bonafide11
Worker
The main problem that conquest is such a nice option is the AI. If you can make the combat AI better at defending, holding back and not suicide attacking, the game gets a lot more difficult. So ironically what is needed to get the game away from being mostly combat is better combat.
This is exactly right. It's not a war game, but if you're trying to establish the best empire, it makes sense that conquering other civilizations should be a huge benefit to your empire. It'd be stupid and unrealistic if conquest was not a huge benefit to your civilization. However, the problem right now is conquest is so easy because the AI is so bad that it makes conquest too tempting. If the AI was adequate in combat, it would make war less tempting because you'd have more to lose.