civ game is in its foundation.
Every Civ game to date has emphasized resource management in food, trade, and hammers (used to be shields in the older versions). Among those 3 resources, food was the most important resource, because without it, you can't grow your cities. Food also was necessary to feed your population at 2 food per citizen, and without enough of it, cities would starve.
Obviously, in Civ Rev, there is no requirement to feed your citizens, so the game is made a bit easier.
With the mega city gambit, food becomes all but worthless. You don't need to set up your mega city site with good food source at all. Hell, even if you have ZERO food production, it is still good as long as there is plenty of trade and hammer. Why bother with food when your city can grow with settler pumps and you don't have to worry about starvation?
What about the feeder cities? Oh, the city placement isn't even that important anymore since the feeder cities are preferred to be at a population level of around 3 or 4, not more, to be at its most efficient to crank out settler pumps. You can plop these cities virtually anywhere with some food and hammers. No trade tiles necessary. Hell, even if they were all bunched up together, it really doesn't even matter. Since when did a Civ game NOT emphasize a careful city placement?
What about the Roman bonuses? They are still great bonuses, and I would rather have the mega city gambit eliminated or reduced in its effectiveness than to see changes with Rome.
1. Republic: Why do you think republic was given the bonus the way it is? It was to encourage horizontal growth, by allowing players to expand by placing new cities with less population loss on the supporting cities. Especially in late game when your cities are size 10+, that one extra population saved through republic is quite a bonus.
2. 1/2 Cost Roads: Why does MKElderGod think cheaper roads is useless? I certainly don't think so. Gold is pretty scarce in the beginning, and the Romans get this ability right off the bat. It makes everything easier by having roads be more affordable. Roads in Civ Rev weren't just made for the sole purpose of ferrying mega city pumping settlers to their destination. Roads have other purposes too.
3. 1/2 Cost Wonders: Wow... if anyone were to argue that this was useless... Do I even need to explain why this is useful? Or does someone think that wonders are only meant to be built in a mega city?
4. More Great People: If concept #3 is not understandable, then it is no surprise that this concept isn't understood. Great people aren't just there for the cultural victory count either. They serve many other useful purposes and give players options that better suit long-term goals or short-term goals.
5. +1 Population in New Cities: By this point in time, expansion shouldn't be as vital as it was in the early stages, so it is the least helpful of all the Roman bonuses in my opinion because it comes late. If it was like China where it was given at the start, it would have been very powerful. At any rate, this ability is nothing to be scuffed at either. More population means more production.
Of course, for someone who claims not using mega city to argue that this ability is useless, only indicates that perhaps he believes this ability is useless because this bonus doesn't apply to the mega city perhaps? Should I even believe his claims that he doesn't even use mega city gambit?
At any rate, if he claims that Civ Rev is made worse because of the changes with the mega city gambit, then obviously he has ZERO clue of what he is doing in Civ, nor does he have any adequate understanding of how Civ games have played up to this point.
I am sure 2K/Firaxis will do enough testing before patching 1.20. If anything, I am very happy with the change myself.